Learn about how many hours it takes to forge a new friendship, along with the health benefits they provide; the most popular jobs for psychopaths; and the limitations of science. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: This Is How Many Hours it Takes to Make a Friend — https://curiosity.im/2tvCiAV The Top 10 Jobs for Psychopaths — https://curiosity.com/topics/the-top-10-jobs-for-psychopaths-curiosity Additional resources discussed: Why Do We Sleep? | Inverse — https://www.inverse.com/article/34600-why-do-we-sleep-and-dream Scientists are unraveling the mystery of your body’s clock – and soon may be able to reset it | The Conversation — https://theconversation.com/scientists-are-unraveling-the-mystery-of-your-bodys-clock-and-soon-may-be-able-to-reset-it-84022 Turbulence, the oldest unsolved problem in physics | Ars Technica — https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/10/turbulence-the-oldest-unsolved-problem-in-physics/ True Cause of Whip's Crack Uncovered | Scientific American — https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/true-cause-of-whips-crack/ Scientists Just Discovered How Shoelaces Come Untied, and It's Weirder Than You'd Think | Curiosity.com — https://curiosity.im/2H87PAV Scientists Just Figured Out How Washing Machines Clean Your Clothes | Curiosity.com — https://curiosity.im/2Hf5Cn8 If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Learn about how many hours it takes to forge a new friendship, along with the health benefits they provide; the most popular jobs for psychopaths; and the limitations of science.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:
Additional resources discussed:
If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/limitations-of-science-top-jobs-for-psychopaths-and-how-long-it-takes-to-make-a-friend
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about how many hours it takes to forge a new friendship; and, the most popular jobs for psychopaths. We’ll also answer a listener question about the limitations of science.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Listener Question on Limits of Science (Ashley/Cody currently researching — need an idea of content by Friday 2/22) (Both)
We got a listener question from Peter and his kids Micah, Eliana, and Nathan. Peter wrote that he’s always curious about what science can’t explain — not the big stuff like quantum entanglement, but the little things you’d think we had already figured out. So here’s his question: “What are the everyday things that we can’t explain or have only recently been understood?”
This is a big question, and Cody and I have been talking about it nonstop since we got it. We even put a call out on Twitter to see what suggestions others had. We’re going to keep talking about it, but first, I want to run down some of the most fascinating things we found that science can’t explain. We’ve got links to learn more about all of these in the show notes. Here goes!
We still don’t know why we sleep or exactly how our circadian rhythms work. We still don’t have a mathematical model for how dominoes fall. Physicists are still puzzling over how to understand and predict turbulence — not just in the air, but in water or any other fluid. Scientists didn’t know what caused the crack of a whip until 2002: it’s not a sonic boom at the end of the whip, but a sonic boom from a loop in the whip traveling from your hand to the end at faster than the speed of sound. In 2017, mechanical engineers figured out how shoelaces come untied: it’s not little by little, but in a quick catastrophic failure. It took a study in 2018 before scientists understood how cat tongues work so well for grooming. That same year, scientists finally figured out how washing machines actually get clothes clean! And just a few months ago, researchers put dandelion seed pods in a wind tunnel and finally figured out how they manage to float so far. Whew!
https://www.inverse.com/article/34600-why-do-we-sleep-and-dream
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/10/turbulence-the-oldest-unsolved-problem-in-physics/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/true-cause-of-whips-crack/
This Is How Many Hours it Takes to Make a Friend — https://curiosity.im/2tvCiAV (Ashley)
How many hours does it take to make a friend? One researcher actually tackled this question in one of the most heartwarming scientific studies probably ever, and it comes with real health benefits. In March 2018, Jeffrey Hall was an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, and he collected data to find an answer. His data came from participants who were adjusting to new circumstances, like transplants to new cities and college freshmen. He asked them about the people they were meeting and followed up later to see how close they’d become. And according to Hall’s calculations, it takes about 40 to 60 hours to make a casual friend; about 80 to 100 hours to become a friend-friend; and 200 hours or more to become a close friend. Leisure time made faster friends than just spending work time together, and the youngest participants spent up to a third of their waking hours with their new buddies. That created kind of a snowball effect that forged closer friendships faster.
Friendships matter because research has shown that having friends actually has a positive effect on how long you live. But what kinds of friends depends on your age. For younger people, it’s more important to have lots of friends, but the quality of those relationships doesn’t have a major effect on lifespan. For people in their 30s, quality is more important than quantity. If you’re curious about the friendship factor of your relationships, then you’re in luck: Hall and his colleague designed an online tool that can give you a very informal assessment of your newest friendships. You can find a link to that in our full write-up on this story on curiosity-dot-com and on our free Curiosity app for Android and iOS. Just remember: whatever your age and however many friends you have, you’ve also got a friend in Cody and me. [ad lib]
The Top 10 Jobs for Psychopaths — https://curiosity.com/topics/the-top-10-jobs-for-psychopaths-curiosity (Cody)
Today’s last story is just plain fun. Author Kevin Dutton wrote a book called “The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success.” And he also identified the most appealing jobs to people with a psychopathic personality. To clarify, there’s a difference between the kind of psychopath who gets a job from the kind that ends up in prison. A 2010 study looked at two groups of people with psychopathic tendencies; one group had been convicted and sent to prison, and the other was made up of people who’d found a lot of success in the business world. Both groups showed a lot of the same tendencies, like having a shallow affect, callousness and lack of remorse, a general lack of empathy, and the ability to be really charming when necessary. In fact, the only notable trait that didn’t show up in the successful business leaders was low conscientiousness. These successful psychopaths actually showed signs of pretty high conscientiousness — which, by the way, doesn’t necessarily mean you care more about what other people think. It just means you’re more AWARE of what other people think. And experts estimate that about one percent of people are psychopaths, so chances are pretty solid you’ll run into one sooner or later. If you do run into one, remember: don’t react emotionally to their jibes, don't be intimidated by their aggression, don't buy into their misrepresentations of the world. Keep calm and confident, and you won’t become a target for manipulation. Anyway, back to the list of top jobs, ranked by popularity. Number 5 is surgeon. A 2015 study found that consultants at hospitals ranked more psychopathic than the general population. Number 4: salesperson. Makes sense; sales is a competitive field, and it's one where self-promotion and “carefully curated representations of the truth" can take you a long way. Number 3: media personality. Mostly because psychopathy and narcissism go hand in hand. No comment on that one. Number 2: Lawyer. Confidence and control are key when you're trying to convince a jury, and so is knowing how to manipulate people. And the number 1 job for psychopaths: you guessed it. CEO. Psychopaths have a strong tendency to become corporate leaders. Just remember how Harvard psychology professor Joshua Buckholtz put it: quote, "They're not aliens, they're people who make bad decisions," unquote.
ASHLEY: Before we wrap up, we want to give a special shout-out to Dr. Mary Yancy, who gets an executive producer credit today for her generous support on Patreon. Thank you SO. MUCH.
CODY: If you’re listening and you want to support Curiosity Daily, then visit patreon-dot-com-slash-curiosity-dot-com, all spelled out. We’re producing special podcast episodes and offering other exclusive perks to show our appreciation for your support. One more time, you can learn more at Patreon-dot-com-slash-curiosity-dot-com.
ASHLEY: Join us again tomorrow for the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m [NAME] and I’m [NAME]. Stay curious!