1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, the production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,239 Speaker 2: Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name 3 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 2: is Robert. 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 3: Lamb and I am Joe McCormick. And ooh, I can 5 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 3: almost smell hot cocoa and peppermint. Because the Christmas spirit 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 3: is alive today where we're doing our holiday episode and 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 3: we're going to be talking about the Nutcracker as promised 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 3: in the last episode. 9 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 2: That's right on Tuesday, we discussed the rat King and 10 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 2: of course how that relates to the Mouse King, the 11 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 2: enemy of the Nutcracker from the original source material for 12 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 2: Chaikowsky's eighteen ninety two ballet. We talked about this. It's 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 2: the work of German dark romantic author E. Ta Hoffman 14 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 2: and eighteen sixteen short story titled The Nutcracker in the 15 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 2: Mouse King. So we talked a good bit about monstrous, 16 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 2: multi headed rats, and the original short story does feature 17 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 2: some just horrific visions of this dreaded entity. But today 18 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,479 Speaker 2: it's time to talk about the protagonist of this story. Yes, 19 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 2: it's the Nutcracker. Rob. 20 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 3: When you were a kid, did your family have like 21 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 3: a classic style Christmas decoration nutcracker with the lever and 22 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 3: the jaw. 23 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 2: I think we always had one around, or there was 24 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 2: at least a Christmas ornament that had a nutcracker on it, 25 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 2: but I don't remember. We certainly did not have a 26 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 2: functional nutcracker, at least as far as I can recall. 27 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 3: I remember enjoying the creepy inhuman mechanics of how far 28 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 3: the jaw would open, and the very the squareness of it. 29 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 3: You know. I like the fact that it had corners 30 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 3: and it was almost like the pharyngeal jaw of like 31 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 3: the xenomor for something. 32 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you know. And it's something that you can 33 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 2: toy around with. Yeah, And even if it's decorative and 34 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 2: you're a kid, if you're left alone with it, you're 35 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 2: gonna end up trying to crack some nuts in that 36 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 2: weird jaw of the nutcracker. Now, I feel like most 37 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 2: of you know exactly what sort of nutcrackers I'm talking 38 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 2: about here. You know, he's an old timey soldier or 39 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,559 Speaker 2: king standing up made out of woods, a tall hat, 40 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 2: big teeth, and a movable jaw that works via a lever. 41 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 2: So the lever is positioned on the nutcracker's back. You 42 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 2: pull up on the lever and this opens the jaw. 43 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 2: Insert a nut, push down on the lever, or pull 44 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 2: down on the lever, squeeze down on the lever, however 45 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,959 Speaker 2: you apply it, and the forest is going to cause 46 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 2: the jaws and a nutcracker to close, cracking the nut. 47 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 2: That is, of course, if you're using a functional wooden nutcracker. 48 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,239 Speaker 2: Many of the ones you encounter today are purely decorative. 49 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 2: They were never meant to actually crack a nut. Some 50 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 2: of them even have like little capes on, clearly making 51 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 2: the lever inaccessible if there even is a lever back there. 52 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 3: Yeah. I recall thinking this about the nutcrackers of my youth. 53 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:52,679 Speaker 3: It was like, this does feel flimsy. I don't know 54 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 3: if it would stand up to a nut. 55 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 2: Yeah. Many times we don't even need to crack the nuts, right, 56 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 2: we're getting we're receiving our nuts already in some sort 57 00:02:59,919 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 2: of a snack mix. They've already been cracked. Uh. Sometimes 58 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 2: cracking is not entirely necessary. You get a nice bag 59 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 2: of pistachios, they are only gonna be those problem pistachios 60 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 2: that you're gonna have to crack later. The rest you 61 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 2: can open by getting your your you know your salty 62 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 2: fingers in there and then eventually like having to to 63 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 2: slip your fingernail into the into the crevice and pry 64 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:23,359 Speaker 2: them open that way. 65 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 3: Oh but if you apply force in just the wrong way, 66 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 3: it'll kind of like nick your nail and pull it 67 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 3: back for creepy feeling. I don't like. 68 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's satisfying, you know. It's one of those 69 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 2: things that is it's like deeply embedded in our genes, 70 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 2: you know, the idea that oh, here's a nut, I've 71 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 2: got to crack it, and then I've got this sweet 72 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 2: reward and now I'm going to keep doing it again 73 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 2: and again. 74 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 3: It does feel so biologically deep that it's like one 75 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 3: of our primary metaphors for just solving a problem, cracking 76 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 3: a nut. 77 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 2: That's right, got to crack that nut. It is a 78 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 2: problem to be solved, but there is a reward, and 79 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 2: there's there's got to be a way into it. You know, 80 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 2: at least this is often like a you can't just 81 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 2: give up on that pistachio that can't be opened or 82 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 2: that nut that seemingly can't be cracked, because you know 83 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 2: there's something good in there now. Quick anthropology note, there 84 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 2: is a primate species. This is Parenthepus boise Eye, which 85 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 2: upon discovery in nineteen fifty nine was dubbed nutcracker Man 86 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 2: due to the skulls, large back teeth and jaws. I 87 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 2: included an image of a reconstruction of this particular skull 88 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 2: for you here, Joe. 89 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, this looks like the opposite of my childhood nutcracker. 90 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,479 Speaker 3: I think that the owner of the skull could have 91 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 3: dominated some nuts. 92 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 2: This would make for an interesting monstrous adaptation of the 93 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 2: nutcracker and the mouse king. Have your multi headed mouse 94 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 2: king and all fierce and disturbing, but then also have 95 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 2: your nutcracker b Nutcracker Man. Now we'll dive into deeper 96 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 2: history concerning just nutcracking here in a minute. You know, 97 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 2: we'll get into other traditional ways of cracking nut, some 98 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 2: anthropomorphic in name nature as well, like our nutcracker soldier. 99 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 2: But first let's get to know the wooden German nutcracker 100 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 2: a little bit better. So, in looking around for various sources, 101 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 2: there does seem to be one individual in particular who 102 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:17,720 Speaker 2: stands out, and it's the nutcracker Lady, and that's Arlene Wagner, who, 103 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 2: as an author has written books about nutcrackers and is 104 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 2: also the co founder of the Really Fun Looking Nutcracker 105 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 2: Museum in Levenworth, Washington. And she points out that standing 106 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 2: wooden nutcrackers like these, like the traditional holiday nutcracker as 107 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 2: we know them, These were known in nineteenth century German 108 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,919 Speaker 2: as nousnachers, listed as such in the Dictionary of the 109 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 2: Brothers Grim. Many of these were made in the Erzgeberge 110 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 2: region and would have been the ones to inspire Hoffmann 111 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 2: in his writing of the Nutcracker and the Mouse King. 112 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 2: And they were not all powered by lever. As it 113 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 2: turns out, some of these were powered by screw. I 114 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 2: included an image of a screw based nutcracking nut for 115 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 2: you here, Joe m. 116 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 3: But they've all got that, whether it's screw or lever, 117 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 3: they've all got the mustache. 