You can search for the episode or browse all episodes on our Archive Page. VEDANTAM: This episode of HIDDEN BRAIN was produced by Rhaina Cohen, Maggie Penman and Thomas Lu with help from Renee Klahr, Jenny Schmidt, Parth Shah and Chloe Connelly. Take the word bridge - if it's feminine in your language, you're more likely to say that bridges are beautiful and elegant. 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. : A Data-Driven Prescription to Redefine Professional Success, by Lawrence S. Krieger and Kennon M. Sheldon, George Washington Law Review, 2015. VEDANTAM: How the languages we speak shape the way we think and why the words we use are always in flux. Follow on Apple, Google or Spotify. Today, we explore the many facets of this idea. native tongue without even thinking about it. What techniques did that person use to persuade you? And they said, well, of course. VEDANTAM: Languages orient us to the world. 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. If you're bilingual or multilingual, you may have noticed that different languages make you stretch in different ways. You know, I was trying to stay oriented because people were treating me like I was pretty stupid for not being oriented, and that hurt. VEDANTAM: Many of us have dictionaries at home or at work, John. Let's start with the word literally. 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. But I find that people now usually use the word to mean very soon, as in we're going to board the plane momentarily. Many of us rush through our days, weeks, and lives, chasing goals, and just trying to get everything done. VEDANTAM: Lera now tries to understand languages spoken all over the world. Well, if you have a word like that and if it's an intensifier of that kind, you can almost guess that literally is going to come to mean something more like just really. If you are a podcaster, the best way to manage your podcasts on Listen Notes is by claiming your Listen Notes 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. You can search for the episode or browse all episodes on our Archive Page. Hidden Brain - Transcripts Hidden Brain - Transcripts Subscribe 435 episodes Share Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships. What techniques did that person use to persuade you? So it's mendokusai. Of course that's how you BORODITSKY: And so what was remarkable for me was that my brain figured out a really good solution to the problem after a week of trying, right? Copyright 2018 NPR. Today's episode was the first in our You 2.0 series, which runs all this month. It's inherent. Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. For example, he might take a bunch of pictures of boys and girls and sort them and say, OK, this is a boy. BORODITSKY: Thank you so much for having me. They often feel angry about it, and you think this anger is actually telling. Because it was. Social Functionalist Frameworks for Judgment and Choice: Intuitive Politicians, Theologians, and Prosecutors, by Philip Tetlock, Psychology Review, 2002. Psychologist Ken Sheldon studies the science of figuring out what you want. 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. For more on decision-making, check out our episode on how to make wiser choices. You may also use the Hidden Brain name in invitations sent to a small group of personal contacts for such purposes as a listening club or discussion forum. And maybe the convenience store or the shop is really not that far away. Put this image on your website to promote the show -, Happiness 2.0: The Only Way Out Is Through, Report inappropriate content or request to remove this page. These relationships can help you feel cared for and connected. There was no way of transcribing an approximation of what people said and nobody would have thought of doing it. Welcome to HIDDEN BRAIN. I think it's a really fascinating question for future research. Whats going on here? And they suggest that differences across languages do, in fact, predict some of these measures of gender equality across countries. We'll be back momentarily. Sociologist Lisa Wade believes the pervasive hookup culture on campuses today is different from that faced by previous generations. Thank you for helping to keep the podcast database up to date. And you suddenly get a craving for potato chips, and you realize that you have none in the kitchen, and there's nothing else you really want to eat. And I was telling this person about someone I knew back in America. I just don't want to do it. And he started by asking Russian-speaking students to personify days of the week. But is that true when it comes to the pursuit of happiness? FEB 27, 2023; Happiness 2.0: The Reset Button . You're not going to do any of the things that are seen as a foundation of our technological society. in your textbooks but when you're hanging out with friends. Newer episodes are unlikely to have a transcript as it takes us a few weeks to process and edit each transcript. 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. I decided it was very important for me to learn English because I had always been a very verbal kid, and I'd - was always the person who recited poems in front of the school and, you know, led assemblies and things like that. That kind of detail may not appear. Hidden Brain Claim By Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam Podcasts RSS Web PODCAST SEARCH EPISODES COMMUNITY PODCASTER EDIT SHARE Listen Score LS 84 Global Rank TOP 0.01% ABOUT THIS PODCAST Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships. So act like Monday. This week, in the fourth and final installment of our Happiness 2.0 series, psychologist Dacher Keltner describes . Rightly Crossing the Rubicon: Evaluating Goal Self-Concordance Prior to Selection Helps People Choose More Intrinsic Goals, by Kennon M. Sheldon, Mike Prentice, and Evgeny Osin, Journal of Research in Personality, 2019. You're also not going to do algebra. There's a lowlier part of our nature that grammar allows us to vent in the absence of other ways to do it that have not been available for some decades for a lot of us. Or feel like you and your spouse sometimes speak different languages? VEDANTAM: Time is another concept that is also central to the way we see and describe the world. VEDANTAM: I'm Shankar Vedantam. 