Psych: People Own their Names

I've studied it in psychology, read it in pop culture, and see it everyday. One of my most favorite ideas in understanding people is that the most important word to anyone is their own name. I learned that neat line from "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. He'll go on to suggest that it is the number one thing you must not do is to forget people's names.

I recently forfeited the point that words have power and I doubt there is a more powerful and influential word than a person's name, to them anyway. It grabs someones attention when they are called by their name, it's special, and too often do people just brush by eachother unnoticed. Some of us go through hundreds of such interactions a day, but we really notice when someone uses our name.  

It's no wonder people care so much about their reputation. Their name is intimately tied with their reputation, and a good reputation will provide you with friends, status, and options in life. It's particularly more important for men to build a good name because men are most judged on their status in career and in relationship to other men. That damning line: "It's not what you know, it's who you know" rings loud and clear here. You may be a genius, but if you can't connect with people or if you have a poor reputation, you can't get as far as someone with a good name.