Learn about why you probably like talking to strangers more than you think (and why you should do it more often); how to discover your personal strengths; and the words with the most definitions in the English language, according to The Guinness Book of Records. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: This Study Says You Might Like Talking to Strangers More Than You Realize To Discover Your Personal Strengths, Take the VIA Character Strengths Test These 10 Words Have the Most Definitions in English Please tell us about yourself and help us improve the show by taking our listener survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/curiosity-listener-survey If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! Learn about these topics and more onCuriosity.com, and download our5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable ourAlexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
Learn about why you probably like talking to strangers more than you think (and why you should do it more often); how to discover your personal strengths; and the words with the most definitions in the English language, according to The Guinness Book of Records.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:
Please tell us about yourself and help us improve the show by taking our listener survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/curiosity-listener-survey
If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron!
Learn about these topics and more on Curiosity.com, and download our 5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable our Alexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-you-should-talk-to-strangers-how-to-find-your-strengths-and-words-with-most-definitions
[MUSIC PLAYING] CODY GOUGH: Hi. We've got the latest and greatest from curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today, you'll learn about why you probably like talking to strangers more than you think, how to discover your personal strengths, and the words with the most definitions in the English language.
CODY GOUGH: Let's satisfy some curiosity. According to a recent study, loneliness is on the rise in the US. But when was the last time you struck up a conversation with a stranger? If you don't think that sounds fun, then you might want to think again because a new study says you might be happier if you talk to strangers. Do you ever talk to strangers, Ashley?
ASHLEY HAMER: Not as much as I bet you do.
[LAUGHS]
He seems like someone who strikes up conversations with strangers.
CODY GOUGH: Do you take rideshare pools?
ASHLEY HAMER: Oh, I do. I try to talk during those ones, but not everybody wants to talk.
CODY GOUGH: I always try to talk. And you can usually tell within a couple of seconds if the person wants to talk or not.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. I don't make as big of an effort to talk to strangers as I should, but my boyfriend always tries to make every cashier laugh. That's always his goal every single time.
CODY GOUGH: Oh.
ASHLEY HAMER: It usually works.
CODY GOUGH: Very cool.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: Well, in a new paper, University of Chicago researchers studied people commuting into Chicago on the train, which is a place where you're really surrounded by a lot of people you don't really know. The commuters were asked to either strike up a conversation with a stranger or actively avoid contact with other people or do whatever happened naturally.
After what, the commuters mailed the researchers a questionnaire evaluating their experience, the researchers compared their responses with responses from a second group of commuters. They were asked to imagine striking up a conversation with a stranger, avoiding other people or commuting normally. It turned out that the commuters who chatted with strangers in real life had the most pleasurable commutes.
But get this, when commuters imagined the experience, they pictured it as uncomfortable and rated it as the worst of the three commute approaches. The researchers say this result means we have a severe misunderstanding of the psychological consequences of social engagement, and they suggest that we choose solitude on our commutes out of a fear of rejection.
But based on all the data the researchers gathered, people were happier actually talking to strangers almost every time they did it. That's a lot more than the a 50/50 chance some participants thought they would have in successfully making a connection. So if you're feeling lonely, then try striking up a conversation with your next cab or rideshare driver, grocery store clerk or person in line next to you at your favorite coffee shop, and let us know how it goes.
ASHLEY HAMER: Are you the kind of person who likes to work on your strengths or your weaknesses? Research says that one approach will make you a lot happier than the other.
CODY GOUGH: But Ashley, how do you know what your strengths are?
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, we'll tell you at the end of the segment.
CODY GOUGH: Ooh, I like it.
ASHLEY HAMER: A 2012 study from the Ohio State University specifically looked into two different therapy models for people diagnosed with depression. Capitalization was therapy related to their strengths, and compensation was therapy related to their weaknesses. After 16 weeks of therapy, the subjects who had been able to capitalize on their strengths out happy the ones who had been compensating for their weaknesses. And that's based on their self assessments and reports from their therapists.
Another study looked at job seekers who participated in career counseling that included work focused on their strengths, and they demonstrated an increase in self-esteem compared to job seekers going through traditional career counseling. OK. So you know should work on your strengths if you want to be happier.
But what if you don't know what those strengths are? Don't worry, we've got you covered. You can take a scientifically-validated test called the VIA Character Strength test. We've got a link to the survey in our full write-up on curiosity.com and on our free Curiosity app for Android and iOS. It should take about 15 minutes to fill out, and it's designed to find where you shine the brightest across a few categories, including creativity, humility, judgment, and curiosity. Give it a shot.
