WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Holiday Hangover 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.280 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:10.280 My Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:13.960 your Mind. Listener mail. My name is Robert Lamb and 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.560 I'm Joe McCormick, and we're catching up on some of 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:22.160 your messages in response to our episode about Christmas decorations. First, Robert, 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:24.160 let's see do you want to read this first one 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:31.000 or should I? Yeah, sure, I'll do this one. This 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:34.400 one comes to us from Lucy. I loved your Holiday 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:37.519 inventions episode and wanted to write in that My parents 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.720 still do many of the old and or dangerous traditions. 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:43.640 We put bubble lights in the tree every year when 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:45.640 I was a kid. They still have some of those 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:49.640 strings from the nineties, but they've also gotten replacement bulbs 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.560 for burnt out ones over the years. These new ones 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:56.960 are hopefully less toxic than the originals. The best, though, 0:00:57.120 --> 0:00:59.760 is live candles on the Christmas tree. My family is 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.560 aginally from Germany, and when my grandparents were first married, 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:04.960 they studied in Germany for a year or two on 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.520 my grandmother's Fulbright scholarship. They picked up their tradition of 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.399 candles there and kept it up every year until they 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.400 moved into a retirement home that would not allow it. 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:18.039 Since then, my parents have taken over the tradition. The 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:20.119 key is to get a fresh tree instead of buying 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:21.800 it from a Christmas tree lot. We go out to 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:24.200 a Christmas tree farm a day or two before Christmas 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:26.399 Eve and cut down a fresh one. This means that 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:29.119 when you light the candles a few days later, there 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:31.520 is still so much moisture in the needles and branches 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:33.920 that have a flame touches it, it just fizzles out. 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.080 We always like the tree from top to bottom, so 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:39.639 that as we sit around seeing Christmas carols and talking, 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.399 the top candles burn out first and we can watch 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:46.000 the shadows from the lower candles on the ceiling. Sometimes 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:48.480 my dad will even get the ornaments hung so that 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:51.120 the rising heat from a candle beneath it will make 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:55.240 the ornament spin. Whoa. Obviously we still have a pitcher 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.400 of water nearby, but we've never had to use it. 0:01:57.680 --> 0:01:59.920 I've grown up with these traditions, so I sometimes for 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.440 get that not everyone does them. Great to hear about 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.960 the history behind them. I always love listening to you guys, Lucy. 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:08.680 Oh well, that does sound very nice, Lucy, but I 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:13.160 still I don't think i'd risk it. Yeah, there's a 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.359 there's a story in my family, and I've asked around 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:18.040 to see if I could find out who it was. 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:19.440 But so this one's gonna be one of those kind 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.560 of like horrible third hand stories. But there's somebody I 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.760 was connected to where the wife brought with her German 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:29.799 traditions and insisted on doing the candles. But then the 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.320 husband was very suspicious of of actual candles on a 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:36.680 Christmas tree and would stand by with a with a 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:40.000 fire extinguisher aimed at the tree the whole time, just 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.960 ready for it to go up. I mean, you're gonna 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:45.560 do candles on the tree, why not just like hang 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:49.880 butane torches from the branches. They make their own ornaments 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:57.040 and candles. All right, Well, it looks like Carney is 0:02:57.080 --> 0:02:59.560 still in the Christmas spirit and has another one of 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.280 these list males for you too. Okay, this one comes 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:05.320 from Rose. Rose says, Hi, Robert and Joe loved your 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.440 latest episode on the history of Christmas decorations. To talk 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:11.520 about whether gingerbread houses are meant for eating brought back 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.520 some early childhood memories. When I was a little kid 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:18.560 in the nineties, my family decorated gingerbread houses every year, 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:22.720 except we didn't use any actual gingerbread. My grandma would 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:26.440 construct houses out of cardboard, which we would code in 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.920 frosting and decorate with candy and pretzels. I think some 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:35.440 might say that gingerbread and cardboard have negligible differences. Uh, 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:38.680 but that would be a true grunch of a person 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.000 who said, oh, I mean real gingerbread. If you're using 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:43.840 