WEBVTT - From the Vault: Like a Circle in a Spiral, Part 1 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.039 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. This is 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:11.399 Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday time 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:15.760 for the Vault. This episode originally aired December eight. It 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.800 was part one of our series about spinning around in circles. Yeah, 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.520 these were a lot of fun. We get into sort 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:24.600 of the you know, what happens in the body when 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.200 you spin around in circles? So what happens in the mind, 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:29.520 or what can happen in the mind, What kind of 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:32.640 practices do we have to deal with these changes? And 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.720 then also what kind of cultural traditions are there? All right, 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:41.560 let's spiral out. Welcome just about to Blow your Mind 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:50.920 production of My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.440 Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.200 Joe McCormick. And today we're gonna be talking about spinning 0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:59.040 around in circles. That's right, This is this is probably 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:01.279 gonna be a two partter. Sometimes we figured this out 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:02.840 as we go, but I believe this will be a 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:04.960 part one in a part two, and we're gonna be 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.640 We're gonna be looking at at humans spinning around in 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:11.280 circles from several different vantage points. So you know what 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:15.880 is it doing? Uh at a at a biological level, Uh, 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:19.080 you know a psychological level. Um, how does it factor 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:23.040 into various traditions and games, etcetera. Um, this is what 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:25.640 I'm pretty excited to do. And the genesis for this 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:29.320 one was a listener email who wrote in about about 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:33.039 spinning uh in um in ballet and we were we 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:34.680 we had a brief back and forth in a listener 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:36.240 mail of where we talked about then we're like, yeah, 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:37.880 we should totally do an episode. So here we are. 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:39.840 But to start off, I want to I want to 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.679 start off somewhere where at least my mind went to, 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:46.319 if not first, then maybe second or third. And that 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:52.040 is the world of of of fantasy. Combat has found 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:56.000 in science fiction and fantasy films, but also especially in 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.880 video games. Because when I think of people spinning, uh, 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.600 I have to say, I instantly think of im Bison 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.520 from Street Fighter doing his Psycho Crusher attack. Do you 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:07.680 remember this one, Joe? I didn't know what was called 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:10.200 the psycho Crusher, but I remember m Bison. So if 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:12.160 you ever played Street Fighter, he's like the big guy 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:14.560 in the hat. He's like the final Boss or something. 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:17.440 Isn't he. Yeah, yeah, or he tends to be. I 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:20.320 think sometimes they you know, later in incarnations they introduce 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.080 new bosses, but he's he's the boss. He's this boss 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:25.120 of street fighter. Yeah. And I think he's supposed to 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:27.520 be some kind of dictator or something. He's dressed up 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.680 in in I don't know, off brand military regalia. He's 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.680 wearing like a like a captain's hat that's read in 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:36.560 some kind of uniform. But he's also got the magic powers, 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:39.880 and so he can attack you by flying at you 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.200 kind of like the raid in like horizontal dive towards you. 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:46.600 But he's spinning around in circles, yeah, isn't And he's 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:50.200 flaming of course. And also it's it's a cool attack. Um. 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:53.920 And you'll see various versions of that particular attack in 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:57.160 various games. But there's also the version that you see 0:02:57.160 --> 0:02:59.080 in the Mortal Kombat games as his character Nam Kong 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:03.000 Lao he's the guy with the razor blade hat uh. 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.400 And you also see something similar with Baraka. But but 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:07.600 they both have attacks in some of the games where 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:10.520 they spin around like a top and either either it's 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:13.360 offensive like they're they're spinning like a top and coming 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:15.640 towards you with their blades or they're spinning like a 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.520 top Kung Mile does this where he he's deflecting you, 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.360 like so if you jump at him, he starts spinning 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.760 and then bam, your injury. Well, it's very much child 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.840 brain self defense logic, where you think, like if I 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.040 spin my arms around in circles, nobody could come anywhere 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.520 near me, right