Do words matter?

During the last few weeks there was a seemingly endless stream of discussion about whether inflammatory rhetoric, as used by politicians and commentators, actually influenced human behavior. In the wake of the Tucson shooting nearly everyone, including President Obama, rushed to repudiate the notion that such commentary was actually responsible for the tragedy. The problem with this swift and unanimous disavowal is that it simultaneously dismissed the power of all speech.

Authors the world around should recoil at this notion, because we toil at our craft with the express purpose of having an influence on people. Or else, why bother?

If words don't matter, then why the resounding call imploring civility in discourse? Why all the speeches, principally by those who employ such rhetoric, whose sole intent was to convince us that their past exhortations, such as taking action by "reloading" or using "Second Amendment remedies," had nothing to do with the tragedy. After all, if this isn't a problem, why mention such speech, or even seek to distance youself from the results? Aren't these the same people, now trying to convince us with the power of their words, that this wasn't the problem? If words don't matter, why try to influence our behavior with more... words? And, by the way, why do we even have laws against incitement to riot?

Ever wonder why advertisements on TV include warnings such as, "Performed by professional stuntmen;" or "Do not attempt this in your home." And, don't you love those drug ads that tout extraordinarily salubrious effects, while in the next breath whisper the warning, "Sometimes causes death." Of course, these companies know from experience that some idiot (not necessarily a mentally unbalanced one), will try one of these stunts, die, or overuse the drug, and companies want to preempt legal liability. If only commentators and politicians were required to issue similar warnings. Not long ago there was a movie where teenagers, as a prank, lay down on a highway in the midst of heavy traffic. Sure enough, some kids mimicked this, resulting in the loss of life.

Psychologists describe a phenomenon called "acting out"—the process where alienated individuals act impulsively to attract attention. Such "actors" have issues with impulse control, and are influenced by a need for attention. And, they aren't necessarily insane.

So, if words don't matter, why read this essay, or books, or any other article in a newspaper, magazine, or on the Internet? It certainly isn't going to influence you one way or another. Or, is it?