How Big of a Difference a Single Metaphor Can Make

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If we tell people crime is a beast attacking the city of addison, they're more likely to come up with enforcement and punishment options. The difference that we can get as a result of this is sometimes as big as difference in opinion between democrats and republicans on the same question. And what's even further interesting to me is that people don't realize their being influenced by the metaphor. Almost everyone will go back and say, well, look at these numbers that you gave me, these rising crime statistics. Rihts, if we ask them, what was most influential in your thinking about this, in your reasoning? Why did you give the suggestions that you gave?

One of the oldest technologies we have is language. How do the words we use influence the way we think?

The media can talk about immigrants scurrying across the border, versus immigrants crossing the border. Or we might hear about technology platforms censoring us, versus moderating content.

If those word choices shift public opinion on immigration or technology by 25%, or even 2%, then we’ve been influenced in ways we can't even see. Which means that becoming aware of how words shape the way we think can help inoculate us from their undue influence. And further, consciously choosing or even designing the words we use can help us think in more complex ways – and address our most complex challenges.

This week on Your Undivided Attention, we're grateful to have Lera Boroditsky, a cognitive scientist who studies how language shapes thought. Lera is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at UC San Diego, and the editor-in-chief of Frontiers in Cultural Psychology.

Clarification: in the episode, Aza refers to Elizabeth Loftus' research on eyewitness testimony. He describes an experiment in which a car hit a stop sign, but the experiment actually used an example of two cars hitting each other.

RECOMMENDED MEDIA

How language shapes the way we think

Lera Boroditsky's 2018 TED talk about how the 7,000 languages spoken around the world shape the way we think

Measuring Effects of Metaphor in a Dynamic Opinion Landscape

Boroditsky and Paul H. Thibodeau's 2015 study about how the metaphors we use to talk about crime influence our opinions on how to address crime

Subtle linguistic cues influence perceived blame and financial liability

Boroditsky and Caitlin M. Fausey's 2010 study about how the language used to describe the 2004 Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" influence our views on culpability

Why are politicians getting 'schooled' and 'destroyed'?

BBC article featuring the research of former Your Undivided Attention guest Guillaume Chaslot, which shows the verbs YouTube is most likely to include in titles of recommended videos — such as "obliterates" and "destroys"

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Mind the (Perception) Gap: https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/33-mind-the-perception-gap

Can Your Reality Turn on a Word?: https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/34-can-your-reality-turn-on-a-word

Down the Rabbit Hole by Design: https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/4-down-the-rabbit-hole-by-design