November 3, 2016
Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Engineer
Dear Reader,
This is my ninth response to “The Power of the Word May Reside
in the Power of Affect” (2007) by Jaak Panksepp. This great neuroscientist is unknowingly
promoting Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB). “Our urge to speak may be more
profoundly linked to social-emotional motivation than our need to promote
logical ideas.” Right on! You go Panksepp! And, he states “for most people,
speaking remains more of a social emotional act than a propositional-logical
one.” A neuroscientist said that!
Although we are not very skilled in arranging environments in
which we can engage in ongoing SVB, our brains still want it. Only in safe circumstances
do we seem to be functioning properly. Our neurobiology craves SVB, but our
environments are so demanding that we can’t help engaging again and again in Noxious
Verbal Behavior (NVB).
The conundrum of not being able to create a safe environment
and again and again engaging in NVB can only be solved if we pay attention to
what happens within our own skin. Only when we listen to ourselves while we
speak, the speaker will be perceived as his or her own listener.
By synchronizing our own speaking and listening behavior we
are no longer dependent on others to produce SVB. In an ideal situation SVB would
be supported by our environment, that is, by other speakers who also listen to
themselves while they speak, but, as this can only be achieved after we have
been introduced to the SVB/NVB distinction while we are speaking, we only have these
written words to help us listen to ourselves while we speak. Writings can only
help us so much….
Panksepp states “Cognition will never be free from affect; raw
emotional feelings arising from ancient neural substrates that are essentially
pre-propositional – cognitively objectless. These emotional substrates promote
cognitive object-relations optimally through rich emotional experiences.” I
think he is referring to SVB and not to NVB. NVB doesn’t promote “cognitive
object-relations optimally through rich emotional experiences.” NVB
impoverishes our emotional experiences.