1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to bow your Mind. 3 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb, and um Julie Douglas or 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: am I? I don't know. You're dressed like Julie Douglas, 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: so you must be Julida. I do have my Julie 6 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: Douglas uniform on today. It's true. Described the Julie Douglas uniform. Yeah, well, uh, 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: it's pretty boring. Actually, it's usually like monochrome, you know. 8 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,160 Speaker 1: I've got some dark jeans on with the dark top, 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: you know, and some dark shoes kind of like a 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,959 Speaker 1: like a German sensibility. Okay, I'll go with that. Yeah, 11 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 1: it's a little ust here. Yeah. What about you, Robert Lamb, 12 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 1: what's sort of what sort of role are you taking 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: on here with your clothes? Well? I tend to favor 14 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: of course, as anyone who knows from the videos that 15 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: we put out. Since you may wonder, wow, Robert Lamb 16 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: seems to have like three things that you wear, and 17 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: this is true. I tend to gravitate around blue jeans, 18 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: a T shirt of some kind, and then a hoodie 19 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: of some kind of which and then these things will 20 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: gradually wear out and I'll get replacements, and so it 21 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:13,559 Speaker 1: it didn't even point. I'll have like two or three 22 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: versions of the same shirt or the same hoodie. It's 23 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: kind of the pattern I've been in. But I love 24 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 1: the hoodie because it Uh. My thing with it is 25 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: that on one level, it feels kind of monastic. You know, 26 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: I kind of feel like I'm in the name of 27 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: the Rose and there. And therefore, when I come into 28 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: work and I sitting under my desk and I get 29 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: out some books and pull up some studies on the 30 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: on the laptop, I can I can sync up my 31 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: hoodie here, and I feel kind of like I'm I'm 32 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:43,399 Speaker 1: I'm a monk engaged in serious, um focused study and uh. 33 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: And then there's also the fact that I can I 34 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: can kind of zip up the hoodie and it's like 35 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: it hugs me, and I get this like tight feeling, 36 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: like I'm I'm tightly contained and therefore maybe even more 37 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: focused on when I'm working on you know, when you 38 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: say it's like your study hoodie, or you think about 39 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: Natalie from the Facts of Life had like a special 40 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: outfit that you would wear, including a hoodie. I believe 41 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: she studied. So yeah, I mean it's true that you 42 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: you put on certain clothes to feel a certain way, 43 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:10,519 Speaker 1: to act a certain way, and that is what we're 44 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 1: going to talk about today. We're going to zone in 45 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: on this, but we're also going to talk about something 46 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,639 Speaker 1: called embodied cognition, which is this idea that there's lots 47 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: of stuff that influences the way that we behave, the 48 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: way that our mind processes information. Yeah, it's one of 49 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: these areas where on the surface of things, we all 50 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: know that the way you dress changes, the way you 51 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: carry yourself, the way you feel about yourself. But when 52 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: you actually look at it and you examine and you 53 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: take it out, and you you know, take some distance 54 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:38,799 Speaker 1: on and sort of move the concept around in your 55 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: hand a little bit, you realize how strange and wonderful 56 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: it really is. It is. And um, embodied cognition and 57 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:48,959 Speaker 1: clothed cognition what we're talking about today. These are two 58 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: fairly new fields of thought in terms of how humans behave. 59 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: Behavioral psychology is something that has been, you know, particularly 60 00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: in the seventies, a very big field of study, and 61 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: that's the theory of learning, based upon the idea that 62 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: all behaviors are acquired through conditioning, right um. Cognitive psychology 63 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: whichs probably been more of the reining field as of late, 64 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: and this is concerned with internal mental states as well 65 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: as how people acquire, process and store information, and that 66 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: also delves into neuroscience and linguistics in order to explain 67 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,519 Speaker 1: human behavior. And the whole thing kind of treads the 68 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: mind body problem as well a little bit when we 69 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: talk about what am I in my brain and my 70 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: body and what is this interplay between mind and body 71 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: and and how does it all factor into who and 72 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: what I am? Well, that's what I like about embodied cognition. Again, 73 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: this this newer field because it does take into account 74 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: this idea of acquired behaviors or behaviors that are pretty 75 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: much moved along by how we process information. But it 76 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: also has this idea of like, what if we are 77 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: all just a bunch of paper dolls performing the role 78 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: of whatever paper outfit we stick on for that day. Now, 79 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: that's that's pretty actionist, and there's more to it than that, 80 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: of course, but it's more of this idea of we're 81 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: all walking around in these physical cages we put over 82 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: ourselves and all the trappings that go along with it, 83 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: and this does inform our mental states and how we 84 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: operate in the world. Now, one of the concepts we're 85 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: dealing here here with here is positive contagent uh, and 86 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: this refers to the belief of transference of beneficial properties 87 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: between animate persons and objects to previously neutral