Mirror neurons – Why you yawn or smile back when someone does it?

Ever wondered why you smile at others back when you see someone smiling at you? Ever thought about why you yawn whenever you see someone does it? Sometimes when you see a stranger hit their toe on something, you might have flinched. You might be watching a cricket match on TV, and when the batsman…

The Glass Delusion – A disorder that makes us think we are made of glass

There was a strange delusion going on mainly during the late Middle Ages and early modern ages (15th to 17th centuries). It was a regularly recorded condition and it is an unusual psychiatric disorder. The disorder is called Glass delusion. People with this disorder believed that their whole body or part of their body was…

Tip of the tongue syndrome – Why words get stuck on the Tip of the tongue?

Sometimes we may forget the word for something but can’t remember it, even though we almost know the word. We may recall the sounds, colors, and meanings associated with it, but not the exact word. This inability to retrieve a word from memory is called Tip of the tongue syndrome. It is a psychological phenomenon…

Benjamin Franklin effect – Want to be a super likable person?

Benjamin Franklin effect is named after Benjamin Franklin who was one of the founding fathers of the United States. According to this effect, if you ask someone a favor, you are more likely to get it, if they have already done a favor for you. Benjamin Franklin This applies even, the person who gives favors…

Why do you act dumb to avoid tasks? – Strategic Incompetence

Have you avoided unpleasant tasks by acting dumb? Have you faked illness to avoid doing some tasks? Have you felt someone pretending to be bad at doing dishes or laundry? Jared Sandberg of Wall Street in his journal refers to this phenomenon as strategic incompetence. It is the art of avoiding certain tasks by pretending…

What is call of the void – lappel du vide

Have you ever been up somewhere high, looked down, and had the urge to jump? This signal happens quickly and goes away without even realizing why. Strange right? 30% of people experience it at least once. This phenomenon is called the call of the void, or l'appel du vide in French. It is the weird…

Why do we forget things when entering a room – The doorway effect

Sometimes, you might open the fridge only to realize why you opened it. Or ran to the bedroom to get something and forgot why you entered the room. This memory gap of forgetting why you entered a room is called "The Doorway Effect". It is a psychological phenomenon and also called as "Event Boundary"or "Location…

Why does a song gets stuck in your head? – Zeigarnik effect

Sometimes a piece of catchy music might stuck in your head continually. Everyone experiences it and it is called as Earworm. Over 90% of people report having it at least once a week. They are also known as brain worm, sticky music, stuck song syndrome, or Involuntary Musical Imagery (IMI). Earworms are involuntary and are…

Blaschko’s Lines – Do humans have stripes like a tiger or zebra?

Most of us like stripes and wondered how beautiful it looked on the tiger or zebra. Well, Humans have stripes too and they are called Blaschko’s Lines. It is named after a German dermatologist Alfred Blaschko who demonstrated these lines in 1901. Don’t take your clothes to check because these lines are invisible under normal…

Welcome To Stuff I Learned!

At Stuff I Learned we share some interesting stuff that we learned about Science, Space, the latest technologies, diseases & disorders, and medical field. This is also a place where you can find some assorted contents about the human body, brain, curious events, physics, biology, and psychology. If you are curious about the above things,…