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: LINKEDIN: Get $50 off your first job post. Terms and conditions apply. Take the Close Relationships Questionnaire To Measure Your Attachment Style You Can Find Your Life's Purpose With a Japanese Concept Called Ikigai Flamingo Beaks Look Weird Because They're Upside Down If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please considersupporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron!
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!
Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/relationship-attachment-styles-why-flamingo-beaks-look-weird-and-finding-lifes-purpose-with-ikigai
CODY GOUGH: Hey, we've got three stories from curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today, you'll learn about a Japanese concept you can use to find your life's purpose, why flamingo beaks look weird, and how to figure out your attachment style when it comes to relationships.
CODY GOUGH: Let's satisfy some curiosity. Ashley, what's your attachment style?
ASHLEY HAMER: I'm secure. Thank you very much.
CODY GOUGH: That's great. You're low anxiety and low avoidance.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: Wow. Very cool.
ASHLEY HAMER: Why, thank you.
CODY GOUGH: If you're listening and you have no idea what we're talking about, that's OK. You're about to. Do you like relationships? Do you get in relationships? Have you been in relationships? Well, what's your attachment style? Today, you learn what it is. In his book, Authentic Happiness, University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin EP Seligman argues that there are two basic dimensions to your attachment style. One is your level of attachment-related anxiety. And the other is your level of attachment-related avoidance.
Anxiety is an umbrella term that covers fear of rejection, fear your partner will leave you, and fear your partner is somehow faking their feelings for you. The other dimension, avoidant people are less likely to open up to other people emotionally and less willing to rely on their partners. So that translates into four basic attachment styles. You can either have low in both, high in both, or low in one or the other. And like Ashley said, you're secure. That's great.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. Secure people tend to have sturdy and meaningful intimate relationships. It's easy for them to share their feelings, and they rarely struggle with things like depression and anxiety.
CODY GOUGH: On the other side of the scale, there's fearful, high anxiety, and high avoidance. Those people have a lot of trouble in romantic relationships. They tend to avoid them altogether because they provoke so much anxiety and distress. And even when they are in a relationship, they tend to distrust their partners and avoid confiding in them.
ASHLEY HAMER: And then there are the two in the middle. Preoccupied people have high anxiety, but low avoidance. So they find it easy to share their feelings, but they have a lot of negative feelings and fears about their relationships. That can create issues and causes a lot of conflict between them and their partners.
CODY GOUGH: And low anxiety, high avoidance refers to the dismissing character trait. These people often have high self-confidence, but they tend to prefer autonomy to intimacy. They have trouble opening up to people, and they often come off as hostile or competitive to the people closest to them. And if you're wondering which one you are, we've got a bonus for you. We've got a link to a full quiz in our write-up today on curiosity.com and on the Curiosity app for Android and iOS.
ASHLEY HAMER: Like with any personality quiz, the results here shouldn't be taken as absolute and unassailable truth. But looking at the big picture can help you see meaningful patterns and maybe understand yourself in a new way. Cody, when's the last time you've seen a flamingo? Like in real life?
CODY GOUGH: It's been a while, Ashley. I have seen flamingos, and I've seen them in Florida in places there when I was little. But it's been a hot minute.
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, flamingos are all sorts of weird. We've written before about how they stand on one leg because it's the most efficient way for them to stand. You can actually take a dead flamingo and make it stand on one leg, and it'll stand upright.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah. That's a strange creature.
ASHLEY HAMER: So strange. But also, what's up with those beaks, right? Like most birds have beaks that are sort of straight or pointy, and their's is just kind of like droop down, like gravity has just overtaken them.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah.
ASHLEY HAMER: And they also seem to eat with their heads upside down in the water. So they have a beak that looks upside down. And they have a head that eats upside down. That's because their beaks are actually upside down.
CODY GOUGH: Wow.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. Today, we really solved the mystery on curiosity.com.
ASHLEY HAMER: I think the mystery has been solved, but we're answering it. We're spreading the word.
CODY GOUGH: Today in flamingo news.
ASHLEY HAMER: So most birds have an upper beak that's larger than their lower one, and the upper beak is also stationary, while the lower one moves. It's kind of like your own mouth, right? Your upper teeth are stationary, but your jaw moves. But the flamingo has that backwards. Its lower beak is bigger than its upper beak, and its lower beak is the one that moves.