right, It's like that Simpsons been I'm 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:35.320 gonna move my arms like this, I'm gonna move my 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:37.080 feet like this, and if you get in the way, 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.200 you're gonna get hit. Uh. I think there's also a 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:45.240 Loony Tunes Tasmanian Devil vibe to a certainly the the 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:48.280 the Kung Lal style attack, you know, where you're just 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:50.920 spinning in one spot and you're just spinning so fast 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:53.360 that you become a little tornado. Right, So there's at 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:55.920 least an intuition people have that, you know, you could 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.520 really do some damage to somebody by spinning at them 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.720 in one way or another. Yeah, I have to say 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:04.600 in Star Wars, Darth City is busts out a cool 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:07.520 psycho crusher style. I'm not sure if it's actually an attack, 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:09.760 but more of like an advance, like a way to 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:12.560 quickly get at your opponents. But he uses this in 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:15.320 both the Revenge of the Sith and the Clone Wars series. 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.440 Oh okay, you know, I gotta say, I I hate 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:20.239 I know you're more of a fan of the prequels 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:21.880 than I am, and I'm not trying to start a fight, 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:24.120 but I gotta say one of my least favorite things 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:27.039 about the prequels is there's just way too much spinning 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:29.839 in the lightsaber battles, and the prequels way too much 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:33.880 like jumping and flipping around the the lightsaber battles become 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.799 less dramatic and more frantic. I like the lightsaber battle 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:39.320 in the Empire Strikes Back, you know that that's got 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:43.400 like classic sword fight drama. The ones where like Yoda 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.039 is just doing like fourteen somersaults in the air and 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:48.920 these three sixty jumps and and they're they're doing the 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:52.279 Psycho crusher and twirling around like a screw. I don't 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:53.760 know it kind of it kind of takes me out 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:56.640 of the Star Wars mindset. Well, Yoda shortened statue, I mean, 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:58.520 he's gotta he's gotta do those flips in order to 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:03.159 combat a tower opponent. Um. I see what you're saying. 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.799 But I do think that the City of Spin works 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:08.919 really well because it's like it comes out of nowhere, 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:13.400 and then he instantly uses more traditional attacks to to 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:15.960 kill like three different Jedi masters. So it seems it 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:18.800 seems to work well for him. You can't argue with success, Joe. 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:22.800 I correct there. And also I admit my ignorance because 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:24.840 when you shared this clip from the movie, I thought 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:27.240 for a second it was Christopher Lee, and I was like, oh, 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:31.360 Christopher Lee, okay, but it shows what I know. Well. 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:35.720 It does raise the question, though, do we see that 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:39.960 many full spins in actual combat, because I suppose even 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:42.200 with something like a spin kick, you have to be careful, right, 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:43.880 like you don't want to throw off your your own 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:47.760 balance or present your back to your opponent. Um. Without 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:50.400 even getting into the magical effects that are often associated 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:54.120 with these attacks and movies and video games. UM. Now, 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.960 I have to say, I'm not a real fight officionado. 0:05:57.040 --> 0:05:59.839 I'm not like in the M M A or boxing 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.800 ing or you know any any of these. I tend 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:06.599 to like my my combat fictional and worked. Um, and 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:08.600 and in those contacts, I love a good spinning kick. 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:13.240 I love a nice roaring elbow in Japanese pro wrestling. Um. 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.440 But but I was initially unsure, like does it make 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.560 sense to spin or is that just a risky flourish. Well, 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.880 it's funny. I remember asking this myself from the first 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:25.080 person perspective, because when I was a kid, I took 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.680 I'm doing air quotes here, tae kwond I guess I 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:32.480 took whatever like severely watered down version of this martial 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.080 art was being taught to young children in Tennessee in 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.479 the ninety nineties. You know, it's like, uh, I'm not 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:42.000 sure what exactly I was learning, but I took taekwondo classes, 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:46.440 and I remember thinking, even then as a child, having 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:51.440 questions about the practicality of the spinning kick moves, because 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:53.200 there would be a type of kick you do where 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.280 you would turn around, you turn all the way around 