118 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,480 Speaker 2: Now, the mustache is essential, as is the tall hat. 119 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 2: But the screw guy he has just kind of like 120 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 2: a wide circular mouth sort of a mouth, and in 121 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 2: there you see the screw. Like basically you would just 122 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 2: you know, drive the screw home into the top of 123 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 2: the nut and the gradual force would bust it. 124 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,360 Speaker 3: With the screw guy. I kind of missed the mouth 125 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 3: of sare on style teeth that we have in the 126 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 3: ones with the levers. 127 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 2: It does seem like a design misstep because part of 128 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 2: the whole fun that, like, the whole reason you would 129 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 2: imagine that someone created a humanoid nutcracker is because it 130 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 2: moves like a jaw and you're putting something into this 131 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 2: little guy's mouth and making him smash it. This guy 132 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:48,719 Speaker 2: with a screw that comes down from the roof of 133 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 2: his mouth like down through his pallet to to break 134 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,679 Speaker 2: open the nut like this just it doesn't it doesn't 135 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 2: feel as natural. It feels like someone improved upon the 136 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 2: design and destroy the spirit and the pros. But again, 137 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 2: these are also classic nutcrackers, fair enough now, Apparently there 138 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 2: was a bit more variety in the design until around 139 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 2: eighteen seventy two when one Wilhelm of Fuckner produced the 140 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 2: first commercial nutcrackers based on like one singular design and 141 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 2: this was not like a factory situation, It was just 142 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 2: using a lathe. But this apparently kickstarted sort of the 143 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 2: canonization of what a nutcracker is and what it should 144 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 2: look like, and his family still produces these. According to 145 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 2: Carol Rosenblatt, who wrote an article on Atlas Obscura just 146 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 2: earlier this month about the history of the nutcracker. Now, 147 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 2: Wagner writes, the decorative wooden European nutcrackers in general, like 148 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 2: not necessarily soldiers, date back to the fifteenth and sixteenth 149 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 2: centuries in England and France, and these traditions continued on 150 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 2: during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. So you saw a 151 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 2: great deal of ornate wooden nutcracker or craftsmanship eventually in 152 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 2: the alpine regions of Germany and Italy. Because again, there's 153 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 2: nothing about a nutcracker that demands that it be shaped 154 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 2: like a soldier. We're talking about a tool that is 155 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 2: a simple lever, and then at various points people have 156 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 2: decided to fancy it up a bit because you can 157 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 2: just have something that is, you know, crabcloth crunchers are 158 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 2: basically the same thing crackers, just a simple lever to 159 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 2: allow you to apply the necessary force to break a 160 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 2: shell open, be it the cell of a crustacean or 161 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 2: the shell of a nut. But people just end up 162 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 2: having fun with it, creating luxury items even that are 163 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 2: still to some degree functional, and then in doing it, 164 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:43,560 Speaker 2: you know, you can't help but let your imagination run wild. 165 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 2: Is it the mouth of a man, Is it the 166 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,199 Speaker 2: mouth of a beast, the legs of a beast? Perhaps, 167 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:50,199 Speaker 2: you know, perhaps it has nothing to do with actual 168 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 2: anatomical movements. You just want to add some beautiful motifs 169 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 2: to the overall nutcracker. Now, according to Noreen Malone, writing 170 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,959 Speaker 2: for Slate and twenty ten, the German nutcracker dolls the 171 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 2: standard ones that we're talking about here that look like 172 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 2: soldiers were at least considered good luck in German traditions, 173 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 2: and I've seen other sources at least loosely allude to 174 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 2: some sort of apotropaic properties as well. You know, the 175 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 2: idea that it's this soldier is going to frighten a 176 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,559 Speaker 2: way evil spirits or bad luck or something to that effect. 177 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,559 Speaker 2: So you know, the idea that something not only as 178 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 2: could be lucky, but it could also keep ill luck, 179 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 2: keep bad spirits away. This, of course, is not uncommon 180 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 2: with artifacts of this basic nature, you know, because look 181 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 2: at the standard nutcracker. It has a fierce face. Oftentimes 182 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 2: it has kind of big and alarming eyes, and certainly 183 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 2: it's not blinking. So you can imagine easily leaning into 184 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 2: the idea of putting this character on guard against your enemies. 185 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 3: This seems to connect with traditions as old as the 186 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 3: ones we talked about in our series on necromancy the 187 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,959 Speaker 3: suck in ancient Mesopotamia, where you would have these little 188 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 3: figurines that might look like a warrior or king or 189 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 3: something that would be there to ward off ghosts and 190 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 3: demons that might want to attack you in your sleeve. 191 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, and so perhaps Hoffman was playing with this concept 192 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 2: a little bit in his writing of the original Nutcracker story. 193 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 2: You know, the Nutcracker is a protector in this, but 194 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:27,320 Speaker 2: also he turns things on its head. He is also 195 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 2: something that needs protecting. He needs to be protected by Marie. 196 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 2: I should point out that, yes, the little girl's name 197 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 2: is Marie in the original story, even though I believe 198 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 2: she becomes Clara in the Nutcracker ballet. So we'll get 199 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 2: back to traditions of nutcracking technology here in a bit. 200 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 2: But to give this the proper sort of invention treatment, 201 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 2: we really need to go back before that. We need 202 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 2: to get back to the basic idea of cracking nuts. 203 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,959 Speaker 2: And indeed, why crack a nut anyway? And why does 204 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 2: the nut need to be cracked? Great question? So what 205 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:04,560 Speaker 2: are nuts? We know them when we see them, and 206 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 2: we can list a bunch of examples, but botanically what 207 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 2: are they? And I've actually found some rather different definitions 208 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:15,440 Speaker 2: offered in seemingly authoritative sources. But to synthesize as best 209 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:17,440 Speaker 2: I can, here are the main points. 