Swears make you smarter?
In our society, swear words are seen as offensive to many people, and we are strongly encouraged not to use them. In some communities, even saying "oh my god" is deemed unacceptable. People also tell you that you are less intelligent if you swear. But is swearing truly as terrible as we are told to think?
There are many studies which suggest it is actually beneficial, good for you, if you swear. It shows intelligence and strength increase, for example.
One study suggests that muscle strength and stamina receive a boost when you swear, because it stimulates your sympathetic nervous system. So when you look at a study like this, showing swearing is genuinely useful, does it look as bad as we are told?
Furthermore, people who say swearing makes you less intelligent could actually be the less intellectual ones. For example, swearing is often used purposefully, for effect on an audience; whether that may be linguistic, emotive, or for comedy. Would a less intelligent person have developed these skills to use something seen as bad for positive effect? Additionally, people who swear are more verbal fluent, a study suggests. When people were asked to name as many words beginning with a certain letter, then as many swears as they could in a minute, a correlation between the two showed that people who got more taboo words, also got more beginning with the letter, suggesting that the more you use these words, the more language you know and can use quickly overall.
Additionally, it is shown to increase pain tolerance. If you were to put your hand in ice water and swear while doing so, you would be able to leave your hand in the water for longer, because swearing gives you some release, a distraction maybe, from the pain. This could be the reason why generally people swear when they stub their toe or something.
So why do people say you're not as smart if you swear? The media, celebrities (probably). Take Snoop Dogg as an example. He said in an interview that he was going to stop calling women bitches and ho's because he has a new respect for women. People like this that seriously can't tell that its not okay to call a woman that, and claims that they didn't respect them previously are the reason for claims of stupidity. People in the limelight who are idiotic and say things like this give a bad impression because they are right there in the public eye, meaning they are the only examples that people who haven't looked into the topic see.
In conclusion, does swearing make you stupid? No, and it is actually a useful tool for effect, pain relief, strength increase, and increases verbal fluency. Oh, and Snoop Dogg actually IS less intelligent, not because he swears though.
There are many studies which suggest it is actually beneficial, good for you, if you swear. It shows intelligence and strength increase, for example.
One study suggests that muscle strength and stamina receive a boost when you swear, because it stimulates your sympathetic nervous system. So when you look at a study like this, showing swearing is genuinely useful, does it look as bad as we are told?
Furthermore, people who say swearing makes you less intelligent could actually be the less intellectual ones. For example, swearing is often used purposefully, for effect on an audience; whether that may be linguistic, emotive, or for comedy. Would a less intelligent person have developed these skills to use something seen as bad for positive effect? Additionally, people who swear are more verbal fluent, a study suggests. When people were asked to name as many words beginning with a certain letter, then as many swears as they could in a minute, a correlation between the two showed that people who got more taboo words, also got more beginning with the letter, suggesting that the more you use these words, the more language you know and can use quickly overall.
Additionally, it is shown to increase pain tolerance. If you were to put your hand in ice water and swear while doing so, you would be able to leave your hand in the water for longer, because swearing gives you some release, a distraction maybe, from the pain. This could be the reason why generally people swear when they stub their toe or something.
So why do people say you're not as smart if you swear? The media, celebrities (probably). Take Snoop Dogg as an example. He said in an interview that he was going to stop calling women bitches and ho's because he has a new respect for women. People like this that seriously can't tell that its not okay to call a woman that, and claims that they didn't respect them previously are the reason for claims of stupidity. People in the limelight who are idiotic and say things like this give a bad impression because they are right there in the public eye, meaning they are the only examples that people who haven't looked into the topic see.
In conclusion, does swearing make you stupid? No, and it is actually a useful tool for effect, pain relief, strength increase, and increases verbal fluency. Oh, and Snoop Dogg actually IS less intelligent, not because he swears though.
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