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Curious Behavior: Yawning, Laughing, Hiccupping, and Beyond
Robert Provine boldly goes where other scientists seldom tread--in search of hiccups, coughs, yawns, sneezes, and other lowly, undignified human behaviors. Upon investigation, these instinctive acts bear the imprint of our evolutionary origins and can be uniquely valuable tools for understanding how the human brain works and what makes us different from other species.
Many activities showcased in "Curious Behavior" are contagious, but none surpasses yawning in this regard--just reading the word can make one succumb. Though we often take it as a sign of sleepiness or boredom, yawning holds clues to the development of our sociality and ability to empathize with others. Its inescapable transmission reminds us that we are sometimes unaware, neurologically programmed beasts of the herd. Other neglected behaviors yield similar revelations. Tickling, we learn, may be the key to programming personhood into robots. Coughing comes in musical, medical, and social varieties. Farting and belching have import for the evolution of human speech. And prenatal behavior is offered as the strangest exhibit of all, defying postnatal logic in every way. Our earthiest acts define "Homo sapiens" as much as language, bipedalism, tool use, and other more studied characteristics.
As Provine guides us through peculiarities right under our noses, he beckons us to follow with self-experiments: tickling our own feet, keeping a log of when we laugh, and attempting to suppress yawns and sneezes. Such humble investigations provide fodder for grade school science projects as well as doctoral dissertations. Small Science can yield big rewards.
Many activities showcased in "Curious Behavior" are contagious, but none surpasses yawning in this regard--just reading the word can make one succumb. Though we often take it as a sign of sleepiness or boredom, yawning holds clues to the development of our sociality and ability to empathize with others. Its inescapable transmission reminds us that we are sometimes unaware, neurologically programmed beasts of the herd. Other neglected behaviors yield similar revelations. Tickling, we learn, may be the key to programming personhood into robots. Coughing comes in musical, medical, and social varieties. Farting and belching have import for the evolution of human speech. And prenatal behavior is offered as the strangest exhibit of all, defying postnatal logic in every way. Our earthiest acts define "Homo sapiens" as much as language, bipedalism, tool use, and other more studied characteristics.
As Provine guides us through peculiarities right under our noses, he beckons us to follow with self-experiments: tickling our own feet, keeping a log of when we laugh, and attempting to suppress yawns and sneezes. Such humble investigations provide fodder for grade school science projects as well as doctoral dissertations. Small Science can yield big rewards.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published August 31, 2012
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1095 people want to read
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November 4, 2024
Also — sneezing, coughing, vomiting, tickling, itching and scratching, farting and belching.
Some of the sections are interesting, some less so. Many of these behaviours are so "common" that they are not studied and little understood.
Many of these behaviours are contagious; rather famously yawning has a contagious element and personal research has confirmed that even reading about yawning will produce yawns — although perhaps that is a function of reading in bed at bedtime.
Also contagious: coughing, itching and scratching, and the feeling of nausea (not produced by the smell of vomit, which is another story).
Four stars for the sections I found most interesting. How have I never heard of the professional flatulist, La Petomane? This French entertainer was wildly popular, and could do impressions and toot out tunes. Imagine that, a professional farter, a "fartiste"!
Some of the sections are interesting, some less so. Many of these behaviours are so "common" that they are not studied and little understood.
Many of these behaviours are contagious; rather famously yawning has a contagious element and personal research has confirmed that even reading about yawning will produce yawns — although perhaps that is a function of reading in bed at bedtime.
Also contagious: coughing, itching and scratching, and the feeling of nausea (not produced by the smell of vomit, which is another story).
Four stars for the sections I found most interesting. How have I never heard of the professional flatulist, La Petomane? This French entertainer was wildly popular, and could do impressions and toot out tunes. Imagine that, a professional farter, a "fartiste"!
November 22, 2012
**Nothing to sneeze at. (Including the explanation of why we sneeze.)**
Now, how many other books out there have an entire chapter dedicated to farting and belching?
