Words and the Force

This is probably just a ramble and I've debated posting it in Philosophy section, actually. Anyway I was just considering that ancient Egyptians believed their hieroglyphs held power and the act of writing them down was the same as performing the action. A lot of people believe similar things; like how wizards write say or write down spells expecting them to come to pass, or how journalists write an article knowing that it can have a powerful effect on society, or even how prayers can be written down.

What, then, is the definition of power and how do you think that ties into the written word? Words teach us and guide us, so couldn't they be said to be of the Force, in a way?

I think it really comes down to what the Force is to *you*, and keep in mind this is just a thought that occurred to me so I'm not saying its completely valid or invalid, but I'm interested to hear any opinions on the matter.

All good questions

Words are part of a process. We begin at Thought, then work our way to Word, and end up at Deed. We think about something, then we talk about it, then we do it (of course that's not always the case, but most of the time it is). What we say is just as important as what we think and what we do. They are all parts of creating and affecting the world around us.

So I'd say the Egyptians had it right, knowing the significance of turning ideas into physical record.

If you chose a symbol to represent yourself, people would generally take that to mean something significant about you. If you chose a gun to represent yourself, others might assume this means you are a violent person. If you chose a book, people might assume that you were a person who valued education. While these assumptions might not be true, people would still form them based on the symbol you chose to represent yourself.

Likewise, words are symbols. While our words are not our thoughts, they are what we choose to symbolize our thoughts. What we might not always mean every word we say in the way others interpret it, others will always form assumptions about us based on the words we use. Our words are the symbols we choose to represent ourselves. We must be careful of our words because, while a symbol might not have power in itself, the context in which it is interpreted will give it significance, and the significance it is given may be far from what we meant by it.

We must always be careful to articulate what we mean in a way that cannot be misinterpreted by those who do not choose the same symbols for themselves.

I do not believe that words have power of themselves. I believe that words are symbols and, just as any other symbol, they are given power by the context in which they are used.

I'm not sure if that makes sense or if I rambled too much. I realize that in talking about the care we must take with words, I may have chosen the wrong words to make my point. It is still something I am working on myself, so I do not always choose the symbols that would best convey my thoughts.

There was, is power in those hieroglyphics...

Just as in English letters and numbers...

There's knowledge... Attainable, tangible, knowledge...

The letters, "K", "A", "W", and "H" hold small power on there own...

In the right order, they hold even more power...

You named them, and now, you are trying to put them in an order, trying to see what I was using as a word...

How about "HAWK", did you get it?

Now I have put a picture of a hawk in your head...

We use letters, because there consistent...

Where a picture of a hawk in hieroglyphics has to be looked at in relation to the pictures before and after to determine if the hawk meant, "flight", "fly", "hawk" or who knows what... lol...

Words do have power, but trying to decipher what exactly they mean is quite the trick...

One of my favorite sayings, "I am responsible for what I say, NOT what you understand....

Many religions believe that, if you think it, you've done it! So would be the same, if you wrote it, you thought it, thereby you've done it!

You must choose your words wisely and say only what you mean. To speak ill of a person is an act of attacking that person. Although you may say it in their absents, it has still been said, and therefore done!

Ponder this...It is said, once you pull the trigger, you cannot recall the bullet! It is also said that, once you speak the words, they cannot be taken back!

The path laid before you has many obstacles in which you have placed. The Force is the Force, not good, not bad. It is but what you make it, so make it kind and compassionate. Respect others as you respect yourself. Speak only good thoughts, and only good thoughts you will have.

You can only change your thoughts, actions and words. This change must come from within and starts as a thought and blossoms into deeds. Do your deeds reflect your thoughts?

The Force is neither good nor bad, are your thoughts good or bad?

Jestor, Nespin, I fully agree. Words are power and its very important to learn when and where to use them; once something's said, it's said, so caution is definitely a necessity. It's not only the Egyptians who knew the power of words, but we can know it too.

Language is an amazing thing. It is not only how we describe the world around us, it is how we see it.

Some languages have not developed much since the industrial revolution...certain dialects of Arabic, for example. English and many European languages have changed quite a bit since the industrial revolution...which shifted the language to one of precision in time and space. It has cultural effects like punctuality and work cycles based on an artificial construct. In some cultures, time is a much less precise thing. If you ask some one to be at a meeting at 2 PM...there could be a 4 hour window there, if they showed up that day at all. It could be the next. Calendars, too. There are tribes in China that base their idea of months and years around crops and rain seasons...1 month is a harvest period and 1 year is the drought season...roughly another 2 months of our time. Their terms reflect these meanings. Language develops as a way to understand the world around us. Inuit people have many more words for 'snow' than we do, but that's because snow is a much bigger presence in their lives.

Languages offer a lot of limitations as well. I've seen many debates fly off the handle even here at the Temple forums, where we speak the same language, because of differing connotations on words which we assume have the exact meaning for all of us. It's tough to hold a proper debate when the debaters are not on the same page as to what the words they're saying mean.

Words DO have power...the power we give them. To heal, to hurt, to bring the light of knowledge.