Ever noticed politicians sounding a bit… simpler on scorching days? 🌞 You're not imagining it! A groundbreaking study has found that high temperatures lead to politicians using shorter and less complex words in their speeches.
Researchers analyzed a whopping seven million parliamentary speeches from over 28,000 politicians across eight countries, spanning several decades. Talk about digging deep! 🕵️♀️
Published on June 13 in the journal Interdisciplinary Science (a subsidiary of Cell Press), the study uncovers how heat impacts our leaders' language. The team from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany and Aarhus University in Denmark looked at the link between daily temperatures and the complexity of political speeches.
Using clever modeling strategies that took advantage of random daily temperature variations, they discovered something surprising: hot weather makes speeches simpler, but cold weather doesn't have the same effect. \"Even in professional environments that require precise and complex language, heat can have a negative impact on cognitive function,\" said Tobias Wiedemann, a researcher at Aarhus University.
This isn't just about politicians sweating it out during debates. 🌡️ The findings suggest that rising temperatures could affect our cognitive abilities more broadly, with real and immediate consequences. As climate change continues to crank up the heat, who knows how this might shape important discussions and decisions?
The study also highlights the cool (pun intended) use of computational methods. By combining automated text analysis with global weather data, the researchers opened up new ways to assess how climate change impacts human health and performance.
So next time you're feeling the heat and struggling to find the right words, just remember—even politicians aren't immune to the sun's sizzling effects! 😅
Reference(s):
New Study: Politicians tend to use shorter words on hot days
cgtn.com
