Cursing is instinctive when we hurt ourselves or someone cuts in front of us in traffic. Quite often at Saints games I hear fans who can't complete a sentence without it being laced with profanity. It's true that football often gives fans a reason to curse, but there are a lot of kids around and it seems like some fans are out-of-control, possibly due to the amount of alcohol they have consumed. We hear cursing in every corner of society.
As part of a discussion about a new study showing that the state of Texas is the cursing capital of America, I talked to Dr. Michelle Moore, Chief of Psychology at LSU Health New Orleans, about the human instinct to let the F-bomb and other curse words fly in certain situations. Dr. Moore basically gave us permission to curse, but with some limitations.
Dr. Moore said that studies show that cursing in certain situations can actually help us deal with pain. Cursing - it's the new opioid! When I asked her about the theory that cursing is the product of a less intelligent person, Dr. Moore disagreed and said that the tendency to curse has nothing to do with intelligence.
I recently fractured my elbow roller skating and I admitted to Dr. Moore that I let the F-bomb fly as soon as I hit the ground. She pointed out that it is acceptable to curse an object, like the skates, but that we should avoid cursing people to their faces. I explained to the doctor that I wasn't cursing the skates, I was cursing me for falling! She agreed that it is healthy.
And I think we all understand that Texas would be the cursing capital of the country because there is a lot to curse about in Texas!
