WEBVTT - Why do people blush?

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you should know

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<v Speaker 1>from How stuff works dot Com? Stuff you should know

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Josh Clark, a staff writer here at how Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com. With me is my permanent co host.

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<v Speaker 1>We just got the news. Chuck's here for good Charles,

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<v Speaker 1>Chuck Bryant, Chuck, welcome. I hope you enjoyed that seat,

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<v Speaker 1>because you're not getting mine. That is your seat. I do.

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<v Speaker 1>It fits my my back end well, and I'm glad

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<v Speaker 1>to be here. I'm glad. I'm Chuck. I hate to

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<v Speaker 1>tell you this, but your fly is open. Oh yeah, wow,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe you should do something about Sorry you guys. You

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<v Speaker 1>guys can't see this because this is just an audio podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>But Chuck is blushing with embarrassment. I've never seen Chuck

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<v Speaker 1>blush before. It's okay, Chuck, I won't judge This is

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<v Speaker 1>not a locker room though, so I wasn't prepared for that.

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<v Speaker 1>Handle your business and we'll wait a second. Every show

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<v Speaker 1>everything's good, So check that that actually brings to mind.

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<v Speaker 1>Um an article I wrote, why do people Blush? Did

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<v Speaker 1>you prep for this podcast? Did you read it? I did? Uh?

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<v Speaker 1>It was It was a good one, Josh. I thought

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<v Speaker 1>that it's pretty interesting. Blushing is one of those um

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<v Speaker 1>things that people probably don't think about very often. Everyone blushes,

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<v Speaker 1>and uh, it's exclusive to humans all of no other

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<v Speaker 1>animal on the planet that blushes exactly. But um, we

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<v Speaker 1>don't we we know how we blush, but we don't

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<v Speaker 1>exactly know why we blush. And isn't that weird that

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<v Speaker 1>that something is ubiquitous and seemingly normal is actually abnormal?

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<v Speaker 1>You know? Do you want to tell the folks at

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<v Speaker 1>home how we blush? Uh? Yeah, well it has to

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<v Speaker 1>do with the uh, the old sympathetic system, which is

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<v Speaker 1>also what controls the fight or flight syndrome or not syndrome.

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<v Speaker 1>But yeah, fans of no so the fight or flights bonds.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to say that last time to so fans

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<v Speaker 1>of stuff you should know are will probably be familiar

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<v Speaker 1>with our podcasts on hysterical strength, which I know all

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<v Speaker 1>about the fight or flight response. It's the same thing.

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<v Speaker 1>You're your veins and dilate and more blood gets pumping,

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<v Speaker 1>and your your pupils uh get larger, and then all

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<v Speaker 1>of a sudden you find that you might be able

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<v Speaker 1>to throw a lawn more off your granddaughter like Boots

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<v Speaker 1>he did, Hello Boots, Hello Boots. So yeah, and one

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<v Speaker 1>of the other things is that your your blood vessels dilate, right, right,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the case in blushing, right, Except the thing

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<v Speaker 1>is the blood vessels in your cheeks that actually become flushed.

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<v Speaker 1>Our veins um and oddly, veins don't usually respond at

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<v Speaker 1>all to adrenaline, but for some reason, the veins in

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<v Speaker 1>your cheeks too, and those are the only veins in

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<v Speaker 1>your body that flush or dilate when your fight or

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<v Speaker 1>flight response goes off. I mean, what the heck is that? Yeah, well,

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<v Speaker 1>that's kind of weird because I mean it's what everyone

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<v Speaker 1>would see. I mean, if your kneecaps blood, no one

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<v Speaker 1>would ever know if you're embarrassed, So it happens in

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<v Speaker 1>your face for maybe for a reason, maybe not. But

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<v Speaker 1>there are some theories about why we blush like what Well,

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<v Speaker 1>one of them is that it is in fact on

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<v Speaker 1>the face so other people can see it, because it's

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<v Speaker 1>a form of public apology for a faux pa you

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<v Speaker 1>might have had, or if you stuck your foot in

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<v Speaker 1>your mouth. Um, your blushing is a way to kind

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<v Speaker 1>of be contrite and say, you know, I'm embarrassed and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that without actually saying that.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's like a physical example of your emotional intellect.

