WEBVTT - Listener Mail: In Your Face! 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:04.960 Welcome Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of I 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:13.840 Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, you, welcome to Stuff 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:16.079 to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:18.800 I'm Joe McCormick, and we're bringing you a listener mail. 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:21.239 That's right. It's been a little while we've had some 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:24.640 great listener mail build up and so we are here 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:27.520 to share it with you and help us share the 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:32.600 listener mail love. We have as always Carney our mail bought. Uh, Carney, 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:38.000 say hi to the audience now. Carney. Uh, you know 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:40.400 he always listens into our topics and then of course 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:43.680 he feeds off of the listener mail and he you know, 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:47.600 he was really into our series on facial recognition software, 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:50.640 you know, because he is mostly software. But he was 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.000 also very interested in my question I raised about whether 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:58.480 dogs have faces. As we're a number of listeners. Yeah, 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.960 it's it's stirred up some I don't know, debate. I 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:04.480 guess you could say on online about whether dogs have faces. 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:06.680 Now mostly it's just people saying yes, I think dogs 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.840 have faces. And here's why, Um, I don't feel particularly 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.720 strongly about it myself. I just merely commented that I 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:16.160 just tend not to think of the front of a 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:20.120 dog's skull as being a face. I certainly see is 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:22.640 having eyes and a mouth and a nose and so forth. 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:25.560 But I still cannot believe this. This is the weirdest 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:27.640 thing you ever said. But it's not just dogs, it's 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:30.080 just you know, animals in general, um, that are not 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:34.600 human or nearly so at any rate. It apparently messed 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:36.399 with Carney a little bit as well, because now he 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:42.200 was obsessively going around scanning the fronts of dogs skulls 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:45.840 and trying to put together some sort of facial recognition 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:48.680 argument based off of that. Just wait till he gets 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.200 to the buck flower dog from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:53.440 Oh yeah, that's gonna really throw him for a curve, 0:01:53.520 --> 0:02:02.080 isn't it. I gotta give shout out. Seth reminded us 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.360 of that one that is the best human face dog 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.120 of all time? Wasn't there one in there was like 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:10.240 a similar film from the seventies that had to do 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:15.680 with witchcraft, like alan Alda and It or something. Oh, 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.760 this is ringing bells. Yeah, I just looked it up. 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:21.760 It's called the Mephisto Waltz. I've never seen this one 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:24.200 looks really good. You know, I don't think I ever 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:27.200 saw it in its entirety either, but back when I 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:29.760 was watching a lot of Sci Fi Channel, back in 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:32.120 the old days of Sci Fi Channel, when they spelled 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:36.160 it correctly, um, they would hopeful for it with Siffycifia. 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:38.480 They would have a lot of promos for you know, 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:40.360 these films that they had the rights to show, and 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:42.280 one of them was The Mephisto Waltz and I think 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:46.800 they showed the the Faced Dog creature in that trailer 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:50.120 right in the middle of the Forever Night marathon. I 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:51.920 don't know if I don't think they were showing Forever 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:53.520 Night at that point. This is back when they were 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:57.320 all about it was classic Doctor Who and also occasional 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:02.000 like shows like what Man I'm Manimal? Was that it 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:06.840 sequest I don't know, maybe se Quest definitely, Time Tunnel 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:12.760 shows like that, movies like Gargoyle Space was another one 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:14.360 that got a lot of play. So what was the 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:19.400 one with the car the car that could talk? Night Writer? Yes, yes, 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:21.480 I don't remember if Night Writers on there or not. 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:24.000 We'll stay tuned for the new podcast series Robert and 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.919 I are soon launching about classic sci Fi Channel programming. 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:28.919 I would love to do that podcast. I don't know 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:30.960 anyone else wants to listen to it. Oh my god, 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.480 I would make that in my free time. Uh No, 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.320 but today is about stuff to blow your mind, and 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.560 it is about stuff to blow your mind listener mail. 