Why Most People Can’t Keep Secrets & Interesting Oddities of Language

Sep 5, 2024

Investigative journalist Andrew Gold dives into the intriguing psychology of secrets, revealing how keeping them can lead to stress-related health issues. He explains why we often feel compelled to share secrets, despite potential fallout on relationships. Linguist Paul Anthony Jones adds a quirky twist, uncovering the oddities of the English language—like the historical reasons behind capital letters and the unique placement of vowels. Together, they unravel the complex interplay between secrecy and language.

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Intro

00:00 • 5min

The Hidden Burden of Secrets

04:34 • 8min

The Burden of Secrets: Psychology and E-Commerce Solutions

12:06 • 4min

The Burden of Secrets

16:12 • 8min

Secrets, Stigmas, and the Oddities of Language

24:18 • 5min

The Evolution of Letters and Language Structure

29:34 • 15min

Language Quirks and Animal Bonds

44:27 • 8min

Eye contact can be tricky. Too little and you look disinterested – too much and you look creepy. This episode begins with a few of the finer points of proper eye contact. http://www.spring.org.uk/2013/07/how-eye-contact-works.php

It’s clear from research that keeping a secret is difficult to do. We often feel compelled to share secrets even if we promised not to. So why is that? According to my guest, keeping a secret causes stress and has been linked to diseases like ulcers and cancer. By telling secrets we unburden ourselves and relieve that stress. But revealing secrets can have huge negative repercussions to relationships and social status. Here to look at the science of secrets, why we tell them and who we tell them to, is Andrew Gold. He is an investigative journalist, podcaster and filmmaker who has made documentaries for the BBC and HBO. He hosts a podcast called On the Edge with Andrew Gold (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwU7HOfuSL5KD5s9hGoPuyVzN_VwG4Yi_) and he is author of the book, The Psychology of Secrets: My Adventures with Murderers, Cults and Influencers (https://amzn.to/3MiwXoS)

Why do we have both upper and lower case letters? Why are letters in the order they are in (ABCDE etc.) There is a dot above a lower case i and j – what’s that for? And why do we capitalize the pronoun “I”? Other languages don’t. There are so many fascinating stories about how English came to be. And here to tell several of them is linguist Paul Anthony Jones. He has a popular YouTube channel where he talks about language and he is author of the book Why Is This a Question?: Everything about the origins and oddities of language you never thought to ask (https://amzn.to/3Z0Nrtm).

While people discuss and debate whether humans are naturally monogamous, there are some animals on earth who truly are – or close to it. Listen as I reveal which animals love their mate for their entire life. https://www.treehugger.com/animals-that-mate-for-life-4869332

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