Learn about how scientists measure the contagiousness and deadliness of diseases like coronavirus; the history of acedia, an emotion that is similar to (but distinct from) depression; and why it helps to do a “potty dance” when you really have to go to the bathroom.
Learn about how scientists measure the contagiousness and deadliness of diseases like coronavirus; the history of acedia, an emotion that is similar to (but distinct from) depression; and why it helps to do a “potty dance” when you really have to go to the bathroom.
Measuring the Deadliness of Viruses (Like Coronavirus) by Ashley Hamer
Depression’s Cousin “Acedia” by Mae Rice
Why We Do the Potty Dance by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Stewart C.)
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/measuring-the-deadliness-of-viruses-like-coronavirus-why-we-do-the-potty-dance-and-depressions-cousin-acedia
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, you’ll learn about how scientists measure how contagious and deadly diseases are; and the history of acedia, an emotion that is similar to (but distinct from) depression. We’ll also answer a listener question about why it helps to do a “potty dance” when you really have to go to the bathroom.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Right now, there’s a respiratory virus spreading across China and into the rest of the world. I’m of course talking about coronavirus. It’s serious enough that the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak an international public health emergency. Now, we generally shy away from developing news stories on this podcast — our goal is more to make you smarter about the world in general, and there are plenty of other places to get breaking news. But we thought we’d explain some of the science behind the outbreak: specifically, how scientists measure a disease’s contagiousness and deadliness, and how coronavirus compares to other diseases.
The rate at which a disease spreads is defined by a term called “R naught.” R naught tells you the average number of people that will catch a disease from an infected person. If R naught equals 1, every existing infection causes one new infection. If it’s less than one, every infection causes less than one new infection, which means it’ll probably die out. If it equals more than one, you get more than one new infection from each existing infection. That’s how you get epidemics.
Deadliness, meanwhile, is measured in a few different ways. One of the simplest is the case fatality rate, or CFR. That’s the number you get when you divide the number of deaths by the number of total cases of the disease. It’s not 100 percent accurate because it misses newly diagnosed patients who will eventually die, but it’s a good rough estimate.
So, how contagious and deadly is coronavirus? With the information available as of Monday, February 3rd, coronavirus has an R naught between 1.5 and 3.5. That means every new infection may produce up to 3.5 new infections. Coronavirus also has a case fatality rate of two percent. For comparison, SARS, another coronavirus, has an R naught of 2.8, with a fatality rate of 9.6 percent. That means it spreads at about the same rate as coronavirus, but it’s more deadly. Similarly, Ebola has an R naught of 2.2 with a fatality rate of FIFTY PERCENT. The seasonal flu, meanwhile, has an R naught of about 1.3 and a CFR of 0.1 percent — yet it’s so common that it kills up to 650,000 people each year, roughly 1,800 times as many lives as coronavirus has claimed so far.
Whether it’s coronavirus or garden-variety influenza, the same advice wins out. Get your flu shot, wash your hands often, and if you feel sick, stay home. Let’s do our best to stay healthy and keep each other safe.
You know that feeling you get where you’re super bored but you don’t want to do anything? Maybe you feel like nothing really matters, or like there’s no point to anything. That feeling has a name: Acedia [uh-SEE-dee-yuh]. Some say it’s related to depression, others say it’s a different feeling altogether. But whatever it is, it’s got a very long history.
This term originated in a community of fourth-century Christian monks called The Desert Fathers and Mothers. They lived in, you guessed it, the desert, and mostly prayed, fasted, and worked. They spent a lot of time alone. Even by fourth-century standards, it wasn’t a fun lifestyle. “Acedia” was the term the monks used for the dark feelings that sometimes overtook them: a mix of boredom, numbness, and a lack of connection to the spiritual world. Essentially, the ancient version of “ugh, who cares, nothing matters.”
Originally, the monks counted acedia as the worst of the Eight Bad Thoughts — a list of evil temptations, rather than outright sins, which also included gluttony, impurity, avarice, sadness, anger, vainglory, and pride. Over time, though, the evolved into the seven deadly sins we know today, and acedia was just rolled up into the all-purpose “sloth.” The thinking went that acedia might be specifically a monk thing — not particularly relatable to Christianity’s everyman.
But acedia has actually been gaining traction again in the 21st century. A writer named Kathleen Norris recently published a book called “Acedia & Me” in which she argues that no, acedia isn’t just an old-timey word for depression. Depression is a more medical, bodily problem, she says, whereas acedia is a more spiritual issue. You might call it purposelessness, or a lack of self-discipline.
There’s no hard research on the difference between acedia and depression, though, and it could be that depression and acedia could be two different ways of looking at the same experience: depression is the clinical way, and acedia is the spiritual way. Whatever the case, though, the concept of acedia has been helping people for millennia. Monks: They’re just like us!
ASHLEY: We got a listener question from Stewart, who asks: "When you have to go to the bathroom, why is it that hopping or moving around helps assuage the urge?" Great question, Stewart!
Ah, the pee-pee dance — perhaps the first dance move that everybody learns. It doesn’t really make sense, does it? Jumping and gyrating around seems like it would only put MORE stress on your full bladder, making the urge to go even worse. But the urination shuffle isn’t a physical fix; it’s mental. It’s what experts call a displacement behavior: basically, a helpful distraction. When you’re faced with a conflict, like the desire to pee crossed with the desire to not wet your pants, your brain may decide to distract you from the dilemma by making you do something totally unrelated. Animals do this too — like, when a dog is told to sit before it can have its bowl of kibble, the conflict between wanting to eat and wanting to do what you say might lead it to yawn, scratch, or start grooming itself. People, likewise, do these sorts of things in non-bathroom situations, too. Maybe you scratch your head or chew your nails when you’re faced with a tough decision, or check Facebook when you’re trying to decide whether to chat up a stranger at a party. Been there!
A big reason this works, though, is that your urge to go can often be mental, too. Your bladder is a muscular organ that’s tightly controlled by the brain. Most of the time, your brain keeps the bladder muscle relaxed so it can hold urine. All the while, the bladder sends regular updates to the brain on how full it is. When it’s time to go, the brain tells the muscle to contract, and you urinate. But when you’re in situations where you tend to use the facilities, your brain can jump-start this process when it’s not necessary. It’s like Pavlov’s dog, except instead of a dog drooling when it hears the dinner bell, it’s your bladder straining when it gets to the front door of your house. In extreme cases, this can even lead to accidents, in a condition sometimes called “latchkey incontinence.” Experts say that the more you give in to these false alarms, the worse they can get. To train yourself out of needing to go the minute you get in the door, try to use the bathroom before you head home so you know the urge is just in your head. Over time, you might have less of a need to do the pee-pee dance in the first place. Thanks for your question, Stewart! If you have a question, send it in to podcast at curiosity dot com. OR CALL US! STUDIO LINE! VOICEMAIL! 865-560-4708
CODY: Before we recap what we learned today, here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll hear next week on Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Next week, you’ll learn about why science says opposites don’t really attract;
How doctors detected and treated an astronaut’s medical problem in space for the first time;
Why tulips used to cost more than houses in the Netherlands;
A Stanford study that uncovered how to get better at picking creative ideas;
When and why we started using last names;
And more! Okay, so now, let’s recap what we learned today.
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CODY: Today’s stories were written by Ashley Hamer, Mae Rice, and Reuben Westmas, with scriptwriting and editing by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Today’s ep was scripted, produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Have a great weekend, and join us again Monday to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!