WEBVTT - Short Stuff: That's A Head Scratcher

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, there's Chuck.

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<v Speaker 1>Jerry's out there. Oh I'm sorry, and Dave's here in

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<v Speaker 1>spirit too, So short Stuff you should know the short

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff edition. Dave Bruce, No, Dave Kustan are the editor

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<v Speaker 1>of Short Stuff, the producer. Okay, he's our, he's our

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<v Speaker 1>Jerry for Short Stuff. No, I know, I don't. We

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<v Speaker 1>haven't given David a lot of love on the show.

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<v Speaker 1>I know we need to, man, he's great. Yeah, short

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff came along and Jerry was like, yeah, don't bother

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<v Speaker 1>me with that. Yeah, I'm time for the crew. Do

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<v Speaker 1>I make extra money then forget it? Yeah. Man, you

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<v Speaker 1>guys don't know Jerry like we know Jerry. What's great

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<v Speaker 1>is she'll never hear this. You know, that's right, because yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>Kustan will never pass this along. He's too terrified ever,

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<v Speaker 1>That's right. Uh. So we're talking about scratching our heads

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<v Speaker 1>when you think, which is something that I don't do.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't even when I read this. Though there are

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of thinking ticks that I have that could

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<v Speaker 1>be explained, that's just not one of them, for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>And this was one of those things where I'm like, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>is this going to be like the origin of you know,

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<v Speaker 1>a grain of salt just gonna send me into like

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<v Speaker 1>some sort of blind rage. I thought so at first,

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<v Speaker 1>and then no, it turns out when you start to

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<v Speaker 1>really look into this, because if you think about it,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a really weird thing to do to scratch your

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<v Speaker 1>head when you're sitting there thinking, and you might not

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<v Speaker 1>do it. I don't do it, but we might not

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<v Speaker 1>even know anybody who does that reliably. The thing is

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<v Speaker 1>is it's like an idiom, that being a head scratcher.

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<v Speaker 1>It's like a cultural thing, at least in the West,

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<v Speaker 1>where if somebody's scratching their heads and you know they're

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<v Speaker 1>standing in front of the chalkboard, you know that they're

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<v Speaker 1>trying to figure out some sort of problem and they're

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<v Speaker 1>having trouble with it, like that's just what that has

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<v Speaker 1>to do with and they're the explanations are multitudinous, and

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<v Speaker 1>again it seems like something you'd be that's ridiculous, and

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<v Speaker 1>then if you stop and thinking about you're like, that

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<v Speaker 1>actually could be right in this case. Yeah, Like if

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<v Speaker 1>you were to take a beginning acting class and you

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<v Speaker 1>were in there with a bunch of dumb beginning actors

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<v Speaker 1>like I did in college. Uh and the and the

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<v Speaker 1>professor said, the acting teacher said, all right, you're you're

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<v Speaker 1>here's the scene. You're trying to figure out a very

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<v Speaker 1>difficult problem. The first thing one of those dopes would

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<v Speaker 1>do is scratch their head, because that is just a

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<v Speaker 1>popular trope to indicate, or maybe scratch their chin something

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<v Speaker 1>like that, which counts as part of the head, I guess,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's it's universally a sign that you're thinking about something. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so it doesn't really make any sense. Is where we

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<v Speaker 1>have said that you would do that, um and there's

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<v Speaker 1>no definitive explanation for why, which which has really left

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<v Speaker 1>the door open for a lot of people that to

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<v Speaker 1>put some ideas up. One of the big ones is

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<v Speaker 1>that it's a relic of evolution and that really what

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<v Speaker 1>you're doing is you're not like you're not, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>helping along your thoughts. You're actually showing a form of distress,

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<v Speaker 1>whether it's angst anger anxiety. Those are kind of the

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<v Speaker 1>different interpretations and explanations. But the first one is that

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<v Speaker 1>we're showing a remnant of what we used to do

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<v Speaker 1>back in the UM. The I guess the Tuck Tuck

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<v Speaker 1>days where somebody something made us angry, we would maybe