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:42.400 We Yeah, we received a lot of great stuff related 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:46.840 to the face recognition episodes, certainly, but also volcanoes was 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:49.000 a big topic. Yeah, a bunch of stuff. I guess 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.360 we could start by addressing one thing we got a 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:53.720 bunch of mail about. We may have brought this up 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:56.080 on the website before, but I figure here's a good 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.640 time to say. A lot of people have just emailed saying, hey, 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.800 where's your website? Or like, I'm looking for source lists 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.240 links that would be on the landing page for this episode. 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.119 Can you help me find them? Sorry, folks, our website 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.040 has been led off to the website Slaughterhouse. It is 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:13.840 no more. That's right. Yeah, and this I believe happened 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:16.760 for all the shows that you know that are in 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.440 the you know what was previously known as the Stuff Network. 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:21.560 Uh So, now, if you got to Stuff to Build 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:23.200 your Mind dot com, if you go to invention pod 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:24.919 dot com, or if you go to the websites for 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:27.279 shows like stuff you should know or stuff you missed 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:29.960 in history class, those will direct to i Heart listings 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.880 for that show. Right now, To be clear, we don't 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:34.719 want you to be alarmed. This doesn't mean anything about 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:37.039 the show itself. The show is not going away anything 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:40.400 like that. It's just my Heart doesn't have individual websites 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:44.400 for its podcasts, and they enforced that on our show 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:47.440 among all others. Now, and if you're looking for like 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.080 lists of resources that were used in a particular episode, 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:53.400 I guess the good news there is that we kind 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:57.080 of sucked at doing that anyway, especially recently, so there 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:59.120 wasn't a lot of There wasn't a lot lost in 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:00.960 that regard. I think the ain thing that was that 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.599 was lost is that we had a you know, we 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.719 had a pretty good, uh, you know, searchable archive system 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:08.880 of past episodes. It was a good way to go 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:11.120 back and look at post past episodes. And there were 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.360 a lot of blog posts on there from over the years. 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:17.600 But I had not been actively blogging for you know, 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:21.600 at least a year, so um and no ongoing blogging 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.800 efforts were interrupted on that count. Oh and while the 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.600 website is no longer accessible. They assure us that it's 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.960 still somewhere in the dark space, and that means that, 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:33.240 for all we know, it could return in the future. 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:37.240 It's just not there right now. But if there's something particular, 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:40.200 something specific you were looking for, you can always just 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:42.520 email us and ask. And you know, if it's a 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:44.599 question about a source, we use like, hey, what was 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:46.679 that book you mentioned? How do you spelled that author's 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.280 last name? Uh, we can will generally be able to 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:50.919 get back to you and let you know, we'll do 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:53.560 our best right and likewise, if you're trying to remember, 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:55.600 like if you are thinking back to a blog post 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:57.080 and you're like, oh, what was that blog post? What 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.000 was that topic? Uh, you know, ask us via email 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:02.080 and you know, maybe we can fish that up for you. 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.520 You know, no promises, but uh, sometimes we can retrieve 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.640 that information certainly. So I guess it's time to jump 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:11.440 into the listener messages now. As always, we've got a 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:13.600 preface this by saying we're sorry. We get so much 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.640 wonderful mail. There is no way, uh in heck, for 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:18.800 us to read it all or even get close. This 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.040 will just have to be a small selection of messages, 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:22.920 but we appreciate all the mail we get. If your 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:26.520 message was not featured, please don't take it personally. Right 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:29.040 again and maybe you'll get on next time. But this 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:32.520 first message concerns our pair of episodes about the eruption 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:39.520 of Mount Vesuvius. This comes from Seth. Seth says, hi, there. 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:41.719 My name is Seth, and I'm a park ranger at 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:46.560 Mount Rainier National Park. Specifically, my job title is climbing ranger. 