The Secret Costs of Keeping Secrets

Photo credit: Sarah Horrigan via Flickr

My first post for Nautilus’ blog, Facts so Romantic, is on new research by Clayton Critcher and Melissa Ferguson, about the costs of keeping secrets. The research, inspired by the now repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy in the U.S. military, suggests that keeping your identity secret can impair your cognitive abilities, your self-control, and even your physical strength. You can read it here.

Their current issue, on Secret Codes, has a lot of great stuff in it, including a story by Rose Eveleth on the codes that kids use. It includes my account of the secret code my friend Boaz and I had when we were kids and how we would divulge it in exchange for ice cream.