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<v Speaker 1>You're saying, I'm aware of this. Don't don't beat me,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, start a fight with me. It's sort of

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<v Speaker 1>like the same thing that happens. Like if your dog

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<v Speaker 1>hikes his leg on your dining room table and you

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<v Speaker 1>walk in the room, it's a very good chance your

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<v Speaker 1>dog might you know, lower his head and kind of

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<v Speaker 1>back out of the room slowly, or roll over and

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<v Speaker 1>show its belly. Yeah, show it's belly. It's a kind

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<v Speaker 1>of a similar thing. I got you, okay, now, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't buy that one. I think it's kind of

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<v Speaker 1>a clumsy theory. It's not my favorite. I've got a

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<v Speaker 1>favorite theory with blushing. You want here it, We'll be

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<v Speaker 1>that way, Josh, I like I'd love to hear yours.

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<v Speaker 1>My favorite is n p A. UM. It's it's this

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<v Speaker 1>obscure uh theory about human personalities, and the theory is

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<v Speaker 1>that all of them are created based on the foundation

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<v Speaker 1>of narcissism, perfectionism, and aggression. Right and um, all personalities

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<v Speaker 1>can be explained through these three um outlooks or views

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<v Speaker 1>of life. UM. The uh there should be a balance

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<v Speaker 1>between the three, and the more balanced it is probably

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<v Speaker 1>the more normal you are. People who have almost just

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<v Speaker 1>one exclusively tend to be schizophrenic that kind of thing. No, no, no, no,

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<v Speaker 1>well you know, so with m p A or under

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<v Speaker 1>the mp A theory, blushing is actually am It is

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<v Speaker 1>a fight or flight response, but you're actually becoming enraged.

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<v Speaker 1>You're not embarrassed, your your narcissism has been affronted, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I gotta tell you, is the narcissist the mp A

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<v Speaker 1>theory really makes sense to me? Yeah, I felt that

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<v Speaker 1>way before too. I think the rage a little less

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<v Speaker 1>or sorry, a little more than the embarrassment, right Yeah, So,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean maybe we're just confusing it. Who knows. I mean, really,

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<v Speaker 1>at this point, as far as we know about blushing,

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<v Speaker 1>you or I could come up with a pretty adequate

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<v Speaker 1>theory for it, right. Maybe we'll publish one soon, maybe so.

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<v Speaker 1>But the fact is we all blush. There's no denying

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<v Speaker 1>that exactly. Now. You can learn more about it on

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com by typing why do people blush?

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<v Speaker 1>Into the search bar and stick around after this message

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<v Speaker 1>for Chuck's in my top five articles of the month,

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<v Speaker 1>right after this Stuff you should know is brought to

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<v Speaker 1>for sticking around. We're gonna treat you with chucks in

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<v Speaker 1>my favorite articles of the last month, Chuck, what's your

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<v Speaker 1>first pick? My first pick, Josh is how important is sleep?

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<v Speaker 1>Very interesting article? I got one better than that. How

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<v Speaker 1>body farms work? It's gross? Yeah, that's a good one.

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<v Speaker 1>What else you got, Um, I've got one called how

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<v Speaker 1>the Prison Project Worked? Also very interesting, Yeah, eerie, it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's amazing how how quickly humans can devolve into monsters.

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<v Speaker 1>Expirical story. I'd like to have one. You wrote how

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<v Speaker 1>to Survive a Plane Crash. Yeah, that's a popular one too.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess people are interested in living through plane crashes exactly,

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<v Speaker 1>you know. Yeah, And I guess the last one I

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<v Speaker 1>have on my list is did Da Vinci Sketch a car? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>All worth reading. Of course everything on our sites was reading.

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