objects. Now, 88 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: we've talked about this concept a bit in the past 89 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: in reference to lucky charms magical objects. The idea that 90 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: that that an object that belonged to a person that 91 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: is now dead is somehow on varying levels, either on 92 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: an avert level, like you're can look at a watch 93 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:45,919 Speaker 1: and be like, the spirit of my father is in 94 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: this watch, or it may be a very sort of 95 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: almost subconscious thing where you end up aspiring a lot 96 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: of meaning to the watch, even if you don't actually 97 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,839 Speaker 1: believe it has some sort of magical power to it 98 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 1: or some sort of actual spiritual residence. Yeah, but that 99 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: does kind of there's a of a voodoo nest about it, right, 100 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: bet you feel um. A good example of this is 101 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: the study putting like a pro the role of positive 102 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: contagion and golf performance and perception. And in that study, 103 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: what was found is that people who believe that they 104 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,919 Speaker 1: were using the professional golfers. Putter perceived the size of 105 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: golf holes to be larger than they actually were, and 106 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: they had a better performance and they sunk more puts 107 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: because they thought they were harnessing this magic of the 108 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: pros um equipment. Yeah, they had the professional equipment. And 109 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: then therefore, and I love how the study boils down 110 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: to the fact that they actually saw the whole is bigger. 111 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: It wasn't. It's not just a matter of oh, well, 112 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:40,840 Speaker 1: they had better equipment, and then they were a little 113 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: boosted up ego wise, and they performed a little better, 114 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: they were a little more confident. But no, they actually 115 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,479 Speaker 1: saw the whole as bigger um. And again, this is 116 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: one of those studies that really drives them something that 117 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: I think we all already know. You you already hear 118 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: a lot of people say, well, you know, if you 119 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: want to be a professional about something, you know, make 120 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: sure you have the right equipment, because that's going to 121 00:05:58,120 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: make the difference. And you're gonna feel more confident in 122 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: your abilities if you actually buy confident tools, right, you're 123 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: gonna feel prepared and ready to take the task on. 124 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: And what I like about that positive contagion is. It's 125 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: a nice little entryway into this idea of embodied cognition, 126 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: because these embodiment theories are trying to understand the mind 127 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: is a set of physical processes derived throughout the brain 128 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: in the body of a human, ultimately serving his or 129 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: her actions in the physical world. That study also reminds 130 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: me of a little bit of Holy Scripture. I'm going 131 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: to read here for you. Bring it on. When the 132 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: star belly children went out to play ball, could a 133 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: plain belly get in the game? Not at all. You 134 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 1: could only play ball of your bellies head stars, and 135 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: the plain belly children had none up on ours. That 136 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,679 Speaker 1: was one of my favorite books. A Star Belli Sneeches 137 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:50,360 Speaker 1: by Doors and that is a great example of how 138 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:54,720 Speaker 1: people can sometimes behave depending on how they're branded or 139 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: how they brand themselves. They branded with the star or 140 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: they branded without the star and it is. That's a fabulous, 141 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: fabulous children's book that really boils down a lot of 142 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: the ridiculousness of of human culture and how we work. 143 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: That you can easily apply it to do some of 144 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: the topics we're discussing here today. Yeah. Um, And we'll 145 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: talk more about that when we get to in clothes cognition. 146 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: But I wanted to point out something called the Embodiment 147 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: Lab at Barnard College at Columbia University. And what they 148 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: say is that in the lab they explore hypotheses that 149 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: flow for the assumption that the mind exists to serve 150 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: the body. And it's as several implications of this philosophical 151 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: stance that have guided our research are One that it 152 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: is not only true that the mind can influence the body, 153 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: but the body can influence the mind. Two, when we 154 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: think or feel, our mental representations will be directly related 155 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: to perception and action. And three, that's setting the perceptual 156 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: and motor functions of various thoughts, feelings and brain states 157 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 1: can help us to understand why, when, and how they 158 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: come about. Okay, so that's all good and will that's 159 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: that's sort of the philosophical basis of this. But let's 160 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: put some rubber to the road here. What we're talking 161 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: about are the studies that have to do with um, 162 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: this is the classic one. Let's say a warm cup 163 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: of coffee versus an iced coffee and how it might 164 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: actually make someone think their cognitive process. And we've brought 165 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: this up before, but I wanted to bring this up again. Um, 166 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: this is this idea of warm drink, warm feelings. Yale 167 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: psychologists Williams and Barg found that when they let participants 168 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,680 Speaker 1: hold this warm cup, the participants judged others to be 169 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: more sociable and this is a characteristic of personality dimension warm. Right. 