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<v Speaker 1>throw our arm up and strike them or whatever. And

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<v Speaker 1>the first explanation of this is that we we are

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<v Speaker 1>starting to do that, like we're raising our arm out

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<v Speaker 1>of anger, and then we stop because we are civilized now,

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<v Speaker 1>and that ends up being like, uh, we almost kind

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<v Speaker 1>of play it off by scratching our head. Yeah it's

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<v Speaker 1>a little thin, but but here's the thing. This is

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<v Speaker 1>when I was really like, oh, maybe there's a little

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<v Speaker 1>more to this. When you see somebody who's really mad

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<v Speaker 1>and they're trying to keep from hurting somebody, you will

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<v Speaker 1>free quickly see that person like rubbing their forehead or

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<v Speaker 1>rubbing the back of their neck or something like that.

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<v Speaker 1>And what they're saying is this is some sort of

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<v Speaker 1>like derivation of that. Yeah, yeah, I totally have seen that,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is a real thing. Uh. There's another possible explanation.

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<v Speaker 1>This was in a two thousand nine article for Psychology

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<v Speaker 1>Today when a former FBI counter intelligence agent named Joe

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<v Speaker 1>Navarro talked about being under stress, and he said our

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<v Speaker 1>brain requires a certain amount of hand to body touching,

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<v Speaker 1>like either handwringing or rubbing your temples or touching your

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<v Speaker 1>lips or something. And what he's saying is is that

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<v Speaker 1>it's a soother U. Instead of maybe a signal to

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<v Speaker 1>an enemy, it's just you self soothing yourself through some

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<v Speaker 1>sort of stressful or fearful situation. And there's actually some

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<v Speaker 1>research to back that up, which I think choke. We

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<v Speaker 1>should take a little break, collect our thoughts, and then

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<v Speaker 1>come back and and talk more about this whole hoad scratcher.

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<v Speaker 1>Great shot, all right, so you said that, um. The

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<v Speaker 1>FBI agent Joe Navarro said that this is kind of

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<v Speaker 1>like a soothing thing, like we're self soothing, Like the

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<v Speaker 1>sense of touch can have a soothing effect on us.

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<v Speaker 1>And if we're experiencing stress or anxiety or something, just

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<v Speaker 1>touching yourself can can help. And supposedly because our um

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<v Speaker 1>head is the source of this issue, our brain is,

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<v Speaker 1>that's why we would touch our head rather than say,

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<v Speaker 1>like our knees or something. The thing is, there is

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<v Speaker 1>some research to back this up. Um. There was a

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<v Speaker 1>study in two thousand and seventeen and Scientific Reports, which

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<v Speaker 1>is a journal, and it's it watched Resus macaques um

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<v Speaker 1>which who are sorry not sorry, and they found that

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<v Speaker 1>the kind of the the higher on the totem pole

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<v Speaker 1>level macaques, when they were stressed out, they might start

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<v Speaker 1>to itch or scratch or just do something. Um and

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<v Speaker 1>that this was taken by other maccaques who were saying

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<v Speaker 1>maybe more aggressive as a sign of like, I'm really

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<v Speaker 1>stressed out, so just kind of leave me alone, and

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<v Speaker 1>they actually were left alone. Yeah, it made me think

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<v Speaker 1>of the Seinfeld where George said, if you want people

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<v Speaker 1>to leave you alone, look stressed out and annoyed. And

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<v Speaker 1>there were all the times that they would walk by

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<v Speaker 1>his office in Yankee Stadium and he was doing that.

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<v Speaker 1>He would have his hands on his head, rubbing his temples,

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<v Speaker 1>and people be like, you know, everyone would pass by

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<v Speaker 1>his office and he's a versus macaque. These um, these

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<v Speaker 1>researchers were saying that the way they interpreted that is

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<v Speaker 1>that it tells this potential attacker, you know, one, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not fully stable here, so you don't know what I'm

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<v Speaker 1>gonna do, so maybe you lay off me. Or I'm

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<v Speaker 1>super stressed that I can't possibly defend myself. There's no

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<v Speaker 1>point in attacking me to show your dominance. I'm already

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<v Speaker 1>already submitting here, so don't waste your energy either way.