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:58.640 and perform a kick, And I was like, why couldn't 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.920 you just kick without turning? Does this do some kind 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:04.680 of advantage? Would this ever be applicable in a real 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:08.480 self defense situation? Uh? Like, even as a kid, I 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:11.520 remember having the thought, this feels more like a dance 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:14.720 move than a useful fighting technique, which I think is 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:17.720 kind of applicable because at least the way I learned taekwondo, 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.440 it was in many ways indistinguishable from a dance class, 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.680 like you were learning routines, like patterns of movement that 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:29.200 were you know, they were exercise. It was aerobic exercise, 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:31.760 and it was I guess supposed to look good, look 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:35.200 cool from the outside. I don't know, well, I mean, 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:38.760 there is a lot of crossover between dance and exercise 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.200 and martial art. Uh you find you can find these 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:45.560 these intermingled uh to to a large extent. And I 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.200 guess also there's the psychological aspect to fight too, right, 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:52.320 something might be more about confusing an opponent. So I 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:54.120 wasn't just wasn't trre on this either, but I did 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:57.400 a quick glance around on YouTube to say, okay, are 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.559 legit n n A fights um ending with beIN kicks, 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:04.240 and I did find this this amazing clip from I 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:06.880 think earlier in the summer and apparently went viral. So 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:08.360 if you're at all in an m m A out there, 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:11.880 I'm sure you've seen this, but it's uh. Hakeen Buckley 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.640 is the m m A fighter and he busts out 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.320 this spin kick, uh in the middle of this match, 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:19.720 and it's just a complete knockout. I'm usually not one 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.800 to find a lot of joy in um in clips 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:27.920 of like legitimate knockout blows, but this one was pretty impressive. 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:31.440 I always fun they make me. They look kind of sickening, 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.600 like watching somebody's head snap back and then they fall 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.640 to the ground. It's like, yeah, this one is a 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:39.880 bit sickening, So don't don't don't look at it, look 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.440 for it unless you you want to see this sort 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:45.080 of action. But it did answer my question, like, well, 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.360 that's a spin kick. He certainly did a complete spin 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:51.840 on that and just knocked a guy out, so um so, 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:54.400 so that initially answered my question. And I started looking 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:55.840 around a little bit more on that, and I found 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:59.280 an interesting post about taekwondo spinning kicks at turtle press 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:02.600 dot com by sang h Kim and the author points 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.600 out that this apparently what spin kicks weren't a were 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:09.120 not a viable tactic in taekwondo until the nineteen eighties 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:11.520 uh and and the author explains that this is due 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:15.960 to advances in footwork and changes in fighting stance preferences 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:19.080 that made it more of a viable option. Also, less 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.520 restrictive protective gear made it more of an option, as 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.440 did sort of a broadening of style to include different 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:29.040 weight classes and sort of added creativity to the style. 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.160 So I found that interesting. Okay, well, I'll have to 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:34.880 take their word for it on that one. I cannot 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.600 claim to have thoughts on this. Well, I'd be interested 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.320 to hear what any and martial arts practitioners out there 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:42.400 listening to this episode have to say. Certainly right in 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:44.880 and let us know, you know, within your style or 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.520 within you know, martial arts in general. So one of 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:51.440 the things that gets going in my brain when I 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.960 think about spinning is that, uh and and I'll have 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.400 an example to talk about a little bit later on. 