So we've done a lot of studies looking at how speakers of Spanish and German and Russian actually think about objects that have opposite grammatical genders. And, I mean, just in terms of even sounds changing and the way that you put words together changing bit by bit, and there's never been a language that didn't do that. VEDANTAM: Languages orient us to the world. Hidden Brain (podcast) - Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam - Listen Notes Which I think is probably important with the reality that this edifice that you're teaching is constantly crumbling. But what happens when these feelings catch up with us? BORODITSKY: Well, there may not be a word for left to refer to a left leg. You-uh (ph). And you can even teach people to have a little bit of fun with the artifice. And the answer should be, north, northeast in the far distance; how about you? MCWHORTER: Thank you for having me, Shankar. Athletic Scholarships are Negatively Associated with Intrinsic Motivation for Sports, Even Decades Later: Evidence for Long-Term Undermining, by Kennon M. Sheldon and Arlen C. Moller, Motivation Science, 2020. Psychologist Ken Sheldon studies the science of figuring out what you want. And I did that. 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. I just don't want to do it. Those sorts things tend to start with women. Newer episodes are unlikely to have a transcript as it takes us a few weeks to process and edit each transcript. We love the idea of Hidden Brain helping to spark discussions in your community. He didn't like that people were shortening the words. VEDANTAM: My guest today is - well, why don't I let her introduce herself? I just don't want to do it. Hidden Brain - Google Podcasts But that can blind us to a very simple source of joy that's all around us. VEDANTAM: Lera Boroditsky is a cognitive science professor at the University of California, San Diego. Hidden Brain Host Explains Why We Lie to Ourselves Every Day Today in our Happiness 2.0 series, we revisit a favorite episode from 2020. 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. And they have correlated this with gender features in the language, just like the ones you were talking about. Hidden Brain Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships. Many of us rush through our lives, chasing goals and just trying to get everything done. BORODITSKY: And Russian is a language that has grammatical gender, and different days of the week have different genders for some reason. This week, we kick off a month-long series we're calling Happiness 2.0. I think language can certainly be a contributor into the complex system of our thinking about gender. Hidden Brain on Apple Podcasts Subscribe to the Hidden Brain Podcast on your favorite podcast player so you never miss an episode. VEDANTAM: It took just one week of living in Japan for Jennifer to pick up an important new term. We'll also look at how languages evolve, and why we're sometimes resistant to those changes. And if you don't have a word for exactly seven, it actually becomes very, very hard to keep track of exactly seven. : A Data-Driven Prescription to Redefine Professional Success, by Lawrence S. Krieger and Kennon M. Sheldon, George Washington Law Review, 2015. Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. And so to address that question, what we do is we bring English speakers into the lab, and we teach them grammatical genders in a new language that we invent. But if he just bumped into the table, and it happened to fall off the table and break, and it was an accident, then you might be more likely to say, the flute broke, or the flute broke itself, or it so happened to Sam that the flute broke. FEB 27, 2023; Happiness 2.0: The Reset Button . You may link to our content and copy and paste episode descriptions and Additional Resources into your invitations. I'm Shankar Vedantam. Go behind the scenes, see what Shankar is reading and find more useful resources and links. Purpose can also boost our health and longevity. Today in our Happiness 2.0 series, we revisit a favorite episode from 2020. Reframing Your Reality: Part 1 | Hidden Brain Media And to our surprise, 78 percent of the time, we could predict the gender of the personification based on the grammatical gender of the noun in the artist's native language. You know, lots of people blow off steam about something they think is wrong, but very few people are willing to get involved and do something about it. VEDANTAM: John McWhorter, thank you so much for joining me on HIDDEN BRAIN today. BORODITSKY: My family is Jewish, and we left as refugees. So the question for us has been, how do we build these ideas? This week, we continue our look at the science of influence with psychologist Robert Cialdini, and explore how these techniques can be used for both good and evil. But what if there's a whole category of people in your life whose impact is overlooked? There was no way of transcribing an approximation of what people said and nobody would have thought of doing it. And why do some social movements take off and spread, while others fizzle? BORODITSKY: Yeah. Purpose can also boost our health and longevity. If you prefer to listen through a podcast app, here are links to our podcast on Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher. But that can blind us to a very simple source of joy that's all around us. HIDDEN BRAIN < Lost in Translation: January 29, 20189:00 PM ET VEDANTAM: Well, that's kind of you, Lera. VEDANTAM: In the English-speaking world, she goes by Lera Boroditsky. GEACONE-CRUZ: It's a Sunday afternoon, and it's raining outside. Official Website Airs on: SUN 7pm-8pm 55:27 Happiness 2.0: The Reset Button Feb 27 Many of us rush through our lives, chasing goals and just trying to get everything done. 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. So you may start with moving your southwest leg in, but then you have to move your northeast leg out. MCWHORTER: Yeah. L. Gable, et. Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. 