This book is truly one of a kind. In addition to farting and belching, other curious human behaviors such as yawning, laughing, hiccupping, coughing, tickling, itching, vomiting, crying, and tearing are explored like never before. A developmental neuroscientist, the author takes us on a tour of the evolutionary origins and communicative functions of our not-often-talked-about bodily functions. In his own words:
“This book is full of sidewalk neuroscience, a scientific approach to everyday behavior based on simple observations and demonstrations that readers, even advanced grade-schoolers, can use to confirm, challenge, or extend the reported findings. Potential science fair projects as well as PhD dissertations are found in these pages...Piece by piece we collect parts of a scientific puzzle that, once assembled, will help us see the commonplace in new ways and reveal a perspective on human nature that was always hidden in plain sight.” (pp. 10-11)
Besides providing you fascinating research-based explanations and insight into a collection of quirky human behaviors, this book will likely make you laugh along the way. The author’s dry, but engaging, sense of humor nicely complements the serious research. See for yourself:
“My foray into fart science is a bit timid. The mere inclusion of the topic threatens to lower this book’s intellectual tone. A confluence of circumstances forced the subject on me…With tenure safely in hand, I forged ahead. What started as a playful acoustic analysis led to the quite serious consideration of why we speak through the mouth instead of the rectum. Along the way, I discovered a quirky and amusing literature that may elevate the status of the lowly fart as a topic is scientific discourse.” (p. 192)
You might even amuse yourself while reading this book as you find yourself enacting the quirky behaviors as you read about them. (It’s hard not to yawn when reading vivid descriptions of people yawning and to refrain from scratching when reading about itch-producing stimuli and the scratches that so nicely soothe their skin-crawling effects.)
If you’re curious about the uniquely human aspects of these quirky behaviors, you’ll likely be satisfied, entertained, and surprised by this book. And, equally likely, you’ll find that a sneeze/yawn/laugh/fart/belch will never again be just a sneeze/yawn/laugh/fart/belch.
Now, how many other books out there have an entire chapter dedicated to farting and belching?
This book is truly one of a kind. In addition to farting and belching, other curious human behaviors such as yawning, laughing, hiccupping, coughing, tickling, itching, vomiting, crying, and tearing are explored like never before. A developmental neuroscientist, the author takes us on a tour of the evolutionary origins and communicative functions of our not-often-talked-about bodily functions. In his own words:
“This book is full of sidewalk neuroscience, a scientific approach to everyday behavior based on simple observations and demonstrations that readers, even advanced grade-schoolers, can use to confirm, challenge, or extend the reported findings. Potential science fair projects as well as PhD dissertations are found in these pages...Piece by piece we collect parts of a scientific puzzle that, once assembled, will help us see the commonplace in new ways and reveal a perspective on human nature that was always hidden in plain sight.” (pp. 10-11)
Besides providing you fascinating research-based explanations and insight into a collection of quirky human behaviors, this book will likely make you laugh along the way. The author’s dry, but engaging, sense of humor nicely complements the serious research. See for yourself:
“My foray into fart science is a bit timid. The mere inclusion of the topic threatens to lower this book’s intellectual tone. A confluence of circumstances forced the subject on me…With tenure safely in hand, I forged ahead. What started as a playful acoustic analysis led to the quite serious consideration of why we speak through the mouth instead of the rectum. Along the way, I discovered a quirky and amusing literature that may elevate the status of the lowly fart as a topic is scientific discourse.” (p. 192)
You might even amuse yourself while reading this book as you find yourself enacting the quirky behaviors as you read about them. (It’s hard not to yawn when reading vivid descriptions of people yawning and to refrain from scratching when reading about itch-producing stimuli and the scratches that so nicely soothe their skin-crawling effects.)
If you’re curious about the uniquely human aspects of these quirky behaviors, you’ll likely be satisfied, entertained, and surprised by this book. And, equally likely, you’ll find that a sneeze/yawn/laugh/fart/belch will never again be just a sneeze/yawn/laugh/fart/belch.
