Why are yawns contagious?
Who knows? My biology teacher told me that when we were monkeys we displayed our teeth to frighten away predators. And that when someone yawns we see their teeth and instinctively yawn back to protect ourselves.
What do you think?
What do you think?
posted by Grant-Will-Rant at
8:00 PM
3 Comments:
I heard once that a yawn means your brain needs oxygen. I don't know why that would make it contagious though. The monkey thing is an intriguing explanation.
By
mamashine, at 1:32 PM, July 19, 2006
I heard that too. What's funny is that after reading your comment, I yawned. So sometimes just thinking about yawning makes you yawn. But it almost feels like it's your mouth's way of stretching. The contagious thing is still perplexing. I'm waiting for Ollie to way in with his infinite wisdom.
By
Grant-Will-Rant, at 5:56 PM, July 19, 2006
I swear I already posted a comment... but it's not here.
Anyway, short answer: no one knows.
Both the evolutionary relic and physiological theories have been proposed. Neither have been confirmed. Probably due to a chunk of our brain we've not yet mapped.
By
Anonymous, at 6:19 PM, July 19, 2006
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