Physicist Richard Feynman once said, "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool." One way we fool ourselves is by imagining we know more than we do; we think we are experts. No matter how hard you try to feel happier, you end up back where you started. Social Functionalist Frameworks for Judgment and Choice: Intuitive Politicians, Theologians, and Prosecutors, by Philip Tetlock, Psychology Review, 2002. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: (Speaking foreign language). Today in our Happiness 2.0 series, we revisit a favorite episode from 2020. Newsletter: Go behind the scenes, see what Shankar is reading and find more useful resources and links. Listen on the Reuters app. So I think that nobody would say that they don't think language should change. VEDANTAM: I understand that there's also been studies looking at how artists who speak different languages might paint differently depending on how their languages categorize, you know, concepts like a mountain or death. Growing up, I understood this word to mean for a very short time, as in John McWhorter was momentarily surprised. Many of us rush through our days, weeks, and lives, chasing goals, and just trying to get everything done. There's a way of speaking right. GEACONE-CRUZ: And you're at home in your pajamas, all nice and cuddly and maybe, watching Netflix or something. My big fat greek wedding, an american woman of greek ancestry falls in love with a very vanilla, american man. I had this cool experience when I was there. But then you start writing things down and you're in a whole new land because once things are sitting there written on that piece of paper, there's that illusion. If you're just joining us, I'm talking to John McWhorter. Hidden Brain - You 2.0: Cultivating Your Purpose Hidden Brain Aug 2, 2021 You 2.0: Cultivating Your Purpose Play 51 min playlist_add Having a sense of purpose can be a buffer against the. And it's not just about how we think about time. VEDANTAM: One of the points you make in the book of course is that the evolution of words and their meanings is what gives us this flowering of hundreds or thousands of languages. People who breathe too much put their bodies in a hypoxic state, with not enough oxygen to the brain How breath moves in the body: air comes in through the nose and mouth; the larynx (rigid tube to avoid closing) brings air from the nose and mouth to the lungs Lungs can expand and contract to bring in or expel air Because it was. They're more likely to see through this little game that language has played on them. And so, for example, can I get a hamburger? And then if you are going to be that elliptical, why use the casual word get? VEDANTAM: Around the world, we often hear that many languages are dying, and there are a few megalanguages that are growing and expanding in all kinds of ways. So you have speakers of two different languages look at the same event and come away with different memories of what happened because of the structure of their languages and the way they would normally describe them. This week on Hidden Brain, we explore how unconscious bias can infect a culture and how a police shooting may say as much about a community as it does about individuals. * Data source: directly measured on Listen Notes. Lera said there's still a lot of research to be done on this. But, in fact, they were reflecting this little quirk of grammar, this little quirk of their language and in some cases, you know, carving those quirks of grammar into stone because when you look at statues that we have around - of liberty and justice and things like this - they have gender. For example, when we started talking about navigation, that's an example where a 5-year-old in a culture that uses words like north, south, east and west can point southeast without hesitation. When we come back, I'm going to ask you about why languages change and whether there are hidden rules that shape why some words are more likely to evolve than others. The dictionary says both uses are correct. So the word for the is different for women than for men, and it's also different for forks versus spoons and things like that. But what I am thinking is, you should realize that even if you don't like it, there's nothing wrong with it in the long run because, for example, Jonathan Swift didn't like it that people were saying kissed instead of kiss-ed (ph) and rebuked instead of rebuk-ed (ph). All sponsorship opportunities on Hidden Brain are managed by SXM Media. Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships. And you can just - it rolls off the tongue, and you can just throw it out. For more of our Relationships 2.0 series, check out one of our most popular episodes ever about why marriages are so hard. Personal Strivings: An Approach to Personality and Subjective Well-being, by Robert A. Emmons, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1986. Transcript Podcast: Subscribe to the Hidden Brain Podcast on your favorite podcast player so you never miss an episode. BORODITSKY: One thing that we've noticed is this idea of time, of course, is very highly constructed by our minds and our brains. Hidden Brain explores the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior and questions that lie at the heart of our complex and changing world. And very competent adults of our culture can't do that. So to go back to the example we were just talking about - people who don't use words like left and right - when I gave those picture stories to Kuuk Thaayorre speakers, who use north, south, east and west, they organized the cards from east to west. And I thought, wow, first of all, it would be almost impossible to have a conversation like that in English where you hadn't already revealed the gender of the person because you have to use he or she. ROB LOWE: (As Chris Traeger) Dr. Harris, you are literally the meanest person I have ever met. It Takes Two: The Interpersonal Nature of Empathic Accuracy, by Jamil Zaki, Niall Bolger, Kevin Ochsner, Psychological Science, 2008. Researcher Elizabeth Dunn helps us map out Having a sense of purpose can be a buffer against the challenges we all face at various