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:49.800 That means my duties include staffing the high camps and 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:53.040 climbing the mountain many times each spring and summer. I've 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.600 also worked for twelve years as a climbing guide on 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:58.479 Mountain Rainier and many other mountains all over the world, 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.120 including many of the ones on your list of volcanoes 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:04.440 at the end of Lessons of Vesuvius Part two. WHOA, 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:07.680 I spent a lot of time living, climbing, skiing, and 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.840 working on an active volcano, and so I really enjoyed 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.760 the Vesuvius series, although the description of the victims at 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:17.200 Pompeii and Herculaneum did give me serious pause. As I 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:20.440 work and live both on and near Mount Rainier. Yikes, 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:23.800 I would prefer my brain tissue to remain un vitrified. 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:27.080 Thank you. I was also surprised that Mount Rainier did 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.880 not make your list of volcanoes with large populations living 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:33.440 in close proximity. It is the only decade volcano in 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.160 the continental USA, and there are millions of people that 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:39.160 would be affected if the volcano were to erupt. I 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:42.240 guess the main issue, though, is really the lahars that 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:46.480 would form from pyroclastic flows melting the largest glacier system 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.520 in the lower forty eight and scouring dirt, rock and 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.400 debris from the river valleys and carrying them all the 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:56.440 way to tide water, not the explosion of the volcano itself. 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.120 Your podcast really got me wondering why I have felt 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:03.239 drawn to this mountain. I've spent nearly twenty years climbing, skiing, 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:06.880 and working on it, and the steaming fumaroles, sulfur seeps, 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:09.840 and crater ice caves always inspire a sense of wonder 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:13.200 and awe, even after more than two hundred times climbing 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.400 the summit. I really enjoyed the episodes, so thanks for that. 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:18.720 I'm also really hoping you do one on the year 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:21.080 without a summer. As an avid skier, I would love 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.160 to have a year like that, just as long as 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:27.360 we don't have any boathouse situations. Best regards, Seth, Well, 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.040 thanks for getting in touch, Seth. The mention of Lahars 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:32.640 actually brings me back to something that we did talk 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.280 about in one of our Vesuvius episodes where we mentioned 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:39.760 the volcano Catla in Iceland, which is near the village 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.200 of vik Has down on the southern coast of Iceland, 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:44.200 and I was talking about how I had been there, 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:46.840 and Katla is in a similar situation to what you're 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:49.160 talking about there, the threat is not so much of 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:53.360 an explosive eruption like Vesuvius. The threat is changed by 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:56.520 the fact that the volcano there lies under this vast glacier. 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.800 So try to imagine what happens when a volcano erupts 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.840 under millions of tons of ice. The greatest danger from 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:06.800 eruptions here comes from Lahars again. You know, these these 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:09.560 floods of mud and water coming out of the glacier 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:13.320 system and from a yokolaps. Oh, these are the the 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:17.880 ice giants, right, Yeah, these are these outburst floods from glaciers. Uh, 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:20.680 you know, so like there might be a lake that 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.240 is fed by the flow off of a glacier as 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.600 it melts. But then suddenly lots of heat melts a 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:30.079 lot of glacial water, and that then the lake breaches 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:34.600 whatever container it's normally held in and there's rapid draining. 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.600 So a lot of times we don't even imagine properly 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:41.000 what the most destructive elements of a volcanic eruption would be. 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:44.720 And one of the funniest things is that people often think, Okay, 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:48.560 the danger of a volcanic eruption comes from flows of lava. 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:51.319 That's like one of the least dangers to worry about. 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:53.760 I mean, certainly, if you were in the position to 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:57.080 be affected by the flowing lava, it's dangerous. But but yeah, 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.520 it's all these other factors, and ultimately it's in many 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.120 of the scenari as we mentioned, it's it's what happens 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:04.440 when then the population flees. Where are they going, what 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:07.040 are the what kind of conditions are in place for 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:12.800 them to actually evacuate the area. All right, here's another one. 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:16.439 This one comes to us from Derek Derek Rites. Hey, guys, 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:19.160 just finished listening to Lessons of Vessuvious Part two and 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:22.280 had an experience to share my wife and I visit 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.400 Hawaii every few years, not as often as I'd like. 