210 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:22,320 Speaker 3: First of all, nuts are fruits. Huh, Yes, they are fruits. 211 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 3: We don't usually think of them this way, so this 212 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 3: raises the question, going one step back further, what is 213 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 3: a fruit? In a botanical sense, a fruit is usually 214 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 3: defined as the mature, ripened ovary of a flowering plant, 215 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:40,559 Speaker 3: which contains the plants seed or seeds. So, according to 216 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 3: scientific classification, fruits include lots of foods we do normally 217 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 3: think of as fruits, like apples, peaches, and oranges, but 218 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,319 Speaker 3: lots of other fleshy things that grow off of plants 219 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 3: that we don't usually think of as fruits, even foods 220 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 3: like cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, and chili peppers, and in fact, 221 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 3: technically even grains like wheat and oats are a type 222 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 3: of fruit. So a fruit is a mass that grows 223 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 3: from the reproductive structure of a flour and ends up 224 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 3: containing or bearing the fertilized seed of that plant. The 225 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 3: form of the fruit is designed by evolution to help 226 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,720 Speaker 3: the seeds disperse, which could mean taking the form of 227 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:24,560 Speaker 3: a delicious snack that animals will want to eat and 228 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 3: then swallow and then deposit elsewhere in a nice, healthy 229 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 3: pile of dung. But there are other animal dispersal strategies 230 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,679 Speaker 3: we'll get to in a minute. So, according to the 231 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,319 Speaker 3: Encyclopedia of Fruit and Nuts edited by Yonick and Paul, 232 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,959 Speaker 3: nuts are a specialized subcategory of fruit quote, characterized by 233 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 3: a hard shell that is separable from a firmer inner kernel. 234 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 3: So it's a fruit that's got an inside kernel and 235 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 3: a hard shell on the outside. Now, to offer some 236 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 3: of these contrasting definitions, I found a different source by 237 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 3: the USDA Forest Service that claimed that quote, nuts are 238 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 3: strictly a particular kind of dry fruit that has a 239 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 3: single seed, a hard shell, and a protective husk. Also 240 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 3: adding to the confusion is the fact that there are 241 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 3: some things that are generally classified as nuts by people, 242 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 3: but are not nuts in the botanical sense. Classic example 243 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 3: is a peanut. These are technically legumes, And in this episode, 244 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 3: I am sure we will casually refer to some of 245 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 3: these false nuts as nuts. It's just going to happen. 246 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 3: Just be aware that some quote nuts are not technically nuts. 247 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 3: But to come back to the synthesis definition here, among 248 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 3: other possible criteria like bearing a single seed, or having 249 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 3: a husk, or maybe having high oil content or something 250 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 3: like that, the common thread seems to be that nuts 251 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 3: are fruits that evolved a hard shell. But why how 252 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 3: does the plant benefit from having a hard shell around 253 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 3: its fruit and seed as opposed to a nice soft 254 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 3: fleshy seed capsule like a tomato or like any of 255 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 3: these other soft fleshy fruits where the plant, in an 256 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 3: evolutionary sense, wants the animal to gobble them up and 257 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 3: carry them away and poove them out Somewhere. Well, I 258 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 3: found a paper that explains one important evolutionary strategy of 259 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 3: nut bearing plants, and I think this is really interesting. 260 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 3: So the paper was by Stephen B. Vanderwal called How 261 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 3: Plants Manipulate the scatter hoarding behavior of seed dispersing Animals, 262 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 3: published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society b Biological 263 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:40,479 Speaker 3: Sciences in twenty ten. So this paper is about interactions 264 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 3: between plants and animals, particularly plants and an animal behavior 265 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 3: called scatter hoarding, in which the animal and you can 266 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 3: picture a squirrel, but there are a bunch of different 267 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 3: kinds of animals that do this as well, primarily birds 268 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 3: and rodents, in which the animal or the squirrel will 269 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 3: collect a bunch of food items in hidden caches to 270 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 3: be stored for later. So, our squirrel runs around gathering 271 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 3: up a bunch of nuts fallen from under a tree, 272 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 3: and instead of eating them right away, the squirrel will 273 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 3: carry them off to bury or hide somewhere for later, 274 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 3: maybe in lots of locations all around the squirrel's territory. Now, 275 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,480 Speaker 3: why does this benefit the plant for the squirrel or 276 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 3: other animal to do this or run off with a 277 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 3: bunch of nuts, take them somewhere else and bury them. Well, 278 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 3: in some cases, the storage caches of plant seeds will 279 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 3: benefit from reproductive fitness enhancements via animal dispersal. And we've 280 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 3: talked on the show before about the reasons that it 281 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 3: is good for a plant to have its seeds dispersed 282 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 3: geographically away, taken away from the parent plant. There are 283 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 3: multiple reasons for this, but just one example is now, 284 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 3: if they're dispersed far away, the offspring plant will not 285 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 3: have to compete with the parent plant for access to sunlight. 286 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 3: Parent and child will not be fighting against one another 287 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 3: to get the sun. But in many cases, these scatter 288 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 3: hoarded caches will be forgotten or otherwise abandoned by the 289 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 3: animal that made them, allowing the seeds to germinate and 290 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 3: grow in the places they were hidden. So squirrel takes 291 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 3: a bunch of nuts, stashes them all over the place, 292 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 3: buries them, hides them. The squirrel will go back and 293 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 3: get some of them later and eat them, but some 294 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 3: of them the squirrels never going to get again, and 295 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,360 Speaker 3: they'll just be wherever they are and they might have 296 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 3: a chance to sprout and grow. 297 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 2: Plus, the world can be pretty rough on a squirrel, 298 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 2: so even if the squirrel remembers where those nuts are, 299 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 2: it doesn't mean that squirrel is going to be around 300 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 2: to come back and claim them later on. 301 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 3: Right, So, Vanderwald explains how plants have evolved to encourage 302 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 3: scatter hoarding behavior in animals and why it helps them. 303 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 3: So that you know it is good for the plant 304 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 3: to get animals to practice scatter hoarding with its seeds, 305 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 3: how does it get the animals to do that? First 306 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 3: of all, by producing seeds that are delicious and nutritious, 307 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,679 Speaker 3: so they are highly attractive to animals as a food. 308 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,919 Speaker 3: But second, here's the important one for our question about 309 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 3: why why nuts have hard shells, by imposing what Vanderwald 310 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:22,399 Speaker 3: calls handling costs that mean the animal cannot feasibly eat 311 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,439 Speaker 3: all of the seeds immediately upon discovery. And there are 312 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 3: two main strategies mentioned for increasing these handling costs. One 313 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 3: is by lacing the nutritious seed or fruit with chemicals 314 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,119 Speaker 3: that make it hard to digest, such as tannins, which 315 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 3: kind of slows down the buffet. But then the second 316 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 3: thing is by putting in place physical barriers that take 317 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 3: time and energy to break through. So here's our hard 318 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,639 Speaker 3: outer nutshell. The hard shell of a nut makes it 319 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 3: impossible for the squirrel to just gobble up all of 320 00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 3: the fruits immediately. They want that good stuff inside. Each 321 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 3: one is going to take time and energy to open 322 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 3: an access, so the animal is encouraged to take the 323 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 3: nuts away and hide them for later. Now, there are 324 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 3: a couple more strategies Vanderwall mentions as well. One is masting. 