Learn about why you need a healthy VO2max, and how you can get it; a man who had déjà vu for eight years; and the Gish Gallop, a shady debate tactic for winning arguments. 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: Why You Need a Healthy VO2max (and How You Can Get It) — https://curiosity.im/2sY2xzO The Man Who Had Déjà Vu for Eight Years — https://curiosity.im/2MBhD7i The Gish Gallop Is a Shady Debate Tactic for Winning Arguments — https://curiosity.im/2MrhdAk 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 why you need a healthy VO2max, and how you can get it; a man who had déjà vu for eight years; and the Gish Gallop, a shady debate tactic for winning arguments.
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/win-debates-by-beating-the-gish-gallop-improve-your-vo2max-and-8-years-of-deja-vu
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 you need a healthy VO2max, and how you can get it; a man who had déjà vu for eight years; and a shady debate tactic for winning arguments.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Why You Need a Healthy VO2max (and How You Can Get It) — https://curiosity.im/2sY2xzO (from Saturday) (Ashley)
If you want to be SUPER healthy, then you should have a high VO2max. And I’m gonna tell you what that is and how you can get it. In the fitness world, there are generally two camps: the cardio buffs and the strength trainers. If you’re exercising for the health benefits, though, cardio fitness is important for everyone — no matter which camp you fall in. And cardio is what’ll help you improve your VO2max. You know how the faster you run, the more oxygen you consume? Well, in the 1920s, an exercise physiologist named A.V. Hill noticed that there was a cutoff point. Once a person’s cardiorespiratory systems hit that invisible line, they could keep running faster, but their oxygen consumption didn't keep up. That invisible line was what Hill called the maximal oxygen intake, which today we call your VO2max. It’s an acronym where V stands for "volume," "O2" stands for "oxygen," and "max" stands for "maximum." Volume, oxygen, maximum. This number is the point where your muscles can't take in any more oxygen. Your muscles need oxygen because they need ATP. And oxygen is what helps your muscles create ATP from glucose, or sugar. The harder you exercise, the more oxygen you need to produce even more fuel. And the opposite is also true: the more oxygen your muscles can use, the harder you can exercise. Studies over the decades have found that VO2max is the one of, if not THE, most important elements when it comes to performance in endurance sports. Some of the best athletes in the world have monster VO2max values; experts say anything above 50 ml/kg is “superior,” and Usain Bolt comes in at 88.2. Assuming you’re not trying to break world records, though, I can assure you that a healthy VO2max does matter to the average person. Good cardio fitness is associated with a decrease in a person’s risk of death, from both specific diseases and from general causes. you’d probably have to head to a lab with a heart rate monitor to get an exact number for your VO2max, but lots of smartwatches can make a rough estimate of your VO2max, and studies show that your resting heart rate is also a pretty good predictor. Just remember: You know you're exercising at the right intensity for boosting your VO2max by using the "talk test." If you're working just hard enough that conversation starts to be difficult, you're doing it right. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and sweat!
The Man Who Had Déjà Vu for Eight Years — https://curiosity.im/2MBhD7i (from Saturday, for Groundhog Day) (Cody)
Groundhog Day is this weekend. Groundhog Day is also a movie starring Bill Murray, where his character lives through the same day over and over. It’s a great movie. Have you seen it Ashley? [ad lib]
CODY: Anyway, since truth is often stranger than fiction, something similar happened to one British man — for 8 years. For that whole time, the man had persistent déjà vu. By the time doctors saw him in 2010, when he was 23 years old, this British college student had already been experiencing a constant, debilitating feeling of having seen and experienced everything before for a full three years. At first, a lot of these experiences lasted for only a few minutes, but they got longer and more intense over time. For example, he told doctors about one time when he went on vacation to a place he’d been before, and he had the terrifying sensation that he had become trapped in a time loop. Eventually, he swore off watching TV, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers and magazines, since it all felt like information he had already encountered. Scientists know that certain neurological conditions like dementia and epilepsy can cause a repeated feeling of déjà vu, but this guy had a clean bill of health. That is, except for severe anxiety. He had an anxiety-related germophobic history, which led him to wash his hands constantly and shower two to three times a day. And that’s what doctors thought might be the culprit. If they’re right, this would be the first published report of persistent déjà vu caused by anxiety. Unfortunately, the case report wasn't published with the man's name, so we can only guess whether he found relief or if the déjà vu persists to this day. But the case is still an important contribution to the literature on the relationship between anxiety and deja vu, which is pretty limited. If you’re looking for something to research, then keep in mind that there’s a need for further investigation into the occurrence of déjà vu in psychiatric disorders.
