WEBVTT - Face Punching Legality, Misophonia, and Ties Between Honesty and Profanity

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to How Stuff Works Now. I'm your host, Lauren Vogelbaum,

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<v Speaker 1>a researcher and writer, here at How Stuff Works every

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<v Speaker 1>week and bringing you three stories from our team about

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<v Speaker 1>the weird and wondrous advances we've seen in science, technology,

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<v Speaker 1>and culture. This week, researchers think they've figured out why

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<v Speaker 1>some sounds like chewing can be so intolerable and unrelated?

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<v Speaker 1>Is it ever legal to punch someone in the face?

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<v Speaker 1>But first, Magic editor Alison Loudermilk and our freelance writer

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<v Speaker 1>Kate Kirshner explore link between two personality traits that makes

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<v Speaker 1>leap good sense to me, honesty and use of profanity.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's think about bad things people do, lie, cheat, steal, swear.

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<v Speaker 1>Society tends to regard those first three as bad behavior,

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<v Speaker 1>but swearing is more nebulous. Chris warts exist because we've

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<v Speaker 1>separated some words into a category of profane. But while lying, cheating,

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<v Speaker 1>and stealing all can lead to actual injury, physical or otherwise,

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<v Speaker 1>swearing just violates norms. Why give it a second thought, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>it's important because some people make assumptions about those of

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<v Speaker 1>us who curse up a storm. They might even assume

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<v Speaker 1>that the swear has poor moral character. That's what Dr

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<v Speaker 1>David Stillwell told us. Stillwells a lecture at the University

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<v Speaker 1>of Cambridge's Judge Business School. He recently co authored a

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<v Speaker 1>study that looked at the relationship between profanity and honesty.

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<v Speaker 1>It published in the Journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science. First,

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<v Speaker 1>a little setup. While we often think of swearing as taboo,

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<v Speaker 1>which means it's just breaking those norms we mentioned earlier,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a school of thought that swearing is an outpouring

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<v Speaker 1>of genuine emotion. After all, have you ever cursed when

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<v Speaker 1>you felt frustrated or upset? We have, so still Will

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<v Speaker 1>and his colleagues set out to see if swearing was

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<v Speaker 1>a mark of honesty or rather a sign that a

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<v Speaker 1>person has other negative norm busting traits lurking behind their

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<v Speaker 1>softy tongue. For the first part of the study, they

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<v Speaker 1>asked two hundred and seventy six participants to write down

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<v Speaker 1>swear words they liked and commonly used, along with why

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<v Speaker 1>they used them. The researchers then had participants take a

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<v Speaker 1>commonly accepted measurement of honesty. They found that participants were

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<v Speaker 1>more likely to measure high on a scale of honesty

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<v Speaker 1>if they wrote down more used and like curse words,

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<v Speaker 1>and if they self reported higher use of cursing. The

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<v Speaker 1>researchers also noticed something interesting. People said they use profanity

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<v Speaker 1>to express honesty about their feelings, as opposed to trying

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<v Speaker 1>to insult or intimidate others. Of course, most of us

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<v Speaker 1>don't swear in a lab setting, so researchers went where

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<v Speaker 1>all real life happens the internet. Stillwell told us that

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<v Speaker 1>it's very difficult to study profanity because it's such a

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<v Speaker 1>fleeting behavior and people often don't even notice it. So

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<v Speaker 1>what to do? Where to go? Facebook? Of course, according

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<v Speaker 1>to Stillwell, Facebook status updates are a great way to

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<v Speaker 1>see what words people actually use when talking to their friends.

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<v Speaker 1>Using data for more than seventy thousand active Facebook users,

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<v Speaker 1>they found something interesting about those who curse more in

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<v Speaker 1>status updates. They're more likely to be honest. That is,

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<v Speaker 1>they were more likely to use words that are associated

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<v Speaker 1>with honesty. But the researchers still weren't done. They also

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<v Speaker 1>isolated the US participants of the face book study and

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<v Speaker 1>average their profanity scores across the states. Next, they compared

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<v Speaker 1>those scores to the two thousand twelve state integrity investigation.

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<v Speaker 1>They found that the greater the use of profanity statewide,

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<v Speaker 1>the higher the integrity score of the state they're from.

