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"Words begin as directions for adjustment to environment. You may think of words as maps, but they are directive maps. They direct traffic as a policeman does... (D. Fink - Psych) (67:1) "If you must use a tool that you do not understand, your are apt to misuse it, whether it be a surgeon's scalpel or your vocabulary... (D. Fink - Psych) (67:2) We can describe four more or less distinct periods of verbal progress... 1. The Age of Magic Word Maps 2. The Age of Theological Word Maps 3. The Age of Philosophical Word Maps 4. The Age of Scientific Word Maps... (D. Fink - Psych) (67:3) "The self- starter of... destructive emotional behavior is misunderstanding that begins with the misuse of words, the tools of... thinking... (D. Fink - Psych) (67:4) "Words... are triggers to action... Habit patterns spring into motion at the stimulus of a word... (D. Fink - Psych) (67:5) "The right word releases... energy, directs it into productive channels. But if you use words badly, you use yourself badly. The wrong word can get you all muddled up, confused, give you paralysis of will, interbrain misbehavior, and the jitters. The right word puts you back on the right track... Words expressing judgments block further thought. (67:6) "We are now living in a era of new map makers-- the age of science... Learn to detect in your own thinking the words that confuse rather than clarify... know that meaningless maps are warping your understanding and directing your behavior. This knowledge should lead you back into the world of reality." (Baha'is would define the new era differently) (D. Fink - Psych) (67:7) "If you want to get along with your fellows, please remember that your private vocabulary is singular to yourself, and the other people's vocabularies often express meanings known only to them... From the world of our private meanings, there is no communication with the outside... No two people talk an identical language. No recipient of messages has shared the same experience as the sender... (D. Fink - Psych) (67:8) "For purposes of helping your nerves, this analysis of words-- tools of thought-- can be useful to you... (Do so) the next time your son makes you angry or worries you. Thus, you may be able to stall your emotional machinery before the engine starts and backfires. (D. Fink - Psych) (67:9) "Words are indeed triggers to action. The gun is always loaded. You... (should be) able to identify your target before you press the trigger." (D. Fink - Psych) (67:10) "All of us have... habit patterns of irrational behavior that limit our possibilities for adaption to our immediate problems... Complexes distort clear thinking... (D. Fink - Psych) (67:11) "Most emotional habits are un verbalized, but they control nearly all of our conscious life. (D. Fink - Psych) (67:12) "Un verbalized habits are dynamic. The demand expression... can be a heavy drag. To prevent such habit patterns from directing you... bring them into consciousness. You can verbalize them and so bring them under control. (D. Fink - Psych)
(67:13)
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