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.199 Spinning around in circles as an adult is not fun, 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.480 and in fact it's it's not fun for like significant 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:08.120 periods of time after you're done doing it. But I 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:10.840 remember as a child I loved spinning around in circles 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:12.280 and I would just like do it. I'd just be 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:13.960 out in the yard and be like, yea, I'm gonna 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:16.520 spin around until I fall over. This is great. Yeah, 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.360 I think a lot of adults, and if not, most 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.640 adults can can can relate to this. Yeah, because you 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:24.760 think back on the fun, spinny things you did as 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:29.240 a kid, like remember Mary go out rounds. They still 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:32.040 have these occasionally at playgrounds, but it was a standard 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:34.880 playgrounds when when we were kids, and it would just 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:37.680 be kids just getting this thing going to as fast 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:41.560 as possible, just incredible speeds and just write it. We 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.400 had this. There was a playground near my grandmother's house 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.120 that had the spinning aluminum death machine that I think 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:49.360 they originally I think they eventually had to take out 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:52.640 because it was just injury city. Every time children got 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:54.960 on it, they'd end up having to go to the hospital. 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:57.480 And I loved this thing because you could spin it 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:01.480 so fast, uh like it was it was human powered, 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:03.000 you know. It was one of those where you push it, 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.240 you'd get it going like Conan the Barbarian pushing the 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:07.840 mill wheel. But then you build up a lot of 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.120 speed and then you just grab hold and hang on. 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:13.360 I can't imagine what kind of horrific injuries came off 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:15.520 of this thing, but but it was great when I 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:17.760 was a kid. And now now that sounds like torture 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.880 to me. I mean the idea of spinning around like 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:23.319 I did as a child for fun. Now that sounds 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:25.480 about as appealing as a kick to the groy and 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:28.440 it's just like, why would you want to do that? Also, 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:32.240 add that the remember the playground mary uh, spinning things, 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.000 the merrygrounds and whatnot. They would often have that, you know, 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.480 the foot trail beat into the dirt around it, which 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.439 of course would become just a complete circular mud pit 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.960 after a rain, right exactly. Another big one is is, 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:45.960 of course, when you're a kid rolling down a hill, 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:48.800 like you know where you you lay down and then 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:51.920 you just roll down the hill like I remember that 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:53.880 being a lot of fun, and I remember, you know, 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:55.880 I encouraged that with with my own son at a 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.679 hill near our our house in a park. But as 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:00.760 an adult you're like, oh my goodness, there's a there's 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.840 a weird rock here, there's some sort of a pipe here, 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:06.600 all right, here's a fire ant nest, here's another fire 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:09.440 ant nest. And that's not even getting into the fact that, yeah, 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:11.559 as an adult, the idea of spinning that much, you 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:13.600 would just you'd never get up once you got to 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:15.959 the bottom of the hill. Yeah, And I think these, uh, 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.480 these changes in experience are not unique to us. It 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:22.199 seems like there's something going on where like spinning, spinning 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:25.640 is highly attractive to children then and it loses its 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:29.320 luster as the body ages. Yeah, so let's let's start 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.280 with the kids. Why did the kids love to spin? Well? 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:34.480 I was looking around the for information on this, and 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:37.839 I found a wonderful post on this at the pin 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:41.720 State Extensions Better Kid Care page, and they point out 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:45.480 that spinning, rolling, and swinging are crucial sensory and motor 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:51.160 skill inputs to help children's nervous systems mature and organize. 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.640 So they really need these sorts of big body movements 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.839 in ways they really make our tendency to isolate them 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:01.600 in deaths or in front of teleschool computers and so forth, 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:05.000 you know, more than a bit ridiculous. I think maybe 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:08.320 there's less of that now. I I know that education 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:12.199 has has has evolved somewhat, and they understand the need 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:14.520 for big body movements and and and so forth. And 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:17.120 then they understood it to a certain extent when I 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:18.800 was a kid. You know, you would still have p 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:21.920 and whatnot. But yeah, kids need to spin around. You 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:24.520 you know, when a child spins in circles, it's because 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:27.199 their body craves it. And the same goes for rolling 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:31.560 around on the floor, standing on their heads rhythmically swaying. Uh. 