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NASA had to train Apollo 11's astronauts to not use profanity (2019)

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Re: NASA had to train Apollo 11's astronauts to not use profanity (2019)

#51

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

john_strinlai wrote: post #31
wat10000 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A significant chunk of the population thinks they'll get tortured for eternity if they do it too much, and finds it distressing to be exposed to it as a result.

perhaps obviously, i am not and never have been religious. your comment brings up a point that i have never really thought about: why is it mostly religious people that are against swearing? does the bible or any religious text specifically call out swearing (beyond taking their gods name in vain, which i can understand avoiding if you are religious)?

There's a number of verses in the New Testament which arguably instruct people not to swear. Colossians 3:8 is probably most on point, although as with all cross-cultural comparisons of foul language, it's hard to know exactly what a Greek speaker 2000 years ago would have understood αἰσχρολογία to mean in the context of modern English.

Re: NASA had to train Apollo 11's astronauts to not use profanity (2019)

#52

Post by radlad »

GolfPopper wrote: post #20
john_strinlai wrote: post #5

> Dr. Larry Poland, president of the non-denominational Miami Bible College, contacted NASA and President Richard Nixon to complain about the profuse profanity from the Apollo 10 crew, demanding they apologize for their behavior. despite my best efforts, i have never been able to understand why or how swear words are inherently offensive. it just does not click with me. a request like this just seems absolutely ridic…

IF YOU SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THE EARLY INTERNET MAYBE THIS WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE WHO DISLIKE SWEARING EXPERIENCE WHEN THEY HEAR PROFANITY Now, why they react that way is a lot more complicated... Much like why I and many others find the above almost physically painful. My own personal take is that avoiding swearing in public, like avoiding all caps in the Internet, is a matter of courtesy and respect f…

Bless you

Re: NASA had to train Apollo 11's astronauts to not use profanity (2019)

#53

Post by dlcarrier »

john_strinlai wrote: post #5

> Dr. Larry Poland, president of the non-denominational Miami Bible College, contacted NASA and President Richard Nixon to complain about the profuse profanity from the Apollo 10 crew, demanding they apologize for their behavior. despite my best efforts, i have never been able to understand why or how swear words are inherently offensive. it just does not click with me. a request like this just seems absolutely ridic…

If you ever get a chance to talk to a linguist, ask about pejoration, melioration, and the euphemism treadmill. It really is interesting how we convey culture through not only what we say, but what we don't say. In especially elite circles, the rate that words go in and out of fashion can be astounding, and using even a newly pejorated word can get someone instantly and permanently rejected by the group.

Re: NASA had to train Apollo 11's astronauts to not use profanity (2019)

#54

Post by john_strinlai »

GolfPopper wrote: post #20
john_strinlai wrote: post #5

> Dr. Larry Poland, president of the non-denominational Miami Bible College, contacted NASA and President Richard Nixon to complain about the profuse profanity from the Apollo 10 crew, demanding they apologize for their behavior. despite my best efforts, i have never been able to understand why or how swear words are inherently offensive. it just does not click with me. a request like this just seems absolutely ridic…

IF YOU SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THE EARLY INTERNET MAYBE THIS WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE WHO DISLIKE SWEARING EXPERIENCE WHEN THEY HEAR PROFANITY Now, why they react that way is a lot more complicated... Much like why I and many others find the above almost physically painful. My own personal take is that avoiding swearing in public, like avoiding all caps in the Internet, is a matter of courtesy and respect f…

>Now, why they react that way is a lot more complicated...

my comment is entirely about not understanding the why.

Re: NASA had to train Apollo 11's astronauts to not use profanity (2019)

#55

Post by balamatom »

kelseyfrog wrote: post #36
GolfPopper wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IF YOU SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THE EARLY INTERNET MAYBE THIS WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE WHO DISLIKE SWEARING EXPERIENCE WHEN THEY HEAR PROFANITY Now, why they react that way is a lot more complicated... Much like why I and many others find the above almost physically painful. My own personal take is that avoiding swearing in public, like avoiding all caps in the Internet, is a matter of courtesy and respect f…

I simply choose not to be upset by it. Why give someone else that power?