They're also filter feeders, kind of like whales and oysters. They swing their heads to help water flow into their bills and through a natural strainer that collects food. Sometimes, that food is big, like crustaceans and insects. And sometimes, it's as small as single celled plants. And they feed by bending their long necks down towards the water and positioning their heads upside down. As a result, what looks like their lower bill when they're upright becomes their upper bill when they're feeding. So evolution has actually led their beaks to become upside down from every other bird that eats right side up. It's wild.
The most surprising thing about this, I mean, if you weren't surprised enough that there's a bird with an upside down beak, it wasn't until 1957 that we actually figured out that their beaks were upside down. That year, Penelope M. Jenkin published a study in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B that solved this mystery once and for all. Both beaks move into presently the ball and socket joints.
So I know I just said that only one beak moves, but that's only when they're feeding. When they're preening their feathers, flamingos move one or the other beak. But when they're feeding, they keep their lower beak stationary and move their upper beak against it, just as scientists had always suspected.
CODY GOUGH: I never knew we'd get so much information on just that one bird.
ASHLEY HAMER: Flamingos are really interesting birds. They're weird. Before we get to our last story, we'd like to mention that this episode of Curiosity Daily is sponsored by LinkedIn.
CODY GOUGH: The right hire can make a huge impact on your business, and that's why it's so important to find the right person, right? But where do you find that individual? You could try posting on the job boards, but can you really be sure the right person sees your job? Instead, find the person who will help you grow your business with LinkedIn.
ASHLEY HAMER: LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network, and people go there every day to grow professionally and discover job opportunities. And 70% of the US workforce is already there.
CODY GOUGH: LinkedIn jobs matches people to your role based on more of who they really are. Their skills, interests, and even how open they are to new opportunities. This way, your job gets seen by more of the right people.
ASHLEY HAMER: Listen, most LinkedIn members haven't recently visited the top job boards. But nine out of 10 members are open to new opportunities. So you can only reach them on LinkedIn.
CODY GOUGH: And that's why a new hire is made every 10 seconds using LinkedIn. Plus businesses rate LinkedIn 40% higher than job boards at delivering quality candidates.
ASHLEY HAMER: Hurry over to linkedin.com/curiosity and get $50 off your first job post.
CODY GOUGH: That's linkedin.com/curiosity to get $50 off your first job post.
ASHLEY HAMER: One more time. Visit linkedin.com/curiosity. Terms and conditions apply.
CODY GOUGH: Ashley, have you found your life's purpose?
ASHLEY HAMER: Is it corny to say yes?
CODY GOUGH: Is it being managing editor at curiosity.com.
ASHLEY HAMER: No. Just science communication. I just really love it.
CODY GOUGH: Sure.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: That's great. Good on you.
ASHLEY HAMER: Thanks. What about you? Have you found your life's purpose?
CODY GOUGH: Nope.
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, you've got a lot of years.
CODY GOUGH: I kind of have. I know many purposes of my life, but I'm not sure if I have found the purpose.
ASHLEY HAMER: Sure.
CODY GOUGH: But I might try to ascertain my life's purpose using this concept we're about to talk about.
ASHLEY HAMER: Oh. I can't wait.
CODY GOUGH: Finding a life's purpose is important because research shows that living with a sense of purpose can predict a higher income, better health, and a happier life. So today, we've got a method for finding your true calling. It's a Japanese concept called ikigai. It doesn't have a direct English translation, but it's thought to combine the Japanese words for to live and the realization of what one hopes for.
And according to the World Economic Forum, it's becoming popular outside of Japan as a way to live longer and better. After all, people in Japan have a very high life expectancy. So ikigai might be on to something. Here's an easy way to start thinking about your ikigai. It sits at the intersection of four questions. If you can find a thing that can answer all four, then you might be heading in the right direction in life.
Keep in mind that your ikigai can change along with your age and other conditions too by the way. So here are the four questions. One, what do you love? Two, what are you good at? Three, what does the world need from you? And four, what can you get paid for? Go ahead and try to thread your needle of life through that four-way intersection. And voila, you've found your calling. Do that, and the rest of your life should fall into a beautiful, harmonious place. And we really hope you succeed.
ASHLEY HAMER: Read about these stories and more today on curiosity.com.
CODY GOUGH: Join us again tomorrow for the Curiosity Daily, and learn something new in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Stay curious.
ANNOUNCER: On the Westwood One Podcast Network.