170 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: So further, when when participants briefly had a warm pack 171 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: on their necks, they themselves became more generous and other 172 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: acts of kindness that they studied in that but which 173 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:52,680 Speaker 1: is why you should always bring a cup of coffee 174 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: to someone if you were about to ask them something difficult, right, Yeah. 175 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: And and maybe even if you're going into a job interview, right, 176 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: bringing some coffee, bringing bringing a warm pack to put 177 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: on your your future boss's neck, that won't be creepy 178 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: at all they look at the job. Yeah. Another really 179 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: interesting aspect of this is the handwashing zone. Now, there's 180 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,439 Speaker 1: an excellent book on on this title Clean, A History 181 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 1: of Personal Hygiene Impurity by Virginia Smith that I recommend 182 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: to everyone. I think it may have UM touted it 183 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: here on the podcast before, but one of the core 184 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: arguments in this book is that not even an argument. 185 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: It is just an analysis that throughout human history we 186 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: have this idea of hygiene, and then we have these 187 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:41,679 Speaker 1: other ideas of spiritual purity, moral purity, um, pure thoughts, etcetera, um, 188 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: and these become intertwined as as we as we evolved 189 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: in as human culture builds up, you know, like detritus 190 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: and uh, until we really have difficulty separating one idea 191 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: from the next. Yeah. Again, this sort of like positive 192 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: contagion or actually a negative contagion. Yeah, because they're plenty 193 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: of examples of something that has been For instance, at 194 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: our house, we were out of out of tinfoil, so 195 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: I had to cover the cat's wet food with a 196 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: little piece of cellophane, and then I secured the cellfane 197 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 1: around it with one of my wife's the hair ties, 198 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: and and so the hair tie was not touching cat 199 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:20,680 Speaker 1: food at all, but I had to I realized that 200 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: in doing this I might not be actually defiling the 201 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: hair tile. It wasn't it wasn't made impure in any 202 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 1: kind of physical sense, but there was a spiritual contamidation 203 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: of it by being that close to ground up animal parts, 204 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: and therefore could never be used on hair asbo to say, 205 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: I totally get that because I don't even like a 206 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: hairbrush to be on my kitchen countertop. But it kind 207 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: of freaked me out. Yeah, and we talked about this 208 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:49,079 Speaker 1: in terms of water purification. You know, there's just everything 209 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: that needs to be purified for human consumption has to 210 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,559 Speaker 1: be purified in the real but also in the imagined 211 00:10:54,600 --> 00:11:00,640 Speaker 1: realm of of purity. Well, um knowing does the purity 212 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: coming to play when you think about handwashing? But there's 213 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: something called the clean slate effect and spiked W. S 214 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: lee In. Norbert Schwartz of the University of Michigan asked 215 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: subjects to rank top ten CDs they'd like to own 216 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: from a list of thirty, and then they chose to 217 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 1: keep either their fifth or their sixth ranked disk. Okay. 218 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: So this is where they introduced like, oh, which one 219 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 1: should I have? Okay? You really touching those top picks? 220 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: How many did they have to pick? Thirty? No, out 221 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: of thirty, they had to be their top ten, but 222 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:33,079 Speaker 1: then they could keep their fifth or sixth. Okay, So 223 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 1: they're in lines the problem here because it's not the 224 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: bottom of the ten, it's not the top pick, right, 225 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:42,680 Speaker 1: So presumably there's some sort of like a consternation involved 226 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: with us. So what they had them do is they 227 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,080 Speaker 1: have the subjects evaluate some hand soap. Some just stared 228 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: at it while others used it. Okay, And now the 229 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 1: subjects who didn't use the soap ranked their chosen CD 230 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: about two places higher than the one didn't pick, so 231 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 1: they they elevated it. And and this is the cognitive 232 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: This is is that some of us sometimes have when 233 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: we're trying to make decisions, right, just thinking about the step, 234 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:12,920 Speaker 1: not even even using just the idea of soap. The 235 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: soap is a symbol working on the human mind exactly. 236 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: So um So those who didn't get to wash their hands, 237 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: basically they increase their value on their chosen option. And 238 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: again that's the cognitive dissonance. You're going to double down 239 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: in the face of adversity. And those who wash their hands, 240 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,439 Speaker 1: the relative rankings of the two CDs remained about the same, 241 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: and their angst, they say, according to this was erased. Okay. 242 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: Now they did this again with jam. They had the 243 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: participants had to choose between two different jams that they 244 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,320 Speaker 1: always used to be jams. And it's kind of jam 245 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: study or another jam study before. Okay, So instead of 246 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 1: washing their hands. We're talking about handwives considering the handwipes, 247 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: are using the handwipes. And again, uh, those people who 248 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,679 Speaker 1: use the handwipes, they came back and they had a 249 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:06,559 Speaker 1: more um pragmatic perspective about the jam. They didn't overrate 250 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 1: their experiences with the jams, whereas those people who didn't 251 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: get to wash their hands didn't have that clean slate 252 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 1: effect and and and kind of be able to wash 253 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:18,079 Speaker 1: away their consternation. Yeah. I mean it's kind of like 254 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: the whole idea of like taking a shower to cleanse 255 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: the soul as well as the body, that fresh flight 256 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 1: effect where you're like, all right, I'm all new, I'm good. 257 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: Well have you ever done that before when you're trying 258 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: to turn something around in your mind, trying to get 259 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,199 Speaker 1: another perspective on it, and you're like, you know what, 260 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: nothing's working here. I'm at a stop. I'm just going 261 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 1: to take a shower and lo and behold, you come 262 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:40,679 Speaker 1: out on the other side of that shower with new 263 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 1: ideas or a new perspective. Yeah. I think I do 264 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: some of my best thinking in the shower in the morning. 