In my universe I have these mind doctors who can insert/alter/remove/etc memories and who can manipulate the mind. They do so by using equipment. There are legal clinics, and black market ones for more shady stuff. The setting is a superstate spanning many galaxies which could be several hundred million years old. My problem is that I have plenty of names for their profession, I just don't know which one to pick for the official name. So will you help me pick by voting above? Or do you perhaps have another name that could fit this profession? Thank you for your attention.
If they want to appear like innocuous doctors and not sorcerers, the above options are probably not the way to go. Mnemopractor maybe?
Thank you for the suggestion. I looked up Mnemonic and it appears to be related to memory only. These doctors can adjust the mind in other ways as well. But you also added the word -practor which I could use in combination with one of the above. Perhaps Psychopractor or Mindpractor works better?
I would be careful about using an O after psych, because unless the second word-part actually begins with an O, it suggests Psycho (short for psychotic). The only reason it's an O in psychology/psychologist is because it's the study of the mind (psyche being the mind and ology being the study of). Note it isn't an O in psychiatrist. It could be something like psycitects (like architects), because they can design your mind, but that doesn't look very good in print. Though maybe I could get used to it. But I'd go for a professional-sounding name like that. They would practice psychitecture. But it doesn't sound quite right yet, I'll keep pondering on it. Meanwhile there would also be a (or perhaps several) unofficial names, like we call psychiatrists shrinks or head shrinkers. Maybe the unofficial name would be something like head hackers? Maybe Neurotects/Neurotecture? I don't really like the 'tect'part though. It implies design of man-made structures. And it still doesn't sound good or look good in print. Maybe they call the process Neuro Mapping, and the doctors who practice it Neurographers? Neurography? No, graphy I think means to write. Maybe they write new neurological code though in your brain?
New thoughts on why/when to use the o or not use it. What you definitely don't want is a word that has emphasis (stress) on the first syllable (before the O) and then on the syllable after the o, but you want it on the O itself, as in psychOlogy. That gives it a flow and the stress is actually on the O itself, but it's obviously pronounced as in Onomatopoeia (or On), rather than a hard O as in Over. This way it's a smoother flow over the O, rather than the hard stop it gets in psycho-(anything). In other words, you don't want psycho-this or psycho-that, it needs to be psych-(whatever), with the o being the beginning of the next part, not the end of the word psycho. Did I get that across right? It's tricky without being able to pronounce it out loud. psych-OLogist, as opposed to PSYcho-BIologist (for instance). The first one sounds like an honorable profession, the second like a psychotic biologist. (Verbal stress would be on the syllables I capitalized). This way you don't break between the words, they flow together. Whenever you have the word PSYcho there, it breaks after the o, so it literally sounds like you're saying psycho. But it's different with for instance psychOlo-(anything). Note the O sound switches from hard to soft. That's what you're looking to achieve.
Very helpful and educational as usual, @Xoic Psychitect sounds pretty nice actually. As does Neurotect. Do I have your permission to use one of them if it comes to that?
Psychineer Psychineering - like engineering. Psychestructor Psychestruction - sounds more like the creation of a mind, so might not be suitable. Psychifacturer Psychifacture - same as above, may not be suitable. Psycheveloper Psychevelopment - like a developer of the mind. Psychisembler Psychisembly - assembly, might not be a good fit. Psycheformer Psycheformation - might not be a good fit since it sounds like it's being made from scratch. Psychisigner Psychisign - like design. Nah, I think Psychitect sounds great still.
Oh absolutely! It's why I posted them. But it's hard to come up with something really good in a few minutes. Given time to ponder and reflect on it, I suspect I could come up with something better (that sounds better to me anyway, of course you're the writer).
I would try to stick mostly to Latin or maybe Greek terms. Mixing them with more modern terms can work, but it sounds a little weird. Like saying a thermomo-thingamabob. Since psyche and ology and the rest are (I think mostly) Latin, that's what I'd try to stick with.
Here's an English-to-Latin translator. I've tried several words relating to design (which is already a Latin word), restructure (struct is Latin), and cut. A few possibles, but nothing really jumped out at me yet. My natural inclination is to broaden the scope by considering other terms besides psycho- and neuro-, because there are already so many of those. Actually neurosurgery would be perfect, but it already exists, and what you're looking for would be like a subset of it.
I like the Neuro- prefix, too. It takes into account the mind as a whole and it would have to be the neurons that are manipulated. The Latin for manipulator is tractatori ... Neurotractatori Other Latin suggestions: Neurogenitor (creator) ... Neurofactorum (maker) ... Neuroartifex (crafter)
I like that because it immediately suggests that the practitioners consider themselves godlike, and the reality would be that they're tampering with something they never should have. But that probably isn't the way the story is headed. I really like the ring of Neurogenitor though, and Neurogenisis. I can hear the commercials now—"Neurogenesis—a new beginning. Do you suffer from anxieties or intrusive memories you wish would just go away? Well, stop on in! It's just a quick outpatient operation, a few little snips and a dash of chemical cocktail, and you're on your way, a new person ready to begin your new life." A few ideas that popped up today: Neuronal editing Neurosectomy or Neurosection/Neurosectionist (sect meaning to cut) Neuroplasaia (plasia is the medical term for new formation—and medical terminology is another good place to look) Neurocoupling (linking and separation of neurons or neuronal networks) I think we're getting closer to something that sounds really good. This is a process that can take a lot of time, and it often involves re-thinking the original premise, possibly several times. At least that's the way I approach it, but that's the way I approach writing in general.
The neuro- prefix has a nice ring to it. As far as my understanding goes, neuro has to do with the nervous system which includes the brain. So although it is relevant, perhaps a word that focuses more on the brain may sound better? Like mental, psych(e)(o)(i), cerebral, and more? Mentalologist, Mentalology? Mentalogist, Mentalogy? This type of profession is similar and equivalent to other fields in my universe, such as technician, mechanic, architect, engineer, physician, etc. It requires about the same amount of education to become one as these other fields. Edit: Psychitect and Psychitecture still sounds really nice to me.
If you want to talk Greek, use Νους (Nou), which is the word for mind. Noupractor sounds simple and good. From the site I linked: Etymology From Ancient Greek νοῦς (noûs, “mind, reason, understanding”). Pronunciation IPA(key): /ˈnus/ Hyphenation: νους Noun νους • (nous) m (plural νόες) mind, brains
Ok, I've monopolized this thread too much, I'll stop now. Sometimes a great name for something suggests itself immediately, sometimes it's more of a slog to come up with one. This is how I approach it if it's difficult. And of course, you don't need it right away—you've got however long it takes to finish the book to mess around with names. You can just slap a placeholder name in now and do a Find & Replace later. My process for something like this is iterative, with sleep between iterations, because if you struggle with a problem (especially if you do it right before falling asleep, and especially if it's something very important to you) your unconscious will help. This is why people say "Let me sleep on it"—it's actually a very good strategy. But I find it's even better if you just take your time and ponder now and then, let some time (days, weeks, months) go by in between, because that way you'll have a different set of ideas in your head. Often the best things happen because two completely unrelated ideas collide and give birth to a new thought.
I suppose they do not alter the mind in the same capacity as this kind of psychitect. A psychitect does not necessarily always treat mental disorders. Though they could. They could also give someone a mental disorder. And psychiatrists rely more on medicine and biological options for their purposes. There is some connect between the professions, and someone with one title, may hold another and be dual in their profession. And psychologists are more for handling your mental issues through tests, talking, and facing them, rather than using equipment to alter the brain. That's just how I imagine it anyway.
