Learn about whether people think in words or in pictures; why brussels sprouts really are tastier than they used to be; and why buying luxury items might make you feel like an impostor.
Learn about whether people think in words or in pictures; why brussels sprouts really are tastier than they used to be; and why buying luxury items might make you feel like an impostor.
Whether People Think in Words or Pictures by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Alicia)
Why Brussels Sprouts Taste Better Now by Steffie Drucker
Luxury Buying Makes People Feel Fake by Kelsey Donk
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/do-people-think-more-in-words-or-pictures
CODY GOUGH: Season's greetings. We're wrapping up the year with a look back at your favorite episodes of 2020.
ASHLEY HAMER: Enjoy this Curiosity Daily classic and stay subscribed for brand-new episodes starting January 1. We'll see you in 2021
CODY GOUGH: Hi. You're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Curiosity.com. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today, we'll answer a listener question about whether people think in words or pictures. You'll also learn about why Brussels sprouts really are tastier than they used to be and why buying luxury items might make you feel like an impostor.
CODY GOUGH: Let's satisfy some curiosity.
ASHLEY HAMER: We got a listener question from Alicia who writes, I heard that some people think in full sentences and have a narrative going in their thoughts, while others just have abstract thoughts and have to translate them into words when they express them. My thoughts are the narrative type, and it never occurred to me that there might be a different way that thoughts are experienced. Is it true? How common is each type of thinker? Great question, Alicia.
Cody, when you have thoughts, like what form do they take?
CODY GOUGH: I have no idea.
ASHLEY HAMER: I know it's really hard, right? I mean, I think mostly in sentences, but I also think in pictures.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah. Wow, that's a deep question. I had never actually considered.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. Well, the research does show that most people don't know, so you are in good company. But let's get into the science. So while I can't read Alicia's thoughts, I think I know why she sent this question when she did.
Right around the same time, there was a viral tweet by @KylePlantEmoji that basically said this exact thing. So is it true? Are there two types of people? Those who think in words and those who think in pictures?
First off, anytime someone says there are two types of people, you should be ready to either hear a hilarious punch line or terrible pseudoscience. Humans exist on a spectrum. And you can't categorize them in such black and white terms. Still, as hard as it is to dig into someone's mind and discover the format of their thoughts, several studies have actually done it. One popular way is by having people carry a little pagers that randomly beep to make them stop what they're doing and write down whatever was happening in their heads at that moment.
A 2008 study that used this method found that people experience their thoughts as five phenomena, inner speech, visual imagery, unsymbolized thinking, feelings, and sensory awareness. In that study, each of these phenomena occurred so often that they were in a five-way tie for first place. But from individual to individual, their frequency varied widely. That brings us to the question and the tweet.
Even though participants, as a whole, experienced inner speech 20% of the time on average, some never experienced it, and some experienced it as much as 75% of the time. Same with the four other phenomena. Each of them had at least a few people, who didn't experience it at all. And at least one person who experienced it 80%, 90%, even 100% of the time.
So the answer is, yes, it's true that some people primarily think in words, and some primarily think in pictures. But those aren't the only ways to think. And many people think in several ways.
It can be kind of mind-blowing to realize that other people's inner worlds aren't like yours. The lesson, don't assume your experience is universal. It probably isn't. Thanks for your question, Alicia.
If you have a question, send it in to podcast at curiosity or leave a voicemail at 312-596-5208. We've already heard some really fun messages, and we promise we'll play some on the show once we've had time to research your questions. One more time, that number is 321-596-5208.
CODY GOUGH: It seems like Brussels sprouts are suddenly on the menus of every trendy gastropub and hot new restaurant, doesn't it? Have you noticed this? You just see them everywhere.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, and I love it.
CODY GOUGH: I do too. And this may be surprising, if you have unpleasant childhood memories of those little green guys on your plate. I mean, I remember it was like a trope in children's TV shows, where the kid would be like, ew, Brussels sprouts. It was kind of like the quintessential gross vegetable.
ASHLEY HAMER: Totally.
