In bullfights, to get a bull to charge, the matador waves a red cape in front of it. Supposedly, when the bull sees red, it becomes enraged. Similarly, among humans, certain words cause people to “see red” and become enraged. The words that evoke this response differ among different people. The word “intifada” is one of those words that leads certain people to “see red.”

When people “see red,” they often become so caught up in their emotions that they are blind to anything other than the red-caped word in front of them. This is because the red triggers their instinctual fight-or-flight reaction. Physiologically, when we are in fight-or-flight mode, our focus is narrowed to what we see as the source of danger. Looking thus through tunnel vision, we are unable to see all of the other data that is available. We frame the situation through the narrowed context of the angry and fearful emotions triggered by the word.  read more »