I've heard a couple of times over the past couple of days that people hate the word Moist. I've also heard the arguments for the people that do like the word. I personally am one of the latter. But I've realized that on this issue, people decide their opinion almost purely by what they associate the word with. One person associates moist with a dark basement, covered in mold. Another associates it with a well-made sponge cake. Can you guess which one doesn't like the word and which one does?
When talking to a friend about this, she gave me the following discourse: "Well, moist reminds me of moist towelettes. And moist towelettes smell like lemon. I also see moist on vanilla cakes. But I don't associate moist with chocolate cake, just vanilla cakes. And vanilla cakes smell kind of lemony. So moist reminds me of lemons." This is a perfect example.
The same thing can apply to many other things. Some people associate the dark with the unknown, a place for fears to hide. Some people associate it with with peace and calmness. Many people associate their occupation with the people that work there. And if they dislike those people, then they will dread work, but if they like those people, they will look forward to it. Even when they don't have to deal with those people, they might still make that association.
So some questions to consider are, what are some things in our own lives that we associate, maybe without even realizing it? I've realized over the years that by the end of a school year, I have associated certain classes with work, and some I've associated with learning. And I tend to be sick of the "work classes" by the end of the year. The other question is, can we consciously change our associations, and thus change our opinions on certain topics?