265 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: It's true. Yeah, I don't know, but I'm assuming. Yeah, 266 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: that's true. Yeah, well, I like sometimes I take too long, 267 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: like because someone just standing there hot water hit me 268 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: in the face. Ideas are running and it's a good time. 269 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:02,200 Speaker 1: Your wife is like, hey man, you're running up the bill. Well, 270 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 1: you know, there's also something to be said because it's uh, 271 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: it's before I have the coffee. And we've talked about, 272 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,439 Speaker 1: you know, in the past. I have a coffee focuses 273 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: the mind, but it cuts down on that unhinged random thinking. 274 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: It's a hallmark of creativity. So I'm having the shower 275 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: before I have my coffee, So that would that's also 276 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: like I'm at my freshest then. And I also haven't 277 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: taken any coffee to rain in the wild stallions of 278 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: my imagination. I don't know why they're stallions. They're more now, 279 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 1: they're really probably more like muskrats, the wild muskrats. Mind, 280 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 1: I think I preferred stallions. Stallions is a little overdoing it, 281 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: even I'm gonna be realistic about my creative abilities, I know. 282 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 1: But it's got a nice like seventies shiny machen to it. Um, 283 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: all right, so let's stop talking about stallion in the showers. Um, 284 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: Let's get to clipboards. Because I love clipboards, and I 285 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 1: think every job I've ever had, I have kiddingly walked 286 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: around with the clipboard to pretend like I was doing something. 287 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: It makes you really does make you feel like you're 288 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: doing something. I still have my clipboard when I was 289 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: in newspapers here and I just use it for mundane 290 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: purposes now, like holding papers onto a board. But back 291 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 1: then I remembered it was like it was almost like 292 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: a scepter. Like if I had the clipboard, I felt like, yes, 293 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: I am in control because I have this thing and 294 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: there's their papers on it and everything, well papers on 295 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: it and everything turns out to be important, but more 296 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: important in some of these studies is the actual weight 297 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: of the thing itself, and it turns out that that 298 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: weight is really important and that people will think about 299 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: their own self importance engage other aspects of the world 300 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: in conjunction with this weight. Yeah, we're looking at study 301 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: where people holding a clipboard that was weighted so as 302 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 1: to be heavier overestimated the value of foreign currencies by 303 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 1: any indicating how many euros they believe they would need 304 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: to pay exchange currencies. Yeah, and now they were given 305 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: these clipboards. The participants in the study, and they were 306 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: told to fill things out. Okay, so they had an activity. 307 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: They weren't just holding and they weren't tell me how 308 00:15:57,560 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: you think about the Euros now, yeah, And they had 309 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: no idea whether or not theirs was heavier or lighter 310 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 1: than than other people in the study. Um. And this 311 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: was by the way published in psychological Science. Dr Josman 312 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: and his colleagues Daniel light Laken's and Thomas W. Schubert 313 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: explored this idea about the body conflating weight in importance. 314 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: And they were also asked to consider different countries and 315 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: their leadership. And then again those people who had heavier 316 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: clipboards and they really deliberated a lot more than the 317 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: people who had lighter clipboards, and they thought that their 318 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:35,800 Speaker 1: opinion was more sought out than their their light clipboard counterparts. Wow. 319 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: So you know. And in our previous episode we talked 320 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:39,960 Speaker 1: about symbols and the power of symbols and how they 321 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,680 Speaker 1: affect our minds because we're just taking them in the 322 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: course of our day, and then in the in the 323 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: form of the clipboard, in the form of the coffee cut, 324 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 1: we're talking about symbols that we actually take into our 325 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 1: hand and in the sense make a part of our body. 326 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: And therefore we uh, we we wrap ourselves in the 327 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: trappings of the symbol. That's true, right, yeah, that's we're 328 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: saying all the other sort of trappings that we put 329 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 1: around us, that we hold, that we imbue with some 330 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: sort of value that gets taken up into our brains 331 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: and and it informs the way that we actually cogitate. 