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:33.640 So they need a space to do these things. I 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:36.319 mean it seems in a way it's information gathering. You're 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:38.520 you're you're calibrating the system, like you have to do 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:41.120 with your phone. When the gyroscope or whatever gets you know, 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:43.840 out of whack, you've got to do some exercises to 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:48.120 get it back on track. Yeah. So in this extension article, 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:50.640 the Penn State Extension article that they point out there 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.920 are some very specific ways that spinning helps children. So, 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.000 first of all, it gives them a sense of body awareness, 0:13:56.120 --> 0:14:00.720 establishing their center for improved coordinated movement, a cross both 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:05.400 sides of their bodies. Uh. It also improves shore sure footedness, 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:09.400 which is something that might seem counterintuitive sometimes you think, oh, 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:11.880 this kid's just spinning around in circles. You know, they're 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:13.760 falling all over the place, they're gonna run into things. 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:17.360 But it's actually helping them become more short surefooted. Uh. 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:21.240 It has also been shown to improve concentration in the classroom, 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:23.440 and they point out that a two thousand five study 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:27.320 from Choir, Frick and Frick, two different fricks UH found 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:32.360 that the centrifugal force of many spinning activities and experiences 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.840 activate the fluid filled cavities in the inner ear. And 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:38.400 these are sensors that help the brain orient the head 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:43.680 quote which develops grounding and sustaining attention to task. And 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.680 then overall it's a boost to the vestibular system, which 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:52.080 controls balance, posture, gaze stabilization, and spatial orientation. And and 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:55.080 there's also apparently a link to impulse control. Fun fact, 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:58.000 right after I finished researching this section, I went off 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:00.440 to get some coffee and was immediately attack by my 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:06.160 son with imaginary lightsabers. And oh yeah, yeah, he has 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.400 he has a pair that he he he really likes 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:11.080 a sookatano and she has two, uh two lightsabers, so 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.680 he's made two of them out of uh tinfoil um 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:19.440 cardboard tubes and uh So, anyway, he was attacking me, 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:21.760 and I observed quite a bit of spinning in his attacks, 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.640 and I tried to do one spin and I nearly 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.240 fell down, uh and then he cut my head off. 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:31.680 But but but I I looked around and I've noticed 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:35.560 that that there are actually lightsaber exercise classes for kids 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:37.760 out there that they can do like virtually, and I'm 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:40.000 tempted to sign him up for one, especially after learning 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:43.600 more about the importance of spinning around in circles. That's genius. 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:47.120 I would have done that as a kid. You have exercise, 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:50.080 get that energy out. You just pretend to have a lightsaber. 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.960 How has nobody thought of this before? Yeah, yeah, that's brilliant. 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.080 I mean my my only hesitation is, uh, is, what 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:58.680 what is it going to mean for the lamps and 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:01.560 the televisions in your house? You gotta have a good 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:04.280 space for that, I imagine. So let's come back to 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.840 the adults. For for most of us, why does spinning 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:11.920 around in circles make us dizzy? Why when a yoga 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:15.080 instructor on a yoga video asked me to spin around 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.120 just like three or five times, why did I have 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:21.920 to lay down for like ten minutes after that? Yeah? 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.360 This is funny because this is a question that I 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:29.640 expected to have just a single, totally straightforward physiological answer, 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:33.440 and instead I found a strange variety of answers to 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:37.080 this question without a lot of acknowledgement that that there 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:40.000 was variety in the ways people are answering this, so 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:42.680 I'm not sure if I've stumbled on something that's actually 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:47.000 controversial or different uh different sources, or just emphasizing different 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:51.000 aspects of vertigo induced by spinning. But in any case, 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.080 the answer to this question definitely ended up taking a 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:56.760 shape that I wouldn't expect. But before we get to 0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:59.600 the direct answer of like why spinning in circles makes 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:02.880 you dizzy? I think we have to meet a fascinating 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.639 and important element in this discussion. When you just mentioned 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:10.400 a mintigo, which is the human vestibular system. Uh so interesting. 