Learn about why your eyes get puffy when you cry. You’ll also learn about the benefits of being a generalist instead of a specialist from a special guest: author David Epstein. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about why your eyes get puffy when you cry: https://curiosity.im/2Lq2Spq Additional resources from David Epstein: Get your copy of “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” on Amazon — https://amazon.com “The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance” — https://amazon.com Official website — https://www.davidepstein.com/ Follow @DavidEpstein on Twitter — https://twitter.com/DavidEpstein Remember the ‘10,000 Hours’ Rule for Success? Forget About It | The New York Times — https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/books/review/david-epstein-range.html Want to support our show?Register for the 2019 Podcast Awards and nominate Curiosity Daily to win for People’s Choice, Education, and Science & Medicine. After you register, simply select Curiosity Daily from the drop-down menus (no need to pick nominees in every category): https://curiosity.im/podcast-awards-2019 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 why your eyes get puffy when you cry. You’ll also learn about the benefits of being a generalist instead of a specialist from a special guest: author David Epstein.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about why your eyes get puffy when you cry: https://curiosity.im/2Lq2Spq
Additional resources from David Epstein:
Want to support our show? Register for the 2019 Podcast Awards and nominate Curiosity Daily to win for People’s Choice, Education, and Science & Medicine. After you register, simply select Curiosity Daily from the drop-down menus (no need to pick nominees in every category): https://curiosity.im/podcast-awards-2019
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/why-generalists-triumph-w-david-epstein-and-what-causes-puffy-eyes-after-crying
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 why your eyes get puffy when you cry. You’ll also learn about the benefits of being a generalist instead of a specialist, from author David Epstein.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
This Is Why Your Eyes Get Puffy When You Cry — https://curiosity.im/2Lq2Spq (Cody)
It’s pretty easy to tell when someone’s just had a REALLY good cry. You know what I’m talking about: your eyes get red and puffy, and your emotions are laid bare for the world to see. Well it turns out that your eyes get puffy when you cry because your eyes’ drainage system just can’t keep up. But only when you’ve cried enough. Let’s talk tears. Your eyes produce three different types of tears: basal [like NASAL], reflex, and emotional tears. Basal tears keep your eyes lubricated and protect your cornea from dirt and debris. These tears are secreted constantly, and most people don’t even notice they’re always tearing up just a bit. Reflex tears contain additional antibodies to fight off bacteria, and your body pushes them out in pretty big quantities to protect you from stuff like smoke and dust and the horrific fumes that come from chopping onions. Emotional tears have a slightly different chemical composition, with proteins and hormones you don’t find in other tears. Those ingredients might help bring your body back into balance after an emotional overload. All of these tears are produced by the lacrimal gland, just above your eye. When the lacrimal gland produces just a few tears, they coat your eyes as you blink, then drain into your nose through the tiny holes in the corners of your eyelids. But when life calls for a full-on sob-fest, your lacrimal drainage system can’t keep up. Tears that usually evaporate or go back into your nose instead cascade out of your eyes. You know the snotty mess that comes with an ugly-cry? Well believe it or not, if you’re crying hard enough, tears can actually come out of your nose. That’s also when the swelling starts. Tears are more watery and less salty than the fluid that fills your cells, and by osmosis, that water flows through a semipermeable membrane into the tissue around your eyes to balance out the concentration of salt on either side. This causes your eyes to appear puffy, which is only aggravated when you rub them while you're crying. On top of this, the blood vessels in and around your eyes can dilate, partly because your tears are derived from your blood supply. There’s no surefire way to stop puffiness from crying, but a cold compress can reduce the swelling, and hemorrhoid creams can also do the trick, since they contain compounds to shrink blood vessels and reduce inflammation. Or, of course, just blame it on allergies.
Interview Clip 1 - Research into generalists vs. specializing (Both)
ASHLEY: You may have been taught that you should specialize at an early age, but there’s a mountain of evidence piling up that suggests being a generalist is really the way to go. That’s according to our guest for today and tomorrow, David Epstein, author of the new book “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.” And today, he’s joining us to explain the incredible benefits of being a generalist who crosses domains. Here’s David on his personal experience coming to this new understanding.
[CLIP :57]
CODY: Okay, so becoming good at lots of things will make you good at any one given thing. But resumes rely on showing that you’ve done the same thing for several years. So what’s up with that? Here’s David on generalists and jobs.
[CLIP 4:16]
ASHLEY: We hope you found this research valuable, ESPECIALLY if you happen to work in recruiting or human resources. Tomorrow you’ll hear the second half of our interview with David Epstein, and he’ll get into how you can become a generalist even if you’ve spent most of your life specializing. We’ll also put a link in today’s show notes for you to pick up his book “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.”
CODY: Before we recap what we learned today, we want to give a special shout-out to some of our supporters for today’s ad-free episode. Special thanks to Katrina Constantine, Steve Guy, Dan Paterniti, Bob Buckley, Hayden Fossey, Durant, and Angie for supporting our show.
ASHLEY: YOU can support our show by nominating Curiosity Daily to be a finalist in the 2019 Podcast Awards! Find a link in today’s show notes, or visit podcast-awards-dot-com, to register. Then find Curiosity Daily in the drop-down menus for the categories of People’s Choice, Education, and Science & Medicine. It’s free to vote and will really help us out. And now, let’s recap what we learned today.
CODY: Today we learned there are 3 types of tears, and emotional tears can mess up your face when they come out your nose.
ASHLEY: And that elite athletes and other top performers do well because they’re generalists, not just specialists. And if you’re hiring? Don’t count out the generalist resumes that come across your desk.
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Stay curious!