real ginger, you get that kind of like it's almost spicy, 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.120 So it can it can really work. What are are 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.600 you supposed to use fresh ginger and gingerbread? I thought 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:51.280 you're supposed to use ginger powder in baking. Maybe I 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:53.160 don't know anything about this, Well I don't. I've never 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:56.920 actually made it myself, so I'm I have no idea ultimately, 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.320 but I know that generally you can taste the difference 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:03.320 between real ginger and um in powder ginger, and then 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:07.280 of course I feel like I have had gingerbread. When 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:11.280 a gingerbread is good, it tastes a little spicy, like okay, 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:13.920 when it kind of like bites you back a little bit. Okay, 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:16.040 I think that would probably be fresh ginger. Wait, you 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:17.920 were saying real ginger though, do you do you mean 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:22.360 fresh ginger? Or is ginger powder not from a not 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:26.080 from real ginger? Surely it is? Well yeah, well when 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:30.279 I say real ginger, you know I'm I'm meaning fresh ginger. Okay, okay, okay, 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.720 that's what I thought. Yeah, I mean as I don't 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:35.240 I don't know that there's actual imitation ginger out there. 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:42.640 There's imitation vanilla there, there's there's imitation stuff. Yeah, okay, 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:46.839 sorry to continue with roses message. So we got these 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:50.160 houses made out of cardboard, decorated with candy and pretzels 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.560 picking up. They definitely weren't meant to be eaten, if 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.120 I'm remembering right. They would sit out as a decoration 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.440 for a while, maybe people would steal a few pieces 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:00.839 of candy off, and then we just threw them out 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:04.440 after Christmas. Unfortunately, we stopped this tradition while I was 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:06.680 still fairly young, but I have fond memories of it. 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:10.760 That was pretty weird in hindsight. Happy Holidays, Rose. Uh yeah, 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:13.039 I don't know if it's that much weirder than anything else. 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.120 So it sounds kind of nice. Yeah, and then you're 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:17.359 not wasting the gingerbread this way, So as they go 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:24.120 for it. All right, we have another one here. This 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:27.840 one comes to us from Victoria. Victoria Rights. I'm an 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:31.719 environmental scientist and I allow this in my home. Is 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:35.400 it dumb? Absolutely? Why do we do it? Tradition? Que 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:37.720 fiddler theme? And of course it is a picture of 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:42.640 the Christmas tree with live candles, with burning candles on it. 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.800 They look pretty cool because the candles are twisty. I've 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:48.200 never seen this before. They're like cork screw shaped a 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.960 little bit, I mean very, very slightly cork screw shaped. 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.120 And in in the photo, a gentleman that I believe 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:59.479 is Victoria's husband is lighting it. Because she continues, my 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:01.960 German has been grew up placing real candles on a 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:05.039 real conifer, lighting them with real fire, and watching them 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.960 burn to their bases without a trace of anxiety. He 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.760 clings to this tradition harder than any other, and I 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:14.039 don't mind living a little dangerously. We have some firm 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.920 rules around this practice. Number one, the tree must never 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.640 go thirsty. I pay more attention to this dead plant's 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.760 hydration than that of my own body. The conifer will 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.560 be less of a powder keg if the leaves don't 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:29.240 dry out. We feel the tips before every lighting if 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:32.880 they're getting crunchy. The candles are not lit. Number two. 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:35.440 Everyone knows where the fire extinguisher is and how to 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:37.720 use it. I acknowledge that this wouldn't be enough to 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.160 put out a fully engulf tree, but it is better 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.400 than nothing. Number three. When lit, the candles are supervised 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.120 at all times. This part can get a little boring. However, 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.599 there's little else to do on Christmas Eve besides sipping 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:53.359 scotch and staring at your potential doom. Number four. After 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.320 the holidays, take the discarded tree to the bonfire beach 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:59.680 and burn it. Watching that thing shoot flames high into 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:03.279 the air puts whole celebratory practices in perspective. Knowing the 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:06.000 risk makes us more vigilant. Thank you both for the 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:09.280 stimulating content, and may your holidays be far less perilous 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:13.840 than mine. Warm regards, Victoria. The regards sound very warm. 