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:28.000 During one of our trips, we rented a house in 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:30.960 a community just outside of Pahoa on the Big Island. 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.240 It was fantastic. Later I learned that in two thousand eighteen, 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:38.360 several rifts opened not to even two ms away from 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.320 the house where we stayed. Needless to say, it is 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:44.640 long gone. During our twenty nineteen trip, I was excited 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:47.000 to see if I could estimate the location of our 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:50.559 former getaway by visiting the lava field. I certainly could 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.920 have located at using a GPS, But every place at 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:56.760 which the a road encountered the lava flow, there were 0:10:56.760 --> 0:11:00.000 many signs warning that venturing into the area was both 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:03.839 dangerous and illegal. I read, what do you think he 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:09.000 should have the signs? Obey the sign? Having been to 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:12.400 volcano Volcano National Park. Don't be one of those people 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:14.920 who disregards the sign. I know, I okay, so you 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.520 did you know? Yes, obey the signs, do not cross 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:21.280 over into the dangerous area. But I'm one who constitutionally, 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.040 by nature, is drawn into areas that you are not 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:28.959 allowed to go into. Well, I understand that, yes, anyway, 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:32.000 he continues, I read that the area is still private property, 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:34.720 and walking out onto the lava would have been trespassing. 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.679 I was amazed at two other observations of the surrounding area. 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:42.320 One more than a year after the lava flow, there 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:45.160 are still areas of the field so hot that steam 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.400 pours from brakes in the crust. Too. I saw many 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:52.800 dozens of instances of trees already sprouting from the field, 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:57.000 tiny palm seedlings amidst the black landscape, taking keen advantage 0:11:57.000 --> 0:12:01.240 of the lack of competition and nutrients. I'm sure really 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:05.120 which astounds me more the devastating destructive power or life 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:09.120 a blatant disregard for it. Thanks guys, keep up the 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:12.080 good work, Derek. That reminds me of the stories of 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:17.679 the forests pouring into the caldera on Vesuvius. Uh. Life 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.160 not only finds a way, life almost just kind of 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:24.600 gives a middle finger to the geologic danger. The I 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:26.880 have to drive him again though that you know, anyone 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:29.440 out there, if you have the opportunity to visit the 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:33.120 Big Island and go to Volcano National Park, uh or, 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:36.560 it's I just highly recommended. I went there once many 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.120 years ago, and I haven't had the chance to go 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.840 back yet, but I hope to because it's it's just 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:44.840 it's it's it's amazing experience to be able to walk 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:49.320 through these volcanic craters, uh, To to like look down 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:51.680 into a crater and see a complete rainbow below you 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:53.800 in the crater, or walk through a crater and see 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:57.360 the rainbow overhead and like pass beneath it and then 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.680 look back and see it behind you. And to interact 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:04.800 with these environments that you feel like you're in another world. Uh. 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:08.280 And then to see either you know, direct signs or 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:12.080 these other signs of the you know, intense volcanic activity 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.600 of the living earth right there beneath you. It's it's 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:17.640 unlike anything else. Do you want to move on to 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:20.720 Karma Mudah? Yeah, let's move on to that, that wonderful, 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:26.319 warm feeling of Karma Muda. Okay, here come the warm fields. 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:29.880 This first message is from Helen. Helen says, high stuff 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.559 to blow your mind. Love. Your work keeps me entertained 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:36.120 and educated, and more importantly, indulges my intellectual curiosity in 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.160 a contained way. I won't know what that means. Contained 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:43.440 way within the limits of the podcast, episode The Limits 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:47.920 of Sanity. Helen says, the recent episode on Karma Muda 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:50.760 reminds me of another feeling which hasn't a direct English 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:54.479 language correlate. It's one of my three personal life principles. 