332 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:16,600 Speaker 1: So it's pretty cool stuff. And then we should probably 333 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 1: take a break, and when we get back, we're going 334 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:28,679 Speaker 1: to talk about this idea of paper dolls. All right, 335 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 1: we're back, and uh, we're about to get into in 336 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: clothes cognition. You know, when I was telling Holly Fry 337 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,680 Speaker 1: of History stuff what we were doing today, she just went, oh, yeah, 338 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,880 Speaker 1: of course, RuPaul has a thing on that group. Paul 339 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 1: is her spirit animal by the way, yeah, or her 340 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: spirit god. I shouldn't say animal, her spirit god. And 341 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: uh she said that he says everybody is born naked 342 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:56,040 Speaker 1: and everything else's drag. Well, you know, modern cultural sociologist 343 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: described the human body as an unfinished body, a body 344 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,680 Speaker 1: created by nature but finished by humans, and so each 345 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: of us calls up on various bodies various various times 346 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: throughout our lives. It's kind of like the idea of 347 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: the cyboard, you know, where we're all cyboards because we're 348 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:14,719 Speaker 1: all using technology, we're wearing it, or it's in our 349 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 1: body or it's some part of us. And clothing is 350 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,159 Speaker 1: a part of us as well. The human body is 351 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: born unfinished. We finish it with our clothing and technology, 352 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 1: and that is the version of ourselves that we see well. 353 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:28,040 Speaker 1: And that's an idea of these the paper dolls that 354 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:29,879 Speaker 1: we just kind of put on these different outfits and 355 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: then we perform whatever aspects of it that we are 356 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,919 Speaker 1: subconsciously or consciously thinking about in terms of how we 357 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,479 Speaker 1: move around in the world. It's like a Barbie doll, right, 358 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,199 Speaker 1: I mean, like there's the naked Barbie doll that is 359 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: just like flung around in the bathtub. But then they're 360 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: the outfit that transformed Barbie and all of these other people. 361 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: Astronaut Barbie. Yeah, it was there, just uh it wasn't 362 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,440 Speaker 1: there a Mars curiosity uh over Barbie something that recently 363 00:18:57,480 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: came out. But you know when she still looks like Barbie, 364 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: I have to say, and we've talked about her weird dimensions. 365 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 1: And this is why, right, because she would topple over 366 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: if you actually fully formed Barbie with her, her current 367 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:12,640 Speaker 1: dimensions would top over on Mars though. Good question, very 368 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: good question. Alright, So, um, the best example of the 369 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 1: cloth cognition because there are not many examples by the way, Um, 370 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:23,640 Speaker 1: this is again a fairly new field of study. Examples. 371 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: I mean, we can sit here and sir rattle out 372 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: anecdotally all day long. Um, but I wanted to point 373 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,199 Speaker 1: out three studies by Adam D. Glinsky. He is a 374 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: professor at the Kellogg School of Management or Western University, 375 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,880 Speaker 1: and he presented his information in the Journal of Experimental 376 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: Social Psychology. Um. They also, yeah, they told coined the 377 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 1: term in cloth cognition. They did. And by the way, 378 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,320 Speaker 1: Glinsky got the idea for this from watching The Simpsons, 379 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 1: the TV show really Max Power No no, no. Um, Well, 380 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 1: I don't know which episode title it was, but basically 381 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: he was watching kids, all the kids school, and they 382 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: were outside and they were made to wear these gray 383 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: uniforms and they were very subdued and calm, and then 384 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:09,920 Speaker 1: it began to rain and all of the dye came 385 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:12,919 Speaker 1: off the uniforms and these rainbow colors emerged from their clothes, 386 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,920 Speaker 1: and the kids went bersark u and he said, he said, 387 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: I started thinking about the clothes you wear in the 388 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: meaning behind this clothes. If you put on a black 389 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:23,919 Speaker 1: T shirt, become more aggressive, you put on a nurse's uniform, 390 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: you become more helpful. And then he crafted these three 391 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:31,240 Speaker 1: studies having to do with a lab coat. Huh. Well, again, 392 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:34,240 Speaker 1: it comes down to the idea that that all of 393 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,440 Speaker 1: these things have symbolic meaning, and the lab coat carries 394 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:39,320 Speaker 1: a lot of symbolic meaning. You look at someone in 395 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 1: a lab coat, maybe holding a clipboard or some medical 396 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 1: instrument as well, and maybe other symbols that are combining 397 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: to create this kind of hyper cycle. But but there's 398 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,200 Speaker 1: the idea that this is the person who's highly educated, 399 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:54,880 Speaker 1: This is the person that I should trust on some level. Careful, 400 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 1: It is careful, attentive, attentive, that is clean and with 401 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:02,120 Speaker 1: this us that one before though that kind of ups 402 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: and downs on that one. It's clean and it is 403 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,680 Speaker 1: it is going to potentially safe me. Yes, And this 404 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: is that's all embodied in this lab coade which Glinsky 405 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: and the researchers used in these three studies. Now, what 406 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: Glinsky also wanted to to really hone in on is 407 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: this idea of our attention and how we direct it. 408 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,440 Speaker 1: Because we have talked about before directed detention is a 409 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:27,439 Speaker 1: scarce and finite mental resource, um, and we we have 410 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: talked about it in the context of ego depletion and 411 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: different ways of trying to game that the attention span 412 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: that we have. So what they did is they in 413 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 1: one of the studies, they use something called a Stroop test. Now, 414 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,159 Speaker 1: this is how they fared out people's ability to perform 415 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: on a concentration task while assuming or subconsciously assuming these 416 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: identities in this case the lab coat. So if you 417 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 1: look at a stroop task, it's it's fairly easy straightforward 418 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,440 Speaker 1: because it's a very visual task. You're asked to identify 419 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: or I should say it's very easy and straightforward to 420 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: understand what you're being asked to do, but it's not 421 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 1: easy to do for your mind. Um, You're asked to 422 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 1: identify the color of the word represented in front of 423 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: you on a screen. The problem is that the word 424 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: says red, but the letters that spill it out are blue. Ah, 425 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:21,360 Speaker 1: and your brain goes what, So what your brain has 426 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:23,679 Speaker 1: to then do is sets out the meaning versus the 427 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 1: visual representation, and as a result, there's a fairly high 428 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: error rate here, So it's a great way of trying 429 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: to gauge someone's engagement or attention spam. Huh. Well, you 430 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: know this test reminds me of the the awesome Internet 431 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,159 Speaker 1: video Don't hug me, I'm scared. It's sort of like 432 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,679 Speaker 1: a children's show and they're singing about creativity and then 433 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 1: it gets a little dark and they agree never to 434 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: be creative again. But it's the part where they're talking about, well, 435 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:48,679 Speaker 1: how do you how do you engage creativity, how do 436 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,840 Speaker 1: you act creatively? Creatively? And how do you think creatively? 437 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,960 Speaker 1: And the lead character of the singing Little Notebook says, 438 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: one thing that you can do is you can get 439 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: a collection of sticks and leaves and spell out your 440 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 1: favorite color, which is in a sense using using ground brown, 441 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: using green to spell out something like red. Yes, I 442 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: believe they do this to children. Yeah, yeah, the strip 443 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 1: test with that exact video. And then they get to 444 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 1: the part where their void just takes them all down, 445 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: but until they start crying, it is interested. The one 446 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,639 Speaker 1: character spells green with the green and brown sticks and 447 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 1: all and and that is ruled not a creative color. 448 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:27,520 Speaker 1: And in a sense it isn't a creative color because 449 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,719 Speaker 1: it's playing right into the dictation of the test. So 450 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:33,400 Speaker 1: maybe there's more to that part of the video than 451 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,399 Speaker 1: I gave it credit previously. It's possible. It's possible, but 452 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: it's a great example of how your mind is having 453 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:41,439 Speaker 1: to try to make sense of the visual representations as 454 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 1: opposed to the word representation. And I really do think 455 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: they should do that with five year old and then 456 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: watch their brains melt um. I did want to point 457 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 1: out though, that this was this was the centerpiece of 458 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,639 Speaker 1: the first experiment, in which fifty eight undergraduates were randomly 459 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: assigned to wear a white lab coat or street clothes, 460 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: and those who wore the white lab coats made about 461 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: half as many errors on incongruent trials as those who 462 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: wore regular clothes on the Stroop test. That's pretty impressive, right, 463 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 1: I mean, half as many just by wearing the coat. 464 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,400 Speaker 1: And the second experiment, seventy four students were randomly assigned 465 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:20,399 Speaker 1: to one of three options, wearing a doctor's coat, wearing 466 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: a painter's coat, which by the way, was the same 467 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,680 Speaker 1: coat as the doctor's coat. They just called it the 468 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: pner's coat or seeing a doctor's coat. And then they 469 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: were giving given a test for sustained attention, and they 470 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 1: had to look at two very similar pictures side by 471 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,399 Speaker 1: side on the screen and spot four minor differences, writing 472 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,880 Speaker 1: them down as quickly as possible. So those who were 473 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: the doctor's coat, um, they found more differences than those 474 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,119 Speaker 1: who were wearing the same coat that was called the 475 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 1: painter's coat, or those who were just wearing street clothes. Now, 476 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 1: the third experiment had students either wear the doctor's coat 477 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,639 Speaker 1: or the painter's coat, and they were told to notice 478 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:58,960 Speaker 1: a doctor's lab coat displayed on the desk in front 479 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: of them for for a long period of time, and 480 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 1: all three groups had to write essays about their thoughts 481 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 1: and the coats, and then they were tested again for attention. 482 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: And it turns out this group that were the doctor's code, 483 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:16,680 Speaker 1: they showed the greatest improvement in attention. So what does 484 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: this mean. It means that they were embodying this cognition 485 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: of what it is to be a doctor and these 486 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:29,359 Speaker 1: ideals of being attentive, of being well educated, of being 487 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 1: on point. Yeah, you put you step into the symbol, 488 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: you take it on yourself and you you you then 489 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:38,359 Speaker 1: appear as that symbol and then you were thinking as 490 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: that symbol as well. You're taking on the guys of 491 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: the doctor, even if you're not actually thinking, Hey, I'm 492 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,399 Speaker 1: wearing a doctor's coat. Now, how bet I can go 493 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: in there and perform surgery? Well, And this is what 494 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: is interesting about the study is that it begins to 495 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,880 Speaker 1: to question, like, what are their aspects of our culture 496 