25/5/2018 0 Comments SWEARING IS GOOD FOR YOU!SWEARING IS GOOD FOR YOU
May 11, 2018 at the Normal? Festival of the Brain, Folkestone Dr Emma Byrne works as a robotics scientist whilst extending her fascination with profanity. Today she posed and answered questions, giving descriptions of research. Does swearing help us? It can reduce stress, encourage teamwork and better friendships, and deal with pain. It can also deflect rather than act as a proxy for physical violence. Why do we swear when in pain? Emma invited a volunteer to leave his hand in ice water for as long as possible, firstly saying only ‘straight’. He later repeated the exercise but was allowed to say ‘shit’. ‘Straight’ resulted 19 seconds whereas ‘shit’ gave 45 seconds. So, had the swearing eased his pain or given him the courage to withstand it? Why is swearing good for us? Apart from anything else, we gain information. For example, in sport we can assess which team is winning by listening. Football fans tend to use ‘shit’ when things are going badly and ‘fuck’ while they are going well. What are swear words? Swearing has been used as a diagnostic tool for over 150 years, yet there is still no definition. There are recognised topics but most gradually lose their potency. Blasphemy has little impact now; sexual terms are becoming less shocking as they are incorporated into more normal language and used as a kind of verbal seasoning. Words used against the individual as in sexism, racism and homophobia are the most taboo now. Why do we resist it? We all have the right to swear but some people are offended and assume others will be too. When we hear swearing we consider our feelings rather than think what it is doing for the speaker or what s/he is trying to do. Do men swear more than women? Some suggest that swearing by women is odious to God and women are too innocent to even understand the words. Huh! It is true that, in public, women are milder in swearing than men, but when together, we say whatever the fuck we want. Emily Bronte wrote swear words when they were appropriate for her characters and that word ‘appropriate’ is crucial in any consideration of swearing. We could have spent longer exploring questions about appropriacy; different languages; animals and swearing; judging or accepting those who swear; physiological effects; etcetera, but we had no time. Did we expect Emma to swear her way through the presentation? Probably. But her use was entirely appropriate and showed how much swearing can enrich what is being said. Joy Pascoe May, 2018. The unedited version is available on http://thesickofthefringe.com/diagnoses/swearing SWEAR!NG IS GO*D F*R YOU! THE AMAZ!NG SC!ENCE OF BAD LANGUAGE by Emma Byrne Profile books 2017 May 2013 – ‘BBC Four Thought’ on the benefits of swearing. The benefits of swearing. RSA Journal (Issue 1, 2017) https://emmabyrnenet.files.wordpress.com
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