What Does visceral Mean
Visceral is an adjective that refers to that belonging to or relating to the viscera . The viscera, on the other hand, are the organs that are contained in the cavities of the human or animal body.
The viscera, also called the entrails , are part of the respiratory or digestive system, such as the lungs, liver , heart or pancreas . The notion of visceral, therefore, is linked to these organs, although it is often used in a symbolic way.
The visceral appears linked to a very intense emotional reaction , which springs from the depths of the interior of the person (hence this name). It is something that the subject can hardly avoid, since it is embodied within him and that escapes reason or logic.
For example: “There are opponents who feel a visceral hatred towards this government” , “Upon hearing the news, Mario felt a visceral fury take over his being and he began to scream” , “Irma did not expect such a visceral reaction from part of her husband, who smashed the glass against the wall ” .
Visceral reactions usually take place without any kind of filter or control. That is why it is common to associate them with violence or outbursts, which often causes deep regret in those who suffer them.
The concept is also used to describe the person who usually gets carried away by this type of reaction or response : "Lautaro is a visceral man and closed to dialogue" , "I'm afraid to tell him the truth: my father is very visceral and I don't think that he can understand the situation ” .
Both the spontaneous outbursts of anger and the personalities formed around extreme sincerity escape the role models that society hopes to find. In general, we are educated with a series of structures that prevent us from expressing what we constantly feel; we are trained to reserve this degree of openness for certain very particular, very intimate moments. To get through the day to day, people considered normal must make use of lies and falsehoods to (as we have learned) avoid hurting those around us.
We are programmed to leave honesty as a last resort, and we justify this in many ways: if our employers exploit us and abuse us psychologically, we do not face them because the economic crisis makes it difficult to find work; If our friends do not support us when we need them most, despite demanding that we be there for them one hundred percent of the time, we say that each one is as they are and that they compensate with their positive traits.
A normal human being fears visceral reactions because he associates them with violence, the taboo subject par excellence, despite being the most characteristic trait of our species: we kill animals in absolutely unnatural ways to eat them, we declare war on other people instead trying to understand each other through what supposedly distinguishes us from the rest of living beings, we cut down trees indiscriminately to immortalize our wisdom ... We do all this and are we afraid of whoever attacks their boss after months without receiving their salary?
It would be interesting to remove all our filters, that which truly separates us from the rest of the animals, which prevents us from telling our neighbor that we dislike him and that we do not want to speak to him, the reason why we endure abuse by so many people throughout the day, so much so that we end up stressed and without strength; If we could break down those walls, gut reactions would become the norm .
If the term is related to our organs, to what constitutes us, why not be visceral? In a world without repression , it is very likely that violence would decrease, since no one would accumulate frustrations throughout their life. If we did not like the treatment received in a company, we would express it and leave; we would greet only those who we liked; we would be ourselves, without breakouts, without abuse.