Do you ever feel like you and a friend are speaking past each other?

Or that you're not sure how to break out of a rut?

I'm Shankar Vedantam, host of the podcast Hidden Brain.

We explore questions that keep you up at night

and provide answers that are grounded in rigorous science.

Join us each week to explore your Hidden Brain.

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Hey Smarty Pants, let me ask you something.

Has this ever happened to you, you're in your room, minding your own business,

when your mother or father or grandma or grandpa comes in and says,

Holy sweat socks, it smells like an old gymnasium in here.

To which you say,

What are you talking about?

I don't smell anything.

To which they say,

You need to get your nose checked. It smells so bad. I can practically see it.

Look, and there's rotten food under your bed.

There's a small tree growing out of that cup that's been sitting on your desk for three months.

...