325 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:18,679 Speaker 3: This is quote where a population of plants synchronizes reproductive effort, 326 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 3: producing large nut crops at intervals of several years. Massed 327 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 3: crops not only satiate seed predators but also increase the 328 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 3: amount of seed dispersal because scatter hoarding animals are not 329 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 3: easily satiated during cashing, causing animals to store more food 330 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 3: than they can consume, but are satiated during cash recovery. 331 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 3: So does that makes sense. There's a lot of nuts, 332 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:45,160 Speaker 3: and because they take time to get into, the scatter 333 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,360 Speaker 3: hoarding animal is going to be hungry while they're gathering 334 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 3: all these nuts, so it just encourages them to keep 335 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:54,120 Speaker 3: gathering more and more nuts and storing them and planting 336 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 3: them for the plant. But then they will get full 337 00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 3: on these nuts when it's finally time to recover the 338 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,200 Speaker 3: cash and crack them open and eat them, so they're 339 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,119 Speaker 3: probably not going to get to all of the stuff 340 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 3: they stored. 341 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 2: Basically exploiting a real eyes bigger than one's stomach sort 342 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 2: of situation with the squirrels exactly. 343 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:14,720 Speaker 3: And then the last strategy mentioned here is by having 344 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 3: seeds that don't put off strong smells, making them harder 345 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 3: for the animal to find later after they are hidden. 346 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 3: So really just sort of helping the squirrel or bird 347 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,879 Speaker 3: or whatever animal forget where it put some of its nuts. So, 348 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 3: according to this theory, hard nutshells are part of a 349 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:35,920 Speaker 3: suite of strategies used by plants to aid in seed 350 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 3: dispersal by animals like birds and rodents, which makes it 351 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,920 Speaker 3: more difficult for the animal to eat the nut, making 352 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 3: it more likely that the animal will carry the nut 353 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:49,639 Speaker 3: off and hide it or bury it somewhere later and 354 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 3: then possibly forget about it or for whatever reason, never 355 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 3: come back to it, allowing the plant to germinate in 356 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 3: its hiding place. Hard nutshells you could think of sort 357 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 3: of like a speed bump in the eating process. They 358 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,919 Speaker 3: make it hard for the bird or the rodent or 359 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 3: whatever to just like blaze through whatever it finds that 360 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 3: it can't just eat it all at once, but to 361 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:27,200 Speaker 3: come back at this. From the animal's perspective, nuts are great. 362 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 3: Animals want to eat them, so how to get the 363 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 3: good part out? Animals do have strategies for getting at 364 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 3: those good parts, Even if while benefiting from the nuts 365 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,960 Speaker 3: they do crack open and eat, they're sort of inadvertently 366 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:42,439 Speaker 3: helping the plant by not getting to a lot of 367 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 3: the nuts they store. Let's look at a few strategies here. 368 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,920 Speaker 3: One is brute force, you know, teeth, jaws, beaks, or bills, 369 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 3: and other intrinsic mechanisms that allow an animal to crack 370 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 3: or punch through hard nutshells. We've already mentioned that rodents 371 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,879 Speaker 3: are a major consumer of nuts in the wild, but 372 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 3: also other hard substances, and rodents, like rats, squirrels, and beavers, 373 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 3: have an adaptation that helps them in this regard, which 374 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 3: is there incisors, pairs of front teeth at the top 375 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 3: and bottom that, unlike our teeth, continuously grow throughout the 376 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,160 Speaker 3: rodent's life. So this means rodents must gnaw on things 377 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,400 Speaker 3: and also must grind their front teeth to maintain good 378 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:30,560 Speaker 3: dental health. Rat incisors not worn down by continuous gnawing 379 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 3: can grow into a bizarre, unsettling spiral shapes they go off, 380 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 3: and this is obviously really bad for the rat. And 381 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 3: while having teeth like this imposes a burden to constantly 382 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 3: be gnawing and grinding the teeth together, it also helps 383 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,640 Speaker 3: equip rodents to put their front teeth through some serious 384 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:54,239 Speaker 3: abuse because the teeth will just continue growing in and 385 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,679 Speaker 3: the grinding will continue to sharpen them, so you know, 386 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 3: if an adult human cracks a tooth, that's that's sort 387 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 3: of a permanent problem. Rodents like rats can just let 388 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,439 Speaker 3: their teeth keep growing in so they can put them 389 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:10,399 Speaker 3: through a lot. Rodents like rats also have very strong 390 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 3: and specially adapted jaw muscles for their size, specifically the 391 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 3: massive muscles, and they're special teeth and chewing muscles help 392 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 3: them cut through tough barriers like nutshells. Of course, on 393 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 3: the larger end of the animal spectrum, you've got bigger 394 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 3: animals that just have big teeth, big jaws that can 395 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,200 Speaker 3: pretty easily crush through nutshells, for example elephants and some 396 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:36,919 Speaker 3: wild pigs. You know, if you've got big enough jaws 397 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,359 Speaker 3: and teeth and stuff, crushing a nutshell isn't that hard. 398 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 3: I even found one report of gorillas allegedly cracking nuts 399 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,679 Speaker 3: with their teeth, so there's some question about to what 400 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 3: extent this comes with significant risk of tooth damage to 401 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 3: the gorilla. And then also some birds such as like 402 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 3: Jay's blue jays, will collect nuts so that they can 403 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 3: break through nutshells with their bills, But some other animals 404 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:02,440 Speaker 3: have a different strategy, which is just you know, swallow 405 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 3: the nuts whole and let the gizzard work it out. 406 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 3: Wild turkeys are an example here. Turkeys eat a lot 407 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 3: of nuts, such as wild pecans, but they don't bother 408 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,880 Speaker 3: cracking them or chewing them that there's just no need. 409 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 3: They gulp the whole thing, shell and all, and then 410 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 3: it goes to the gizzard, and the gizzard works essentially 411 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,359 Speaker 3: like an internal jaw. It is a part of the 412 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 3: bird's digestive system, a sort of muscular sack in which 413 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:34,600 Speaker 3: food stuffs are churned around with externally acquired abrasives like 414 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 3: rocks and sand, which the turkey also swallows. And eventually 415 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,359 Speaker 3: this muscular sack churning nuts around with rocks and sand, 416 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 3: grinds the nuts or whatever food into pieces so it 417 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 3: can pass on down through the rest of the digestive tract. 