Um, you, um maybe, um, onto something
Um, you, um maybe, um, onto something
Recently I've become hyper-aware of how often most people use the word um when they are speaking. Its everywhere, from the talking heads on TV to my coworkers and family. Its so bad in some cases that its actually becoming painful to listen to some people now that I am paying attention to it. Go listen to the news now and see for yourself just how bad it is. Anything that isn't read from a teleprompter will be um every 3 or 4th word. I've counted 15 of them in less then 45 seconds sometimes.
At first I thought it was just that we, collectively, have become very lazy about our speech, and so I resolved to better myself in this area. However, now that I am policing myself and my family on this, I've started to notice a tendency of those that live in big cities to use um much more often then country folk. My knee-jerk response is that it may be related to water fluoridation which could be negatively affecting the speech centers of the brain. I've heard for years that fluoride is a neural toxin and can reduce IQ in developing brains (hence why they fucking load baby water up with it). It would stand to reason that it could also impact the speed at which the brain can process speech, hence the frequent need for a vocal pause.
Of course this hypothesis isn't close bullet proof, since people in the country will still be exposed to fluoride via soda or really anything that is bottled in any major city in the US. On the other hand, those that live in major cities won't just get it in their drinking water, but also when they shower, cook, or wash their cloths etc. They could be getting much more exposure then a country dweller that binges on soda and city bottled water. Maybe it is enough to make a noticeable difference.
Of course I could just be imagining the entire thing, but I wanted to drop the idea and see what poal thinks either way.
Recently I've become hyper-aware of how often most people use the word um when they are speaking. Its everywhere, from the talking heads on TV to my coworkers and family. Its so bad in some cases that its actually becoming painful to listen to some people now that I am paying attention to it. Go listen to the news now and see for yourself just how bad it is. Anything that isn't read from a teleprompter will be um every 3 or 4th word. I've counted 15 of them in less then 45 seconds sometimes.
At first I thought it was just that we, collectively, have become very lazy about our speech, and so I resolved to better myself in this area. However, now that I am policing myself and my family on this, I've started to notice a tendency of those that live in big cities to use um much more often then country folk. My knee-jerk response is that it may be related to water fluoridation which could be negatively affecting the speech centers of the brain. I've heard for years that fluoride is a neural toxin and can reduce IQ in developing brains (hence why they fucking load baby water up with it). It would stand to reason that it could also impact the speed at which the brain can process speech, hence the frequent need for a vocal pause.
Of course this hypothesis isn't close bullet proof, since people in the country will still be exposed to fluoride via soda or really anything that is bottled in any major city in the US. On the other hand, those that live in major cities won't just get it in their drinking water, but also when they shower, cook, or wash their cloths etc. They could be getting much more exposure then a country dweller that binges on soda and city bottled water. Maybe it is enough to make a noticeable difference.
Of course I could just be imagining the entire thing, but I wanted to drop the idea and see what poal thinks either way.
(post is archived)