CODY GOUGH: And while it's true that your taste buds change with age, that's not the only reason this veggie is suddenly all the rage. It turns out scientists have also engineered Brussels sprouts to be tastier than they were when you were a kid. Yes, Brussels sprouts really are tastier these days, like objectively.
Now Brussels sprouts and cauliflower and broccoli are all what we call cruciferous vegetables. And those contain chemical compounds called glucosinolates that give them a bitter taste. Scientists think glucosinolates serve as a natural insect repellent and make the plants less appealing to the bugs that would eat them.
The taste is apparently a turnoff for many humans too, more for some than for others. And that's because there's a particular genetic variation that makes veggies containing glucosinolates taste especially bitter. So let me tell you about another chemical that kind of explains how do we know all this.
Now, in 1931, a chemist named Arthur Fox accidentally released a cloud of phenylthiocarbamide, or PTC, in his lab. A colleague nearby complained about the noxious odor and bitter taste in the air, but Fox didn't know what he was talking about. He had family and friends taste crystals of this harmless chemical. And he found that just like with his experience in the lab, some people tasted nothing, while others registered varying degrees of bitterness.
Further research showed that PTC tasting was genetic. The evidence for this was so strong that PTC was used in paternity testing, before modern DNA tests were developed. We discovered the exact gene responsible for PTC tasting in 2003 called TAS2R38.
ASHLEY HAMER: I like to call it the green gene.
CODY GOUGH: Ew.
ASHLEY HAMER: I just came up with that right now.
CODY GOUGH: It's good. All right, so what does this all have to do with Brussels sprouts? Well, PTC has a similar chemical structure to glucosinolates, those compounds I talked about earlier that make cruciferous veggies bitter. It wasn't until the 1990s that a Dutch scientist named Hans van Doorn made the connection between this compound and Brussels sprouts' bitterness.
But once he figured it out, companies that sold Brussels sprouts seeds looked in their archives for older varieties that had lower levels of the chemical. Plant breeders crossed those milder varieties with strains found to be particularly disease resistant and to have higher yields. And with that, the mild-flavored super sprout was born.
So the next time you see sprouts on a menu, give them a try, whether roasted fried or served with a little bacon. These are not your mother's Brussels sprouts, literally.
ASHLEY HAMER: New research just dropped a truth bomb. Buying designer brands won't turn you into a whole new person. In reality, buying luxury goods could make you feel like a real impostor. See if this scenario sounds familiar.
You've got money burning a hole in your pocket, and you decide to splurge on a designer brand. Maybe it's a watch, maybe it's a handbag, but whatever it is, it's fancy AF. You just know that everybody who sees you flaunting your new purchase thinks, wow, that person is stylish and successful. And yet, you don't feel stylish and successful. In fact, you feel like you're faking the whole thing.
Luxury brands and influencers want you to think that a purchase can make you feel like a new person. But researchers from Boston College and Harvard Business School say that kind of spending often leads to what they now call impostor syndrome from luxury consumption. It's a new name for a very specific response to aspirational spending. That is buying something for the elevated status it brings.
The team performed nine studies involving bigwigs and muckety-mucks in highfalutin places, like The Met, New York's Upper East Side, and Martha's Vineyard. They found that when people spend money on luxury items that don't really reflect who they are, it backfires. The purchase can lower their confidence and make them feel less satisfied.
It's not just clothing and accessories that lead to this kind of impostor syndrome. It's not even just luxury products. That new Instagram influencer-approved workout equipment that you hope will make you a whole new person, that will probably give you impostor syndrome too.
Researchers say there's one really good way to avoid this type of buyer's remorse. Before you buy something new, think about how well the item reflects who you are right now. How authentic will it make you feel?
It's good to have goals, but take your new hobby purchases slowly. Want to be a good golfer? Don't start by buying a top-of-the-line set of clubs and a whole new wardrobe.
Research shows that'll just make you feel like a poser. Instead, start slow or buy second hand, then upgrade once you really need to. Money won't make you a new person. The best you can do is stay true to yourself.
CODY GOUGH: Before we recap what we learned today, here's a sneak peek at what you'll hear next week on Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY HAMER: Next week, you'll learn about how Pablo Escobar's hippos have become an invasive species,
why people yawn during workouts, how computers can identify you based on the way you dance, whether muscle confusion really can give you a better workout, and more. OK, so now let's recap what we learned today.
