You should definitely speak two languages.
Partly because speaking another language makes you think more rationally, but also because
sexy accents make people totally irrational.
Hola everyone, I’m Julian and willkomen, bienvenue, welcome to DNews.
Before we start I want to pose to you a question.
Lets say I gave you 15 dollars and then started flipping a coin.
Lets say you had the choice to bet a dollar each time, and if you win you get a dollar
and 50 cents, but if you lose I take your dollar.
How often would you bet?
It seems straightforward, but your answer probably depends on where you’re from.
More specifically, it probably depends on whether or not I asked you that question in
your native language.
The science says if you speak english, you probably bet about 54% of the time.
But I know there’s a lot of you from outside the U.S. because I get a lot of angry comments
every time I use the imperial system, and if you’re from a non-english speaking country
you probably bet about 72% of the time.
Well you’re gonna hate this my fellow Americans, but betting every time is the right choice.
Statistically speaking you’re almost definitely going to be making money in the long term.
So why did native english speakers pick wrong more often?
Well the current hypothesis is having to think in a foreign language requires more cognitive
power, and by having to think it through more thoroughly, you’re more likely to make a
rational decision.
This experiment was first done by researchers from the University of Chicago in 2012.
It took place on 3 continents and participants were english-speakers who had learned japanese,
french or spanish; and Koreans who had learned english.
So it’s not like it’s just english speakers who declined to bet more, it really does depend
if you’re asked to bet in your mother tongue.
The researchers extrapolated this information to more common scenarios.
One researcher, Albert Costa, mused that maybe this is why people switch to their native
language in a heated argument, and maybe that’s also why they tend to say more hurtful things
they’re going to regret after the switch.
The researchers also didn’t believe that the cognitive improvement is lessened with
proficiency, noting that when people understand complex nuances of languages like idioms,
taboo words, and expressions of love, they still react less emotionally.
This just adds another reason to the long, long list of why being bilingual is awesome.
And yes the delayed onset of alzheimers is rad, and being able to survive in a foreign
land is cool, but I’m telling you dude, chicks dig accents.
So does being bilingual make you smarter or does being smarter make you better at languages?
Trace and our guest Alice have the answer to that over here.
And did you bet when I posed you that question?
Or have you learned a second language and noticed a difference in how you think?
I’m always interested in hearing about stuff like this because I grew up in America and
I’m just now getting the hang of speaking the english talk.
So let us know in the comments and I’ll see you next time on DNews