stages of life. Another possibility is that it's a fully integrated mind, and it just incorporates ideas and distinctions from both languages or from many languages if you speak more than two. al, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2004. We talk with psychologist Iris Mauss, who explains why happiness can seem more elusive the harder we chase it, and what we can do instead to build a lasting sense of contentment. They shape our place in it. What turns out to be the case is that it's something in between - that bilinguals don't really turn off the languages they're not using when they're not using them. Hidden Brain Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships. podcast pages. Yes! So that, again, is a huge difference. We don't want to be like that. al, Group Decision and Negotiation, 2008. VEDANTAM: If languages are shaped by the way people see the world, but they also shape how people see the world, what does this mean for people who are bilingual? Go behind the scenes, see what Shankar is reading and find more useful resources and links. So you might say, there's an ant on your northwest leg. VEDANTAM: If you're bilingual or you're learning a new language, you get what Jennifer, experienced - the joy of discovering a phrase that helps you perfectly encapsulate a. feeling or an experience. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #10: (Speaking Russian). The size of this effect really quite surprised me because I would have thought at the outset that, you know, artists are these iconoclasts. Goal Striving, Need Satisfaction, and Longitudinal Well-being: The Self-Concordance Model, by Kennon M. Sheldon and Andrew J. Elliot, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1999. Opening scene of Lady Bird Flight attendant Steven Slater slides from a plane after quitting Transcript Podcast: Subscribe to the Hidden Brain Podcast on your favorite podcast player so you never miss an episode. And what he found was kids who were learning Hebrew - this is a language that has a lot of gender loading in it - figured out whether they were a boy or a girl about a year sooner than kids learning Finnish, which doesn't have a lot of gender marking in the language. That's what it's all about. VEDANTAM: Jennifer moved to Japan for graduate school. Our team includes Laura Kwerel, Adhiti Bandlamudi and our supervising producer Tara Boyle. And, I mean, really, it sounds exactly like that. In the United States, we often praise people with strong convictions, and look down on those who express doubt or hesitation. Subscribe: iOS | Android | Spotify | RSS | Amazon | Stitcher Latest Episodes: Happiness 2.0: The Reset Button UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Speaking foreign language). MCWHORTER: No, because LOL was an expression; it was a piece of language, and so you knew that its meaning was going to change. Psychologist Ken Sheldon studies the science of figuring out what you want. And it's just too much of an effort, and you can't be bothered to do it, even though it's such a small thing. It has to do with the word momentarily. Happiness 2.0: The Only Way Out Is Through. Thank you! But things can be important not just because they're big. So if you took a bunch of those tendencies, you could make up, say, the English of 50 years from now, but some of the things would just be complete chance. John, you've noted that humans have been using language for a very long time, but for most of that time language has been about talking. VEDANTAM: I understand there's been some work looking at children and that children who speak certain languages are actually quicker to identify gender and their own gender than children who are learning other languages in other cultures. : A Data-Driven Prescription to Redefine Professional Success, by Lawrence S. Krieger and Kennon M. Sheldon, George Washington Law Review, 2015. So when I ask you to, say, imagine a man walking down the street, well, in your imagery, you're going to have some details completed and some will be left out. BORODITSKY: My family is Jewish, and we left as refugees. The best Podcast API to search all podcasts and episodes. It's not necessarily may I please have, but may I have, I'll have, but not can I get a. I find it just vulgar for reasons that as you can see I can't even do what I would call defending. And, of course, you always have to wonder, well, could it be that speakers of these different languages are actually seeing different kinds of bridges? This week, we kick off a month-long series we're calling Happiness 2.0. We convince a colleague to take a different tactic at work. So there are these wonderful studies by Alexander Giora where he asked kids learning Finnish, English and Hebrew as their first languages basically, are you a boy or a girl? It's too high. You can't touch time. Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships. Women under about 30 in the United States, when they're excited or they're trying to underline a point, putting uh at the end of things. So act like Monday. The transcript below may be for an earlier version of this episode. We recommend movies or books to a friend. So it's, VEDANTAM: The moment she heard it, Jennifer realized mendokusai was incredibly. And it really is an illusion that what language is, is something that sits still. BORODITSKY: Well, you would be at sea at first. Lera is a cognitive science professor at the University of California, San Diego. Copyright Hidden Brain Media | Privacy Policy, Read the latest from the Hidden Brain Newsletter. VEDANTAM: Languages seem to have different ways of communicating agency. But can you imagine someone without imagining their gender? You couldn't have predicted this I know-uh move-uh (ph). And so what that means is if someone was sitting facing south, they would lay out the story from left to right. And you can even teach people to have a little bit of fun with the artifice. How else would you do it? He's a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University and the author of the book "Words On The Move: Why English Won't - And Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally).". VEDANTAM: If