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<v Speaker 1>The Reese's macaques that displayed some sort of um itching

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<v Speaker 1>or scratching behavior, sorry, scratching behavior while they were stressed

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<v Speaker 1>out signaling they were stressed, were attacked less than those

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<v Speaker 1>that didn't. So I like this last one a lot too. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>This one that you dug up displacement activity. So you've

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<v Speaker 1>got an animal that has a couple of different options

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<v Speaker 1>and let's say a stressful situation, uh, and it doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>want to do either one of them, or maybe can't

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<v Speaker 1>decide which one to perform, so it does uh what's

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<v Speaker 1>called the displacement activity. So you've got a bird, let's say,

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<v Speaker 1>uh that another bird comes to attack, It's like, well,

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<v Speaker 1>should I attack back or should I just fly out

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<v Speaker 1>of here? Uh? I'm just gonna pick up the ground instead.

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<v Speaker 1>And um, preening might be another activity, or grooming oneself.

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<v Speaker 1>And the theory is that these may have emerged. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>it's a soothing physical contact, or maybe it's just a

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<v Speaker 1>routine behavior to calm yourself down, or maybe sort of

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<v Speaker 1>linking with that other one to throw off the person,

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<v Speaker 1>which kind of made me think of that guy in

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<v Speaker 1>Athens who crashed his bike that day. He had two

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<v Speaker 1>choices was get up really quick and get my books

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<v Speaker 1>and right out of there, and or act in a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of pain. And he said, I'll do the third thing.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna act like I'm reading a book. Yeah, so

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<v Speaker 1>he engaged in displacement activity. So there's one one last

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<v Speaker 1>explanation that I found, and that is that people who

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<v Speaker 1>scratch their head or you know, rub their eyes or

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<v Speaker 1>something like that while they're thinking UM are engaged in

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<v Speaker 1>a certain kind of UM learning mode is what it's

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<v Speaker 1>called a dominant learning mode, and that is where we

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<v Speaker 1>our senses are involved in the way that we think about,

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<v Speaker 1>or recall or take in information. And so people who

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<v Speaker 1>are tactile with their learning modes would might touch themselves,

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<v Speaker 1>touch their their heads or something like that. UM. People

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<v Speaker 1>who are visual learners might kind of look up in

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<v Speaker 1>the sky or something like that. That's where you're like,

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<v Speaker 1>you're kind of exaggerating the point of the sense, even

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<v Speaker 1>though that sense is not giving you any information and

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<v Speaker 1>helping along. It's almost like we just kind of revert

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<v Speaker 1>to the sense that we're most comfortable with maybe taking

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<v Speaker 1>information in with I'm not sure, but that's the last

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<v Speaker 1>explanation I saw. Yeah, that's the one that really hit

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<v Speaker 1>home for me because I am one thousand percent of

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<v Speaker 1>visual learner. Uh. If somebody's trying to explain something like

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<v Speaker 1>how something operates, they can talk to me untill they're

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<v Speaker 1>blue in the face. But if I actually see it,

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<v Speaker 1>I will understand it. And if I'm thinking of something

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<v Speaker 1>or if I'm deep in thought, I will often like

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<v Speaker 1>tip back in my chair and kind of look up

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<v Speaker 1>in sky and they're saying that that's what I'm doing. Basically,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it makes sense. Somebody needs to teach you

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<v Speaker 1>about percentages visually because there ain't no such thing as

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<v Speaker 1>a thousand percent. Shut up. I have to say, Chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't see me right now, but I have never

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<v Speaker 1>scratched my head more than I heard during this this recording.

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<v Speaker 1>This has been brutal. Alright, well, hopefully you didn't lose

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<v Speaker 1>too many. Um So that's it for short stuff. Everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>me and Chuck say Audios. Stuff you should know is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of iHeart Radios. How stuff works for more podcasts.

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