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,400 Speaker 1: are bringing up these ideas and having us fall in line. 497 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 1: So you think about police uniforms or inmate of forms. Yeah, 498 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 1: the inmate uniform sends the signal that you are just 499 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,439 Speaker 1: like everyone else, You're just a number. And also you're 500 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:09,399 Speaker 1: going to stand out if you if you go, if 501 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,000 Speaker 1: you escape from here, you're stripped of your identity right like, 502 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:14,199 Speaker 1: not only you're taking from from the rights that you 503 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: had as someone in the outside world who could cook 504 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 1: whatever you wanted for breakfast, go wherever you wanted. Now 505 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,399 Speaker 1: you're on the inside and you can't even express yourself 506 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,760 Speaker 1: as an individual. Uh. Someone who is a police officer, 507 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:30,719 Speaker 1: you know he or she has these these colors, these darker, 508 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 1: very serious colors. Yeah, the gleaming badgement to enforce this 509 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: idea of uh, you know, security in order. And then 510 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: there are nuns. Yes, how do you explain nuns? Well, 511 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:50,119 Speaker 1: in one sense of the uniform, I mean in the 512 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: y of the habit, well, you do get a sense 513 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:57,440 Speaker 1: of you know, darkness and light, very very somber outfit, 514 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,919 Speaker 1: you know, masking a lot of the body and creating 515 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,199 Speaker 1: this sort of Penglin like demeanor. And they're veiled. They 516 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:10,639 Speaker 1: are brides of Jesus, right, the brides. So um again, 517 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: all this stuff going on to sort of you know, 518 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:18,640 Speaker 1: operate as these underpinnings of how we perceive the world 519 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:20,920 Speaker 1: and how we move around in it. Um. I feel 520 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:22,879 Speaker 1: like all of these symbols, though there's there's also a 521 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: counter interpretation of the symbol, Like the cops uniform for 522 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: many people becomes a symbol of tyranny and abusive power. 523 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: The symbol of the doctor can also become a symbol 524 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:38,159 Speaker 1: of bad news, a symbol of of being taken advantage of, 525 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:42,199 Speaker 1: or you know, or certainly a symbol of of of 526 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,880 Speaker 1: privilege to and privileged power. Yeah. I was thinking about 527 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 1: this in terms of Dr Leo Spaceman. Yes, gemin Drm 528 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 1: from thirty Rock who is the ridiculous doctor who shouldn't 529 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,719 Speaker 1: at all be a doctor, And but he's wearing the 530 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:02,199 Speaker 1: coat at all times, and then he's spewing nonsense and 531 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,119 Speaker 1: everybody just sort of goes, Okay, it looks like a doctor. 532 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: And he's he's has a nice speaking voice, even though 533 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,879 Speaker 1: everything he's saying it's complete garbage, complete garbage. And I 534 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:12,720 Speaker 1: think that they're making some sort of comment on that, 535 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: like just put it, you know, a doctor's lab coat 536 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: on someone and immediately they have authority on all things. 537 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:22,959 Speaker 1: Now a more relatable thing that I think we can 538 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 1: all point to in our own life, like what do 539 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: you feel like when you dress up fancy? Do you 540 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:31,359 Speaker 1: ever fancy yourself up awkward like heels are or the 541 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: devil stilts? Yeah? H now do you? But do you 542 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 1: ever not you're not wearing the heels that do you 543 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,680 Speaker 1: ever feel like you ever dress fancy and feel fancy 544 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: in any way? Like? Is there ever a positive connotation 545 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: to that? I don't know. I mean, just don't dress 546 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:50,960 Speaker 1: fancy that often. So I'm pretty comfortable in my skin. 547 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 1: So if I decided to put something fancy on, it's fine, 548 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: but it's not I don't go around like pretending like 549 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:00,200 Speaker 1: I've got a really long like cigarette holder or anything. Well, 550 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 1: how about this, um, what do you wear when you 551 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:06,239 Speaker 1: go to yoga? You have a special garments you wear 552 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:11,800 Speaker 1: just for yoga, A long velvet dress might Stevie next dress. 553 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 1: But you do have like yoga pants or something. Yes, okay, 554 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: So when you wear the yoga pants even before you 555 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 1: go to yoga, or if you're wearing them when you're 556 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: not going to yoga, do you find yourself sort of 557 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: entering the mindset of one who goes to yoga. I 558 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: feel stretchy, Sure, yeah, I feel flexible. I'm more open 559 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 1: to people. You know, I don't know. I might be 560 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 1: well because I kind of feel that way. I feel 561 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:36,840 Speaker 1: like if I'm if I'm wearing yoga pants, even if 562 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 1: I'm not going to yoga, I do feel a little 563 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: more relaxed. I think it wears off of me, you know. 564 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 1: M I always remember my dad coming home from work 565 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: and coming home from his like very serious suit. We're 566 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: talking about a vest with his suit and suspenders, all 567 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:55,520 Speaker 1: the accouterments of business life and shedding that as soon 568 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,840 Speaker 1: as he came home, taking a shower and then coming 569 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:01,040 Speaker 1: out in in all of his like you know, cotton 570 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,400 Speaker 1: um leisure ware, I guess you call it. And it 571 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,800 Speaker 1: was so funny because it was that transformation from day 572 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:11,360 Speaker 1: to evening. Yeah, so I guess there is a bit 573 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 1: of that role playing going on. Yeah. Well, like I said, 574 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:16,560 Speaker 1: we could set here and rattle off possible examples of 575 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 1: this all all all day long about how we wear 576 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: something different makes It's like what happens when you wear uh, 577 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: you know, ceremonial dark robes with pentagrams on them. You 578 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 1: feel a little more in touch with occult phenomena and 579 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: U and the secrets and mysteries of life. It maybe 580 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:34,560 Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to try to have and see you 581 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,560 Speaker 1: think about the next time you dress up for occult ritual. Well, 582 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: I wanted to, uh, just swing this little ditty by everybody. 