you're bilingual or you're learning a new language, you get what Jennifer experienced - the joy of discovering a phrase that helps you perfectly encapsulate a feeling or an experience. We're speaking today with cognitive science professor Lera Boroditsky about language. If you still cant find the episode, try looking through our most recent shows on our homepage. We always knew that certain species of animals had abilities to orient that we thought were better than human, and we always had some biological excuse for why we couldn't do it. I'm Shankar Vedantam. This week, a story about a con with a twist. If the language stayed the way it was, it would be like a pressed flower in a book or, as I say, I think it would be like some inflatable doll rather than a person. And then question 21 was, is this person a man or a woman? When language was like that, of course it changed a lot - fast - because once you said it, it was gone. Purpose can also boost our health and longevity. Just saying hello was difficult. GEACONE-CRUZ: It's a Sunday afternoon, and it's raining outside. You know, there's no left leg or right leg. But time doesn't have to flow with respect to the body. VEDANTAM: So I find that I'm often directionally and navigationally challenged when I'm driving around, and I often get my east-west mixed up with my left-right for reasons I have never been able to fathom. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking foreign language). And so for me, that question was born in that conversation of are there some languages where it's easier to imagine a person without their characteristics of gender filled in? Dictionaries are wonderful things, but they create an illusion that there's such thing as a language that stands still, when really it's the nature of human language to change. But is that true when it comes to the pursuit of happiness? You can't know, but you can certainly know that if could listen to people 50 years from now, they'd sound odd. June 20, 2020 This week on Hidden Brain, research about prejudices so deeply buried, we often doubt their existence. I said, you know, this weird thing happened. In a lot of languages, there isn't. It's never going to. Newer episodes are unlikely to have a transcript as it takes us a few weeks to process and edit each transcript. Parents and peers influence our major life choices, but they can also steer us in directions that leave us deeply unsatisfied. Well, that's an incredibly large set of things, so that's a very broad effect of language. What techniques did that person use to persuade you? That kind of detail may not appear. You're not going to do any of the things that are seen as a foundation of our technological society. VEDANTAM: Would it be possible to use what we have learned about how words and languages evolve to potentially write what a dictionary might look like in 50 years or a hundred years? Now, many people hear that and they think, well, that's no good because now literally can mean its opposite. Many of us rush through our lives, chasing goals and just trying to get everything done. The Effects of Conflict Types, Dimensions, and Emergent States on Group Outcomes, by Karen Jehn et. Today in our Happiness 2.0 series, we revisit a favorite episode from 2020. BORODITSKY: And Russian is a language that has grammatical gender, and different days of the week have different genders for some reason. MCWHORTER: Thank you for having me, Shankar. Cholera and malnourishment await Somalis fleeing . This is a database with millions of art images. All rights reserved. But that can blind us to a very simple source of joy that's all around us. The transcript below may be for an earlier version of this episode. So they've compared gender equality, gender parity norms from the World Health Organization, which ranks countries on how equal access to education, how equal pay is, how equal representation in government is across the genders. Thank you for helping to keep the podcast database up to date. When we come back, we dig further into the way that gender works in different languages and the pervasive effects that words can play in our lives. And if it was feminine, then you're likely to paint death as a woman. Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. And I don't think any of us are thinking that it's a shame that we're not using the language of Beowulf. Perceived Partner Responsiveness Minimizes Defensive Reactions to Failure, by Peter A. Caprariello and Harry T. Reis, Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2011. MCWHORTER: Those are called contronyms, and literally has become a new contronym. And what we find is that if you teach people that forks go with men grammatically in a language, they start to think of forks as being more masculine. He's also the author of the book, "Words On The Move: Why English Won't - And Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally).". 4.62. MCWHORTER: You could have fun doing such a thing. BORODITSKY: Well, there may not be a word for left to refer to a left leg. And as soon as I saw that happen, I thought, oh, this makes it so much easier. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Speaking foreign language). We'd say, oh, well, we don't have magnets in our beaks or in our scales or whatever. They shape our place in it. Why researchers should think real-world: A conceptual rationale, by Harry T. Reis, in Handbook of Research Methods for Studying Daily Life, 2012. It Takes Two: The Interpersonal Nature of Empathic Accuracy, What Do You Do When Things Go Right? VEDANTAM: My guest today is - well, why don't I let her introduce herself? And as you point out, it's not just that people feel that a word is being misused. I'm Shankar Vedanta. Researcher Elizabeth Dunn helps us map out the unexpected ways we can find joy and happiness in our everyday lives. We'll begin with police shootings of unarmed Black men. This week, we kick off a month-long series we're calling Happiness 2.0. If you grew up speaking a language other than English, you probably reach for words in your native tongue without even thinking about it. Mistakes and errors are what turned Latin into French. Lera, thank