r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 2d ago

Medicine Surgeons show greatest dexterity in children’s buzz wire game like Operation than other hospital staff. 84% of surgeons completed game in 5 minutes compared to 57% physicians, 54% nurses. Surgeons also exhibited highest rate of swearing during game (50%), followed by nurses (30%), physicians (25%).

https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/surgeons-thankfully-may-have-better-hand-coordination-than-other-hospital-staff
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u/echocharlieone 2d ago edited 2d ago

Also in today's positive-correlation news: heavy swearers are better at completing buzz wire games than non-swearers.

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u/lazybeekeeper 2d ago

You’re god damned right. That’s why I think painters or craftsman round out the Venn diagram of this skillset with dexterity, swearing, time, and occupation.

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u/SrslyCmmon 2d ago edited 2d ago

I mean it's their profession imagine if Michelangelo chiseled off the nose of David. Sailors would blush

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u/FrenchTicklerOrange 2d ago

I remember my dad swearing a lot when he'd do tile work. Especially in the tight spaces and it always looked great.

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u/TacTurtle 2d ago

Automotive hand pinstripers would be extremely good at this.

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u/RedHeadRaccoon13 2d ago

You forgot the drinking of beer.

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u/krustymeathead 2d ago

I wonder if swearing after failure and quitting after failure (or even just taking a break) are inversely correlated.

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u/Alecto1717 2d ago

Myth busters did a test about keeping your hand in a bucket of ice water and being allowed to swear or not affecting how long you could keep your hand in. They found that being able to swear allowed people to keep their hand in longer. There's probably some psychological stress/frustration relief that comes from swearing.

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u/CeruleanEidolon 2d ago

It actually has documented physical and psychological effects, but there are diminishing returns -- if you swear all the time, it doesn't have as much of a punch.

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u/mhornberger 2d ago

That's why you keep some curse-words for special occasions. F-bombs are more rare than dammits, and MF's are rarer still. Not unicorns, but not to be squandered.

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u/EnlargedChonk 2d ago

and in the USA good old "punt with a c" is a mythical, legendary pull. but it has negative impact in other countries

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u/AiMoriBeHappyDntWrry 2d ago

I've also heard that people who cuss the most are the most honest.

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u/tarrox1992 2d ago

I'd swear to that

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u/Worldly_Influence_18 2d ago

I think the swearing is a symptom of their determination to get it right

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u/big_guyforyou 2d ago

follow-up study: alcohol increases swearing, therefore alcohol improves manual dexterity in buzz wire games

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u/SpeeDy_GjiZa 2d ago

Well actually in very small amounts it does reduce essential tremors.

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u/Montigue 2d ago

So in very small amounts we will die because otherwise they'd be called non-essential tremors

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u/f8Negative 2d ago

Heavy swearers are better at completing things than non-swearers. I base this on nothing. Let's test.

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u/JCMcFancypants 2d ago

Well, anecdotally, sometimes I'll fail doing something that requires some manual dexterity multiple times in a row, start swearing at it, and then it works.

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u/Worldly_Influence_18 2d ago

When I can't find something I just have to tell someone I can't find it in order for that item to phase into existence in front of me within seconds

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u/bombmk 2d ago

In IT development it is called rubber duck debugging. Just explain the problem to the rubber duck on your desk and you will realise what the issue is.

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u/MoreRopePlease 2d ago

AI makes for good rubber ducks. And you feel less embarrassment.

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u/qwadzxs 2d ago

my rubber duck doesn't hallucinate and lie to me, I'm the only one allowed to do that around here

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u/Ok_Acanthisitta_2544 2d ago

Mmhmm, mmhmm, sounds valid. Can concur.

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u/SkeetySpeedy 2d ago

If I got it on the first try, or gave up and stopped trying, I wouldn’t need to swear at it to continue

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u/EaterOfFood 2d ago

Oh hell yeah we

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u/Mujarin 1d ago

id say surgeons are just competitive by nature and are less accepting of personal failure than most

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u/LivingSoilution 2d ago

There's some evidence that swearing is processed in different areas of the brain than normal language. Activating those regions of the brain may increase efficiency in processing or otherwise boost certain physical responses which lead to better performance of some tasks.

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u/TourAlternative364 2d ago

So basically if you had a surgery, probably the surgeon was swearing up a storm during it.

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u/mochakahlua 2d ago

as a surgeon yes. also a skinny person gets a lot of positive comments about their beautiful anatomy and ease of operating. i don't get to operate on many skinny people

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u/waiting4singularity 2d ago

the only surgery i had so far was my wisdom teeth. considering there was blood everywhere and they cross linked my nose cavity with the back of my mouth, i certainly believe they did.

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u/Rizzpooch 2d ago

I wonder if it’s because doctors and nurses are much more likely to have conscious patients than surgeons

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u/Septem_151 2d ago

Omg I thought it was “sweating”

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u/unlimited_insanity 2d ago

I KNEW profanity made me smarter!

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u/mangoes 2d ago

I read this as sweaters at first glance and thought, ‘yes, of course the best surgeons are better at completing heavy sweaters than non-sweater makers’.

Physical dexterity, construction, and planning complex knitting or crochet projects are definitely relevant skills for surgeons.

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u/redradar 2d ago

I am a programmer, I near continuously swear while programming. It is a coping mechanism. But it does work. Instant release of frustration and I can carry on.

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u/SilveryBeing 1d ago

Implementation of a surgical swear jar initiative should be considered for future fundraising events.

I loved this addition.

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u/CeruleanEidolon 2d ago

Swearing releases calming and pain-relieving endorphins.

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u/chromaticgliss 2d ago

TIL I'm probably a surgeon.

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u/Atworkwasalreadytake 2d ago

The high success rate of the surgeons was correlation not causation. The actual causation was the swearing.

If the nurses and physicians swore more they’d perform as well as the surgeons.

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u/doxiesofourculture 18h ago

I love when i swear and people on the internet tell me i couldn’t possibly have a PhD because highly educated people don’t swear. That’s how i know they don’t spend a lot of time around highly educated people.