Why We Do What We Do

Some people use this term incorretly, some don't know it at all. To help get everyone on the same page, we are going to review the history of research that first described this phenomenon. Then, we will give examples of what this might look like in real-life scenarios. 

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Links and References: 

1. Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied Behavior Analysis, 3rd Ed. Pearson.
2. Seligman, M. E., & Maier, S. F. (1967). Failure to escape traumatic shock. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0024514
3. Maier, S.F., Seligman, M.E.P., & Solomon, R.L. (1969). Pavlovian fear conditioning and learned helplessness: Effects on escape and avoidance behavior of (a) the CS-US contingency, and (b) the independence of the US and voluntary responding. In: Campbell BA, Church RM, editors. Punishment. New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts; pp. 299–342

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Special guests Jennifer Farris, Meg Solomon, and Dr. Mari Cerda join us to talk about their new book about developing a compassionate care model. They outline the critical elemtents of their discussion, and share personal stories to help illustrate their recommendations. At the end, they join us in giving their own recommendations for things that bring them joy. We could all use a little more joy. 

Find the Book Here:
https://www.amazon.com/Reframe-Framework-Developing-Compassionate-Instructional/dp/1300540478?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Recommendations:
Dr. Mari Cerda: Mindful moments outside; Shrinking (TV show; 
Meg Solomon: Moody by Royel Otis (https://youtu.be/twM4KF99yd0?si=Z_BsmNfDJFd_amiT) and Murderbot (https://tv.apple.com/us/show/murderbot/umc.cmc.5owrzntj9v1gpg31wshflud03)
Jennifer Farris: Wellfleet Oysters with Brut Champagne
Shane: Talking to Strangers by Malcom Gladwell (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/talking-to-strangers-malcolm-gladwell/1130509634)
Abraham: The Things We Tell Ourselves in the Dark (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FdXmAPM8u4) 

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Can you walk around being skeptical all day long? At what point do you need to let your guard down? We suggest that not only can you go about your day being skeptical, it is better if you do. We'll explain.

Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast

Links: 

1. https://www.theskepticsguide.org/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.

Support our podcast: www.patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast

There is a unique type of brain trauma that destroys lives and cuts them short and we can't even tell that it has happened until after your death. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy occurs when there is repeated head trauma, even if it is mild. The result can manifest as forgetfulness, impulsivity, violence, and an early death. Mercifully, it is relatively preventable. Unfortunately, few people care to prevent it. Protect Your Brain!

Recommendations:

• Abraham: Mickey 17 (https://www.max.com/movies/mickey-17/fbe17356-9db7-4ab3-928e-32978e0cfbc7) 
• Shane: 1908 Bakery (https://bakery1908.com/)

Holidays (6/25/2025):

• Bourdain Day
• Color TV Day
• Day of the Seafarer
• Global Beatles Day
• National Catfish Day
• National Strawberry Parfait Day
• School Prayer Banned Anniversary
• World Vitiligo Day
• Amateur Radio Week
• Boys and Girls Club Week
• Fish are Friends, Not Food Week
• National Body Piercing Week
• National Insect Week
• National Lightning Safety Awareness Week

Links and References: 

1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20370921
2. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy/
3. https://medicine.iu.edu/expertise/traumatic-brain-injury/what-is-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy
4. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17686-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy-cte
5. https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-dementia/related_conditions/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy
6. https://www.headstrongconcussion.com/history-of-cte
7. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/260461
8. https://academic.oup.com/brain/article/141/1/318/4774567
9. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953619306835#:~:text=22,of%20their%20respective%20patient%20populations.
10. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00291#:~:text=High%20Resolution%20Image,%2C%20extreme%20sports%2C%20etc.)
11. https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@cabbagepatch/an-american-tragedy-story-of-mike-webster-pro-hall-of-famer-and-cte 
12. https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/press-releases/study-finds-1-in-3-former-nfl-players-believe-they-have-cte 
13. https://www.ucs.org/resources/nfl-tried-intimidate-scientists-studying-link-between-pro-football-and-traumatic-brain 

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Sometimes we have some random twitches that develop out of nowhere. What is going on with these? Why do they happen? And, what can we do about it? We explore the uncomfortable world of twitches. Fun fact, these are technically different from spasms. 

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Links and References: 

1. https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/symptoms/muscle-twitching#:~:text=Muscle%20twitching%20is%20caused%20by,of%20a%20nervous%20system%20disorder.
2. https://www.webmd.com/brain/ss/slideshow-twitches-spasms-causes
3. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324641

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.

Support our podcast: www.patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast

Replacement theory is essentially a propaganda campaign engineered to scare gullible people into giving power to autocrats. Versions of this have been around for a long time. We review the history of replacement theory, explain how it works to trick people into voting against their interests (and the interests of everyone else), and what we can do about it. 