To answer literally - and cryptically - how did Skinner get the rats to enter the boxes in the first place?

Re: NASA had to train Apollo 11's astronauts to not use profanity (2019)

#56

Post by dspillett »

mholt wrote: post #10
john_strinlai wrote: post #5

> Dr. Larry Poland, president of the non-denominational Miami Bible College, contacted NASA and President Richard Nixon to complain about the profuse profanity from the Apollo 10 crew, demanding they apologize for their behavior. despite my best efforts, i have never been able to understand why or how swear words are inherently offensive. it just does not click with me. a request like this just seems absolutely ridic…

Using profanity indicates a weak vocabulary. A lack of discipline. A degree of unrefinement unbecoming of astronauts representing the "best" of humanity and their country. Depending on the type of profanity it can divide societies by reinforcing social schisms/prejudices. Such words typically cluster around areas of cultural discomfort such as religion, sex, and hygiene, causing polarizing emotional reactions. It's b…

> Using profanity indicates a weak vocabulary. A lack of discipline.

Lack of discipline, maybe. Though that is subjective.

Weak vocabulary, no, that is objectively not true unless someone is repeatedly using a small number of profanities (i.e. someone who uses the F/C bombs and the N & R words, for instance). Studies of online communications have shown the people who use a range of profanity also have a wider vocabulary more generally, wider on average even than those who were not seen to use profanities at all.

Of course this still has some subjective judgement involved: the studies had to define what was considered profane, and may have missed many words only considered bad in a minority of places. I'm not sure what the studies did, if anything, to account for people speaking the target language as a second that they are not fluent in. These could be important factors in correctly defining the “doesn't use them” set.

> It's biological as well as cultural.

Only because there is a biological component to the reaction to the words, which is trained by culture. This could be a programmed disgust reaction, an amused one (a small rush of relevant endorphins), or a fear reaction (where the word is a slur that is often followed by further problems like the threat of physical violence). The closest we come to a truly biological reaction might be words associated with excreta and so forth, the things they can describe carrying a biological risk, but even that is culturally informed (you aren't born knowing that shit means a form of feculence, or that feculence is considered a more polite way to describe something dirty to the point of being unsafe).

Re: NASA had to train Apollo 11's astronauts to not use profanity (2019)

#57

Post by foresto »

mholt wrote: post #10
john_strinlai wrote: post #5

> Dr. Larry Poland, president of the non-denominational Miami Bible College, contacted NASA and President Richard Nixon to complain about the profuse profanity from the Apollo 10 crew, demanding they apologize for their behavior. despite my best efforts, i have never been able to understand why or how swear words are inherently offensive. it just does not click with me. a request like this just seems absolutely ridic…

Using profanity indicates a weak vocabulary. A lack of discipline. A degree of unrefinement unbecoming of astronauts representing the "best" of humanity and their country. Depending on the type of profanity it can divide societies by reinforcing social schisms/prejudices. Such words typically cluster around areas of cultural discomfort such as religion, sex, and hygiene, causing polarizing emotional reactions. It's b…

> Using profanity indicates a weak vocabulary.

What a bizarre leap of logic.

I wonder what disparaging others for using profanity indicates.

Re: NASA had to train Apollo 11's astronauts to not use profanity (2019)

#58

Post by kelseyfrog »

balamatom wrote: post #55
kelseyfrog wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I simply choose not to be upset by it. Why give someone else that power?

To answer literally - and cryptically - how did Skinner get the rats to enter the boxes in the first place?

To answer stoically, "You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength." - Marcus Aurelius

Re: NASA had to train Apollo 11's astronauts to not use profanity (2019)

#59

Post by [deleted] »

john_strinlai wrote: post #5

> Dr. Larry Poland, president of the non-denominational Miami Bible College, contacted NASA and President Richard Nixon to complain about the profuse profanity from the Apollo 10 crew, demanding they apologize for their behavior. despite my best efforts, i have never been able to understand why or how swear words are inherently offensive. it just does not click with me. a request like this just seems absolutely ridic…

[deleted]
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