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:57.520 A gope this is an ancient Greek word and is 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.880 usually interpreted in a Christian context, is godlike love. But 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.400 I was taught that it means unconditional love between humans, 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:09.280 which is reliant upon nothing except the shared existence. The 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.880 best example I can think of is showing love and 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.959 care and compassion for someone even when there is hate 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:18.960 between them, treating your enemies with respect and mercy simply 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:21.880 because they are also human. It's hard to do to 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:25.520 transcend the secondary feelings one has for another person, and 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:28.840 it sometimes seems futile and grudging. But having been on 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:31.640 the receiving end of it before, I can attest it's 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:33.520 one of the things that could make a difference in 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.320 a single person's life, So I try to practice it 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:39.320 where I can. Thanks again, don't ever stop making us think. 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:43.920 All right, here's another listener mail Lion comes to us 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:48.040 from Kelly. Also on Karma Muda, Kelly riots Hi, Robert 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:50.040 and Joe. I love the episode on Karma Muda. As 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:52.720 a musician and a music teacher, I have tried to 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:55.680 describe this emotion so often and can never quite find 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.200 the words for it. I recently got back into playing 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:00.800 with an ensemble, which I really missed. I would often 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:03.440 try to articulate what I love about playing with a 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:05.760 group that I couldn't get from playing alone, but I 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:09.040 never felt that my explanation captured exactly what I was feeling. 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:12.160 Listening to this episode, I realized that karma muta was 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:15.040 exactly what I was trying to convey. Creating music with 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:19.800 a group provides that sense of camaraderie, shared experiences, goose pumps, 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:24.440 and often quote a sudden upwelling of uncontrollable happiness to 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:27.880 use Joe's words. Even though I won't likely use the 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.720 term karma muda and everyday conversation, I do feel that 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:34.840 understanding the term actually has helped me understand the feeling better. 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:36.560 Thank you both for the hard work you put into 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.640 the podcast every week. That'st which is Kelly having played 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:42.760 in a band, I absolutely know what Kelly's talking about. 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.640 This feeling of like when when you kind of lock 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.840 in and suddenly everything's going right when you're playing music 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:52.720 with other people, especially, I feel like in improvising music, 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:56.080 like if there's a moment where you're improvising music with 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.400 other people and everybody like makes a change at the 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:02.000 same time. I'm it's like that sudden moment where you 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.720 you feel as if there's some kind of telepathy between 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:06.880 you and you can get goose bumps, the feeling in 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:10.680 the chest. It's very powerful. Interesting. I've never had that experience. 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:12.720 I was never like in a garage band or anything 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:16.040 like that, but but certainly in the more structured sense 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:20.000 of just the communal creation of music, um, you know, 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:23.360 with the high school band for example, and then UM 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.240 and occasionally like church choir, is that sort of thing, 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:30.720 like the community communal singing opportunities. I can very much 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.720 understand what Kelly is talking about here. Yeah, I mean, 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:36.960 all kinds of music are I think, very strongly inherently 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:42.360 unifying whenever you perform with other people. Yeah, Okay. This 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:46.000 next message comes from Vicky. Vicky says, Dear Robert and Joe, 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:47.880 I've been listening to stuff Table in your mind since 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:51.640 and listening to inventions since it started. Thank you for 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:54.600 all the thought provoking topics. I really enjoyed the Kamma 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:56.840 Mudah show, and I wanted to add another reason why 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.520 someone might want a word for this feeling. Since the 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.760 feeling can be overwhelming to some of us, we can 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.399 disarm it a bit if we have a word. I 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:08.919 have a few personal experiences of creating a word for this. First, 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:12.159 when I was a teenager growing up in Wisconsin, my 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:15.000 dad and I were watching some kind of nature documentary 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:18.719 with baby animals surviving against odds, which created a strong 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:21.680 feeling of karma mudah. But I didn't want to cry. 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:23.960 I was a teenager, and I looked at my dad, 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.280 who was also trying not to cry. He was an 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:30.600 American man, and he said, it's heartwarming, and that made 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:34.200 us both laugh. After that, heartwarming was our secret code 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:37.000 for when we saw something that brought up those feelings 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:40.200 and we could laugh instead of crying. This is interesting 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:42.960 and the idea that that you're feeling that essentially the 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.960 Kama move to so strongly that it must be expressed. 