418 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,959 Speaker 2: See we need more gizzard based nutcrackers. Maybe the screw 419 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 2: nutcracker is kind of a gizzard nutcracker in a limited sense. 420 00:23:58,800 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 2: I G. 421 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 3: Yeah, it would be like what would a gizzard based 422 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:03,960 Speaker 3: nutcracker be. It would be more like a like a 423 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,400 Speaker 3: rock polisher, you know, you put the nuts in there 424 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 3: and it's got like an internal like shaker with rocks 425 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 3: and they bust them up. Yea. So those are the 426 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 3: internal mechanisms, but there are also animals that do use 427 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:19,480 Speaker 3: external mechanisms, in other words, tools to crack nuts. Tool 428 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 3: use in nutcracking has been observed in multiple primate species. 429 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 3: I came across a paper documenting novel observations of orangutans 430 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 3: figuring out how to smash nuts with a wooden hammer. 431 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,320 Speaker 3: The paper was by a bandini at all called naive 432 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 3: Orangutans are individually acquire nutcracking using hammer tools, published in 433 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,679 Speaker 3: the American Journal of Primatology in the year twenty twenty one, 434 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 3: and I found the background section of this paper helpful 435 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,920 Speaker 3: for collecting other documented examples of primate tool use in nutcracking, 436 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 3: especially the use of tools by chimpanzees to open nuts. 437 00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 3: The authors say that chimpanzees, long tailed macaques, and capuchin 438 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 3: monkeys have been observed using tools to break through nutshells, 439 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 3: and wild chimpanzees have been observed in multiple locations using 440 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 3: hammer tools to smash nuts and access kernels. So, to 441 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 3: read from their background quote, the crux of the nut 442 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 3: cracking behavioral form in chimpanzees involves three steps one retrieving 443 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,720 Speaker 3: a nut from the surrounding area and placing it on 444 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 3: an anvil e g. A tree root or a stone. 445 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,479 Speaker 3: Two picking up a stone or a wooden hammer, and 446 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 3: three hitting the nut with the hammer parentheses holding it 447 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 3: with one or both hands until its shell is cracked 448 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,240 Speaker 3: open and the inside kernel can be retrieved and consumed. 449 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 3: And this is noted as being a really interesting case 450 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:53,200 Speaker 3: of tool use in non human animals because most cases 451 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 3: of animal tool use involve only a single object and 452 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 3: a single type of action, you know, thinking something using 453 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 3: a stick to extend reach into holes and crevices. But 454 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 3: this nut hammering process involves two separate tools apart from 455 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,360 Speaker 3: the nut, the hammer and the anvil, and it involves 456 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 3: multiple steps, only culminating in a food reward at the 457 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 3: end of the process. So it's extremely interesting and impressive 458 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,640 Speaker 3: and has been the subject of a lot of study 459 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 3: and debate. And they are also interesting scientific debates about 460 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,880 Speaker 3: how this process first arose in wild chimpanzees and how 461 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:34,760 Speaker 3: it gets passed from one individual to another. But anyway, 462 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,480 Speaker 3: coming back to the experimental portion of the study and orangutans, 463 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:42,480 Speaker 3: the authors here tested naive orangutans who had no experience 464 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 3: cracking nuts with tools that were in captivity to see 465 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 3: what they would do if given hard shelled nuts and 466 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 3: tools for nut cracking, but no demonstration of how it 467 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,400 Speaker 3: was done. So just like, here's the stuff you would need, 468 00:26:55,480 --> 00:27:00,639 Speaker 3: but there's no teaching or showing them. And somewhat shocking quote. 469 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 3: Out of twelve orangutans tested, at least four individuals, one 470 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 3: from Leipzig and three from Zurich spontaneously expressed nutcracking using 471 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,040 Speaker 3: wooden hammers. 472 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:12,720 Speaker 2: Fascinating. 473 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,639 Speaker 3: I thought so too, And they say that this result 474 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 3: seems to be evidence that orangutans can in fact quite 475 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 3: readily produce emergent tool use behaviors through through individual learning, 476 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:28,679 Speaker 3: they say, just sort of personal trial and error learning 477 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 3: without having to watch another do it and copy the 478 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 3: behavior from them. Though they did say they actually make 479 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 3: a distinction in this paper between non copying social learning 480 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,679 Speaker 3: and copying social learning. So copying social learning is what 481 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 3: they call like the how to knowledge, where you watch 482 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 3: another individual do something and then you copy what they're doing. 483 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 3: They do say there could be some social learning involved 484 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 3: here that's not watching what the other individual is doing, 485 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,439 Speaker 3: but just seeing kind of like what area of of 486 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 3: the enclosure they're paying attention to, what kind of objects 487 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 3: they're paying attention to, and so forth. In the words 488 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,520 Speaker 3: of the authors, not how to social information, but sort 489 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,159 Speaker 3: of what and where social information. And then finally just 490 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 3: wanted to mention that this has also come up on 491 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,679 Speaker 3: the show before. But there are some bird species that 492 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,719 Speaker 3: have evolved ways of using external tools to crack nuts. 493 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,679 Speaker 3: One of the most interesting examples is the case of 494 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 3: Japanese crows, specifically Japanese crows, because as far as I know, 495 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 3: this behavior has not been found in crow populations elsewhere, 496 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 3: but Japanese crows have been observed leaving difficult nuts on 497 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 3: busy streets so that cars will run over them and 498 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 3: crack the shells for them. 499 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:46,479 Speaker 2: That's fascinating, man, to you, it's a highway to us 500 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 2: a nutcracker. So coming back to humans, specifically coming back 501 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 2: to modern humans, modern humans absolutely can crack nuts with 502 00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 2: their tee This is a true statement. However, modern humans 503 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 2: appbsolutely cannot crack all nuts with their teeth, and they 504 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,880 Speaker 2: certainly can't do so without risking permanent damage to their teeth. 505 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 3: All right, again, we are not rodents. Their teeth will 506 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 3: keep growing in if they hurt them while getting into 507 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 3: a nut, not so much for an adult human. 