Learn about the truth behind common myths about vision; what that “guilty look” on your dog’s face actually means; and the nearly impossible Chinese college entrance exam, the gaokao. Please support our sponsors! Visit capterra.com/curiosity to find the best software solution for your business — for free! 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: 7 Myths About Your Vision, Debunked — https://curiosity.im/2tIioTf That Look on Your Dog's Face Isn't Guilt — It's Fear — https://curiosity.im/2tIh6aR The Gaokao Is the Nearly Impossible Chinese College Entrance Exam — https://curiosity.im/2tIhxC1 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 the truth behind common myths about vision; what that “guilty look” on your dog’s face actually means; and the nearly impossible Chinese college entrance exam, the gaokao.
Please support our sponsors! Visit capterra.com/curiosity to find the best software solution for your business — for free!
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:
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/myths-about-your-vision-what-your-dogs-guilty-look-really-means-and-the-gaokao-exam
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 the truth behind common myths about vision; what that “guilty look” on your dog’s face actually means; and the nearly impossible Chinese college entrance exam, the gaokao.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
7 Myths About Your Vision, Debunked — https://curiosity.im/2tIioTf (Both)
CODY: Let’s start off today with a little mythbusting! Ashley and I are gonna debunk a few myths about your vision. And I’ll start with one that’s a blast from the past. Our very first guest ever on the Curiosity Podcast in 2017 mentioned this, but it bears repeating: carrots will NOT give you ultra-sharp vision. And this myth is a double whammie. You might’ve heard that the British Royal Air Force spread this rumor around when they started using radar technology in World War II. But honestly, German intelligence was well aware of British radar installations. The carrot propaganda did come from the British, but it was their Ministry of Food that was trying to drum up demand for carrots, NOT their military trying to fool Germany. Carrots do produce vitamin A, by the way, which IS important for your vision, but sweet potatoes and kale will also do the trick.
ASHLEY: Here’s another myth: corrective lenses weaken your eyes. No, they don’t. They STRENGTHEN your eyes, by, you know… helping you see. Reading in dim light also won’t hurt your eyes. It might feel a little uncomfortable because you’re making your eyes do more work, but other than getting tired faster, you won’t actually damage your eyes. Know what else won’t hurt your eyes? Staring at a screen or sitting too close to the TV. Again, you can cause short-term discomfort by doing either, but it won’t actually cause damage. And here’s a fun fact: in the 1950s and 60s, early TVs were literally radioactive. So back in the day, they COULD cause eye problems. But today, TVs have built-in shields, so you can sit as close or far as you want.
CODY: One more myth is that blind people can’t see anything. In reality, blindness is a giant category. In the US, anyone with eyesight of 20/200 or less qualifies as legally blind. There are plenty of people in this legal category can still perceive things like light and darkness. So there ya go! Hope we satisfied your cur-EYE-osity!
That Look on Your Dog's Face Isn't Guilt — It's Fear — https://curiosity.im/2tIh6aR (Ashley)
Speaking of eyes, you know that guilty look your dog gives you when it knows it did something wrong? Well according to research, you’re just imagining that look is guilt. In reality, that emotion she’s feeling is fear. This comes from a study published in 2009 in the journal Behavioral Processes, where researchers ran a series of experiments with 14 dogs and their owners. The owners would show their dog a treat and say “NO” to show that it was off limits, then they’d put it on the floor and leave the room. At that point, the experimenter would either take the treat away or offer it to the dog to eat. 20 seconds later, the owner would come back in, and the researcher would either tell the owner what the dog had done, or lie about what the dog had done. If the owner thought the dog had eaten the treat, the dog would get a scolding; if the owner believed the dog had behaved, then the dog got a friendly greeting. Simple enough, right? Well later, researchers analyzed recordings of the experiments to see if the dogs had what their owners said were “guilty” looks. Stuff like avoiding eye contact, lying down and rolling to the side or onto the back, dropping the tail, moving away from the owner, raising a paw, and licking. And they found that whether or not the dogs ate the treat had no effect on their behavior. The only thing to cause the so-called "guilty look" was how the owner reacted. Basically, that look you call guilt is actually just fear of getting in trouble. Now, don’t panic if you’re worried your dog is actually afraid of you. If you’re looking for one way to replace that fear with something else, try telling your dog to do something differently instead of just saying “no.” For example, if your dog has a bad habit of jumping on strangers, then instead of saying “no” every time, say “sit” so you’re reinforcing a better behavior. Discipline with love, and everybody wins!
[CAPTERRA]
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CODY: Visit capterra-dot-com-slash-curiosity for free, TODAY, to find the right tools to make 2019 THE year for your business. Capterra, that’s C-A-P-T-E-R-R-A, dot-com-slash-curiosity. ASHLEY: One more time, that’s capterra-dot-com-slash-curiosity. Show our sponsor some love and check it out today — for free!
The Gaokao Is the Nearly Impossible Chinese College Entrance Exam — https://curiosity.im/2tIhxC1 (Cody)
We’ll wrap up today with some good news: assuming you didn’t grow up in China, you never had to take the Gaokao. It’s the Chinese college entrance exam, and it puts standardized tests like the SAT and the ACT here in the US to shame. It’s a 9-hour test. You heard me right. There are lots of Chinese students who’ve spent their entire lives studying for this monster test that happens every June. Not only is it a long exam, but it's also impossibly difficult. Plenty of students have aced the SAT and ACT — I personally know people who’ve aced one or the other — but no one has ever gotten a perfect score on the gaokao. According to Bloomberg, the test, quote, "requires a mastery of Chinese history, English grammar, and complex calculus. Students seeking a future in science will be tested on physics, chemistry, and biology. Liberal arts students must show proficiency in political theory, history, and geology,” unquote. The test is 750 points, and although a lot of the questions are multiple choice, the grading is pretty subjective for Chinese and other liberal arts subjects. And on top of all that, you can get docked points for bad handwriting. You can see a few sample questions from the gaokao in our full write-up on curiosity-dot-com and on our free Curiosity app for Android and iOS, but if you’re feeling left out, then give this essay prompt a shot: You are free because you may choose how to cross the desert; you are not free because you must cross the desert either way. Write an 800-word essay on this. Yeah… I’m gonna pass on that one… although it might make a fun podcast! [ad lib]
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!