January 14, 2022
Robert is a great writer, uses marvellous metaphors and very clear explanations (maybe sometimes a little repetitive), with a very curious eye that has marked his academic research.
The best about this books is that it explores the functions, meanings and usages of universal contagious and popular nonverbal behaviors that are usually ignored in the traditional perspective of the field by researchers from psychology to neuroscience. It is this simple consideration that allows the book to be so unique. It is worth the reading.
The best about this books is that it explores the functions, meanings and usages of universal contagious and popular nonverbal behaviors that are usually ignored in the traditional perspective of the field by researchers from psychology to neuroscience. It is this simple consideration that allows the book to be so unique. It is worth the reading.
September 25, 2012
Curious Behavior: Yawning, Laughing, Hiccupping and Beyond by Robert R. Provine
“Curious Behavior" is an interesting yet incomplete pop-science book that covers our most curious behaviors. A mostly neglected area of science, this book covers the “other” familiar areas that are part of being human. Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Robert R. Provine has written a stimulating book on the everyday quirks of behavior. This 288-page book is composed of the following thirteen chapters (curious behaviors): 1. Yawning, 2. Laughing, 3. Vocal crying, 4. Emotional tearing, 5. White of the eyes, 6. Coughing, 7. Sneezing, 8. Hiccupping, 9. Vomiting and nausea, 10. Tickling, 11. Itching and scratching, 12. Farting and belching and 13. Prenatal behavior.
Positives:
1. Accessible popular science book that is fun to read while educational at the same time.
2. Neuroscience and psychology made fun. Quirks in our behavior, a fascinating topic.
3. The book’s focus is to compare behaviors instead of organisms. The scientific approach used is ethology, the evolutionary based, biological study of behavior.
4. Yawning is the most complete chapter with plenty of examples enhanced with good illustrations. The four yawn variants.
5. The roots of sociality. The factors that contributed to it.
6. The author does a good job of letting the reader know what is backed by science versus what is folklore. In some instances, they are one and the same.
7. The importance of unconscious processes.
8. The peculiarities of laughter. The difference between genders. The contrast between human and chimpanzee laughter. The basis for bipedal theory of speech evolution.
9. Thought-provoking quotes, “Laughter is more about relationships than humor.”
10. The difference between spontaneous and contagious crying. The difference between crying and laughter. Samples of pathological crying and laughter.
11. The uniquely human trait of emotional tearing. The tear effect.
12. The importance of the sclera (white of the eyes), social signaling.
13. The many causes of coughing. Cough variants.
14. The causes and phases of sneezing. Variations in sneezes.
15. Cures for bouts of hiccups. How little we know.
16. A look at the causes of vomiting and nausea. A look at bulimia.
17. The social play of tickling.
18. The link between itching and scratching.
19. The extraordinary “gift” of one Frenchman Joseph Pujol (1857-1945), with a curious stage name.
20. An “inside” look at prenatal behavior. “The most critical and least understood events in human life occur between conception and birth.”
21. The behavioral keyboard.
22. Links to notes and references provided
Negatives:
1. The science is incomplete as made clear by the author. Not a reflection on the author but if you the reader are expecting conclusive data or something close to it on these matters you will be disappointed. Enough to whet the appetite but not enough to satisfy the hunger.
2. The author could have done a better job of letting the reader know what the current scientific consensus is outside of his own research.
3. The chapter on yawning was a high standard established early on that quite frankly the other chapters couldn’t live up to.
4. Despite the fun nature of the topic, I felt the author didn’t always let loose and the prose became dryer in those instances.
In summary, though incomplete I enjoyed this book. It covers fascinating quirks of human behavior (“Small” Science because it doesn’t require a big budget) that has been neglected by science. It’s a fun way to learn about human peculiarities and the author provided the reader with a lot of interesting tidbits. If you are looking for a popular science that addresses the often neglected quirks of being human, this book is worth reading.
