Infant Instincts

Compared to any other animal, humans have it pretty bad when it comes to surviving as an infant. While most other mammals are able to run from predators and hunt for food shortly after birth, we humans have to wait at least 8 months to be able to take our first step, and even as adults some of us can't feed ourselves. Even though we seem pretty helpless, all infants have plenty of survival instincts that might surprise you. 

1. Sucking

The very action of sucking is a survival instinct. We are geared to breastfeed from the get-go, and quite often babies are given pacifiers to suck on as a comforting device because the urge to suckle is so strong that the baby will do the action even after they have been fed. Babies will also suck on their fingers and just about anything else to pacify the this need, and sometimes this habit continues after the child has been introduced to solid foods. 

2. Grasp

 

If you put your finger in a baby's palm, they will grasp your finger tightly. Some researchers say that this is a leftover instinct from our ape days of holding on to our mother's hair while maneuvering through trees. Often, a babies grasp is strong enough to briefly hold their own weight.

3. Floating in water

Yup, if a baby falls in water they will instinctively flip on their back and float. PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. Obviously, children can still drown even with these reflexes. According babycenter.com, it is a combination of two reflexes that keep infants from drowning. The "Dive Reflex" is what makes the child hold their breath and open their eyes when submerged, and the "Swimming Reflex" causes the baby to make swimming motions and flip on their back to float. Obviously, you should never try this at home. However, if you are interested in learning more, please visit this website. 

4. Stepping

If held upright, a newborn will make stepping motions when their foot touches a surface. You can see it in a video here. Of course the baby's head is too large for it to be able to walk upright, not to mention the lack of motor skills and muscle power, but its cute to watch them try!  The reflex disappears around four months of age and does not help the baby to learn to walk.

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Weird things I can tell about you just by looking at your body

I'm about to give you some new criteria for your next date. Thank me later. 

1) Checking out his ring finger could be your next cheesy pick up line

Thanks to what's called "The Casanova Pattern." If his ring finger is longer than his index finger, then he was exposed to more testosterone in the womb. Double brownie points if he's a stock trader- in a study done by Cambridge University, male stock traders with longer ring fingers made up to 11 times more than their colleagues. Cha-ching!


2) Ears are for more than just nibblin' on

A Swedish study on more than 520 autopsies found that having a crease on your earlobe had a "positive predictive value" of 68% for coronary disease. If he doesn't have a crease, it doesn't mean that he won't get the disease, but if he does, there's a pretty darn good chance he will.


3) "The Toe"

Shallow Hal may have been wrong. Although having a longer second toe has absolutely no proven implications upon a person's personality, the trait (called Morton's Toe) has long been thought to indicate leadership qualities. It was even idealized by the Greeks, and featured in many of their statues. You may have a problem showing your Morton, but Lady Liberty's got no qualms wearing a thong. (The shoe type)


4) Not just another "Purty Mouth"

Ever realized that you're just staring at someones lips? The philtrum is the divot above your upper lip which creates your "Cupid's Bow." It is a pointless (pun intended) trait that we share with other animals (go check out your dog or cat's nose.) However, according to a study from the University of the West of Scotland, women with a pronounced Bow are 12 times more likely to orgasm during intercourse. I know you were already thinking about that while you were staring.


Now go out and find our biologically perfect soul mate!

Laughing

Why do we laugh?

Why are humans compelled to yell out spastically when we hear a punch line or see someone fall? You've all seen countess hours of laughing baby footage and undoubtedly have laughed along with those chubby wubby cheeks. 

Looks like evolution is to blame for one of our most odd and definitely human characteristics. The area of the brain that controls laughter is our Subcortex, one of the most ancient regions of our brain. This region is also in charge of making you breathe involuntarily throughout the day and has little ability to control those actions, which may explain why my little brother used to pass out when we held him down and tickled him.

But that still doesn't answer why we laugh. Even deaf people who have never heard another person laugh makes the same noises. Turns out that laughing is actually a form of communication. Just look at how contagious laughter is. You can say almost anything with a laugh, you can show someone you like them, you can laugh at them and humiliate them, you can even use it to punctuate a conversation. I use it to show someone that I'm listening to what they're saying, when I'm really just thinking about what I would really do if I saw Ryan Gosling in public.

Laugh a fundamental part of being human, we laugh because someone makes us, we laugh to be accepted socially, and we laugh because it is ingrained deep in our ancestral instincts.