Know Thyself, the Ancient Greek aphorism goes. But after thousands of years of contemplating and studying the human condition, it is shocking how little attention has been paid to our most common, and in some ways defining, behaviors.
In Curious Behavior, Robert Provine provides clear, entertaining, and (most importantly) data-driven accounts of familiar yet overlooked human quirks. These include yawning, laughing, crying, tears, coughing, sneezing, hiccupping, vomiting and nausea, tickling, itching and scratching, farting and belching, and finally prenatal behavior. If you think you know when and why you laugh, what makes a face look sad, or why people yawn, you’re probably in for a surprise.
Many of the investigations are part of Provine’s own, pioneering studies—we read about much of the research from the horse’s mouth, and skeptics are encouraged to conduct their own “sidewalk neuroscience” experiments. This is a refreshing reminder of how science can be done on ...
