Like the title says, swearing can be healthy, and the author doesn’t give a fuck if you disagree. British science writer Emma Byrne has written an entertaining exploration of what swearing teaches “about how our brains, our minds, and even our societies work.” The content of cussing has changed over time and cultures, but the meaning seems consistent: it’s a safety valve for individuals and a bonding glue within groups. Trained in neuroscience, Byrne sifted through scientific literature to summarize findings that derive in part from the propensity for swearing among the brain damaged. Aphasic patients often cannot recall simple words for everyday things, but retain their battery of “bad words.” It may be, she theorizes, that “swearing has deep connections in many parts of the brain, particularly to those that help us process emotions.”
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