5 ms·
Why are yawns contagious in the first place? (i.e. human to human)
by nomilk 1y ago
Why are yawns contagious in the first place? (i.e. human to human)
- 4gotunameagain 1y agoMany different proposed causes listed in the wikipedia article.
- JadeNB 1y agoAlso a brief survey in the linked Scientific Reports article.
- smokel 1y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yawn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yawn Not mentioned in the Wikipedia article, but in a referenced article [2]: "Another puzzling phenomenon is that some male animals, men included, yawn in association with penile erection" [2] https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3076713 https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3076713
- willis936 1y agoNot an answer but an expansion on the question: yawns are contagious among mammals. If you watch your cat yawn you're more likely to yawn and vice versa.
- safeimp 1y agoNot only mammals (hence, this post). Read about it, mammals will yawn when other non-mammals yawn.
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- lupusreal 1y agoWell, the android is roughly mimicking a mammal. But more to that point, I've seen snakes yawn, and I then yawned. Reptiles generally seem to yawn and I'd bet they yawn when they see mammals yawn too.
- dinkblam 1y ago> I've seen snakes yawn if a see a snake (yawning or otherwise) i'll definitely not yawn. puking, screaming or running would be more likely.
- lupusreal 1y agoAww, snakes are cute though. You should think about spending some time around some docile snakes to challenge your aversion. Even through a glass tank wall, so you can feel rationally safe.
- e40 1y agoI always heard it was synchronization of sleep cycles.
- dboreham 1y agoGuess: one of the emergent properties of LLM-like systems is mimicry.
- brulard 1y agoI read that sociopaths are immune from this
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- david422 1y agoMythbusters did an episode on this https://www.discovery.com/shows/mythbusters/episodes/is-yawning-contagious https://www.discovery.com/shows/mythbusters/episodes/is-yawn... IIRC, it wasn't that contagious.
- blackoil 1y agoI remember yawn as a result of lack of oxygen and need for a deep breath. Maybe it was some reaction among animals where they breath even if not feeling lack of oxygen.
- yard2010 1y agoI would say "mirror neurons". Also, primates are naturally selected to act mutually. Whoever didn't do so lost the tribe and died. That's just high me thinking though.
- serial_dev 1y agoI was just reading the headline and started yawning.
- dgfitz 1y agoI don’t think they’re contagious. When everybody is bored and tired in the same room, they yawn. Occam’s razor.
- SpectraLeper 1y agoThis presentation from BAHFest has always stuck with me as the "real" explanation: https://youtu.be/yh0XUZjRhO8?si=q9WNbCkEeMC-fuPp https://youtu.be/yh0XUZjRhO8?si=q9WNbCkEeMC-fuPp
- nadermx 1y agoThis was glorious.
- ninetyninenine 1y agoIt even is contagious through text. I read your comment and then literally yawned.
- evulhotdog 1y agoI yawned because I read this comment.