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:48.520 There has to be an an outlet for it. It 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:52.040 reminds me of some of the I believe it was 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:53.719 a past episode I can't remember. I recorded this one 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:55.840 with you or maybe this was a Julie episode, but 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:59.800 about the desire to to bite a baby, because it's 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:03.159 so cute that this was with Julia. Okay, yeah, uh 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.720 and and as I recall, the argument here was, yeah, 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.760 you're just so overcome with this feeling and it needs 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.359 out in some way, and like the best you can 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:14.720 sometimes do is to like reach out and like pinch 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:18.120 the child to just sort of deflate the overwhelming sense 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:21.320 of kama muda. And this sounds oddly similar. Uh, you know, 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:24.440 it's like, there's this we're feeling something, something is happening. 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.760 We have to say it. We have to transform it 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.199 into transfigure it into some other emotion, otherwise it's going 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.239 to destroy us. Yes. She tells another example about this 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.359 that I think is interesting. So this one also involves singing. 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:40.760 So she says, Now, I live in Tokyo. I've been 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:42.960 here for more than twenty five years, married to a 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:46.840 Japanese man. I belong to an association of quote foreign 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:51.159 wives women currently are formally partnered with a Japanese person, 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:54.040 and we gather once a year from all across Japan 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:56.960 for a weekend convention. It's always a great time, but 0:18:57.000 --> 0:18:59.920 it always closes on Sunday morning with the ceremony where 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.000 everyone holds hands and sings a song written by one 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:07.440 of the members Total Karma Muda. I find it too overwhelming, 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.879 so several years back I started sneaking out just before 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:13.280 the singing, and I found several other women doing the 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:15.960 same thing. So now we plan it. We talk about 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:18.600 when to make our escape, a timely visit to the restroom, 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:22.199 for example, to avoid the singing. We all know what 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.919 the singing means. It's not the singing itself. I go 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.639 out to karaoke with some of these people. It's that 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:33.040 overwhelming feeling. Japanese has a word for that feeling, kendao, 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:37.960 literally emotions moving, and people use it fairly often in conversation. 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:40.520 When I first came here, I was surprised that people 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:43.840 would say in English that something had moved them, but 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:48.199 eventually I realized they were just translating the Japanese word uh. 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:50.920 And at the end, she recommends a video that invokes 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:54.440 mild Karma Muda. It's a promotional video made by the 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.520 Kanagawa Prefecture that involves a lot of people from the 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:01.400 area singing and dancing in costume. To this one pop song. 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:06.119 It is indeed extremely cute and very sweet. But this 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:08.320 is really interesting because she talks about all these these 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:11.159 multiple methods, both like having a kind of code word, 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:14.280 but then also having a kind of avoidance ritual, all 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:18.240 for avoiding situations that are going to cause that karma 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:21.199 muda reaction, the goose bumps, the tears, the you know, 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:24.959 the warmness in the chest, because sometimes it's too much, 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:27.880 and people do this strategically all the time. And like, 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:31.040 you know, even though the emotion of karma mudas described 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:34.760 as inherently pleasurable, even though it feels good, it represents 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:37.879 a loss of control. It can be frightening, embarrassing, It 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:41.600 can make you feel vulnerable. Yeah, I mean I can, 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:43.720 I can. I think I can relate to that sum 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:48.000 with movies because I certainly at times appreciate being moved 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:51.560 by a film, you know, uh, you know, the emotional 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:54.159 roller coaster of a of a good film, and if 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:58.080 it's done right, you don't feel manipulated. You know, you 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:01.159 feel as if you were you're actually actually engaging with 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:04.000 the picture. But then there are other times where you 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:07.080 just don't want to feel that, you know, and you 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:09.760 certainly don't want to feel like the filmmakers are trying 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:13.560 to manipulate you into having a particular emotional state. And 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:16.359