508 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,520 Speaker 2: That's right. So, as such, there is a huge advantage, 509 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,480 Speaker 2: even a survival advantage, in being able to turn to 510 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,760 Speaker 2: various tools to crack open said nuts and get at 511 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:27,800 Speaker 2: the precious nutrients inside and of course then not be 512 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 2: held and also not be held back by the speed 513 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:31,480 Speaker 2: bump so much. I mean, you are hitting the speed 514 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 2: bump of having to manually cracked nuts. But if you 515 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 2: can utilize technology to speed that process along, then you 516 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 2: can do a whole host of other things. 517 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 3: That's right. 518 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 2: As such, prehistoric humans made use of their surroundings to 519 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:47,080 Speaker 2: open many a nut much in the same way that 520 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 2: other tool using animals did, and the examples that we 521 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 2: just mentioned. Stones of course do wonders, And eventually this 522 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 2: was fine tuned to make use of pitted stones. Pitted stone, 523 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 2: you know, a stone that has a little end in there, 524 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 2: kind of a spot that holds the nut in place 525 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,680 Speaker 2: while you either whack it with another stone or use 526 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 2: some sort of like hammer and chisel scenario to apply 527 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 2: force to it. And then this will also sort of 528 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 2: collect the fragments and keep the nut and or fragments 529 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,400 Speaker 2: from just flying off in all directions. 530 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 3: In terms of getting over the speed bump is speeding 531 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,560 Speaker 3: up the process. This is a great advancement actually using 532 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 3: a pitted stone like this, it's sort of moving from 533 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 3: the hammer and anvil principle to the mortar and pestle principle. 534 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 2: Now, according to Wagner, example of this sort of artifact 535 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 2: go back thousands and thousands of years. Indeed, according to 536 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 2: I was looking at a twenty nineteen paper published in 537 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 2: Plos one or plus one. I forget which way we're 538 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 2: supposed to say it these days, it's plus plus. 539 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,280 Speaker 3: I said it wrong. For years I spelled it out. 540 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 2: It's plus all right, well plus one twenty nineteen. This 541 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 2: was a paper by Colleen Pardout titled Quondong Stones a 542 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 2: Specialized Australian nut Cracking Tool. And in this the author 543 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,960 Speaker 2: points out that paleolithic sites in the Levant provide evidence 544 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 2: of the importance of nuts in the human diet as 545 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 2: far back as seven hundred and forty thousand to seven 546 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,280 Speaker 2: hundred and ninety thousand years ago, and we see this 547 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:19,600 Speaker 2: via the evidence of specialized stone implements for shell cracking 548 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:25,000 Speaker 2: and kernel extraction. Additionally, early Holoceine sites suggest that hazel 549 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 2: nuts were important in Mesolithic and early Neolithic European diets. 550 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 2: The paper in question, by the way, highlights the use 551 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 2: of pitted stones by Aboriginal Australians to crack open the 552 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 2: quondong or native peach. They point out that pits in 553 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,880 Speaker 2: stones like this are common, and they sometimes indicate other functions. 554 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,320 Speaker 2: It's not always there for nut cracking. It could be 555 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,800 Speaker 2: an anvil, or it could have multiple functions, but the 556 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 2: stones in question have multiple pits and were found in 557 00:31:56,240 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 2: areas where quandongs are common. They also analyze the exact 558 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 2: nature of the wear and tear on these stones. Apparently, 559 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:05,400 Speaker 2: if you know what you're looking for, you you can 560 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 2: analyze that wear and tear and see like, okay, what 561 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 2: kind of regular and or repeated force was applied here? 562 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:18,720 Speaker 2: And they believe that these artifacts indicate nutcracking. I included 563 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:20,200 Speaker 2: a couple of pictures here from you. 564 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:20,520 Speaker 3: Below. 565 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 2: One is from Wagner's museum. You see like a basic 566 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 2: pitted stone nutcracking scenario. And then I have some images 567 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,640 Speaker 2: from this paper about Aboriginal Australian artifacts, and you can 568 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,200 Speaker 2: see like a like multiple pits in one of the 569 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 2: stones they're talking about. M Yeah, by the way, Broadly speaking, 570 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,000 Speaker 2: nuts cracked in this manner were sometimes, of course just 571 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 2: eating raw. You know, you've you've solved the puzzle. Now 572 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:50,960 Speaker 2: enjoy the spoils. But they were also eventually used for 573 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 2: other purposes. You could make flowers out of them, or 574 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:58,000 Speaker 2: nut butters. There's apparently evidence for peanut butter of a 575 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:02,360 Speaker 2: sort in Aztec and Inca civilizations, and one can only 576 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,640 Speaker 2: assume that ancient European hazel nuts scavengers would have done 577 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:09,760 Speaker 2: something similar, though of course, without access to South America's chocolate, 578 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 2: they'd be denied. The invention of nutella up until I 579 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 2: believe the eighteen hundreds. 580 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,000 Speaker 3: Are you a nutella lover Rope? 581 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:22,400 Speaker 2: I mean, I like nutella, but I deny myself nutella. 582 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,240 Speaker 2: It's too easy, it is, it needs some speed bumps, 583 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:28,960 Speaker 2: and so the sump, the speed bump I put down 584 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:33,000 Speaker 2: is just not buying it. Now, coming back to other 585 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 2: nutcracker designs, obviously, simple wooden nutcrackers are also a pretty 586 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 2: ancient scenario. You know, likely some combination of wood pieces, 587 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,720 Speaker 2: perhaps a strip of leather, exactly the sort of thing 588 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:48,880 Speaker 2: to easily vanish from the archaeological record like this is 589 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 2: just organic matter that's not going to last. But eventually, 590 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:56,360 Speaker 2: with the advent of metalworking, humans begin making simple nutcrackers, 591 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 2: which are also again largely identical to collect crab clock 592 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 2: that enable them to use hand strength and a lever 593 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,959 Speaker 2: to crack nuts. This again is the basic principle of 594 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,800 Speaker 2: the German wooden nutcracker that we associate with Christmas. Wagner 595 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:13,960 Speaker 2: writes that the oldest evidence of a metal nutcracker goes 596 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:17,200 Speaker 2: back to the third or fourth century BCE. Apparently this 597 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:21,440 Speaker 2: nutcracker is on display in the Toronto Museum in Italy. 598 00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 2: It's exceedingly ornate, considering consisting of a pair of bronze 599 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:30,800 Speaker 2: hands with gold bracelets making use of an internal hinge 600 00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:34,800 Speaker 2: to function as a nutcracker. Obviously this is a luxury 601 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:38,440 Speaker 2: item and really the subject matter here is quite fascinating. 602 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:41,080 Speaker 2: I included an image of this nutcracker device for. 603 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 3: You here, Joe, that is creepy looking. 