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:12.280 Fact number one. We've talked about this on the show 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:15.280 many times before, but maybe you're new the show. Humans 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:17.800 actually have way more than five senses. I think it's 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:20.520 funny when when people end up talking about the five senses. 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:23.080 I guess you could maybe call them the big five senses. 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:28.359 They're the most obvious as senses, you know, site, hearing, taste, smell, touch, 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:32.000 But we have other ways of getting information from the 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:34.959 outside world and coordinating that within the brain. And one 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:37.560 of my favorite examples of a lesser known but extremely 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:41.120 important sense distinct from the big five is appropriate reception. 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:45.159 It's the sense that informs you where the different parts 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:47.719 of your body are. So, how is it that you 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:51.320 can type without looking at the keys? How is it 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.439 that you can close your eyes and you still know 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:56.800 where your hands are, You know whether they're at your 0:17:56.840 --> 0:18:00.359 sides or over your head, even if you're blindfolded. We 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:04.680 have a sense that's constantly updating the brain with information 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:08.520 about the position and orientation of the rest of the body. Yeah, 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:11.960 that's one that I can't help but feel that it's 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:15.280 it's so invisible to us because it is so constant, 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:19.240 it's not as easily disruptible, you know, in the sense 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:21.800 that we can close our eyes, we can sort of 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:26.119 stopper our ears and so forth. But but in terms 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:29.960 of turning off appropriate reception, UM, not so easily done. 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:32.640 And then also it's just so it's so close to us. 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:34.280 It's you know, this is very much you can't see 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.720 the forest for the trees situation. Yeah, uh yeah, that 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:40.200 is very interesting. That's harder to turn that one off 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.480 than it is some of the other senses. But in 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:44.960 a way, I feel like that's part of the um. 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.800 When people go for sort of like a sense deprivation 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:51.439 or certain types of meditation that are that try to 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:56.400 ignore sensory stimuli or just focus on one particular sensory stimuli. 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:59.840 I think one of the difficult things is ignoring that 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:02.320 feeling of where your body is, and that I think 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.560 that's one of the important reasons why meditation often requires 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:08.880 you to be in a position of rest, because it's 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:11.640 easier to ignore the position of your body if you're 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:14.680 not really doing anything active with your body. Yeah. Yeah, 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:16.760 and definitely it's the case with float tanks where if 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:20.280 it's calibrated correctly, you're you're floating in water that's about 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:22.960 the same temperature as your own body. And yeah, it's 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:25.880 it's about sort of losing a sense of of your 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:34.960 physical self. Yeah, thank But they're all kinds of senses, 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:38.240 some some bleed more easily into others, or you can 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:40.080 make the argument that they do, like you can make 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:44.720 arguments that they're different types of touch sensations, you know, 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:47.800 feeling of tactile pressure versus feeling of heat. You know, 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:51.440 you can talk about that. Another interesting one is chronoception, 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:56.160 the sensation of the passing of time and judgment of duration. 0:19:57.080 --> 0:20:00.320 That actually is a sense of the external world, and 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:04.119 there are types of nervous system conditions that can affect 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:07.520 your chronoception. In fact, not just conditions as in diseases, 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:11.960 but chronoception changes as you age, for example. But here's 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:16.199 where things get even weirder. The ear is not only 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:20.119 responsible for the sense of hearing. There are other senses 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:24.399 that are located within the ear. Organs in the human 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:30.359 inner ear are also responsible for one major component of equilibrioception, 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:34.879 or the sense of balance, and these organs together in 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:38.400 the inner ear, are known as the vestibular system. If 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:41.240 you get a chance, you should look up an illustration 0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:45.000 of the human vestibular system. It is like a chambered 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:49.760 nautilus or an alien squid snail. It's got one section 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:54.800 which curls, and this is less related to the equilibrioception. 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:59.080 That's the cochlea, the swirling snail shell part. But then 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:01.320 coming out of the head of the swirling snail shell 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:06.560