[replay clip from start of last segment]
CODY: ...just kidding. Sorry, but I just had to do it.
The Gish Gallop Is a Shady Debate Tactic for Winning Arguments — https://curiosity.im/2MrhdAk (Ashley)
ASHLEY: Have you ever lost an argument and had no idea what just happened? Or watched a debate and had a hard time figuring out why someone had such a hard time answering a question? The reason might be a thing called the Gish Gallop. It’s a sly debate tactic that’s more relevant than ever. Wanna see how it works?
CODY: Sure. Let’s debate the merits of pineapple pizza. I think it’s gross and I prefer pepperoni pizza. Fight me.
ASHLEY: Okay, my turn. Here’s why pineapple pizza is awesome: pineapple will make you lose weight, get promoted, win the lottery, and develop the ability to read thoughts. It’s also tasty and delicious, and scientists say it’ll stop climate change. You get 10 seconds for a rebuttal.
CODY: It’s… uh… I mean it’s not really tasty… but also the climate change thing is made up… I haven’t heard of anyone who can read thoughts—[interrupted]
ASHLEY: Time’s up! You just got GISH GALLOPPED. Here’s the thing: it’s easier and faster to tell a lie than it is to prove that it’s a lie. Jonathan Swift once wrote that falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it. The Gish Gallop was named after Duane Gish. He was a prominent creationist in the 1980s and 90s who would challenge evolution advocates to public debates. Gish would overwhelm his opponents with false statements. Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education put it this way: Gish would, quote, “spew forth torrents of error that the evolutionist hasn't a prayer of refuting in the format of a debate,” unquote. When you don't need to worry about telling the truth, you can say anything. Telling the truth requires careful explanation and detailed reasoning. Once you've thrown out a bunch of lies, you leave your opponent with a tough job of explaining why each one isn't true — and if they don't address every single one, you can claim victory. If someone does this to you, one way to fight back is by focusing on the most outlandish and hard-to-debunk lie on the list. But fact-checking only has power if an audience pays attention to it. That's where you come in. If you read or hear something that doesn't sound right, check up on it! Find multiple sources that attribute their information. If it's wrong, tell your friends. Misinformation is easy to spread, but with some hard work, the truth can come out.
CODY: Today’s ad-free episode was brought to you by our Patrons. Special thanks to Paul Larsen, Michael Kovitch, Hayden Fossey, Min Zye, Mark McCullough, and Luke Chapman for your support on Patreon. We really appreciate it!
CODY: To learn more about how you can support Curiosity Daily, AND how to get access to our feature-length Patreon-exclusive podcasts, please visit patreon-dot-com-slash-curiosity-dot-com, all spelled out.
That’s all for today, but you can keep learning all weekend on curiosity-dot-com.
ASHLEY: This weekend, you’ll learn about the shortest scientific paper ever published;
Why normal matter might be able to move dark matter around;
The real reason why cell phone calls are banned from planes;
What happens in the brains of rival sports fans, just in time for a *kind of* important football game;
And more! Come hang out with us again Sunday on the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m Ashley Hamer.
CODY: And I’m Cody Gough. Have a great weekend!
ASHLEY: And stay curious!