> The mere expression of an idea does not cause anything to happen. I asked someone to pass me the salt, and they passed me the salt. I can only assume you bel

> The mere expression of an idea does not cause anything to happen. I asked someone to pass me the salt, and they passed me the salt. I can only assume you believe there was no causal connection between those two events. The truth is that everything people deliberately do is caused by what they think, and what they think is very strongly affected by the symbolic communication they have with others. That is, after all, the whole point of language: to alter someone else's mind-state.