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:16.000 Thank you for sharing this, Victoria. This is great and 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:17.960 I love the picture that this was a This was 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:25.360 a great bit of listener mail. I really love this one. Okay, 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:29.120 how about this response? Going back to our episodes about spinning, Yeah, 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:32.680 let's spin. Okay, this uh this comes from Joe, a 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.960 different Joe. Joe says, Dear Robert and Joe, I've been 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.440 enjoying your recent episodes and listener mail on the size 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:40.640 of spinning as it affects the human body. It's a 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:44.040 fascinating topic. It was delightful to hear the perspective of 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.160 a ballet dancer, ice skater and pole dancer. But I'm 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:51.200 surprised no one mentioned aerialists. I gotta say that did 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:53.560 not even enter my mind. In fact, I don't know 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:56.280 if I would have known what that word meant before 0:07:56.320 --> 0:07:58.760 this mail, so so thanks for bringing it up, Joe. 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.080 I should have done. I've seen aerialists performed before. I 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.040 mean i've I've certainly been to circus away, so I 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:07.880 should have thought about the spinning that yeah, the circus lay, 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:11.640 yeah yeah, yeah, Okay, So Joe goes on aerialists, as 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:15.240 you probably know, as I didn't know, are the section 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.920 of performance artists of the circus realm that perform aerial 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:23.360 stunts on aerial apparati. Many common apparatis, such as the 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:27.480 hoop lyra and aerial straps, also test the brain and body. 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:32.480 One extra weird apparatus is the Spanish web. The Spanish 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:36.480 web is essentially a human lasso. One performer hangs from 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:39.520 a thick rope some distance from the ground, while another 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:43.840 performer assists in spinning the dangling performer in a giant circle. 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.800 The aerialist in the air then performs stunts and tricks 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:50.800 and so on. The spinning action is unique because the 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:54.120 body isn't just turning on a single axis, but is 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:57.200 also often moving in a slight orbit around the center, 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:01.800 sometimes at high speed and with changing orientations. The head 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:05.120 games are very interesting and takes some practice. As you've said, 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.800 one trick that many spinning aerialists use is to focus 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:12.800 on something that isn't spinning in relation to the performers, 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.959 such as the apparatus itself or their own hands or feet. 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.840 It's similar in concept the spotting technique that ballerina is used, 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:23.199 but without having to turn the head. Since the apparatus 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:27.200 itself keeps the performer from tipping, the aerialists can divert 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.640 their focus, unlike a ballerina that needs a reference point 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:34.640 to stay balanced. Focusing the vision intently on the apparatus 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:37.600 as opposed to the spinning world behind it is a 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:41.880 massive game changer and as it slightly tricks the brain 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:45.520 from being disoriented with the spinning room. Also, if one 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:49.679 can't see their own body or apparatus, such such as 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:53.360 in many aerials strap spins, the trick is to not 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:56.439 focus on anything at all. Don't try to follow the 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:59.800 spinning world in front of you, but fall into soft focus. 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.880 Easier said than done, it takes practice. Other fun tricks 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:06.880 to help with dizziness before spinning include eating lots of 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:10.600 ginger or drinking ginger tea to prevent nausea a ginger 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:14.760 yet again. Also, if one does get dizzy and finds 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:18.720 themselves with the spins, they can sometimes jump up and 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:21.480 down to help with the motion. It won't do much 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:23.560 if your spins are bad, but it seems to help 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:26.960 some performers who overdo it momentarily For some reason. I 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:29.680 just thought your listeners might also find this obscure life 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:32.840 knowledge important as they happen to find themselves trapped inside 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:35.840 a washer or never ending till to whirl. Thanks for 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:38.439 all you guys do. Keep up the great work, Joe. 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:41.400 And then Joe also sent a follow up saying it 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.520 was him again, and he sent some links to videos 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:47.840 of artists performing Spanish web and aerial straps fast spins 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:51.120 in regards to human spinning very cool. And uh I 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:55.480 like the ginger tidbit as well. Um yeah, ginger can 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.760 be can be very nice for you know, slight feelings 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:03.080 of nausea and and stomach illness. We we keep some 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.559 some ginger candies on hand in the car and in 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:07.800 the backpack whenever we're out in the bout just in case. 