Archive for July, 2020
Humans cannot wolf down hot dogs as fast as a wolf, scientist calculates
Here at the heart of summer in middle America, hot dogs reign supreme (or at least as co-rulers with hamburgers and brats). Their tubular geometry facilitates ingestion with minimal obstacles as attested by Joey Chestnut—winner again of the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on this year’s Independence day. His new record of 75 consumed in 10 minutes probably approaches the theoretical maximum, according to a statistical study by a veterinarian and human biomechanics researcher.
The author, Professor James Smoliga from High Point University in North Carolina, worked out 83 as the number of hot dogs being humanly possible to eat in such a short time. My hunch is that Chestnut and his fellow competitors will be working-out all year to demolish this ‘Smoliga’ bar.
For all the scientific details see the July 15 Royal Society publication of Modelling the maximal active consumption rate and its plasticity in humans—perspectives from hot dog eating competitions.
“These contests provide each individual with an unlimited, ready-to-consume food supply. Thus, participants can focus all of their efforts on maximizing consumption, rather than investing energy into foraging, chasing prey or competing with others for access to a dwindling supply.”
Dr. James Smoliga speaking on the advantages of human hot-dog eaters at a staged event such as the 2020 Nathans Famous event (check out the wacky hats worn by the spectators—gotta love that mustard!)
Even a glutton for statistics gets choked up by the feast of analysis provided by Smoliga, but I did find the comparison between species very tasty, especially the bit about grizzly bears being on par with humans for active consumption rate (ACR). However, having owned a number of big dogs and seen them demolish entire platters of barbecued meats left within reach, I was not surprised that, per Smoliga’s calculations, a grey wolf can eat meaty foods at more than double the rate of a person.
I suggest putting Smoliga’s speculations to the test at next year’s event: Pit the winner against a wolf and a grizzly for the interspecies champion of hot dog eating.
Being kind pays off—wear a mask for the sake of others and earn positive returns
Posted by mark in Consumer behavior, Uncategorized on July 6, 2020
Last month I reported the positive news that people really do like to help others. I figured it would be best to focus on the kind behavior seen even in the most troubling times of tensions here in Minneapolis and around the world.
Since then the coronavirus flared up across the USA. Despite this, many Americans remain adamant against wearing masks, even though this would be kind to their fellow citizens.
I get it—no one likes to be told what to do and the face coverings create a lot of hot and bother. My approach, being committed to kindness, is to always wear a mask in public indoor spaces while steering clear of anyone going without one, choosing times and stores that provide plenty of maneuvering room.
Two books coming out this month provide some hope that mask-averse people may come around to kindly covering up on Covid-19: Survival of the Friendliest and The Kindness of Strangers. They generated a buzz for kindness that got amplified by the Associated Press last week in their report on Not so random acts: Science finds that being kind pays off.
“Doing kindness makes you happier and being happier makes you do kind acts.”
Economist Richard Layard
For those of you who seek data on why people are kind or unkind, check out Oliver Scott Curry’s Kindlab. I love the graphic showing the scientist measuring the height of the “K: Check it out for laughs! Then follow the link to “doing a kind act has a significant effect on well-being” for results gleaned from 27 experimental studies.
There are some caveats, however. The effects reported by Curry et al are small. Also, the individual studies tend to be underpowered—averaging only about a third of the number of subjects needed to detect effects of interest.
Furthermore, it’s clear from Kindlab and other sources (for example, my prior blog noted at the outset of this post), that many people lack a motivation to be kind.
For example, a twenty-something bar-hopper is very unlikely to wear an unfashionable, drink-inhibiting mask. Why bother to protect his or her peers from a disease that probably won’t kill them anyways (never mind the grandparents).
How can this dangerously unkind behavior be turned around?