New research published in the Proceedings of that National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that human language has a "positivity bias", that is, if one examines the frequency with which words with measurable positive, negative, or neutral valence/interpretation, all languages appear to be positive-biased -- we like "happy talk". Of course, this research is now being summarized in the mass media and here is one story from the Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-human-language-positive-20150209-story.html
The original research report can be accessed here: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/02/04/1411678112 And for Tipsters who don't listen to pop music or watch animated movies (like "Despicable Me 2") the words in the subject line come from Pharrel Williams' song "Happy"; see: https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tj7ujtq7hqfqvo4fwuppfj7wt5y?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics&u=0# One wonders whether if one would still get these results if one limited the corpus of words to those used, say, during the second World War? Or other war zones? And what about after the Zombie apocalypse? Would there still be a positivity bias or does such a bias depend upon being in an environment that is safe, has food and water, absence of violence, and no zombies? Things that make you go "Hmmmmmm.....". ;-) -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] P.S. Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do. ;-) --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=41990 or send a blank email to leave-41990-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