CODY GOUGH: So people experience inner thoughts as five phenomena, inner speech, visual imagery, unsymbolized thinking, feelings, and sensory awareness.
ASHLEY HAMER: And they all do it in different quantities. We're all different people.
CODY GOUGH: And I have no idea how I think. But to be fair, I don't think anyone I know has ever understood how I think.
ASHLEY HAMER: Fair. And Brussels sprouts are experiencing a surge in popularity, because they literally taste better now than they did when Cody and I were kids. They used to be more bitter, and now, they've been bred to be less bitter.
Fun fact, if you want to play along at home, you can actually go online and buy a little vial of PTC strips and then test your friends and see who finds them bitter. I've done this with you, right, Cody?
CODY GOUGH: Yes, you did it in our old Curiosity Office two years ago.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. Do you remember what you tasted?
CODY GOUGH: Nothing.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, I didn't taste anything either, but some people tasted bitterness. The cool thing is I gave one to my sommelier friend, who like has an amazing palate. So I tasted paper. She gagged and spit and had to like wash her mouth out. It was so bitter.
CODY GOUGH: Wow.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, people are amazing.
CODY GOUGH: Super taster, indeed. It's also pretty super to know that buying luxury items isn't going to make you necessarily feel luxurious. Just be you. You do you. You don't want to get that impostor syndrome from luxury consumption.
ASHLEY HAMER: I totally know this experience.
CODY GOUGH: I don't, because I'm too cheap.
ASHLEY HAMER: I mean, sometimes I'll find something that's a really good brand that's on super sale. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to be someone who owns one of these. And then I own it. And I'm just like, oh, I'm just like a normal person who owns this thing, and I'm just faking it. Like I really feel that way.
And so I don't-- I tend not to buy luxury brands.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah, just too cheap here. It's just never going to happen. Sorry. One of my favorite blazers, I got at a thrift store for like $15.
ASHLEY HAMER: That's great.
CODY GOUGH: That's me.
ASHLEY HAMER: You can get luxury brands at thrift stores.
CODY GOUGH: I did. It's a BOSS, a HUGO BOSS.
ASHLEY HAMER: OK, then.
CODY GOUGH: Blazer. But I don't feel like an impostor, because I've paid $15 for it. I don't know.
ASHLEY HAMER: Some people might feel more like impostors, because they paid $15 for it.
CODY GOUGH: I'm transparent about my spending. Like if anybody, which-- this would never happen. But if somebody went up to me, and they're like, nice blazer, I'd be like, cool, thanks. I paid $15 for it. Like I'm not good at putting up a front.
ASHLEY HAMER: No. Yeah, that's fair.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah. Also, one other thing real quick before we wrap up, yesterday at the end of our episode, we had a little exchange, Ashley and I, about NASA being part of the military. And it was actually a quite long conversation, and I said a lot of actually very stupid things.
ASHLEY HAMER: They weren't stupid. A lot of people think what you said.
CODY GOUGH: No, they were very stupid. So I edited those out, because I edit the show. I didn't want to sound that stupid.
ASHLEY HAMER: Cody can make himself sound as smart as he wants.
CODY GOUGH: I can make anyone sound smart on this show, trust me. But then Ashley listened back to it and pointed out that perhaps the way that she spoke made it seem like she was overreacting to the things I said in the final product of the episode. So I just want to apologize for making you maybe sound a little more emphatic than you meant to by cutting out my very stupid questions.
ASHLEY HAMER: I'm not actually as much of a bully as Cody made me sound.
CODY GOUGH: You're not a bully, whatsoever, totally not the case at all. It was actually a really fun recording as it always is. So anyway, don't want anybody to walk away from yesterday with the wrong impression. That's all. Today's story is were written by Ashley Hamer, Steffie Drucker and Kelsey Donk, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who's the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY HAMER: Today's episode was produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY GOUGH: Have a great weekend and join us again Monday to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY HAMER: And until then, stay curious.
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