you so much for joining me on HIDDEN BRAIN today. What Do You Do When Things Go Right? If you're like most people, you probably abandoned those resolutions within a few weeks. something, even though it shouldn't be so much of an effort. VEDANTAM: There are phrases in every language that are deeply evocative and often, untranslatable. That's how much cultural heritage is lost. But what if it's not even about lust? Evaluating Changes in Motivation, Values, and Well-being, Goal Striving, Need Satisfaction, and Longitudinal Well-being: The Self-Concordance Model, Personal Strivings: An Approach to Personality and Subjective Well-being, Read the latest from the Hidden Brain Newsletter. I've always found that a very grating way to ask for something at a store. You know, it's Lady Liberty and Lady Justice. For example, if you take seeds and put them in the ground, that's one thing. And all of a sudden, I noticed that there was a new window that had popped up in my mind, and it was like a little bird's-eye view of the landscape that I was walking through, and I was a little red dot that was moving across the landscape. They are ways of seeing the world. No matter how hard you try to feel happier, you end up back where you started. A brief history of relationship research in social psychology, by Harry T. Reis, in Handbook of the History of Social Psychology, 2011. Language is something that's spoken, and spoken language especially always keeps changing. The transcript below may be for an earlier version of this episode. Go behind the scenes, see what Shankar is reading and find more useful resources and links. But I don't think that it's always clear to us that language has to change in that things are going to come in that we're going to hear as intrusions or as irritating or as mistakes, despite the fact that that's how you get from, say, old Persian to modern Persian. I want everybody to have the fun I'm having. And if they were facing east, they would make the cards come toward them, toward the body. Hidden Brain Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam Science 4.6 36K Ratings; Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships. And it ended up becoming less a direct reflection of hearty laughter than an indication of the kind of almost subconscious laughter that we do in any kind of conversation that's meant as friendly. So for example, you might not imagine the color shirt that he's wearing or the kinds of shoes that he's wearing. If you're studying a new language, you might discover these phrases not in your textbooks but when you're hanging out with friends. I'm Shankar Vedantam. VEDANTAM: Still don't have a clear picture? It's part of a general running indication that everything's OK between you and the other person, just like one's expected to smile a little bit in most interactions. Sometimes, life can feel like being stuck on a treadmill. That hadn't started then. This week on Hidden Brain, we revisit a favorite episode exploring what this culture means Jesse always wanted to fall in love. Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. How to Foster Perceived Partner Responsiveness: High-Quality LIstening is Key, by Guy Itzchakov, Harry Reis, and Netta Weinstein, Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2021. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) I'm willing to get involved. What a cynical thing to say, but that doesn't mean that it might not be true. BORODITSKY: And when they were trying to act like Wednesday, they would act like a woman BORODITSKY: Which accords with grammatical gender in Russian. If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page. VEDANTAM: Jennifer moved to Japan for graduate school. Perceived Partner Responsiveness as an Organizing Construct in the Study of Intimacy and Closeness, by Harry T. Reis, et. No matter how hard you try to feel happier, you end up back where you started. LERA BORODITSKY: The categorization that language provides to you becomes real - becomes psychologically real. I'm Shankar Vedantam. Subscribe to the Hidden Brain Podcast on your favorite podcast player so you never miss an episode. But if you seed a watermelon, nobody assumes that you're taking seeds and putting them in the watermelon, you're taking them out. Sometimes you just have to suck it up. You know, we spend years teaching children about how to use language correctly. One study that I love is a study that asked monolingual speakers of Italian and German and also bilingual speakers of Italian and German to give reasons for why things are the grammatical genders that they are. It's natural to want to run away from difficult emotions such as grief, anger and fear. There was no such thing as looking up what it originally meant. To request permission, please send an email to [emailprotected]. 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VEDANTAM: It took just one week of living in Japan for Jennifer to pick up an important new term. Today in our Happiness 2.0 series, we revisit a favorite episode from 2020. That's because change is hard. And we looked at every personification and allegory in Artstor and asked, does the language that you speak matter for how you paint death, depending on whether the word death is masculine or feminine in your language? VEDANTAM: Lera Boroditsky is a cognitive science professor at the University of California, San Diego. Of course, you also can't experience anything outside of time. Copyright Hidden Brain Media | Privacy Policy, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Dont Know, Refusing to Apologize can have Psychological Benefits, The Effects of Conflict Types, Dimensions, and Emergent States on Group Outcomes, Social Functionalist Frameworks for Judgment and Choice: Intuitive Politicians, Theologians, and Prosecutors, Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams, The Effective Negotiator Part 1: The Behavior of Successful Negotiators, The Effective Negotiator Part 2: Planning for Negotiations, Read the latest from the Hidden Brain Newsletter. So that's a measurement difference of 100 percent of performance.

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