Neurolinguistic scientists have unraveled the "magic of the word" and identified sounds that make us rejoice, vote for a certain candidate, and buy exactly what sellers need.
People have known about the healing power of the word for a long time. No wonder the word "doctor" comes from the verb "lie", which in the old days in Russia meant "to speak." Now the art of the "healing word" has changed and has grown into the art of the "word of the manager", "hypnotizing".
Agatha Christie and the hormones of happiness
To experience a mild narcotic effect, you do not have to go into the refrigerator for vodka or fill a pipe with tobacco. It is enough to take off the detective Agatha Christie from the shelf, sit comfortably in the armchair and feel the powerful surge of the hormones of joy - serotonin and endorphins.
It is convenient and pleasant to “fit in” into Christie's compositions - like slippers, which are a pity to part with later. This paradox was of great interest to English philologists who, having analyzed more than 80 novels of the writer, came to a sensational conclusion. It turns out that "Granny Agatha" unwittingly used hypnotic techniques aimed at the reader.
The head of the research group, Dr. Roland Kapferer, argues that the popularity and "comfort" of Christie's works are due to the scattered words-triggers (from the English trigger), each of which, on a subconscious level, evokes positive emotions in the reader and promotes the production of hormones of joy … These words are the most common: "girl", "dear", "smiled", "specks", "baby". Neurolinguistic scientists often refer to them as opiate words.
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Communication of the ancients
Human language arose from onomatopoeia. People called objects and phenomena as they heard: "cuckoo", "pig", "rumble", "bounce". Initially, 99% of the language consisted of just such words. Now there are not many of them left, but if you just listen to their sound, doubts that they are also based on onomatopoeia will disappear. Judge for yourself: what other associations can the words "roar", "roar", "squeak", "hum", "whisper", "rustle" cause? Associations are manifested not so much on the conscious as on the subconscious level.
Back in the mid-1970s, Soviet linguist, Doctor of Philology, Alexander Zhuravlev, proved that sounds not only carry information, but also affect a person's mood. The mechanism of action is clear. Well, what kind of reaction, besides horror, can the sound "w" resembling the hissing of a snake or the sound "r" similar to the roar of a wild beast evoke on a person? But the sound "s", which we hear in the soothing whistle of birds, on the contrary, inspires peace and relaxation.
Think, which of the animals is more pleasant to you - "lalaut" or "vzhuskr"? Studies conducted by philologists have shown that more than 90% of people prefer the first mythical animal. In their view, he should be weak, small, kind and fluffy, while the second one is evil, impudent, big and scary.
They carry sounds and hidden images. To prove this, neurolinguists cite the names of two non-existent lakes - Avelope and Zippeg. In this case, the majority of respondents say that the first lake is smooth and rounded, and the second is angular, narrow and with indented banks.
Human language is able to convey a hidden meaning even in the complete absence of an explicit meaning. This is the phrase the famous Soviet linguist Academician Lev Shcherba invented in the 30s of the last century: “Glokaya kuzdrashteko bumbled a side and curled a bokrenka”.
None of the words that make up it have any meaning, but any Russian-speaking person, having heard the phrase, immediately imagines a picture where some evil creature, having neutralized a weaker opponent, does something bad with his cub.
Russian fans remember well the defeat of the Russian national ice hockey team in May 2017. Leading 2: 0, she ingloriously lost the semi-finals of the World Cup to the Canadians - 2: 4. After that, neurolinguists said they knew the cause of the fiasco. Like, the blame for everything was … Russian fans. They were too zealous to shout "Puck-puck". Canadians, who do not understand the meaning of the word, perceived it at the subconscious level as a set of sounds. But the sounds are not simple, but super-aggressive, causing an adrenaline rush. The Russians, on the other hand, understood the meaning of the word, so its "magic" did not affect them so much.
What's in a name?
In 1960, Ford launched a new car, the Ford Edsel. However, despite the aggressive advertising, the car “didn’t work,” and the company suffered huge losses. Marketers say one of the reasons for the failure was … a name that didn't match the spirit of the car. But the name "Sony", in the creation of which the Japanese invested several million dollars, quickly conquered the whole world.
Intel representatives chose the name for the new processor from 120 options proposed by David Placzek, a specialist in naming (name creation). We stopped at the word "Pentium". History has proven that the choice was right and the $ 40,000 given to Plachek as a fee paid off handsomely for the company.
Now, not only companies, but also political strategists cannot do without the help of neurolinguists. Special computer programs, such as "Vaal" or "Slovodel" (licensed versions cost 350 dollars and 45,000 rubles, respectively), check the texts of leaflets and articles for mental impact and even select the necessary words.
The developers assure that the programs will help to inspire the voter or the buyer with the right thoughts - to push the doubters to vote for whom or to force them to buy the desired product.
Well, at least one goal of the developers has been achieved: programs are bought by those who want to secretly influence people.
EXPERT COMMENTARY
Russian pricks, chops, cuts
“Talented authors subconsciously know how to combine the right sounds, influencing the mood of the reader, introducing him, where necessary, into a state of mental comfort,” says Dmitry Aksenov, a psychologist and consultant to several large companies. - And vice versa: for example, in war scenes, sounds are used by others. Remember, as in Pushkin: “Swede, Russian - pricks, chops, cuts. Drum beat, clicks, grinding …"
OPINION OF THE SKEPTIC
Another myth
“Today there are many myths: about the 25th frame, about NLP, etc.,” explains Alexander Nazaikin, advertising specialist, Doctor of Philology, professor at the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University. “But if it all works so well, why haven't they mastered these technologies yet? The story of magic words and hypnotic sounds is another myth. When we influence a person with the help of text, many different elements are involved in the process: sound, word, sentence, etc. Logical connections are also important. And that just explains why Agatha Christie's novels are so fascinating. There are three types of connections: explicit, when everything is simple and clear, implicit, when nothing is clear, and semi-explicit, when something is clear, but something needs to be thought out. Man is a creative being. When someone says something clear and understandable, he gets bored. Nobody likes platitudes. When a person does not grasp what is being discussed, he is also bored. No wonder he sleeps so well at a very serious scientific lecture. And in the case of semi-explicit connections, the most exciting thing is turned on - the creative process. When you read a good detective story, it only seems that you are following the story. In fact, the reader is constantly running ahead, thinking out and trying to guess who committed the crime, what awaits the hero outside the door. This is where the pleasure hormone is produced. Agatha Christie is great at building these semi-obvious connections. In fact, the reader is constantly running ahead, thinking out and trying to guess who committed the crime, what awaits the hero outside the door. This is where the pleasure hormone is produced. Agatha Christie is great at building these semi-obvious connections. In fact, the reader is constantly running ahead, thinking out and trying to guess who committed the crime, what awaits the hero outside the door. This is where the pleasure hormone is produced. Agatha Christie is great at building these semi-obvious connections.
As for the "magic of words", this is ridiculous. After all, if you add a bad epithet to a good word, the whole effect will disappear. Add a spoonful of poison to a barrel of honey, and you get a barrel of poison. Good sounds cannot save the day.
TAKE A NOTE
Emotions caused by sounds
Emotional coloring - Sounds
Safe - V, D, L, M, N, H
Terrible - F, X, W, Sh, K, F, Z, R, Y
Strong - F, Z, R, S
Weak - K, P, S, T, F
Evil - F, X, W, U, F, Z, R, G, S, C
Kind - V, L, M, N, P
KONSTANTIN DUNAEVSKY
