Swearing Actually Seems To Make Humans Physically Stronger (sciencealert.com) 55
alternative_right shares a report from ScienceAlert: A new study adds to the growing body of evidence that swearing can help us unleash our inner strength, improving physical performance, it seems, by helping people break through certain psychological barriers. [...] [Psychology researcher Richard Stephens of Keele University in the UK] and his colleagues at Keele and the University of Alabama wanted to test whether swearing could not only improve physical performance, as they had done in previous research, but also see whether it does so by changing a person's psychology in the moment, especially when it comes to letting go of inhibitions.
Eighty-eight participants, aged 18 to 65, all in good enough shape to exert themselves physically, were recruited at a university campus to participate in the first experiment. They each selected a pair of words based on the following prompts: a swear word you might utter after bumping your head, and a neutral word you might use to describe a table. Then, they undertook a chair push-up, which involves sitting in a chair and, holding each side of the seat, using your arms to lift your entire body weight (bottom off the chair, feet off the floor). [...]
Both experiments suggested that swearing offers an advantage in physical performance, with participants achieving longer chair push-up hold times as they repeated their foul-mouthed mantras. Scores for positive emotion, humor, distraction, and novelty were also elevated in the swearing tests, which suggests invoking their favorite four-letter word might enable people to transition into more action-oriented states, and perhaps actually enjoy their workout more. The research is published in American Psychologist.
Eighty-eight participants, aged 18 to 65, all in good enough shape to exert themselves physically, were recruited at a university campus to participate in the first experiment. They each selected a pair of words based on the following prompts: a swear word you might utter after bumping your head, and a neutral word you might use to describe a table. Then, they undertook a chair push-up, which involves sitting in a chair and, holding each side of the seat, using your arms to lift your entire body weight (bottom off the chair, feet off the floor). [...]
Both experiments suggested that swearing offers an advantage in physical performance, with participants achieving longer chair push-up hold times as they repeated their foul-mouthed mantras. Scores for positive emotion, humor, distraction, and novelty were also elevated in the swearing tests, which suggests invoking their favorite four-letter word might enable people to transition into more action-oriented states, and perhaps actually enjoy their workout more. The research is published in American Psychologist.
Reaches for ... (Score:4, Funny)
Time to put in a few reps before bedtime.
Re: (Score:3)
Jesus fuckin' Christ, it's Roget's Profanisaurus.
And fun fact: The Profanisaurus is the only dinosaur to have survived the asteroid. Because of it's super-strength from its salty language.
Re: (Score:2)
No, it's named for Roger Mellie.
Re: (Score:1)
Jesus fuckin' Christ, it's Roget's Profanisaurus.
Damn. You kiss your kettleballs with that mouth?
Reactions like that make me wonder if Pavlov was neighbors with Mellie.
Heey, wait a minute. Rogets Thesaurus. Rogers Profanisaurus? You egging me on? I knew I smelled a dog. ;)
Re: Reaches for ... (Score:2)
F you
Fuck yeah it does! (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I found that swearing at AI made it stop hallucinating and refine its answers to facts.
Until the next time... when again I had to, pardon my French, *fucking* swear at it again!
Re: (Score:2)
It also fixes computer equipment. Sometimes...
Yes, it comes right after the begging stage "pleeeeeeeeaaaase just work".
Bullshit *is* my "neutral" word (Score:1)
Or rather, my go-to default. Since I see it everywhere in the soft "sciences."
Re: Bullshit *is* my "neutral" word (Score:2)
Did you just try to bite the hand that feeds you, butvfail to even get them to notice you?
You betcha (Score:2)
I fucking knew it! (Score:3)
Since I was a wee lad, swearing felt good; and not for the all too obvious taboo, I shouldn't be using these words motive. No, swear words are purer than that, in that they warn the whole brain and body that some superhuman response is necessary immediately, if not sooner, in order to rectify a very recent miscalculation.
It works! (Score:2)
I swear a good, healthy "just go, you cocksucking CUNT!" will add at least 50 ft-lbs when trying to convince a stubborn fastener to come off.
I don't miss wrenching on stuff that slept outside in the English countryside and was seldom used.
Re: (Score:2)
I swear a good, healthy "just go, you cocksucking CUNT!" will add at least 50 ft-lbs when trying to convince a stubborn fastener to come off.
I don't miss wrenching on stuff that slept outside in the English countryside and was seldom used.
Ah, Poop.
"I don't miss wrenching on stuff that slept outside in the English countryside and was seldom used."
That's hitting a little close to home, mate. 'Wrenching on stuff that slept outside in the English countryside and was seldom used' describes me and most all of my 2a.m. calls.
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I don't miss wrenching on stuff that slept outside in the English countryside and was seldom used.
Okay, okay - enough about your ex-wife!
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I swear a good, healthy "just go, you cocksucking CUNT!" will add at least 50 ft-lbs when trying to convince a stubborn fastener to come off.
Fuck yes this works.
I also just realized Sam Kinison would have been certified to calibrate torque wrenches up to 500 fuck pounds, or approximately 650 cunt tons.
How does usage affect this? (Score:2)
I'm curious if these effects remain if you regularly swear. I imagine the effect has something to do with the idea that words are viewed as "forbidden". But if you use the words all the time, this probably diminishes.