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:10.719 Oh yeah, oh it maybe helps with car sickness too, 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:13.480 yeah yeah, or and if nothing else that you know, 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:16.160 it's a sweet and has a little ginger e buzz 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:24.440 to it. So all right. We have some some additional 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:27.720 um listener mail here coming to us, and these bits 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:31.880 concerned Weird How Cinema are Friday episodes that are sort 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.880 of a late night celebration of weird films as opposed 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:37.400 to the general science and culture content that we put out. 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:40.120 This comes to us from Chris, Hi, Robert and Joe. 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:43.160 First off, I love Weird How Cinema. I was elapsed 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:45.679 stuff to bow your mind fan too many podcasts to 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:48.400 listen to, who checked in for the Halloween episodes this 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:51.000 year and was delighted to find Weird How cinema in 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.800 the feed. It perfectly scratches this itch for strange and 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:57.840 or bad movie discussion with the science and philosophy angle. 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.160 Please keep doing it. I just finished the Ghost in 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.160 the Machine episode. I'd forgotten all about this movie until 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:06.640 I saw the title in my feet and immediately was 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:10.720 reminded of the only scene I ever watched, the microwave scene. 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:14.040 I was born in and was very young when I 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:16.800 was flipping through channels and landed on HBO just in 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:19.040 time to see a man getting his face cooked by 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:22.679 an open microwave. I was sufficiently freaked out and changed 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.480 the channel immediately. Ever since then, I've always had this 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:27.560 tiny fear in the back of my mind when opening 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:30.400 a microwave door. What if it didn't shut off? Is 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:34.040 it going to cook my face? This even cropped up 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:36.959 recently as my fiancee was has a habit of opening 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:39.480 the microwave door to grab something while it's still running, 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:43.080 trusting that the auto off will work as intended. Turns out, 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.760 our microwave door latch is a little hinky and there 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:48.440 recently and it recently seemed to keep running as that 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:50.840 she opened it up and reached in to grab whatever 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.440 she was heating up. I had flashbacks to Ghost in 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.280 the machine. It was pretty freaked out, even though nothing 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:57.480 had happened to her. We looked into it later and 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.240 it's most likely that the magnatron had shut off off 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.280 but the fan in light kept running still. I asked 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:06.320 that she just hit the off button before opening the door, 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.760 just in case. Anyway, keep up the great work and 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:13.080 thanks for discussing this movie that gave me a lifelong phobia. 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:16.040 I can't wait to tune in again next Friday. Chris, 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.640 I've actually seen a malfunction a microwave that worked exactly 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.160 like that, except in this case it was every time 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:26.280 you would you would open the door, the light inside 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.800 would come on and the rotating plate would start rotating. 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:31.160 But I think it wasn't cooking well. I appreciate the 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:35.280 kind comments there. Uh, it's certainly feel you on how 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.520 there being this too many podcasts to listen to at times, 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:40.679 so you know, hopefully we're not loading anybody up with 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.080 too much. Hopefully with the ideas we just give you 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:46.240 some some choices, you know. Um and uh, you know, 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:47.960 if you want to just listen to the Weird House, 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:49.280 just listen to Weird house. You just want to come 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:51.160 in and listen to the stuff to blow your mind episodes, 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:53.400 Go for it. I mean, I think I'm supposed to 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:57.920 advise everyone to subscribe, but I don't know. Maybe subscription 0:13:57.920 --> 0:13:59.600 doesn't work for everybody. I don't know. Do do what 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:01.760 you want, do what feels good for you. As long 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.319 as you're listening to some of our show, UM, I 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:15.080 guess I'm happy. Okay. I mentioned a few episodes back 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.600 that I thought we had lost some emails that came 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:20.840 in during September and October. I think somehow they just 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:24.800 like disappeared from our inbox. UM, and our our longtime 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:28.600 correspondent Jim in New Jersey actually recent several emails from 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:30.800 that period, so we wanted to catch up with them now. 