Further suggestions: “Subliminal” by Leonard Mlodinow, “The Blank Slate” by Steven Pinker, “Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique” by Michael S. Gazzaniga, “SuperSense” by Bruce M. Hood, “The Third Basic Instinct” by Ales S. Key, “Brain Cuttings” by Carl Zimmer, “The 10,00 Year Explosion” by Gregory Cochran, “Why Evolution Is True” by Jerry A. Coyne, “Your Inner Fish” by Neil Shubin and “Zoobiquity” by Kathryn Bowers.
“Curious Behavior" is an interesting yet incomplete pop-science book that covers our most curious behaviors. A mostly neglected area of science, this book covers the “other” familiar areas that are part of being human. Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Robert R. Provine has written a stimulating book on the everyday quirks of behavior. This 288-page book is composed of the following thirteen chapters (curious behaviors): 1. Yawning, 2. Laughing, 3. Vocal crying, 4. Emotional tearing, 5. White of the eyes, 6. Coughing, 7. Sneezing, 8. Hiccupping, 9. Vomiting and nausea, 10. Tickling, 11. Itching and scratching, 12. Farting and belching and 13. Prenatal behavior.
Positives:
1. Accessible popular science book that is fun to read while educational at the same time.
2. Neuroscience and psychology made fun. Quirks in our behavior, a fascinating topic.
3. The book’s focus is to compare behaviors instead of organisms. The scientific approach used is ethology, the evolutionary based, biological study of behavior.
4. Yawning is the most complete chapter with plenty of examples enhanced with good illustrations. The four yawn variants.
5. The roots of sociality. The factors that contributed to it.
6. The author does a good job of letting the reader know what is backed by science versus what is folklore. In some instances, they are one and the same.
7. The importance of unconscious processes.
8. The peculiarities of laughter. The difference between genders. The contrast between human and chimpanzee laughter. The basis for bipedal theory of speech evolution.
9. Thought-provoking quotes, “Laughter is more about relationships than humor.”
10. The difference between spontaneous and contagious crying. The difference between crying and laughter. Samples of pathological crying and laughter.
11. The uniquely human trait of emotional tearing. The tear effect.
12. The importance of the sclera (white of the eyes), social signaling.
13. The many causes of coughing. Cough variants.
14. The causes and phases of sneezing. Variations in sneezes.
15. Cures for bouts of hiccups. How little we know.
16. A look at the causes of vomiting and nausea. A look at bulimia.
17. The social play of tickling.
18. The link between itching and scratching.
19. The extraordinary “gift” of one Frenchman Joseph Pujol (1857-1945), with a curious stage name.
20. An “inside” look at prenatal behavior. “The most critical and least understood events in human life occur between conception and birth.”
21. The behavioral keyboard.
22. Links to notes and references provided
Negatives:
1. The science is incomplete as made clear by the author. Not a reflection on the author but if you the reader are expecting conclusive data or something close to it on these matters you will be disappointed. Enough to whet the appetite but not enough to satisfy the hunger.
2. The author could have done a better job of letting the reader know what the current scientific consensus is outside of his own research.
3. The chapter on yawning was a high standard established early on that quite frankly the other chapters couldn’t live up to.
4. Despite the fun nature of the topic, I felt the author didn’t always let loose and the prose became dryer in those instances.
In summary, though incomplete I enjoyed this book. It covers fascinating quirks of human behavior (“Small” Science because it doesn’t require a big budget) that has been neglected by science. It’s a fun way to learn about human peculiarities and the author provided the reader with a lot of interesting tidbits. If you are looking for a popular science that addresses the often neglected quirks of being human, this book is worth reading.