CODY GOUGH: So we both took this test, right?
ASHLEY HAMER: We did.
CODY GOUGH: And we know what our strengths are-- our strongest strengths.
ASHLEY HAMER: Mm-hmm.
CODY GOUGH: You want me to go first?
ASHLEY HAMER: Go first.
CODY GOUGH: My greatest strength out of 24-- we only mentioned a few-- but my number one was gratitude.
ASHLEY HAMER: Oh.
CODY GOUGH: Being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen, taking time to express thanks.
ASHLEY HAMER: That's great.
CODY GOUGH: So I hope I do that around here.
ASHLEY HAMER: I think you do, definitely.
CODY GOUGH: Cool. And then followed by that, number 2 was humor. I like to laugh, and tease, and all that. I don't think anyone's shocked by that. And my number 3 was curiosity.
ASHLEY HAMER: Nice.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah.
ASHLEY HAMER: You want to know my number 1?
CODY GOUGH: Yeah.
ASHLEY HAMER: Curiosity.
CODY GOUGH: I knew you were going to say that.
[LAUGHTER]
Ah!
ASHLEY HAMER: And my second one is zest, enthusiasm, and energy. And my third is love of learning. I think I'm in the right job.
CODY GOUGH: Wow. Yeah.
[LAUGHS]
Sweet. I would love to hear from our listeners where they rank on this.
ASHLEY HAMER: I want to know how many people have curiosity is their top strength. But I don't want you to hack the system and try to get it.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah. Wait a few days and pretend you haven't heard this podcast.
ASHLEY HAMER: Exactly.
CODY GOUGH: And then go answer all the questions. Today's episode is sponsored by Vistaprint. It's important to feel professional, polished, and prepared when it counts, which most of the time is right now. For small business owners or people who produce their own podcasts, like us, being plugged in and prepared when an opportunity comes up is crucial. Those moments happen all the time. They're happening right now. And having a business card that shows how professional you are in your pocket ready to hand out is the first step to making something happen.
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ASHLEY HAMER: Vistaprint wants you to do something great for your business right now, which is why our listeners will get 500 high-quality custom business cards starting at $9.99. Use code curious at vistaprint.com.
CODY GOUGH: That's code curious at vistaprint.com.
ASHLEY HAMER: One more time, that's curious at vistaprint.com.
CODY GOUGH: Here's a little trivia question to wrap up today's episode. Which word in the English language has the most definitions?
ASHLEY HAMER: Before we give you the answer, let's set the criteria. We're doing this according to the Guinness Book of World Records, which uses the Oxford English Dictionary. And honestly, there are two possible answers, depending on how you look at it.
CODY GOUGH: In the most recent physical edition of that dictionary from 1989, the number one word has 430 different definitions, and it's been the top-ranked word ever since the very first edition of the dictionary, which came out in 1928. But if you ask John Simpson, the former chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, he'll tell you a different word dethroned the top word a long time ago.
ASHLEY HAMER: If you go by definitions found online, the word John Simpson is talking about has no fewer than 645 different definitions as of 2011. That's a couple more than the current reigning word.
CODY GOUGH: OK. So you've had some time to think about it. Pause the show if you want another minute. Otherwise, here it goes. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the English word with the most definitions at 430 is set. It's truly been set at the top of the set of words game, set, match.
ASHLEY HAMER: The contender is the word run, which falls 34 definitions short of set, or it has a couple more. Run along and run the numbers on that one, and maybe the Guinness Book of World Records will run a different top word in its next print run.
CODY GOUGH: You can find the top 10 words with the most definitions in our full write-up today on curiosity.com, along with more on every story we covered today.
ASHLEY HAMER: Thank you. If you gave our Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing a five-star review over the weekend, you are awesome. Tristan Bills, Emily Wright, and Miss V, you are the best.
CODY GOUGH: And also the best are Barbara, Matthew, Todd, Patricia, and Bilal Mowan for your kind words. You really helped us out, and we really appreciate you.
ASHLEY HAMER: Also, you can still enter to win a free Curiosity t-shirt by filling out our listener survey. Some awesome listeners, let us know about a bug in the survey. So if you had trouble filling out all the options, then don't worry, it's fixed. You've only got another week or so to tell us your thoughts on the show, so please do that this week for a chance to win.
CODY GOUGH: You can find the survey in today's show notes and lots of other places. Join us again tomorrow for the Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Stay curious.
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