2.4 Language and Suffering

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Language seems to be at the root of much of human suffering. We use words to construct hateful and prejudiced beliefs about others, form negative opinions about ourselves, obsess over and “re-live” traumatic events, and develop rules that can be ineffective and harmful. Our excessive use of language and thinking can also make it difficult to maintain “contact” with the present moment. We can spend so much time thinking about the past or worrying about the future that we don’t really appreciate or experience what’s going on around us!

A man laying on the ground with RFT0204 words written on his body.
A silhouette of a man sitting on a chair exploring the more dark side of language.
A woman is holding her hand over her head with words written on it, exploring the Dark Side of Language.
An intriguing image of a woman with her face covered in words, conveying the More Dark Side of Language.
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Language affects both private events and public events

This comment is public language and potentially part of a public discussion

I love Scott’s post and the metacognitive analysis we’ve got going here.

carmenlarakirkpatrick Carmen Kirkpatrick April 24, 2026 at 11:08 pm

I agree that it can be challenging to live in the present moment.

Self explanatory

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