The Power we Give

Money makes the world go round. You may have heard this expression in songs, speeches, and even tweets, but have you ever thought to wonder how exactly money makes the world go round? If you haven't, it's probably because you thought, "Of course it's money," but why does money make the world go round? Power. Money is power. Power is what allows us to do everything we do. With copious amounts of money, you have access to seemingly limitless possibilities. With little money, your windows of opportunity shrink because of that lack of power. However, this article is not about money but about words and how we give them power over us.

Money is really just paper, or, in more recent times, a number on a screen. It has no concrete value. Just like money, words are simply sounds we make and letters we scribble—again, no true power. Yet somehow, words have power.

We have evolved as humans through art, literature, math, and, of course, language. The reason words mean something is because we give them meaning. And only because of the meaning we give words, we have developed, created, and prospered as a species. However, as Newton's third law states, "with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction," all the benefits that words have brought us have also brought us a great deal of pain. The double-edged sword that is the power of words can empower us just as much as they can disenfranchise us.

It’s important that we understand words for what they are, but it’s just as important that we never let words strip power away. Psychology Today notes, “Words create filters through which people view the world around them,” which further proves that we give words power over us rather than words actually having power. Because we give words power, we can also take away that power. In order to move forward as a society, we must continue to use the power of words to learn and thrive, but also understand that the only reason words can hurt us is because we give them the power to do so.