4.62. That said, if you hear one or two pieces of music that you really love, feel free to email us at [emailprotected] and well do our best to respond to your request. GEACONE-CRUZ: It describes this feeling so perfectly in such a wonderfully packaged, encapsulated way. See you next week. That was somehow a dad's fashion, and that I should start wearing flat-fronted pants. I had this cool experience when I was there. And it's sad that we're not going to be able to make use of them and learn them and celebrate them. Each language comprises the ideas that have been worked out in a culture over thousands of generations, and that is an incredible amount of cultural heritage and complexity of thought that disappears whenever a language dies. And then he would take a Polaroid of the kid and say, well, this is you. In this episode, we explore how long-term relationships have changed over time and whether we might be able to improve marriage by asking less of it. This week, in the fourth and final installment of our Happiness 2.0 series, psychologist Dacher Keltner describes . BORODITSKY: It's certainly possible. That kind of detail may not appear. But that can blind us to a very simple source of joy thats all around us. If you are a podcaster, the best way to manage your podcasts on Listen Notes is by claiming your Listen Notes And they asked me all kinds of questions about them. Lera is a cognitive science professor at the University of California, San Diego. You can find all Hidden Brain episodes on our website. And I don't think any of us are thinking that it's a shame that we're not using the language of Beowulf. I'm Shankar Vedantam. And so what that means is if someone was sitting facing south, they would lay out the story from left to right. If you dont see any jobs posted there, feel free to send your resume and cover letter to [emailprotected] and well keep your materials on hand for future openings on the show. 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. Hidden Brain : NPR (Speaking Japanese). Many of us rush through our days, weeks, and lives, chasing goals, and just trying to get everything done. This is HIDDEN BRAIN. I'm Shankar Vedantam. VEDANTAM: So I want to talk about a debate that's raged in your field for many years. So LOL starts out as meaning hardy-har-har (ph), but then it becomes something more abstract. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: (Speaking foreign language). Lera is a cognitive science professor at the University of California, San Diego. Our transcripts are provided by various partners and may contain errors or deviate slightly from the audio. by Harry T. Reis, Annie Regan, and Sonja Lyubomirsky, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2021. We use a lot of music on the show! What do you think the implications are - if you buy the idea that languages are a very specific and unique way of seeing the world, of perceiving reality, what are the implications of so many languages disappearing during our time? It's too high. Flight attendant Steven Slater slides from a plane after quitting. But actually, it's something that's not so hard to learn. No matter how hard you try to feel happier, you end up back where you started. And they said, well, of course. Hidden Brain on RadioPublic So for example, grammatical gender - because grammatical gender applies to all nouns in your language, that means that language is shaping the way you think about everything that can be named by a noun. Transcript 585: In Defense of Ignorance Note: This American Life is produced for the ear and designed to be heard. VEDANTAM: Time is another concept that is also central to the way we see and describe the world. Sometimes, life can feel like being stuck on a treadmill. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking foreign language). JENNIFER GEACONE-CRUZ: My name is Jennifer Geacone-Cruz. We'll begin with police shootings of unarmed Black men. In a lot of languages, there isn't. 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. In this favorite 2021 episode, psychologistAdam Grantpushes back against the benefits of certainty, and describes the magic that unfolds when we challenge our own deeply-held beliefs. For more on decision-making, check out our episode on how to make wiser choices. People do need to be taught what the socially acceptable forms are. So what happens is that once literally comes to feel like it means really, people start using it in figurative constructions such as I was literally dying of thirst. ), Handbook of Closeness and Intimacy, 2004. Just saying hello was difficult. Please do not republish our logo, name or content digitally or distribute to more than 10 people without written permission. I'm Shankar Vedanta. This week, in the second installment of our Happiness 2.0 series, psychologist Todd Kashdan looks at the relationship between distress and happiness, and ho, Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. He says that buying into false beliefs, in other words, deluding ourselves can . Our transcripts are provided by various partners and may contain errors or deviate slightly from the audio. In this month's Radio Replay, we ask whether the structure of the languages we speak can change the way we see the world. BORODITSKY: Yeah. Interpersonal Chemistry: What Is It, How Does It Emerge, and How Does it Operate? It's natural to want to run away from difficult emotions such as grief, anger and fear. There's a way of speaking right. So in English, I might say that Sam (ph) broke the flute. So new words are as likely to evolve as old ones. Hidden Brain. MCWHORTER: Language is a parade, and nobody sits at a parade wishing that everybody would stand still. VEDANTAM: Jennifer moved to Japan for graduate school. Today in our Happiness 2.0 series, we revisit a favorite episode from 2020. * Data source: directly measured on Listen Notes. This week on Hidden Brain, we revisit a favorite episode exploring what this culture means Jesse always wanted to fall in love. So some languages don't have number words. So you might say, there's an ant on your northwest leg. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Right. How so? The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Who Do You Want To Be? | Hidden Brain Media And then when I turned, this little window stayed locked on the landscape, but it turned in my mind's eye. So maybe they're saying bridges are beautiful and elegant, not because they're grammatically feminine in the language, but because the bridges they have are, in fact, more beautiful and elegant. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #11: (Speaking Russian). Interpersonal Chemistry: What Is It, How Does It Emerge, and How Does it Operate? And what's cool about languages, like the languages spoken in Pormpuraaw, is that they don't use words like left and right, and instead, everything is placed in cardinal directions like north, south, east and west. 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. June 20, 2020 This week on Hidden Brain, research about prejudices so deeply buried, we often doubt their existence. But is that true when it comes to the pursuit of happiness? 585: In Defense of Ignorance - This American Life Whats going on here? For more of our Relationships 2.0 series, check out one of our most popular episodes ever about why marriages are so hard. In this favorite episode from 2021, Cornell University psychologist Anthony Burrow explains why purpose isnt something to be found its somethi, It's natural to want to run away from difficult emotions such as grief, anger and fear. And so somebody says something literally, somebody takes a point literally. Writing has come along relatively recently. I'm Shankar Vedantam. The only question was in which way. What techniques did that person use to persuade you? And then if you are going to be that elliptical, why use the casual word get? But the reason that it seems so elusive is because we don't really think about the, quote, unquote, "meaning" of things like our conversation-easing laughter. JENNIFER GEACONE-CRUZ: My name is Jennifer Geacone-Cruz. In the final episode of our Relationships 2.0 series, psychologistHarry Reis says theres another ingredient to successful relationships thats every bit as important as love. Marcus Butt/Getty Images/Ikon Images Hidden Brain Why Nobody Feels Rich by Shankar Vedantam , Parth Shah , Tara Boyle , Rhaina Cohen September 14, 2020 If you've ever flown in economy class. Perspectives on the Situation by Harry T. Reis, and John G. Holmes, in The Oxford Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology, 2012. Lera said there's still a lot of research to be done on this. But time doesn't have to flow with respect to the body. BORODITSKY: I had this wonderful opportunity to work with my colleague Alice Gaby in this community called Pormpuraaw in - on Cape York. ROB LOWE: (As Chris Traeger) Dr. Harris, you are literally the meanest person I have ever met. Are the spoken origins of language one reason that words so often seem to be on the move? FAQ | Hidden Brain Media Newsletter: No matter how hard you try to feel happier, you end up back where you started. But I find that people now usually use the word to mean very soon, as in we're going to board the plane momentarily. MCWHORTER: Yes, that's exactly true. All episodes of Hidden Brain - Chartable Hidden Brain Episodes Happiness 2.0: The Reset Button Many of us rush through our lives, chasing goals and just trying to get everything done. If you, grew up speaking a language other than English, you probably reach for words in your. And as soon as I saw that happen, I thought, oh, this makes it so much easier. Imagine this. Hidden Brain - Transcripts (Speaking Japanese). But does a person who says that really deserve the kind of sneering condemnation that you often see? Everyone wants to be loved and appreciated. Go behind the scenes, see what Shankar is reading and find more useful resources and links. Long before she began researching languages as a professor, foreign languages loomed large in her life. But that can blind us to a very simple source of joy thats all around us. And maybe the convenience store or the shop is really not that far away. He. VEDANTAM: I'm Shankar Vedantam. If you're studying a new language, you might discover these phrases not. We'd say, oh, well, we don't have magnets in our beaks or in our scales or whatever. And if you teach them that forks go with women, they start to think that forks are more feminine. We'll be back momentarily. Copyright 2018 NPR. And you can just - it rolls off the tongue, and you can just throw it out. And I was telling this person about someone I knew back in America. There are different ways to be a psychologist. We don't want to be like that. But it's a lovely example of how language can guide you to discover something about the world that might take you longer to discover if you didn't have that information in language. We post open positions (including internships) on our jobs page. 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. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. But what if it's not even about lust? It seems kind of elliptical, like, would it be possible that I obtained? And so even though I insist that there is no scientific basis for rejecting some new word or some new meaning or some new construction, I certainly have my visceral biases. There are signs it's getting even harder. MCWHORTER: Yes, Shankar, that's exactly it. VEDANTAM: Well, that's kind of you, Lera. As someone who works in media, I often find that people who can write well are often people who know how to think well, so I often equate clarity of writing with clarity of thought. He says there are things we can do to make sure our choices align with our deepest values. Our transcripts are provided by various partners and may contain errors or deviate slightly from the audio. 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. And to arrive in a new place where you can't tell a joke and can't express an idea - oh, it's just really painful because you feel like your whole self is hiding inside and no one can see it. 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. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) If you're so upset about it, maybe you can think of a way to help her. So in terms of the size of differences, there are certainly effects that are really, really big.