Further suggestions: “Subliminal” by Leonard Mlodinow, “The Blank Slate” by Steven Pinker, “Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique” by Michael S. Gazzaniga, “SuperSense” by Bruce M. Hood, “The Third Basic Instinct” by Ales S. Key, “Brain Cuttings” by Carl Zimmer, “The 10,00 Year Explosion” by Gregory Cochran, “Why Evolution Is True” by Jerry A. Coyne, “Your Inner Fish” by Neil Shubin and “Zoobiquity” by Kathryn Bowers.
i-aint-sure
August 12, 2016"both passing gas and speaking involve the expulsion of gas and vibration to produce a sound. Why, he asks, did we evolve to speak with one end of our digestive pathway, and not the other?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/sci...
And then there is the peril of exporting natural gas:
"The World Journal of Gastroenterology cited 20 colonic explosions reported in the medical literature from 1952 to 2006."
---
i read a snippet of excerpt and found his style awkward. Hence the i-aint-sure label
A fellow reader's helpful review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/sci...
And then there is the peril of exporting natural gas:
"The World Journal of Gastroenterology cited 20 colonic explosions reported in the medical literature from 1952 to 2006."
---
i read a snippet of excerpt and found his style awkward. Hence the i-aint-sure label
A fellow reader's helpful review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
December 7, 2013
very dry, didn't finish
January 17, 2022
The author, as the title of the book suggests, attempts to explain hiccups, coughs, yawns, sneezes, laughing, crying and tearing, itching and scratching, tickling, farting and belching - so-called lowly or undignified or uncontrollable behaviours. As per his investigations, these acts near the imprint of our evolutionary origins and can provide valuable tools for understanding the working of the human brain and our difference from other species. The book, brilliant in parts, can become heavy and esoteric reading.
January 23, 2022
I had high hopes for this book since it was recommended by a favorite author, but I was disappointed. The chapters start out with anecdotes about the condition (yawning, hiccuping, etc.). That part was interesting. Unfortunately, the author then goes into an overly clinical analysis of the behavior. Lots of medical terminology is introduced without an explanation or a definition. The writing is overly academic with too many complex sentences. The book isn't awful, but it could have been better.
October 13, 2019
I really wanted to like this but after 6 pages I knew that would never happen and stopped reading. Boring, boring and boring. This guy should study Mary Roach to learn how to make what should be fascinating material actually fascinating. I’m assuming he never researched what happens if all the chapter headings become operational at the same time in the same person. Do you die? Exit through a wormhole to another dimension? Or what???
October 15, 2017
This is not a book to read when you have five or ten minutes to spare. You need to concentrate on what you are reading.
The first few chapters are a bit hard to get through but the rest is a lot easier.
Keep with it.
There are some interesting facts and possibilities.
The first few chapters are a bit hard to get through but the rest is a lot easier.
Keep with it.
There are some interesting facts and possibilities.
March 31, 2020
dsi@1617
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2024
The read was nice and funny here and there, but besides some dry statistics which were not really surprising it did not teach me much, nor did it stir any puzzling.
December 2, 2019
If you start a book out with yawning it's going to only go downhill from there. There were certain parts of the book that I did enjoy, but was a little too dry for most of the book. Embrace the farts and burps (probably the best chapters honestly) and go for the goofy part of the science.
July 26, 2016
ebook wnc - reading for the chapter on laughter as communication, as alluded to in an Edge question response by Provine ... extensive notes, references, and index enable a quicker-than-expected read...
Gosh the chapter on yawning took a long time to read.... ;)
Chimps can't talk because they don't have breath control - we who are bipedal have freed our breathing pattern from the sync. of our locomotion and can therefore laugh within one exhalation, instead of pant-laugh in sync. with our breathing. "Laughter is literally the ritualized sound of the labored breathing of ritualized play, the clearest case in the animal kingdom of how a vocalization evolved." "Laughter derived from play; it's not a vocal contrivance to release tension, improve health, or acknowledge the wit of your dinner companion, at least not originally." "Laughter is more about relationships than humor."
