Author David Owen discusses what happens once you’ve lost your hearing — and how much technology can actually help. Then, learn about the psychology behind our reactions to a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Author David Owen discusses what happens once you’ve lost your hearing — and how much technology can actually help. Then, learn about the psychology behind our reactions to a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional resources from David Owen:
"Adjustment reaction" and how to cope when first learning about a crisis by Kelsey Donk
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/hearing-loss-and-technology-w-david-owen-and-the-psychology-of-reacting-to-a-crisis-like-covid-19
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, author David Owen joins us to talk about what happens once you’ve lost your hearing — and how much technology can actually help. Then, you’ll learn about the psychology behind our reactions to a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
If you've ever wondered why we call meat things like beef, pork, mutton, and venison instead of cow, pig, sheep, and deer, you can thank the lousy communication skills of a long-dead Anglo-Saxon king. His communication, or lack thereof, set in motion a whole series of invasions, culminating in the French invasion of the English language. Here’s a history lesson you can really sink your teeth into.
(Well… if you eat meat, anyway. No offense if you’re one of our wonderful vegan or vegetarian listeners out there.)
King Edward The Confessor died on January 5, 1066, and as he had no children, his brother-in-law Harold Godwin was quickly elected to succeed him as King of England. Problem was, King Edward had apparently forgotten to tell anyone that he promised the throne to his first cousin once removed: William, Duke of Normandy. William, understandably, wasn’t happy.
Neither was the new King Harold's brother Tostig, who thought he deserved the throne. He allied with the King of Norway to battle King Harold's armies, but was eventually defeated. Unfortunately, those battles still weakened Harold's victorious army, and that made it easier for the Norman armies of Duke William — remember, King Edward’s first cousin once removed who was promised the throne? — for his armies to invade and defeat the Anglo-Saxons for good, earning William the nickname William the Conqueror. On Christmas Day in 1066, William was crowned King of England, and the Normans made themselves at home.
And that’s when the language invasion began. The Normans spoke French. Their newly conquered subjects spoke Old English. Over time, the Normans bequeathed more than 10,000 words to English, and since they were the ruling class, most of these referred to posh topics like nobility — think crown, castle, and sovereign — government and law — city, parliament, and justice, prison — and “high living” words about things like cuisine: banquet, herb, roast, and biscuit.
So while humble farmers kept calling their animals cows, swine, and sheep, once those animals were put on a fancy plate their names became French.
Don’t believe us? It’s easy to check in Google translate.
The French word for pig is porc. The French word for sheep is mouton. Sound familiar?
What we learned: We got our words for meat from the Norman Conquests, because William the Conqueror’s people spoke French. So when they took over England, some words were adopted, and the rest is history.
Over the last couple weeks on Curiosity Daily, you’ve heard author David Owen talk about why it’s so important to protect your ears when you’re young, and some tips for keeping your hearing happy and healthy for as long as possible. You can find links to those episodes in today’s show notes. But for today’s conversation, let’s say you feel like you’re already started to lose your hearing. What are the symptoms? And can technology help you do something about it? Here’s the third and final part of our interview with David Owen, author of the new book “Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World.” We’ll start with how you can diagnose hearing damage in the first place.
[CLIP 4:14]
[Cochlear implant follow-up question — check schedule to see about timing]
ASHLEY [edit in-line]: And that’s especially true for cochlear implants, right? If someone was born deaf and they get a cochlear implant, their brain has to rewire, right?
[CLIP 1:23]
Science is helping us save our hearing, but the best advice is to not lose it in the first place. So be safe, and protect your ears! You can read more in David Owen’s new book, “Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World.”
ASHLEY: Before we get into our next story, we wanted to mention that early this morning we released a special bonus episode of Curiosity Daily. It’s a full-length interview with an epidemiologist who answers some common questions around COVID-19. So check your podcast feed for a special treat!
CODY: If you’re listening to this podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing, then you’ll need to visit curiosity-daily-dot-com to stream or download that episode right from our website. Or pull it up on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or any other podcast search engine — for free, of course. Just want to make sure we let you know in case you want to check it out. Now let’s get into some crisis psychology to help you figure out how to manage your mind in these strange times.
The news about COVID-19 has hit different people in different ways. Some seemed to overreact; others denied that it was a problem. This is normal, and what psychologists call an "adjustment reaction." Dr. Peter Sandman is a veteran crisis communicator who served on the World Health Organization’s SARS Scientific Research Advisory Committee, among many other professional achievements. And according to him, that knee-jerk overreaction to a potential crisis is actually extremely helpful. It’s denial that we want to avoid.
Here are the key ingredients for the adjustment reaction, according to Dr. Sandman: at first, you might stop doing things that suddenly seem dangerous, like shaking your neighbor’s hand, or even things that aren’t that dangerous but just feel risky, like taking a walk outside. You might become hyper-vigilant and start watching the news, Googling statistics, or scrolling Twitter nonstop. You may also personalize the risk by vividly imagining what it would be like to become infected. Sound familiar?
Fear isn’t fun, but a fearful overreaction is actually much better than being caught unprepared. Think of it like a mental and emotional rehearsal that gets you ready for big changes before they happen. People imagine the worst so they’ll know what to do if it comes.
It’s tempting to comfort others by downplaying their fear. But Dr. Sandman says it’s actually harmful to tell people that they “shouldn’t be worried yet” or that they shouldn’t take any precautions. It’s also not okay to tell people that their normal adjustment reactions are panicky or irrational.
But what you don’t want is denial. Think of denial as panic’s “circuit breaker” — when you’re about to panic, your brain might automatically switch into denial instead. That’s reasonable, considering that people in panic are likely to make rash, harmful decisions. But denial keeps you from taking important precautions to protect yourself. The key is to find a balance between panic and denial.
So what should you do in these scary times when probably everyone you know is having a different adjustment reaction? The important thing to do is help yourself and loved ones find the best ways to act on your fear. Listen to the advice of government officials and health professionals, and skip the fearmongering and dubious fixes coming from regular people on social media. The key is to validate the adjustment reactions we’re having right now and find the healthiest possible ways of responding to our fear. Fear is important. It’s okay to be afraid right now, but it’s important to direct that fear toward healthy, thoughtful action as best we can.
Let’s recap the main things we learned today
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Today’s last story was written by Kelsey Donk, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Today’s episode was produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!