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:36.200 The first one, UH concerned our episodes on mushroom foraging, 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:39.960 and we were talking about how, UH, sometimes human foraging 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:44.720 techniques are strangely kind of similar to AI, to computer 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:49.040 search algorithms, and so Jim often writes in on like 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:52.640 computer science related topics in and he's got some comments here. 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:56.600 So Jim says, Robert and Joe, you mentioned AI searching 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.080 algorithms at the end of your mushroom series. I can 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.600 provide one. It's considered an AI algorithm, but it's really 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:05.560 just an algorithm that I think I can describe sufficiently. 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:09.000 It's called a star search, and that's spelled like in 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:12.320 typography with the letter A and then an asterisk. It's 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:16.000 a type of foraging algorithm through a network. Cities and 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.240 the roadways connecting them are networks. There are many other 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:24.520 types of networks too, for example, social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etcetera, 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:28.120 communication networks such as the Bell telephone system network and 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.520 the Internet and so forth. The mathematical notion of these 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.720 networks are called graphs. The concepts, properties, and algorithms that 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.640 work for graphs in general can be applied to real 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:44.480 networks too. There are two traditional network searching or foraging algorithms, 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:48.680 breadth first and depth first search. Let's say that it's 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:50.960 Saturday morning and you and your spouse want to look 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:54.080 for garage sales. You could start in your local neighborhood, 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:56.640 then proceed to the next ones out and continue spreading 0:15:56.680 --> 0:16:00.360 out in concentric circles. This is breadth first, but let's 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:03.800 change strategy. This is a special Saturday. There's a group 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.960 garage sale at a church, a few neighborhoods away, or 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:09.840 in the town center. You would go straight to these 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:13.200 locations and then visit additional garage sales on the way back. 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.840 This is depth first. A star search is a little 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:20.160 between the two. Let's look at the strategy. You start 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:23.120 in your local neighborhood and visit the first garage sale. 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.240 While you're there, you ask other buyers where they've been 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.960 and what looks good out there. You evaluate their best suggestions. 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.760 You would keep track of all the best garage sale 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.320 tips and add new ones as you move from garage 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:37.920 sale to garage sale. Once you're ready to move to 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:40.600 another garage sale, you you go to the one that 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.040 shows the best promise on your tips list, even if 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.160 it means driving across town. This is the essence of 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:49.120 a star search. Though I don't know for sure how 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:53.040 algorithms in navigation apps such as driving directions work, I 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:56.160 would consider using a star search. Let's say that you 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:58.720 want to drive from location A to location B. The 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:02.280 algorithm starts at A and explores the local roads, almost 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:06.040 like ten drills of mold you've described before. The heuristic 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:08.520 it uses to find the best path will BE how 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:12.440 close you are to BE. Direct paths will get first priority, 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:15.480 but it won't ignore paths that move further away from 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.840 BE either. That's because an initial direction that moves away 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:21.840 from B might eventually reach a highway ramp or provide 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.399 a much faster trip to BE, even if driving in 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:28.600 the wrong direction. Ants foraging kind of do this too. 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.560 As the ants come back from food sources, they drop 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:35.280 pheromone trails. As the ants confirm the food source, they 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:39.840 make the pheromone trail stronger, so more ants will exploit it. However, 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.680 there are still foraging ants that don't follow the strong scent. 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.040 They're looking for new sources since the good source might 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:50.760 eventually fade. Ant foraging can be thought of as a 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:54.480 type of distributed a star search. The a star search 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:58.200 Wikipedia page has too many videos that illustrate the algorithm well, 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.320 especially like the example will of finding the most efficient 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:05.840 train route across the USA. This very much resembles mold tendrils. 