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. Purpose can also boost our health and longevity. We talk with psychologist Iris Mauss, who explains why happiness Why do some companies become household names, while others flame out? This is NPR. If you're a monolingual speaker of one of these languages, you're very likely to say that the word chair is masculine because chairs are, in fact, masculine, right? It is the very fabric, the very core of your experience. You're not going to do trigonometry. VEDANTAM: It took just one week of living in Japan for Jennifer to pick up an important, VEDANTAM: There isn't a straightforward translation of this phrase in English. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking foreign language). 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. The dictionary says both uses are correct. 4.62. So LOL was an internet abbreviation meaning laugh out loud or laughing out loud, but LOL in common usage today doesn't necessarily mean hysterical laughter. 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. And then when I turned, this little window stayed locked on the landscape, but it turned in my mind's eye. This week, in the fourth and final installment of our Happiness 2.0 series, psychologist Dacher Having a sense of purpose can be a buffer against the challenges we all face at various stages of life. But that can blind us to a very simple source of joy that's all around us. Subscribe: iOS | Android | Spotify | RSS | Amazon | Stitcher Latest Episodes: Happiness 2.0: The Reset Button Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Dont Know, by Adam Grant, 2021. 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. VEDANTAM: (Laughter) All right, I think it might be time for me to confess one of my pet peeves. Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships. Bu 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. Because were a small team, we dont have a publicly-available list of every piece of music that we use. Whats going on here? Imagine how we would sound to them if they could hear us. We love the idea of Hidden Brain helping to spark discussions in your community. BORODITSKY: So quite literally, to get past hello, you have to know which way you're heading. Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at Hidden Brain telling the stories of . JENNIFER GEACONE-CRUZ: My name is Jennifer Geacone-Cruz. 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. Lera is a cognitive science professor at the University of California, San Diego. 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? But as Bob Cialdini set out to discover the keys to influence and persuasion, he decided to follow the instincts of his childhood. And after listening to you, I realize I might have to finally give in. Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. This week, we revisit a favorite episode from 2021, bringing you two stories about how easy it can be to believe in a false reality even when the facts dont back us up. So new words are as likely to evolve as old ones. So when the perfect woman started writing him letters, it seemed too good to be true. They believe that their language reflects the true structure of the world. And then if you are going to be that elliptical, why use the casual word get? That's how much cultural heritage is lost. Something new will have started by then, just like if we listen to people in 1971, they sound odd in that they don't say like as much as we do. 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. And so for example, if the word chair is masculine in your language, why is that? But that can blind us to a very simple source of joy thats all around us. : The Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Benefits of Sharing Positive Events, Perceived Partner Responsiveness as an Organizing Construct in the Study of Intimacy and Closeness, Read the latest from the Hidden Brain Newsletter. Those sorts things tend to start with women. 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. Purpose can also boost our health and longevity. Purpose can also boost our health and longevity. Maybe it's even less than a hundred meters away, but you just can't bring yourself to even throw your coat on over your pajamas and put your boots on and go outside and walk those hundred meters because somehow it would break the coziness. In The Air We Breathe . The phrase brings an entire world with it - its context, its flavor, its culture. But if you prefer life - the unpredictability of life - then living language in many ways are much more fun. That's what it's all about. They're supposed to be painting something very personal. And so I set myself the goal that I would learn English in a year, and I wouldn't speak Russian to anyone for that whole first year. In this month's Radio Replay, we ask whether the structure of the languages we speak can change the way we see the world. So one possibility for bilinguals would be that they just have two different minds inside - right? They give us a sense that the meanings of words are fixed, when in fact they're not. And I did that. And it's sad that we're not going to be able to make use of them and learn them and celebrate them. al (Eds. And if you don't have a word for exactly seven, it actually becomes very, very hard to keep track of exactly seven. The transcript below may be for an earlier version of this episode. JENNIFER GEACONE-CRUZ: My name is Jennifer Geacone-Cruz. Think back to the last time someone convinced you to do something you didn't want to do, or to spend money you didn't want to spend. Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. Trusted by 5,200 companies and developers. See you next week. You would never know, for example, that - give you an example I've actually been thinking about. I know-uh (ph) is there, or something along the lines of babe-uh (ph). Our transcripts are provided by various partners and may contain errors or deviate slightly from the audio. Purpose can also boost our health and longevity. This week, we continue our look at the science of influence with psychologist Robert Cialdini, and explore how th, We all exert pressure on each other in ways small and profound. BORODITSKY: Yeah. My big fat greek wedding, an american woman of greek ancestry falls in love with a very vanilla, american man. by Harry T. Reis, Annie Regan, and Sonja Lyubomirsky, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2021. And that is an example of a simple feature of language - number words - acting as a transformative stepping stone to a whole domain of knowledge. It has to do with the word momentarily. Refusing to Apologize can have Psychological Benefits, by Tyler Okimoto, Michael Wenzel and Kyli Hedrick, European Journal of Social Psychology, 2013. Go behind the scenes, see what Shankar is reading and find more useful resources and links. And I would really guess that in a few decades men will be doing it, too. Toward Understanding Understanding:The Importance of Feeling Understood in Relationships, by Harry Reis, Edward P. Lemay Jr, and Catrin Finkenauer, Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2017. Our transcripts are provided by various partners and may contain errors or deviate slightly from the audio. This is HIDDEN BRAIN. What we think of today as a word undergoing some odd development or people using some new construction is exactly how Latin turned into French. Subscribe to the Hidden Brain Podcast on your favorite podcast player so you never miss an episode. Not without written permission. This is HIDDEN BRAIN. They are ways of seeing the world. But she told me a story about a conversation she had with a native speaker of Indonesian. Maybe it's, even less than 100 meters away, but you just can't bring yourself to even throw your, coat on over your pajamas, and put your boots on, and go outside and walk those, hundred meters because somehow it would break the coziness, 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. A free podcast app for iPhone and Android, Download episodes while on WiFi to listen without using mobile data, Stream podcast episodes without waiting for a download, Queue episodes to create a personal continuous playlist, Web embed players designed to convert visitors to listeners in the RadioPublic apps for iPhone and Android, Capture listener activity with affinity scores, Measure your promotional campaigns and integrate with Google and Facebook analytics, Deliver timely Calls To Action, including email acquistion for your mailing list, Share exactly the right moment in an episode via text, email, and social media, Tip and transfer funds directly to podcastsers, Earn money for qualified plays in the RadioPublic apps with Paid Listens. 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. Why researchers should think real-world: A conceptual rationale, by Harry T. Reis, in Handbook of Research Methods for Studying Daily Life, 2012. 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). Please note that your continued use of the RadioPublic services following the posting of such changes will be deemed an acceptance of this update. We'll begin with police shootings of unarmed Black men. It's never going to. You know, it's Lady Liberty and Lady Justice. If you grew up speaking a language other than English, you probably reach for words in your native tongue without even thinking about it. But it's exactly like - it was maybe about 20 years ago that somebody - a girlfriend I had told me that if I wore pants that had little vertical pleats up near the waist, then I was conveying that I was kind of past it. Hidden Brain. Today in our Happiness 2.0 series, we revisit a favorite episode from 2020. So you can't know how the words are going to come out, but you can take good guesses. Researcher Elizabeth Dunn helps us map out the unexpected ways we can find joy and happiness in our everyday lives. But that can blind us to a very simple source of joy thats all around us. (LAUGHTER) VEDANTAM: In the English-speaking world, she goes by Lera Boroditsky. So these speakers have internalized this idea from their language, and they believe that it's right. No matter how hard you try to feel happier, you end up back where you started. 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. But is that true when it comes to the pursuit of happiness? al (Eds. If a transcript is available, you'll see a Transcript button which expands to reveal the full transcript. So that's an example of how languages and cultures construct how we use space to organize time, to organize this very abstract thing that's otherwise kind of hard to get our hands on and think about. BORODITSKY: My family is Jewish, and we left as refugees. Many of us rush through our days, weeks, and lives, chasing goals, and just trying to get everything done. Of course, if you can't keep track of exactly seven, you can't count. It Takes Two: The Interpersonal Nature of Empathic Accuracy, by Jamil Zaki, Niall Bolger, Kevin Ochsner, Psychological Science, 2008. Just go to the magnifying glass in the top right corner, click on it, and use the search function at the top of the page. Happiness 2.0: The Only Way Out Is Through. I want everybody to have the fun I'm having. Subscribe to the Hidden Brain Podcast on your favorite podcast player so you never miss an episode. 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. We're speaking today with cognitive science professor Lera Boroditsky about language. Now I can stay oriented. So that, again, is a huge difference. And we're all going to have feelings like that.