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<v Speaker 1>So there you have it. Curse away and everyone will

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<v Speaker 1>find you more honest. Well, hold up, The researchers only

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<v Speaker 1>studied the perspective of the person swearing, not the perspective

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<v Speaker 1>of the person hearing the swearing. But there's a silver lining.

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<v Speaker 1>If you ever find yourself on the receiving end of

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<v Speaker 1>a profanity laden tirade, you know there's a good chance

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<v Speaker 1>that the person is telling you what they really think.

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<v Speaker 1>Next up, senior editor Katherine Whitburn and our freelancer Dave

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<v Speaker 1>Ruse bring us an answer to a question that crossed

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<v Speaker 1>our minds given recent news about an assault on one

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<v Speaker 1>espousal of racist ideology morality aside? Is it ever legal

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<v Speaker 1>to punch someone in the face? Face punching in movies

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<v Speaker 1>and TV shows is as cliche as the angry police

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<v Speaker 1>chief and the one handed cliff grab. But in real life,

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<v Speaker 1>hauling off and clocking someone is not only a great

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<v Speaker 1>way to break your hand, it's usually illegal. You would

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<v Speaker 1>be Clint Eastwood's out there maybe wandering. Is there ever

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<v Speaker 1>a situation in which you are legally justified to pop

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<v Speaker 1>someone in their ugly mug. Michael schwartz Back, a California

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<v Speaker 1>criminal defense lawyer who's also an editor at the legal

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<v Speaker 1>website Nolo, says the answer is yes, but the punch

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<v Speaker 1>has to be made in self defense. In general, schwartz

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<v Speaker 1>Bog says, you have to not be the aggressor, and

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<v Speaker 1>you have to reasonably believe that forces necessary to protect

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<v Speaker 1>yourself from some imminent violence. You also have to use

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<v Speaker 1>an appropriate level of force. So here are some points

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<v Speaker 1>to distinguish a legal punch from an illegal. One. Number one,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't strike first. That would make you the aggressor.

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<v Speaker 1>It's hard to argue self defense when you're literally on

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<v Speaker 1>the attack. Number Two, you can only punt someone if

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<v Speaker 1>they have already taken a swing at you, or if

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<v Speaker 1>you believe you're about to be hit. Number Three, you

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<v Speaker 1>can't escalate the fight. If the drunk guy at the

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<v Speaker 1>bar doesn't like the way you're looking at him and

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<v Speaker 1>shoves you on the shoulder, you can't break a bottle

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<v Speaker 1>over his head, or punch him or kick him in

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<v Speaker 1>the goodies. You also can't use physical force against verbal attacks.

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<v Speaker 1>Schwartzberg says that's the most common misconception about self defense.

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<v Speaker 1>The whole fighting words doctrine comes from a Supreme Court

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<v Speaker 1>case where a man was arrested for cursing out a cop.

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<v Speaker 1>The man said his behavior was free expression. The court

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<v Speaker 1>disagreed and said that certain insults quote, by their very utterance,

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<v Speaker 1>inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of

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<v Speaker 1>the peace end quote. Schwartzberg adds that even if someone

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<v Speaker 1>threatens you and says they're gonna beat you up or

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<v Speaker 1>even kill you, the law doesn't give you the right

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<v Speaker 1>to slug them. Whether you get prosecuted for punching someone

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<v Speaker 1>out depends a lot on the police and what else

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<v Speaker 1>may be going on in your city. Schwartzbog says, if

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<v Speaker 1>you're in a big metro area, there's a scuffle at

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<v Speaker 1>the bar, the prosecutors are flooded by other cases, and

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<v Speaker 1>no one seems to be really hurt, they may not

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<v Speaker 1>pursue the case. But even so, you could still be

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<v Speaker 1>sued in civil court. If the person you punched got

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<v Speaker 1>a serious injury, missed work, or suffered psychological trauma from

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<v Speaker 1>the incident, he can sue you for damages, and you

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<v Speaker 1>won't see that one in the movies. Finally, this week,

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<v Speaker 1>staff editor E's Jeff Coat and our freelance writer Shelley

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<v Speaker 1>Danzy explain how a team of researchers honed in on

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<v Speaker 1>the systems in the brain responsible for the disorder in