Someone needs to do additional experiments. Add in racial slurs to see how that impacts people who regularly say "fuck".
Re: (Score:2)
What the fuck you talking about Willis?
Re: Swearing just shows (Score:2)
Don't be such a cunt.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't be so fucking prissy. Swearing at the right time and place, and in the right amount, can be fantastically cathartic.
Re: (Score:2)
How primitive and unevolved some people are. Everyone should try and do better.
Well played
Divine Inspiration. (Score:2)
* David drops a dumbbell *
(David) ”AAAUUUGH, MY FOOT! GODDA..”
(Goliath) ”HEY! We lift CLEAN around here Natty! NO ROIDS!”
Gotta run. I fear I owe a set or seven-zillion to the man downstairs for that.
Magic! (Score:2)
Stop assuming that spoken words only affect people psychosomaticly. The study presents evidence that words magically strengthen us. There is no evidence the effect is just psychological. :D
Team America was right (Score:2)
Fuck yeah!
Re: (Score:2)
damn right it does.
Fuck this job! (Score:2)
Wait, I'm just trying to perform at my best. Studies show... What? Meeting with HR? Now? Shit.
Re: (Score:1)
Fuck HR?
hell yea.
Humor? (Score:2)
I can believe it (Score:3)
I read somewhere that swearing triggers portions of our brain deep down the way a primal scream would. And when animals are trapped or frightened, they often emit such a scream, so I wouldn't be surprised if it had a beneficial evolutionary reason.
Swearing is pure emotion (Score:2)
People who swear aren't trying to communicate meaning, they are communicating emotion. The specific words they speak have no relevance to what they are communicating. Emotion probably does push people to a heightened sense of strength.
Re: (Score:2)
People who swear aren't trying to communicate meaning, they are communicating emotion. The specific words they speak have no relevance to what they are communicating. Emotion probably does push people to a heightened sense of strength.
Profanity as enhanced inflection to convey emotion in a story?
Hell yes. I award fifty points to House Fuckinstuff.
Not sense - actual (Score:2)
"Emotion probably does push people to a heightened sense of strength."
Anyone who's done strength training/weight lifting for any length of time knows your mood can have a small but significant effect on your performance, probably anything up to 5% difference between a really go for it mood and being depressed. And then of course there are the apochryphal stories of people lifting cars etc.
What the fuck? (Score:2)
Fuck! Fuckity, fuck, motherfucker! Shit, cunt, ass! FUCK!
I now have superhuman ability.
Re: (Score:2)
Fuck! Fuckity, fuck, motherfucker! Shit, cunt, ass! FUCK!
I now have superhuman ability.
After that, you should be able to see The Matrix.
Re: (Score:2)
Fuck! Fuckity, fuck, motherfucker! Shit, cunt, ass! FUCK!
I now have superhuman ability.
After that, you should be able to see The Matrix.
Or give The King's Speech [imdb.com].
Now I know... (Score:3)
Now I know why when I used to goto to a fundamentalist evangelical church they did not like me swearing, using colorful language, laced with expletives and adverbs...all that fraking bull-flop.
Of course, then I heard them in private, with their families, friends...so explains their holy-roller bullying in God's house.
When one told me something obvious, and I said, "Like my former boss a manure inspector at the fertilizer factory used to say: 'No sh*t Sherlock!'" For some reason I was not welcomed back or forgiven in love by those nimrods.
But noted I stated "used to" as I could not get used to...that.100% weapons grade balonium. Fargin iceholes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
JoshK.
All I can say is (Score:3)
If this gets borne out by further research, my father-in-law must've been the strongest man on earth.
Re: (Score:2)
If this gets borne out by further research, my father-in-law must've been the strongest man on earth.
Old man strength. All that time they were just blurting out workout advice.
Dark side... (Score:1)
Never underestimate the power of the dark side.
Simple explanation (Score:2)
The obvious explanation is the people in the experiment found more meaning using profane words than they did using "long" and "wooden".
Well. I'm a strong MF then.... (Score:2)
Pussies (Score:2)
Also helps with Text Message spam (Score:2)
Replying "Fuck Off!" to political/charity/marketing SMS spam usually gets me "you have been unsubscribed from this list."
Martial Arts? (Score:2)
Haven't the various martial arts taught basically this for centuries? The Japanese "kiai"/Korean "kihap" basically do the same without the vulgar vocabulary...
Watch out Marvel (Score:2)
I simply cannot wait to see the next superhero story of "Captain Fuck You" and his trusty sidekick "Motherfucking Bullshit"
It reduces neural inhibition (Score:2)
It reduces neural inhibition. Normally the body limits strength to far from its maximum because maximum output has a high risk of injury (torn tendons, muscle tears), but the body can override the protection in emergencies (the annecdotes about mothers lifting cars, etc.)
My theory (Score:2)
My theory has always been I'm setting straight who's boss between myself and whatever heavy inanimate object I'm trying to move. Sometimes it works...
EE Smith Lensman Series (Score:2, Interesting)
Finally, a reason... (Score:2)
to look forward to the next summer Olympics.
get's you out of AI help loop on phone (Score:2)