The Psychology of ‘Animal Crossing,’ How a Failed Death Ray Led to Radar, and Intrusive Thoughts Explained

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Science

4.6 • 964 Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2020

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Learn about how radar technology came from a failed attempt to build a death ray; how self-regulation helps you handle intrusive thoughts; and why self-determination theory might explain why the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons is so incredibly popular.

How failing to build a “death ray” led to the invention of radar by Cameron Duke

2.009 Product Engineering Processes: Archimedes. (2019). Mit.edu. https://web.mit.edu/2.009/www/experiments/deathray/10_ArchimedesResult.html
Archaeology and Ground Penetrating Radar. (2019). US Radar. https://usradar.com/gpr-ground-penetrating-radar-applications/archaeology/
Dvorsky, G. (2012, August 20). How Britain’s Failed Attempt to Develop a “Death Ray” Changed the Course of World War II. io9. https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-britains-failed-attempt-to-develop-a-death-ray-chan-5936231
Christensen, B. (2005, October 24). Radar as Death Ray? Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/435-radar-death-ray.html
Archimedes Death Ray | MythBusters. (2020). Discovery. https://go.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/full-episodes/archimedes-death-ray
Clark, J. (2008, September 29). What was Archimedes’ death ray? HowStuffWorks. https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/archimedes-death-ray.htm

Intrusive thoughts by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Guillermo in Miami)

Schmitz, T. W., Correia, M. M., Ferreira, C. S., Prescot, A. P., & Anderson, M. C. (2017). Hippocampal GABA enables inhibitory control over unwanted thoughts. Nature Communications, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00956-z
Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2007). Self-Regulation, Ego Depletion, and Motivation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1(1), 115–128. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00001.x
DeWall, N. (2014). Self-control: Teaching students about their greatest inner strength. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/ptn/2014/12/self-control
Impulsivity. (2009, September 15). Goodtherapy.org. https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/impulse-control-disorders

Self-determination theory may be why everyone is enjoying Animal Crossing so much by Steffie Drucker

Dr. Pete Etchells. (2020, May 29). Why are so many people playing Animal Crossing? BBC Science Focus Magazine; BBC Science Focus Magazine. https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/why-are-so-many-people-playing-animal-crossing/
Cherry, K. (2013, September 20). Self-Determination Theory and Motivation. Verywell Mind; Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-determination-theory-2795387
Theory – selfdeterminationtheory.org. (2020). Selfdeterminationtheory.org. https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/theory/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from
0:04.8	Curiosity.com. I'm Cody Gough. And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today you learn about how
0:09.2	radar technology came from a failed attempt to build a death ray.
0:14.0	Then we'll answer a listener question about intrusive thoughts.
0:17.0	You'll also learn how a concept in psychology might explain why the video game Animal Crossing is so incredibly popular.
0:24.0	Let's satisfy some curiosity.
0:26.0	In the 1930s, Britain tried to build a death ray.
0:30.0	I'm not joking. That's literally what they called it and is a good thing they failed
0:35.3	not only because it means we don't live in a world where death rays are a thing
0:39.7	but because that failure also led to a success, the invention of radar.
0:44.4	Here's how it happened.
0:46.2	At the time, Britain was in a tight spot.
0:49.2	Fascism was on the rise in Nazi Germany and war seemed inevitable. In past battles,
0:55.5	Britain's surrounding seas gave it a unique advantage, but new aerial technology was changing the game.
1:01.4	They needed new defenses. The British government put tons of
1:05.8	ideas into developments including but not limited to a way to use energy to zap
1:11.4	approaching planes out of the sky.
1:14.0	Even at the time the idea of a death ray was already in the public consciousness.
1:19.0	The Greek mathematician Archimedes was said to have built the first death ray by using mirrors to burn oncoming warships.
1:25.8	There's a great Mythbusters episode where they test that by the way.
1:29.6	And H.G. Wells wrote about alien heat rays in 1898.
1:34.2	So the idea was nothing new when an unsettling rumor began to spread saying that Nazis
	...

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