604 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:49,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, there are like these bronze hands with golden like 605 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:54,440 Speaker 2: they're dark bronze hands with golden like serpent bracelets, and 606 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:56,960 Speaker 2: it's like they're reaching up out of the void to 607 00:34:57,360 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 2: crack a nut. 608 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:01,880 Speaker 3: For you, Yeah, exactly hands from the portal to the underdark. 609 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:06,359 Speaker 3: There's just like extremely creepy looking. Though when I first 610 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:10,319 Speaker 3: saw these, I didn't realize these were just solid to 611 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 3: be used with a lever to crush. What I honestly 612 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:17,319 Speaker 3: imagine was that these were like rigid metal gloves that 613 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:19,880 Speaker 3: you would put on to just smash a nut between 614 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 3: your palms. 615 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:23,799 Speaker 2: Yeah, I was looking around to see some sort of 616 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:26,919 Speaker 2: a video or demonstration of exactly how the mechanism works. 617 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:31,080 Speaker 2: There supposedly is a mechanism there, but most of the 618 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 2: images I was pulling up just show the hands, and yeah, 619 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:37,080 Speaker 2: they're quite beautiful to look at. 620 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 3: Now. 621 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:42,080 Speaker 2: Wagner's Museum apparently has a Roman nutcracker dated to between 622 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:45,640 Speaker 2: two hundred BCE and two hundred CE, and this one 623 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:48,960 Speaker 2: is also ornate with animal motifs, but it is it 624 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,800 Speaker 2: is otherwise like not something that mimics human or animal 625 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:56,200 Speaker 2: crushing power. No jaws or anything. Included an image of 626 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:57,680 Speaker 2: this for you here as well, Joe. 627 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 3: It's just the standard pincer ever. 628 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, and of course you know they're all manner of 629 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:06,880 Speaker 2: tools and objects in human history that have been turned 630 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:11,200 Speaker 2: into something ornate and something even more decorative than functional. 631 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 2: But again, there's something about the nutcracker there's sort of 632 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:16,480 Speaker 2: even though it is work, there's also sort of an 633 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:19,600 Speaker 2: implied leisure there, Like it is the kind of work 634 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 2: that you can imagine even an emperor being okay with 635 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:26,400 Speaker 2: doing because there is something satisfying about it. 636 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:31,160 Speaker 3: Yeah. Maybe it's because the food reward is in most 637 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 3: cases implied to be immediate. But I know exactly what 638 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,759 Speaker 3: you're saying that, Like, there's a different energy to a 639 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:41,640 Speaker 3: nutcracker versus like a potato peeler. So you imagine the 640 00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:46,480 Speaker 3: process of peeling a potato is labor. It's not associated 641 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 3: with fun. It's just something you've got to do in 642 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,359 Speaker 3: the process of cooking something. But that's not the same. Yeah, 643 00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,400 Speaker 3: not the case with a nutcracker. The nutcracker is an 644 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,719 Speaker 3: emblem of coziness and leisure and getting what you want 645 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 3: right now. 646 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:05,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like a novel technological enhancement of human abilities. 647 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:08,720 Speaker 2: It's like, look, what I can do is nothing compared 648 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:12,520 Speaker 2: to my strength, as my strength is accentuated by this 649 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:15,839 Speaker 2: tiny wooden man that cracks my nuts for me now. 650 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:19,759 Speaker 2: Wagner also showcases multiple European metal nut trackers from the 651 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:22,960 Speaker 2: thirteenth century onward. In many of these, I didn't even 652 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:24,920 Speaker 2: include pictures off of you, Joe, because they just look 653 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:28,919 Speaker 2: like metal lever tools. You know, It's just exactly all 654 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:31,920 Speaker 2: that you would need to crack nuts and nothing fancy. 655 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:36,160 Speaker 2: But they sometimes take on other fanciful forms. I included 656 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:39,360 Speaker 2: a couple of images from her museum here. One is 657 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:41,880 Speaker 2: I believe, an eagle and the other is a dog. 658 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 3: Okay, does the eagle crushed the nut in its beak? 659 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:47,920 Speaker 3: I guess does the beak pop open? 660 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:50,160 Speaker 2: It looks like, yeah, I believe the beak is powered 661 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:52,919 Speaker 2: by the lever. And then we also have the dog, 662 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,600 Speaker 2: which I guess the tail is the lever for the 663 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:56,440 Speaker 2: dog's mouth. 664 00:37:57,040 --> 00:38:00,400 Speaker 3: You know, I really enjoy the grotesque unreality of the 665 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:04,400 Speaker 3: way that the human awaid nutcracker's mouth opens so wide 666 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:05,880 Speaker 3: with the lever. I don't think I would have that 667 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:07,600 Speaker 3: same enjoyment with the dog figure. 668 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:09,560 Speaker 2: Do you think it's just not becoming of the dog? 669 00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:10,160 Speaker 3: Yeah? 670 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:10,520 Speaker 2: I don't know. 671 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:15,200 Speaker 3: A man whose jaw opens down to his belly button 672 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:18,760 Speaker 3: and has gigantic teeth bigger than his eyes, that's funny. 673 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,040 Speaker 3: A dog that has that, I don't know. That's just 674 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 3: like I want it to be cuter. 675 00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:28,520 Speaker 2: Now, there's another variety of metal nut opening. I guess 676 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:30,520 Speaker 2: you would say tool that I want to touch on here. 677 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:34,920 Speaker 2: It's one that's also hinged, often of bronze or iron. 678 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:40,400 Speaker 2: But these are nut openers found in various Asian cultures, 679 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:46,000 Speaker 2: including in India, in Indonesia, in Afghanistan. Many of these 680 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:50,279 Speaker 2: also boast animal in human design motifs. These were not 681 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:53,160 Speaker 2: used to crack open a nut, but to slice the 682 00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:57,160 Speaker 2: aureka nut of the Areca palm, which is then wrapped 683 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:01,200 Speaker 2: in a beetle leaf. These are beetlenuts. These are then chewed, 684 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:04,920 Speaker 2: sometimes with other additives in order to get at the 685 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:09,800 Speaker 2: psychoactive properties all the non included some images of these 686 00:39:10,719 --> 00:39:14,040 Speaker 2: beetlenut slicers. I guess is really the more accurate terminology. 687 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:16,600 Speaker 2: Though they're they're basic. The basic physics of the design 688 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:20,080 Speaker 2: is similar to many of the nutcrackers we're talking about here. 689 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,520 Speaker 2: But as you can see, Joe and I encourage folks 690 00:39:22,560 --> 00:39:25,040 Speaker 2: to look up images of these. There's some that look 691 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:28,319 Speaker 2: like birds. There are some not pictured here for you, Joe, 692 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:31,479 Speaker 2: that are very ornate but don't look like any any 693 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 2: particular animal or what have you. And then some just 694 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:39,520 Speaker 2: straight up resemble human beings, sometimes with the handles of 695 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:42,719 Speaker 2: the slicer being the legs of a humanoid or the 696 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:44,680 Speaker 2: legs of two humanoids that are dancing. 697 00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,760 Speaker 3: Okay, but it is a slicing action, not a cracking action, 698 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:52,319 Speaker 3: so it's more kind of like those little cigar gillotines 699 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:53,919 Speaker 3: that people have. I don't know what those are called. 700 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:56,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I guess it would be similar similar to that. Yeah, 701 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,600 Speaker 2: they're there there for slicing, but they do resemble a 702 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:03,279 Speaker 2: nutcrack a lot, and you'll often find collectors of one 703 00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:04,799 Speaker 2: may collect the other as well. 704 00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:07,360 Speaker 3: Beautiful designs though. 