When I visited the monumental Deutsches Museum in Munich, something caught my attention. It is the world’s largest museum of science and technology, containing seemingly infinite artifacts, collections and information about anything in human history related to science, from space shuttles of the modern era and way back to door locks thousands of years old. It’s a dazzling place.
Some of the collections are about Germany’s military past, including WWII. Next to the exhibited items are labels providing information about the items, such as “This is a Panzer tank” and then provides information about it. And here’s what caught my attention: The language used on those labels.
When describing, say, an attack made by the German military in that war, the plaque would read something like, “The military of the National Socialists (i.e. the Nazis) used this airplane to attack Allied ships.” But if you see something like a German car factory the Allies destroyed, the passive tone is used: “This is a model of a car factory destroyed in the war.” It does not say, for example, “The Royal Air Force destroyed this factory.” The passive voice is always used in those cases.
That intrigued me. I think this use of language is deliberate, and used, at least partly, to avoid arousing people’s hostility toward other nations that participated in the war, especially ones that inflicted civilian casualties in Germany. Careful language was used to attribute the devastation sustained by Germany back then to “war”, not to the British, the Russians or Americans.
Language has a powerful effect on our perceptions. But what is not readily apparent is that even subtle things like this may greatly influence us without our knowing so. You can notice this in our own daily use of language, where we’re used to words that seem harmless but actually have an invisible influence on what we say. One famous example is “No problem.” It’s used both in Arabic and English, and all expats know how to use “ma fi mushkilah.” The problem with phrases like “no problem,” however, is that they may be inherently negative. True, their meaning is positive, but the brain, according to Olivia Fox Cabane in The Charisma Myth, may possibly focus on those negative words; it might ignore “no”’ and keep “problem.” It may ignore “No” and pick up on “worries.” It may skirt “don’t’” and cling to “hesitate”when you say “don’t hesitate to call,” so the person focuses more on the hesitation part.
These subtle, automatic mechanisms can influence what we say and how others perceive our words. A very nice person who is always used to saying “No problem!” and “Don’t worry” to people may be, unbeknownst to him, sending the opposite signal! And those words are quite common. In English for example, “afraid” is used in polite speech, as in “I’m afraid you’re mistaken.” When we try to calm kids in nervous situations, such as their performing on stage, their first day in school or when meeting new people, we might say, “Don’t worry” or “don’t be scared,” and the child’s brain will possibly focus now on worrying and being scared.
This is why it’s important to choose one’s words wisely. A phrase may seem positive, but our brains have the final say in the matter.
Some of the collections are about Germany’s military past, including WWII. Next to the exhibited items are labels providing information about the items, such as “This is a Panzer tank” and then provides information about it. And here’s what caught my attention: The language used on those labels.
When describing, say, an attack made by the German military in that war, the plaque would read something like, “The military of the National Socialists (i.e. the Nazis) used this airplane to attack Allied ships.” But if you see something like a German car factory the Allies destroyed, the passive tone is used: “This is a model of a car factory destroyed in the war.” It does not say, for example, “The Royal Air Force destroyed this factory.” The passive voice is always used in those cases.
That intrigued me. I think this use of language is deliberate, and used, at least partly, to avoid arousing people’s hostility toward other nations that participated in the war, especially ones that inflicted civilian casualties in Germany. Careful language was used to attribute the devastation sustained by Germany back then to “war”, not to the British, the Russians or Americans.
Language has a powerful effect on our perceptions. But what is not readily apparent is that even subtle things like this may greatly influence us without our knowing so. You can notice this in our own daily use of language, where we’re used to words that seem harmless but actually have an invisible influence on what we say. One famous example is “No problem.” It’s used both in Arabic and English, and all expats know how to use “ma fi mushkilah.” The problem with phrases like “no problem,” however, is that they may be inherently negative. True, their meaning is positive, but the brain, according to Olivia Fox Cabane in The Charisma Myth, may possibly focus on those negative words; it might ignore “no”’ and keep “problem.” It may ignore “No” and pick up on “worries.” It may skirt “don’t’” and cling to “hesitate”when you say “don’t hesitate to call,” so the person focuses more on the hesitation part.
These subtle, automatic mechanisms can influence what we say and how others perceive our words. A very nice person who is always used to saying “No problem!” and “Don’t worry” to people may be, unbeknownst to him, sending the opposite signal! And those words are quite common. In English for example, “afraid” is used in polite speech, as in “I’m afraid you’re mistaken.” When we try to calm kids in nervous situations, such as their performing on stage, their first day in school or when meeting new people, we might say, “Don’t worry” or “don’t be scared,” and the child’s brain will possibly focus now on worrying and being scared.
This is why it’s important to choose one’s words wisely. A phrase may seem positive, but our brains have the final say in the matter.