583 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: This is from the Stanford Encyclopedia Philosophy about embodied cognition. 584 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: It says, quote, the genuine insight about the nature of 585 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 1: consciousness that embodied cognitive science has generated is that the 586 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,959 Speaker 1: character of visual experience results from the way we are 587 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 1: dynamically hooked up to the world. Since for a motor 588 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 1: coupling with the environment is crucial in providing the organism 589 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: with the pro pre aceptive kinesthetic feedback necessary for the 590 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:11,520 Speaker 1: senses of ownership and movement. When we touch an object, 591 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:15,200 Speaker 1: for example, we do not exclusively have experience of it, 592 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:19,000 Speaker 1: but while touching and being touched, we experience ourselves moving, 593 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 1: including the feeling of controlling our own body and action. 594 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: The account of that agency, the sense of controlling one's 595 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 1: body originates and processes that evolve for interaction with the environment, 596 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 1: that is, mechanisms for sensory processing and motor control, suggests 597 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: that embodied experience underpins self awareness. And I thought about 598 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,720 Speaker 1: that in the context of the lab code. If you 599 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:46,600 Speaker 1: feel the texture and the weight of that clothing, that 600 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: you begin to transform it into your actual motor skills, 601 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:56,200 Speaker 1: your cognitive skills, and truly embody it. Yeah, very cool. 602 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: I mean, it just comes down to this fact that 603 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: we are the cloth. The clothing makes the man. The 604 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 1: clients they say, you know, the clothing is a part 605 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:07,280 Speaker 1: of who we are and how we interface with the world. Now, 606 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 1: one quick example we forgot to mention is it is 607 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:13,400 Speaker 1: Halloween for Halloween, to what extent do we end up 608 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,760 Speaker 1: taking on the the the mental image of the thing 609 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,280 Speaker 1: that we are dressing up as like what were you 610 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,320 Speaker 1: for Halloween? Most recently, I really don't like to dress 611 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,960 Speaker 1: up for Halloween. But then I think it's because miss 612 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 1: my costumes have been a failure. But last time it 613 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:31,320 Speaker 1: was a fifties housewife with like a fake turkey in 614 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: barbiturates that was strapped to me. That's pretty good. I 615 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: like that. Yeah, you well, at some point recently I 616 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,600 Speaker 1: dressed up as a as a cop. Because this is 617 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:43,120 Speaker 1: several years ago, but my wife and I dressed up 618 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 1: as the main character from Raising her Own Oh yeah, 619 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:50,000 Speaker 1: so but I'm glad that she was a cop. Sorry, 620 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:51,640 Speaker 1: she was a cop, and I was a a bank 621 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: Robert with a panty on my head, you know. So, 622 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: so I guess you know, when I dressed up is 623 00:32:58,120 --> 00:32:59,840 Speaker 1: that character. I kind of had to feel a little 624 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:03,360 Speaker 1: bit like that character. So I felt good natured and 625 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: maybe a little goofy and suffocated, Yeah, and suffocated and 626 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: prone to um, you know, robbing liquor stores and a 627 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:13,800 Speaker 1: new appreciation for pantyhose and in the trials and tribulations 628 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 1: of that. Yeah. Alright, some some food for thought as 629 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 1: we move into this fall season and we in character Halloween. 630 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,320 Speaker 1: Pretty soon. Yeah. Again, keep all this in mind as 631 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:26,960 Speaker 1: you dress up for costume party, as you dress up 632 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,680 Speaker 1: for your daily life, because we'd love to hear about you. 633 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: Is there a uniform that you have to wear, it 634 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,880 Speaker 1: being an official uniform or sort of an unofficial uniform, 635 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:37,200 Speaker 1: because like I remember, when I was working a newspaper, 636 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 1: the unofficial uniform I had to wear with this like 637 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,720 Speaker 1: awful khaki pants, like the kind of balloon up in 638 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:45,680 Speaker 1: the crotch whenever you sit down. Those are awful, and 639 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 1: uh that it was. It became a part of how 640 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,400 Speaker 1: I felt about myself while I was working there. So 641 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:52,959 Speaker 1: so what kind of uniform do you wear? What kind 642 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 1: of uniform are you forced to wear? And then what 643 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,680 Speaker 1: kind of clothing do you wear to change the way 644 00:33:57,720 --> 00:33:59,520 Speaker 1: you feel about yourself? Let us know, we'd love to 645 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can find us that all the 646 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: normal places, go to our main website. That's the best place. 647 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,319 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Everything else streams 648 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 1: off from there. We can find us on Twitter, you 649 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:12,400 Speaker 1: can find us on facebeek, we can find us on tumbler. 650 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,600 Speaker 1: But stuff to Blow your Mind dot com that's the membership. Yeah, 651 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 1: and you can find our videos on stuff to blow 652 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,319 Speaker 1: your Mind dot com to so check those out and 653 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:20,960 Speaker 1: make sure to drop us a line. You can do 654 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: that at blow the Mind at Discovery dot com. For 655 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:30,440 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics. Is that 656 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works dot com