705 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:11,839 Speaker 2: Now I'd also run across examples of apotropaic uses of 706 00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:15,320 Speaker 2: these devices as well, such as using them to protect 707 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:19,520 Speaker 2: sleeping child. I also found mention of protective qualities that 708 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:24,919 Speaker 2: are attributed to beetlenuts in general in some cultures. There's 709 00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:28,520 Speaker 2: a nineteenth century beetlenut cutter from Malaysia in the collection 710 00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:31,440 Speaker 2: of the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK, and 711 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:34,040 Speaker 2: they have this featured on their website. It has a 712 00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:38,440 Speaker 2: stylized bird shaped head set with rubies mounted with gold, 713 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:41,840 Speaker 2: so very ornate, and the Museum shares the following quote. 714 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:45,400 Speaker 2: Although the habit of beetle chewing had rapidly declined in 715 00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:49,640 Speaker 2: the Malay world by the mid twentieth century, iron araka 716 00:40:49,719 --> 00:40:52,000 Speaker 2: nut cutters are still in use today for their power, 717 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:56,760 Speaker 2: according to local tradition, in warding off evil spirits the shears, 718 00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:59,440 Speaker 2: and I think that's accurate. You can describe these as 719 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,680 Speaker 2: shears are usually placed above the head of a newborn 720 00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:03,880 Speaker 2: baby for protection. 721 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:08,480 Speaker 3: Oh, that's an interesting parallel to the sort of decorative 722 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:12,880 Speaker 3: or ritual use of the no longer functional nutcrackers and 723 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,200 Speaker 3: Christmas celebrations. Yeah. 724 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:18,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, I do find it fascinating that you'll have like 725 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:22,439 Speaker 2: two very distant cultures here, and they both have some 726 00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:26,200 Speaker 2: sort of an ornate device that has that is used 727 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:30,080 Speaker 2: to get at the goodness, be it nutritional or psychoactive 728 00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:34,279 Speaker 2: or I think they are also medicinal traditions concerning the 729 00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:36,680 Speaker 2: beetle nut as well. But to get at the goodness 730 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:39,360 Speaker 2: in the nut, you have to use this device, and 731 00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:42,680 Speaker 2: then that device becomes more and more ornate, it takes 732 00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:46,239 Speaker 2: on various forms and then begins to have these supernatural 733 00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:48,920 Speaker 2: properties as well. Or even if you're looking at the 734 00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:54,120 Speaker 2: modern nutcracker, like the decorative nutcracker, has no function other 735 00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:58,759 Speaker 2: than to provide a bit of holiday whimsy and to know, 736 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,719 Speaker 2: to put us the spirit of things for the holiday. 737 00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:06,160 Speaker 3: Or alternately, to chase your sibling around the house biting 738 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:06,680 Speaker 3: at them with. 739 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:10,439 Speaker 2: Now, I would love to hear from folks out there 740 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:13,120 Speaker 2: if you have certainly if you can speak from personal 741 00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:16,080 Speaker 2: experience or family experience, cultural experience to anything that we've 742 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:19,200 Speaker 2: touched on in the episode, including the beetle nutshears, but 743 00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:22,120 Speaker 2: even like the classic German nutcracker, if there's anyone out 744 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:24,720 Speaker 2: there who has a like a family tradition in which 745 00:42:25,160 --> 00:42:27,360 Speaker 2: there are protective elements to it, you know, like the 746 00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:30,880 Speaker 2: nutcracker is placed in a child's room to ward off 747 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:35,040 Speaker 2: some sort of you know, ill luck, no matter how 748 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:38,239 Speaker 2: you know, overt no matter how strong the superstition or 749 00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:40,520 Speaker 2: weak the superstition is. I'd love to hear about that 750 00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:44,320 Speaker 2: as well. So I'm partially speaking from my own experience, 751 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:48,200 Speaker 2: in which the standard nutcracker like doesn't really carry a 752 00:42:48,239 --> 00:42:52,960 Speaker 2: lot of supernatural or folkal or weight. It is just festive, 753 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:55,919 Speaker 2: you know, It's a completely secular thing. Like the elf 754 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:58,560 Speaker 2: on the shelf ends up having more power in a 755 00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,399 Speaker 2: given home than the nutcracker usually does, or at least 756 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:04,200 Speaker 2: that's how it seems to me. I'd love to hear 757 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:05,680 Speaker 2: if that's not the case, though. 758 00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:08,240 Speaker 3: Though at the same time, I wouldn't undervalue the ritual 759 00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:11,960 Speaker 3: power of holiday decorations. I mean, like, it is interesting 760 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:15,480 Speaker 3: how we surround ourselves with these physical objects literally to 761 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:18,839 Speaker 3: sort of engineer our own minds. It's like, I want 762 00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:23,280 Speaker 3: to make myself feel festive. I want to put myself 763 00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:26,400 Speaker 3: in the mind space of a particular season, and in 764 00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:28,080 Speaker 3: order to do that, I know I will have to 765 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:31,120 Speaker 3: surround myself with objects that are hidden for the rest 766 00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:32,680 Speaker 3: of the year. Yeah. 767 00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:34,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like that's kind of the approach my 768 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:36,600 Speaker 2: family takes with our Christmas tree. You know, it's and 769 00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:38,360 Speaker 2: this is you know, I think how a lot of 770 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:41,680 Speaker 2: people do it. You know, each little decoration you put 771 00:43:41,719 --> 00:43:43,279 Speaker 2: up in there, put up on the tree has some 772 00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:46,240 Speaker 2: sort of value to you. You know, it either speaks 773 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:49,200 Speaker 2: to a time or a place, or an aspiration or 774 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:53,040 Speaker 2: an idea that you like. You know, it has religious 775 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:57,560 Speaker 2: significance and or cultural significance, and it all becomes this 776 00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:01,400 Speaker 2: kind of you know, this this kind of an amalgam 777 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:05,160 Speaker 2: of different values. Then you light it up and yeah, 778 00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:07,759 Speaker 2: you transform your world at least for a few weeks there. 779 00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:12,960 Speaker 3: All right, should we crush this nut once and for all. 780 00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:15,200 Speaker 2: Let's do it. Yes. We hope you enjoyed our look 781 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:17,680 Speaker 2: at the Nutcracker and earlier in the week the rat King. 782 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:19,640 Speaker 2: If you didn't hear the rat King episode, go back 783 00:44:19,719 --> 00:44:22,000 Speaker 2: listen to that. I think it's a nice companion for 784 00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:27,160 Speaker 2: this episode. But yeah, we obviously we wish everyone out 785 00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:30,840 Speaker 2: there who celebrates the holidays Happy holidays, will remind you 786 00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:33,640 Speaker 2: that stuff. To Blew Your Mind is a science podcast 787 00:44:33,680 --> 00:44:37,440 Speaker 2: for core episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Mondays we 788 00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:39,880 Speaker 2: tend to do listener mail. On Wednesdays we tend to 789 00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:42,520 Speaker 2: do a short form monster fact or artifact episode, and 790 00:44:42,560 --> 00:44:44,600 Speaker 2: on Fridays we set aside most series concerns to just 791 00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:46,760 Speaker 2: talk about a weird movie on Weird House Cinema. 792 00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:50,520 Speaker 3: Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer JJ Posway. 793 00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:52,560 Speaker 3: If you would like to get in touch with us 794 00:44:52,560 --> 00:44:55,120 Speaker 3: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 795 00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:57,320 Speaker 3: a topic for the future, or just to say hello, 796 00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:00,680 Speaker 3: you can email us at contact stuf. 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