Recommendations

• Abraham: Wool (https://hughhowey.com/books/wool/)
• Shane: Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH (https://open.spotify.com/album/52yD51X7yDinwlg6tbCtpP?si=LoE11WYfRfygXQaUwd2Ceg)

Holidays (06/18/25):

• Autistic Pride Day
• Go Fishing Day
• International Panic Day
• International Picnic Day
• International Sushi Day
• National Cheesemaker’s Day
• National Cherry Tart Day
• National Splurge Day
• Animal Rights Awareness Week
• Carpenter Ant Awareness Week
• Learning Disabilities Week
• National Roller Coaster Week
• Take Your Dog to Work Week
• Wobbly Week

Links and References: 

1. https://immigrationforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Replacement-Theory-Explainer-1122.pdf
2. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-is-great-replacement-theory-and-how-does-it-fuel-racist-violence
3. https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-great-replacement-theory-a-scholar-of-race-relations-explains-224835
4. https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/racist-great-replacement-conspiracy-theory-explained/
5. https://www.ajc.org/translatehate/great-replacement 
6. https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/great-replacement-explainer 
7. https://hias.org/news/deep-dive-great-replacement-theory/
8. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/08/a-deadly-ideology-how-the-great-replacement-theory-went-mainstream

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Support our podcast: www.patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast

One of the most common strategies of current right-wing propaganda is to say something that sounds like reasonable words, but when you break it down it is misleading, misinformed, outright wrong, or even dangerous. One example of this is a recent suggestion that we start using placebo-controlled experimental arrangements for established vaccines. This is fairly simple to dismantle, so buckle in for a quick and dirty takedown of the placebo-controlled vaccine studies stupid nonsense. 

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Links and References: 

1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4157320/
2. https://www.statnews.com/2025/05/22/vaccines-placebo-controlled-trials-hhs-clinical-research-ethics/
3. https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025/05/placebo-testing-vaccines-is-unethical-a-waste-of-time-and-money-expert-says/?fj=1

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.

Support our podcast: www.patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast

Science is not perfect, because it is human. But it is strives for correction, unlike almost any other human institution or endeavor. Much of what science does at the basic level can feel absurd, esoteric, and pointless. Sometimes, it is. But funding basic scientific research is the reason we have made more progress in the last 150 years than the previous 3,000 years combined. Let's continue making strides forward with our values in mind: fund basic science research!

Recommendations

• Abraham: The Stormlight Archive: Wind and Truth (https://www.brandonsanderson.com/pages/the-stormlight-archive-series)
• Shane: Y: The Last Man (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y:_The_Last_Man)

Holidays (6/11/2025):

• Corn on the Cob Day
• Cousteau Day
• Dirty Book Day
• International Yarn Bombing
• Kamehameha Day
• National Cotton Candy Day
• National German Chocolate Cake Day
• National Making Life Beautiful Day
• California State Parks Week
• Community Health Improvement Week (CHI)
• Meet a Mate Week
• National Clay Week
• National Little League Baseball Week
• National Pet Wedding Week
• Shampoo Week

Links and References: 

1. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Senator_William_Proxmire.htm 
2. https://www.aei.org/economics/in-praise-of-science-investment-especially-basic-research/
3. https://www.goldengooseaward.org/our-gaggle
4. https://www.goldengooseaward.org/01awardees/nanopores
5. https://www.aau.edu/newsroom/leading-research-universities-report/new-research-suggests-returns-federal-investments-rd 
6. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-high-return-on-investment-for-publicly-funded-research/
7. https://www.goldengooseaward.org/01awardees/the-maser
8. https://www.goldengooseaward.org/01awardees/frog-skin-cholera 

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Support our podcast: www.patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast

The Scoville scale is a method for measuring the heat of capsaicin-laden food. This is the amount of sugar water needed to entirely dilute the spice. But, we say it more elegantly than that. Let the spice flow!

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Links and References: 

1. https://www.nist.gov/how-do-you-measure-it/how-do-you-measure-heat-pepper 
2. https://pepperscale.com/what-is-the-scoville-scale/ 
3. https://pepperpalace.com/blogs/expert-tips/everything-youve-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-scoville-scale?srsltid=AfmBOoojcmyRiT5Yv_4RSa631H588xTp2lgzgEorf5Cxbb0eYMXuLBam 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.

Support our podcast: www.patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast

Lots of people smear colored dyes into the skin of their face almost every day. It's so commonplace, we hardly give it a second thought. We explore the history of makeup, and the psychology of this cultural practice. There are different motives for wearing makeup. We enumerate some of them here. It's not so simple as a lot of peope might try to make it out to be. 

Recommendations

• Abraham: Love, Death, and Robots (Season 4; https://www.netflix.com/title/80174608)
• Shane: Alien: Romulus (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18412256/)

Holidays (6/4/2025)

• Chimborazo Day
• Impersonate Authority Day
• Love Conquers All Day
• National Chocolate Macaroon Day
• National Egg Day
• National Itch Day
• Repeat Day (I said “Repeat Day”)
• World Bicycle Day
• World Clubfoot Day
• Bedbug Awareness Week
• Black Single Parents Week
• Canadian Environment Week
• End Mountain Top Removal Week
• National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month
• National Portuguese Heritage Month
• National Pollinators Month
• National Soul Food Month
• National Candy Month

Links and References: 

1. https://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/history-of-cosmetics/
2. https://www.si.edu/spotlight/health-hygiene-and-beauty/make-up
3. https://lmi.edu/blog/4000-yrs-of-makeup-the-evolution-of-makeup/
4. https://www.lebube.com/post/psychology-behind-makeup
5. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-truth-about-exercise-addiction/201606/the-surprising-psychology-behind-makeup
6. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8956164/
7. https://people.howstuffworks.com/about-makeup.htm
8. https://www.iceman.it/en/the-mummy/ 
9. https://cosmeticsbusiness.com/the-story-of-war-paint-206037 
10. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/no-makeup-week-chicago-wr_n_735467 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.

Support our podcast: www.patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast