People Keep Misusing Words

Watch a newscast and pay particular attention to the politicians, people in leadership positions, newscasters and their like.

Now listen for the word "obviously." You will hear it many times. Now pay attention to what they are saying and decide if what they are talking about is really 'obvious' or not. It is surprising the number of times that people will use the word when not only is it not obvious but most of the times they would not be able to prove it. To quote from one of my favorite movies, the Princess Bride, "I don't think that word means what you think it does. (sic)"

People use words like this all the time. The word hero is used in ways for which it was never meant e.g. "our cricket heroes." What is heroic about standing in a nice safe oval and hitting a few balls?

Then there is stress. The recent bush fires apparently stressed out thousands of children who watched the news on TV. Children are remarkably resilient and will only get stressed if people keep telling them they are until they finally do get stressed. It is the old thoughts create reality problem, if you say it often enough then both you and your targets may very well believe you no matter how ridiculous it is.

I'm sure there are some psychologists who would disagree but then I question their loyalties and would want to know who is paying them. I believe that in modern society stress is allowed to be used as an excuse and feigned at every opportunity. You can apply stress and things can be stressed but the former is the biggest form these days.