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:08.200 I first encountered a star search when I took an 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.280 online algorithm course taught at Princeton. A star search was 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:15.520 an assignment in UH solving a tile slider puzzle. I'm 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.720 proud to say that the search tree illustration in the 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:20.760 assignment was originally created by me as I was working 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.240 with the professor as an online ti A and they 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:26.639 have included it in the assignment now uh. And he 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:31.360 signs off Jim in New Jersey but not really near Princeton. Uh. 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.359 And then Jim also has a follow up that ties 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.600 into the same email that came out after an episode 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.640 about Orcs. Remember, in the episode on Orcs, we talked 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:42.920 about the Orcs and Hobbits problem, which was about problem 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:48.120 solving theory. UH. This question about how people psychologically tend 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:52.040 to adapt when they encounter problems in this this puzzle 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:54.560 where you need to get Orcs and Hobbits across the river. 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:57.800 And one of the things that was discovered about this 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:01.840 was the perils of what's known as the hill climbing algorithm. 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:04.880 It's a common algorithm that is used in some computer programs, 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:07.080 but we also just use it in our brains, which 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:10.080 is UH. You basically, you have a goal state that 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:12.280 you want to get to, and it's something like, you know, 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:15.320 get to the highest possible altitude and then you take 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:17.560 a step and you see if you're closer, and if so, 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:19.919 you keep going in that direction, and if not, you 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.600 turn back and you keep doing that until you get 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:24.159 to the top of the hill. But the problem with 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:26.600 the hill climbing algorithm is that if you're in a 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.679 landscape with multiple hills and valleys, you will tend to 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.880 just get stuck at the top of the nearest hill, 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.359 and you will not explore hills that could go even 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:38.879 higher if you were willing to go down first to 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.119 get to them. And so this is an illustration of 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.760 that when we're trying to solve problems or be creative, 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:47.520 sometimes we need to apparently backtrack in the short term 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:50.000 to reach a better outcome in the long term. And 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:53.119 Jim follows up by saying, Robert and Joe Joe's description 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:56.320 of the hill climbing algorithm is exactly what occurs with 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:59.040 a star search. As I had written about previously with 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:02.760 mushroom searching. The hill climbing technique is very near sighted. 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.280 It can only look at the next potential step and 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:08.320 not take in the entire landscape. This is not a 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:11.159 bad technique. Hill climbing exploits what appears to be the 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:15.240 best path forward toward a solution. But as the example 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:18.200 captured so well, you might be hiking up the wrong hill. 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:22.879 Joe introduced randomness, but there's another algorithmic technique which I 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:25.919 mentioned in my last email as well. That technique is 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:29.360 to introduce a handicap to the solution path. The more 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:33.000 you exploit a given solution path based on hill climbing 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:37.400 or any other heuristic, the more expensive it becomes. As 0:20:37.440 --> 0:20:40.879 that solution path gets longer. You may run into a 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:44.080 situation where the solution path gets so long and the 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:47.680 handicap is so crippling that you abandon the exploited path 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:51.240 and venture off to explore another part of the solution space. 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:55.199 While this isn't officially adding randomness, it does introduce the 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:58.760 concept of hopping around uh in the solution space and 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:02.600 not becoming fixated upon one possible solution. It's a trade 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:06.520 off slash balance of exploiting a promising path versus exploring 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:09.960 new ones. Jim in New Jersey, And you know, I 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:11.600 gotta say, I really like this, and I think it 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:15.600 could be applied outside of just pure computer algorithms as well. 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:19.200 If you think about um, you know, whenever you've found 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:22.000 a solution that works to do something, or at least 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:25.919 work so far, maybe try out the idea that every 0:21:25.960 --> 0:21:29.320 time you repeat a working solution again, you do it 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:31.560 again the same way you've done it before. Maybe it 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.080 gets a little bit more expensive, like you're you're having 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:36.880 to pay an increasing some every time you do that, 0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:40.440 which will eventually encourage you just to, you know, make 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:43.280 sure you're not missing out on better solutions that are 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:46.440 available to you just because you you've got one solution 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:55.280