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<v Speaker 1>which people find annoying sounds beyond annoying ms phonia. It's

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<v Speaker 1>dinner time with family and everyone's eating and tunning sounds

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<v Speaker 1>harmless enough, right, But for some hearing other people's crunching,

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<v Speaker 1>lip smacking, or gulping can cause anger and anxiety. Ms

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<v Speaker 1>Aphonia is a disorder that often evokes strong negative feelings

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<v Speaker 1>to certain sounds, particular things like gum chewing, pen clicking,

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<v Speaker 1>keyboard typing, and rattling pocket chains. Recent research published and

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<v Speaker 1>current biologies study the brains of people with misophonia to

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<v Speaker 1>see how they process emotions from certain sounds. A team

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<v Speaker 1>of scientists out of the UK and US evaluated the

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<v Speaker 1>data of twenty participants with misophonia and twenty two without.

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<v Speaker 1>People who don't have mesophonia can generally tune out everyday

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<v Speaker 1>sounds that may be a bit bothersome, but for people

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<v Speaker 1>with msophonia, the sensitivity comes from the pattern of the sound,

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<v Speaker 1>not its volume. While it's not known exactly how many

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<v Speaker 1>people have the condition, it can be debilitating for those

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<v Speaker 1>who do have it. On average, missophonia symptoms start around

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<v Speaker 1>age twelve, but they can appear as early as age five.

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<v Speaker 1>Trigger sounds often insight rage, and sometimes the sensitivity gets

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<v Speaker 1>so intense that actions related to specific sounds become disturbing.

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<v Speaker 1>Imagine a person with msophonia living with a friend, but

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<v Speaker 1>she doesn't want to talk because she doesn't like the

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<v Speaker 1>sound of her friends breathing. Sometimes people with the disorders

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<v Speaker 1>struggle in silence. The researchers studied measurements from m R

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<v Speaker 1>and f m R I, as well as physiological data

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<v Speaker 1>observing parts of the brain used for processing perceptions and emotions.

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<v Speaker 1>Participant heard trigger sounds like eating, breathing, and drinking. They

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<v Speaker 1>also heard unpleasant sounds like a baby's cry in person's screen,

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<v Speaker 1>and they heard neutral sounds like a busy cafe and rain.

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<v Speaker 1>Then the participants rated how annoying, triggering, or anti social

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<v Speaker 1>the sounds were. While the misophonic group did experience distress

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<v Speaker 1>typical of their disorder from the trigger sounds, the unpleasant

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<v Speaker 1>sounds did not produce the same response. After hearing the

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<v Speaker 1>trigger sounds, the mesophonic group experienced increased heart rates and

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<v Speaker 1>galvanic or electric skin responses. According to the authors, these

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<v Speaker 1>responses are consistent with mesophonic tendencies to have a fight

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<v Speaker 1>or flight response to trigger sounds. The misophonics in the

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<v Speaker 1>study also exhibited abnormal salience detection, meaning the trigger sounds

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<v Speaker 1>stood out more for them, so parts of the brain

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<v Speaker 1>involved in determining salience were more active in mesophonics than

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<v Speaker 1>in non mesophonics. The trigger sounds targeted the mesophonics anterior

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<v Speaker 1>insular cortex of the brain, a network that directs our

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<v Speaker 1>attention towards stimuli that are meaningful to us, along with

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<v Speaker 1>their parts of the brain related to processing and regulating emotion.

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<v Speaker 1>Participants also responded to body consciousness questions about their inner

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<v Speaker 1>and outer perception. The researchers found that people with mesophonia

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<v Speaker 1>were more aware of internal bodily sensations than those without

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<v Speaker 1>the condition. The researchers data doesn't show whether this unusual

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<v Speaker 1>internal perception is a cause or result of misophonia, but

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<v Speaker 1>the researchers are optimistic that further research can be directed

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<v Speaker 1>to quiet the brain structures related to the condition. That's

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<v Speaker 1>our show for this week. Thank you so much for

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<v Speaker 1>tuning in. Further thanks to our audio producer Dylan Fagin

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<v Speaker 1>and our editorial liaison Alison louder Milk. Subscribe to now

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<v Speaker 1>Now for more of the latest science news and send

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