Slashdot Mirror
Swearing Provides Pain Relief, Say Scientists
Hugh Pickens writes "Scientific American reports that although cursing is notoriously decried in the public debate, scientists have discovered that swearing may serve an important function in relieving pain. 'Swearing is such a common response to pain that there has to be an underlying reason why we do it,' says Richard Stephens of Keele University in England. A study measured how long college students could keep their hands immersed in cold water. During the chilly exercise, they could repeat an expletive of their choice or chant a neutral word. When swearing, the 67 student volunteers reported less pain and on average endured about 40 seconds longer. How swearing achieves its physical effects is unclear, but the researchers speculate that brain circuitry linked to emotion is involved. Earlier studies have shown that unlike normal language, which relies on the outer few millimeters in the left hemisphere of the brain, expletives hinge on evolutionarily ancient structures buried deep inside the right half like the amygdala, an almond-shaped group of neurons that can trigger a fight-or-flight response in which our heart rate climbs and we become less sensitive to pain."
I call bullshit...
Fucking shit, the Javascript on this fucking site is too fucking slow. Seriously. It's fucking horrible. Tons of pauses for no apparent reason for simple fucking basic tasks like showing a text box, sitting there and mocking you. They're laughing at you because you think it's bullshit but you stick around for it. End this madness! AHH MAKE THE DELAYS STOP!! Maybe my swearing will relieve the pain of fucking poorly coded JS.
Physical pain is easily overcome through the use of drugs. It is also controllable through meditation and other mind-tricks which move the focus of the mind and body from the pain to something else.
But what about emotional pain? Should I keep calling her and swearing at her until I feel better? I don't feel better so far.
That, or Billy Connolly is pain free!
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Swearing out loud in front of other people can carry some baggage and consequence. It's risky social behavior.
Only if you dick around fucking prudes.
You can't take the sky from me...
Did anyone else accidentally read the headline as: Swearing Provides Palin Relief?
I think either is true.
OW my freaking ears!
Or when you're getting that really hot stove out of the oven
Yo dawg, I herd you like stoves, so I put a stove in your oven so you could cook while you cook!
Karnal
In Soviet Russia, censors fnck you!
serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now
hmmm
test #2:
FUCK!
no... same relief, just faster
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it