In our culture, intelligence is often associated with a smooth appearance: clean, sober clothing, neat hairstyle, polite and controlled speech. This implicit model serves as a reference for evaluating others. Those who swear, dress sloppily, or behave in ways perceived as strange are more easily perceived as immature or unintelligent, wrongly.
This is precisely the case for two behaviors that are often mocked: talking to oneself and frequent swearing. Far from being evidence of stupidity or lack of control, these habits are regularly associated, in scientific literature, with more efficient cognition, great verbal richness and better mental regulation, explains psychologist Mark Travers for Forbes. In other words, what we interpret as a sign of weakness could sometimes be an indicator of intelligence.
Talking to yourself out loud
Culturally, talking to yourself alone is seen as a sign of psychological imbalance. This is the kind of behavior that draws sideways glances. However, a study by Gary Lupyan and Daniel Swingley (2012), published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, suggests quite the opposite.
In a visual search experiment, participants had to find a specific object, such as a banana. Those who repeated the word “banana” out loud found it much faster than the silent group. A phenomenon which suggests that language is not only used to describe the world, but that it also structures our perception.
By externalizing a thought out loud, you simultaneously activate your language production system and your auditory processing. The word becomes something perceptible to several of your senses, which sharpens your attention. A study published in 2023 in Frontiers in Psychology confirms that talking to yourself can facilitate problem solving, memory and the management of complex cognitive processes. What others perceive as a lack of control is, neurologically, a sign of cognitive efficiency.
Being rude
Another well-established cliché, we are only rude because of a lack of vocabulary or an intellectual gap. However, the work of Kristin and Timothy Jay published in Language Sciences in 2015 has largely challenged this preconceived idea. By comparing classic verbal fluency and the ability to cite insults, they highlighted a direct positive link: people with the richest vocabulary are also those who know and use the most taboo words.
Mastery of swear words is therefore not a simple language shortcut or a mark of intellectual poverty, but can demonstrate a certain sense of nuance. Using the right swear word at the right time to change the emotional atmosphere of a room requires an excellent understanding of the social context and great lexical agility.
These negatively perceived behaviors can – sometimes – be indicators of intelligence. Speaking to yourself while swearing like a carter demonstrates an ability to manage the social context or to mobilize memorization and cognitive regulation techniques that are effective for our brain.
Intelligence is therefore not always hidden in silence or restraint, but is sometimes expressed in noise and boldness. Don’t hesitate any longer, swear alone at home!
