Summary
Learn about the defensive benefits of mucus, the origins of disgust, the disturbing source of tropical beaches, and the benefits of changing sex, all on this episode of Species.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What is disgust? What makes something disgusting? How is it that we live in a world where some objects and situations just make our stomachs turn? |
| 0:13.2 | Well, disgust, like all emotions, is the product of evolution. Humans and other animals evolved feelings to incentivize and disincentivize |
| 0:23.6 | various behaviors and experiences. And disgust is a feeling with a very specific function. It keeps you |
| 0:32.5 | from getting sick. Think about the things we find disgusting across all cultures. Rotten food, signs of infection, |
| 0:42.4 | being unclean, animals like rats and fleas, vomit, dead bodies, gore, mucus, feces. |
| 0:52.4 | Think for a moment. What do all of these things have in common? |
| 0:58.2 | They all have the potential to get you sick. |
| 1:02.9 | All of the things I listed are either vectors for diseases or the means of transmission. |
| 1:10.5 | And so your body evolved the ability to tell you, hey, that stuff's gross. |
| 1:18.0 | Don't eat it. |
| 1:18.8 | Don't touch it. |
| 1:19.7 | Stay away from it. |
| 1:21.5 | You might think of disgust as a prehistoric public health initiative. |
| 1:26.4 | And it's quite a powerful one. Even the concept of things |
| 1:30.8 | like gore, mucus, vomit, and feces, even the concept of these things is enough to revile you. |
| 1:36.7 | I'm sure at least three of you stopped listening to this podcast because you don't even want to think |
| 1:41.8 | about it. The idea that any of the things that I just listed could be something other than disgusting |
| 1:48.7 | is a little strange. |
| 1:51.8 | The idea that they might be beautiful? |
| 1:55.5 | Well, that's nothing short of insane. |
| 1:58.4 | And yet the animal we're talking about today makes not one of the things on this list, but two of insane. And yet the animal we're talking about today makes not one of the things on this |
| 2:03.7 | list, but two of them beautiful. The Queen Parrot Fish, Scaris Vitula. I'm Mackin, this is |
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