As Provine contemplates that laughing, coughing and breathing are all used as punctuation marks (note that we seldom do either in the middle of a phrase, but nearly often at sentence breaks), he adds' "As a lapsed musician, I wondered if the nearly ubiquitous punctuation effect extended to musical phrases." And, yes, he found evidence that it does, in an expert pianist who is also a prolific cougher, and in the audiences in concert halls, who all avoid coughing during a performance... and not just from restraint, but from a sense, Provine theorizes, of music as language.
The chapter "Prenatal Behavior" isn't a perfect fit with the others, but then, neither is "The Whites of their Eyes" ... and all are interesting. I had no idea that unborn babies are doing so much to shape their own development--if your baby 'kicks' a lot, be glad!
Much of this is easy for a layperson to read: "Trapping the wild hiccup is not easy." Much is not: "The finding of inspiratory muscle excitation (diaphragm, external intercostals) while expiratory intercostal muscles are inhibited indicates the hiccup is neither a purely inspiratory event nor a massive, nonspecific motor surge involving the simultaneous contraction of all muscles." When Provine got technical, sometimes I looked up the offending terms, and sometimes I didn't. I did read this a bit lightly, because I am still a novice with ebooks, esp. non-fiction, and so my brain goes into 'skim the article' mode.
The book is definitely a call for 'small science' and Provine would be the first to admit that we can easily find evidence to dispute his analyses. For example, I find it much easier to laugh or cry on command than his data suggests, and otoh I have a hard time believing *anyone* can sneeze on command (can you?). And I can definitely yawn with my eyes open, for example right now (contagion), and when on a road trip.
Btw, I do love his illustrative drawings... I just wish there were more of them.
I will look for more by the author, maybe even a website....
Gosh the chapter on yawning took a long time to read.... ;)
Chimps can't talk because they don't have breath control - we who are bipedal have freed our breathing pattern from the sync. of our locomotion and can therefore laugh within one exhalation, instead of pant-laugh in sync. with our breathing. "Laughter is literally the ritualized sound of the labored breathing of ritualized play, the clearest case in the animal kingdom of how a vocalization evolved." "Laughter derived from play; it's not a vocal contrivance to release tension, improve health, or acknowledge the wit of your dinner companion, at least not originally." "Laughter is more about relationships than humor."
As Provine contemplates that laughing, coughing and breathing are all used as punctuation marks (note that we seldom do either in the middle of a phrase, but nearly often at sentence breaks), he adds' "As a lapsed musician, I wondered if the nearly ubiquitous punctuation effect extended to musical phrases." And, yes, he found evidence that it does, in an expert pianist who is also a prolific cougher, and in the audiences in concert halls, who all avoid coughing during a performance... and not just from restraint, but from a sense, Provine theorizes, of music as language.
The chapter "Prenatal Behavior" isn't a perfect fit with the others, but then, neither is "The Whites of their Eyes" ... and all are interesting. I had no idea that unborn babies are doing so much to shape their own development--if your baby 'kicks' a lot, be glad!
Much of this is easy for a layperson to read: "Trapping the wild hiccup is not easy." Much is not: "The finding of inspiratory muscle excitation (diaphragm, external intercostals) while expiratory intercostal muscles are inhibited indicates the hiccup is neither a purely inspiratory event nor a massive, nonspecific motor surge involving the simultaneous contraction of all muscles." When Provine got technical, sometimes I looked up the offending terms, and sometimes I didn't. I did read this a bit lightly, because I am still a novice with ebooks, esp. non-fiction, and so my brain goes into 'skim the article' mode.
The book is definitely a call for 'small science' and Provine would be the first to admit that we can easily find evidence to dispute his analyses. For example, I find it much easier to laugh or cry on command than his data suggests, and otoh I have a hard time believing *anyone* can sneeze on command (can you?). And I can definitely yawn with my eyes open, for example right now (contagion), and when on a road trip.
Btw, I do love his illustrative drawings... I just wish there were more of them.
I will look for more by the author, maybe even a website....
February 8, 2013
First sentence: "We humans are talkative, sociable, bipedal, tool-using mammals that Shakespeare found noble in reason and infinite in faculty."
In this book, Robert Provine investigates the neurobiology, evolutionary history, and humorous anecdotes of human behaviors that most people take for granted and do not discuss in polite society (sneezing, yawning, scratching, farting, vomiting, etc.). It is all presented in a way that is acceptable to the layperson and includes easy experiments that the average reader can use to investigate the claims made in the book (although some you won't even need to consciously try, for example, contagious yawning is so pervasive that it's pretty impossible to read the chapter on Yawning without yawning constantly).
I enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about things I had never really thought much about before. The author has an entertaining way of presenting the material and I loved the cartoons that were included in the chapters and the media examples of real life cases of epidemic levels of contagious laughter and persistent hiccups that last for months. I will be paying much more attention to these behaviors in the future because of this book. The little factoid about yawning and sneezing faces being the same as O faces has made it a bit awkward to watch other people sneezing and yawning let me tell you. A lot of what is presented in the book is common sense, but it is still an entertaining read.
I do have a few problems with the book. First off, the science sometimes gets buried in all of the anecdotes the author includes. The anecdotes are entertaining, but I found myself getting to ends of chapters not knowing what the biology was behind certain actions and having to go back to the beginning to get the whole story. The author also repeats himself a lot, probably in an attempt to make a book out of things that don't really have a lot behind them.
I enjoyed the book. It was a fun read and made me think. I would recommend it to people who like nonfiction about weird things, especially fans of Mary Roach. It is a quick read as well with short chapters.
In this book, Robert Provine investigates the neurobiology, evolutionary history, and humorous anecdotes of human behaviors that most people take for granted and do not discuss in polite society (sneezing, yawning, scratching, farting, vomiting, etc.). It is all presented in a way that is acceptable to the layperson and includes easy experiments that the average reader can use to investigate the claims made in the book (although some you won't even need to consciously try, for example, contagious yawning is so pervasive that it's pretty impossible to read the chapter on Yawning without yawning constantly).
I enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about things I had never really thought much about before. The author has an entertaining way of presenting the material and I loved the cartoons that were included in the chapters and the media examples of real life cases of epidemic levels of contagious laughter and persistent hiccups that last for months. I will be paying much more attention to these behaviors in the future because of this book. The little factoid about yawning and sneezing faces being the same as O faces has made it a bit awkward to watch other people sneezing and yawning let me tell you. A lot of what is presented in the book is common sense, but it is still an entertaining read.
I do have a few problems with the book. First off, the science sometimes gets buried in all of the anecdotes the author includes. The anecdotes are entertaining, but I found myself getting to ends of chapters not knowing what the biology was behind certain actions and having to go back to the beginning to get the whole story. The author also repeats himself a lot, probably in an attempt to make a book out of things that don't really have a lot behind them.
I enjoyed the book. It was a fun read and made me think. I would recommend it to people who like nonfiction about weird things, especially fans of Mary Roach. It is a quick read as well with short chapters.
March 2, 2014
A great read. Basic actions that we never think about are thoroughly explained integrated with past and current research. Anecdotal stories at the start of each chapter makes it more relatable and interesting. Each topic is discussed from an evolutionary point of view which puts everything in perspective. However, the discussion is limited and is understandable since not much thought/research is being given to the topics in question. Overall, Provine does a good job in getting the message across of how important it is to tap these areas of research and I hope the general public/scientific communinty gets it!
August 14, 2016
I'll admit that reading the chapter on yawning was a bit of a struggle. The whole "yawning" thing got to be a bit much. I also think it's easier to cry than to hiccough. My 2 year old can cry at will pretty easily, and I don't know anyone who can actually hiccough on command. That pettiness aside, Curious Behavior is an interesting read, and I love the irreverent tone of the book, espousing that science is for everyone and cheap experiments are as valuable as ones requiring fancy equipment. Provine invites you, not only to replicate his experiments, but also to expand on them with suggestions for additional new research. Fun!
