What is the title of this post?
Yes, you are correct! And here you are, reading it still.
Do not go on any further!
Do not read this entry!!
Do not go scroll down!!!
Hey, what are you doing?! You are still reading the post even after I have said not to!
OK, so you want to play this game, huh?
Don’t look at the strange painting located below the image of a world map on the right side of the screen!
Don’t re-read the name of this site resting prettily on your address bar! And don’t even wonder why I have named this blog as such! (And don’t check this page because you will find out the reason why! Yikes!)
Don’t play this sexy Gucci commercial of Chris Evans and Evan Rachel Wood!
JUST DON’T DO THEM!
Oh, you’re still here? Fine. Suit yourself.
can you guess what peter did next?
Why do people break the rules or warnings even if they have been told not to do something? Do people do it out of stubbornness? Denseness? Curiousity? Sheer lack of discipline? Or to fulfill a desire to do something adventurous? Could it also be possible that the word “NOT” carries a subliminal message telling you to do the exact opposite?
I mean, it is very evident in society. There are a bunch of rules telling people not to do something and yet there are a lot of people breaking them.
Bawal magkalat. (No littering)
Bawal magtapon ng basura dito. (Don’t throw your trash here.)
[and see heaps of trash in those exact areas]
Bawal umihi rito. (Don’t pee here!)
[but that spot actually reeks of piss.]
Bawal tumawid dito. (No crossing here.)
[but you will see hordes of people crossing that part of the street all the time, demonstrating a different kind of “people power”]
Bawal magbaba at magsakay dito. (No loading and unloading)
[and there all the buses and jeepneys will converge to load and unload]
A couple of months back, I saw a local high school whose walls are painted with messages about illegal drugs. With the power of negative words such as “don’t” and “not”, I could only wonder if the kids would actually follow them or would only be more enticed to break them.
oh, “drug free is the key”! i thought it was “drug is the key”!
dapat magalang ang pagtanggi!
Instead of telling the children what not to do, why not try directing them to the path where they would be better off? Give them clearer rules and alternatives. Instead of saying, “don’t do drugs,” why not tell them to participate in sports instead? Or do volunteer work. Or engage in art or music? – simple, but clearer ways to get their minds off the very thing you want them to avoid. The more that you tell them not to think about something, the more they would think about it! Like if I say,
“Don’t think of a polar bear on a trampoline” –
that is the exact image your mind is going to create!
If you bombard someone with these negative words, it would eventually be the image seared in one’s head. And could actually make one gravitate toward the realization of that scenario.
Some people might argue that even if positive words and imperatives are used, there is no guarantee that they would be obeyed. Yes, I am well aware of that, but I think that using a more positive energy is still better. Words may be cheap but they are very powerful. They can destroy people indirectly, even unwittingly, but can also inspire them; so it is wise to be careful with them. However, I am not saying that to counter these negative imperatives is completely wrong too, because for example, if a government tells its citizens not to protest against it, despite it being, let’s say cruel and unjust, then I think it is but unreasonable to follow the rule. I guess in the end, people would just have to be a little smarter when it comes to obeying the laws.
If you have reached this part of this entry, it only means that you have disobeyed ALL the negative imperatives that I have stated earlier. Now, I wonder – if you have followed all the “Don’t commands”, will you follow this single positive imperative or won’t you?
Write a simple comment on this entry when you’re done reading it.
anglesinasphere 