Concepts could be seen as living things. And the harder they are hammered in, the harder they are to dislodge. So that an idea and the way one is supposed to live could become part of that person, who is threatened by the simple suggested contradiction of that idea, or even a modification of that idea, in many cases. Any suggestion that you are threatening that living thing, whether with sledgehammer or scalpel, and you can see individuals positively bristle, as if you are brandishing the actual material counterpart at their person. Loss of concept could be experienced as a small death.