January 20, 2015
In the spirit of Rachel Carson, Provine uses a highly accessible writing style to tell people why they do the things they do. Unfortunately, Provine comes across as having a chip on his shoulder, emphasizing the importance and practicality of HIS type of research in almost every chapter. Ultimately, the book could use more continuity in style and content. Each chapter comes across as an abstract rather than an in-depth analysis. Focusing on one subject may be more effective.
It's generally an unpleasant book to read, inciting all sorts of contagious responses from the reader, from yawning to nausea.
It's generally an unpleasant book to read, inciting all sorts of contagious responses from the reader, from yawning to nausea.
August 12, 2019
Short, easy reading chapters on human behavioural topics one usually doesn't find books written about: yawning, laughing, coughing, sneezing, tickling and what have you, many of which are surprisingly contagious. Discusses the evolutionary reason for such behaviours, and their sometimes surprising role amongst social animals such as ourselves. My only complaint was that some topics were discussed too briefly, while others got perhaps too much attention.
May 22, 2013
The author of this non-fiction book is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience. He tries to explain in plain language and with some humor, the strange goings-on we experience in our bodies. I learned a few interesting facts, but it wasn't necessarily worth the time it took to read. I was hoping for a little more physiology and a little less lame jokes and cartoons. Sigh.
October 20, 2012
Uneven, but I suspect that most readers will find some parts very interesting and some not so compelling. I especially enjoyed the chapters discussing the psychophysiology of yawning and vomiting, and how could anyone resist the tale of Frenchman Joseph Pujol who was the most highly paid entertainer of his time, farting music at the Moulin Rouge?
December 5, 2012
I really wanted to find this interesting, and I know he was trying to speak in layman's terms, but it just wasn't cutting it. The behavioural keyboard doesn't even make sense. The lower keys on a piano aren't harder to play, for crying out loud! This book might be fun for scientists to read but I tried really hard for 170 pages before I gave up.
January 3, 2013
Normally I enjoy this sort of "science for the common man" type book. But this one didn't live up to my expectations. The prose was not compelling and the balance of science to interesting anecdote was too heavy on the science end. Interesting subject matter - just needed a better translator to make it a compelling read.
January 18, 2013
Three stars for originality, two stars because my (admittedly unrealistic) expectations were not met. I still can't explain the phenomenons of contagious yawns, laughter or tears after having the topics explained to me by a professor of Psychology and Neuroscience.
It's not you, Dr. Provine, it's me.
It's not you, Dr. Provine, it's me.
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April 16, 2013Well, sometimes reading reviews isn't such a good thing. I read a few that said it wasn't a great read so I didn't read much of it. I took it out of the library so I might read bits and pieces when I visit with my daughter.
April 10, 2013
Never has our coughing, tickling, itching, belching (and all else mentioned in the subtitle) been explored so nicely in one compact book. If not a page turner, it is at least easy to pick up and read at any particular point.
July 26, 2013
Loads of accessible brain fun. I wonder whar Provine might think about my friend, the hiccup-stopping equivalent of Rasputin... I feel like the farts were almost forced in between the more related behaviours - fortunately though. I laughed until I farted. This book turned me into a monkey. Thanks.
April 6, 2014
Curious behavior was a good book that indulged me on what causes, and the origins of behaviors like laughing, crying, and yawning (i.e. it is not to provide extra oxygen to the brain). If you want to know, read the book!
June 8, 2015
This is really more of a 3.5. It is by no means a must-read, but it was very interesting especially if you like "sidewalk neuroscience (simple & cheap observations of everyday life that everyone can do)."
The best quote: "Sneezes are humbling."
The best quote: "Sneezes are humbling."
July 1, 2015
There aren't many books that seriously investigate tickling, laughing, crying, etc. I really appreciated the science that was thrown at these behaviors, especially since so little is actually understood. But it's the last chapter on embryology that I loved the most. Very interesting stuff.
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