Visceral is an adjective that refers to what belongs to or is related to the viscera. The viscera, on the other hand, are the organs that are contained in the cavities of the human or animal body.
Organ meats, also called viscera, 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 symbolically. The visceral appears linked to a very intense emotional reaction, which springs from the depths of the interior of the person (hence the name). It is something that the subject can hardly avoid, since it is embodied in him and escapes reason or logic.
For example: “There are opponents who feel a visceral hatred for this government”, “Upon hearing the news, Mário felt a visceral fury take over his being and began to scream”, “Irma did not expect such a visceral reaction from her husband , who broke the glass against the wall”. Visceral reactions often occur without any kind of filter or control. For this reason, it is common to associate them with violence or explosions, which usually cause deep sorrow in those who suffer from them. The concept is also used to describe the person who is usually carried away by this type of reaction or response: “Lautaro is a visceral man and closed to dialogue”, “I am afraid to tell him the truth: my father is very visceral and I think that can’t understand the situation.” Both spontaneous outbursts of anger and personalities built around extreme sincerity elude the models society expects to find. In general, we are educated with a series of structures that prevent us from constantly expressing what we feel; we are trained to reserve this degree of openness for certain very private and intimate moments. To cope with everyday life, people considered normal must make use of lies and falsehoods to (as we know) avoid hurting those around us. We are programmed to leave honesty as a last resort, and we justify this in various ways: if our employers exploit us and psychologically abuse us, we do not confront 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 by their side 100% of the time, we say that each one is as they are and that they make up for it with their positive qualities.
A normal human being fears visceral reactions because he associates them with violence, the taboo subject par excellence, despite being the most characteristic feature of our species: we kill animals in absolutely abnormal ways to eat them, we declare war on other people in instead of trying. To understand ourselves for what supposedly distinguishes us from other living beings, we cut down trees indiscriminately to immortalize our wisdom… Do we do all this and are we afraid that someone will attack their boss after months without receiving his salary? It would be interesting to remove all the filters, the one that really separates us from the rest of the animals, the one that prevents us from telling our neighbor that we don’t like him and that we don’t want to talk to him, that’s why we put up with the mistreatment of so many people throughout the day, so much so that we end up stressed and without strength; If we could break down those walls, knee-jerk 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 will decrease, since no one would accumulate frustrations throughout his life. If we did not like the treatment received in a company, we would express it and leave; we would greet only those we like; we would be ourselves, without outbreaks, without abuse.
