Something You Should Know
Why We’re Wired to Imitate Others & How to Have a Great Conversation
27 Feb 2025
You probably think raw vegetables are healthier than cooked vegetables. Sometimes they are. But some common veggies get a nutrient boost from the right kind of heat. This episode begins with several of those vegetables and an explanation of how cooking makes them better for you. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/raw-veggies-are-healthier/ Humans are wired to imitate others like no other creature on earth. In fact, almost everything you do today is the result of imitating someone else at some point in your life. But wait! Aren’t we independent thinkers with intelligence and ability to think for ourselves? Yes, but according to my guest the primary way you learn everything is by copying others – from driving a car, writing a letter, eating a meal, everything you’ve learned how to do came from imitating others. Here to explain why this is important to understand is R. Alexander Bentley, Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee and coauthor of the book, I'll Have What She's Having: Mapping Social Behavior (https://amzn.to/4kbT4NK). Your conversational skills are key to your success in every aspect of your life. People like people who speak well. Yet, I suspect no one ever really taught you how to converse. You just do it. Conversation is both an art and a science. And someone who studies it is my guest Alison Wood Brooks, Professor of Business Administration and Hellman Faculty Fellow at the Harvard Business School. She is author of the book TALK: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves (https://amzn.to/4bgzWtF). Listen as she reveals the anatomy of good conversation and what can often go wrong. One of the cool things about a snowfall is how quiet it is afterwards. And it’s not just quiet – it’s a different kind of quiet. Why is that? Listen as I reveal the science of the quiet after a new fallen snow. Source: Kathy Wollard author of How Come (https://amzn.to/3XfrMvN). PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!!! FACTOR: Eat smart with Factor! Get 50% off at https://FactorMeals.com/something50off DELL: Anniversary savings await you for a limited time only at https://Dell.com/deals SHOPIFY: Nobody does selling better than Shopify! Sign up for a $1 per-month trial period at https://Shopify.com/sysk and upgrade your selling today! HERS: Hers is changing women's healthcare by providing access to GLP-1 weekly injections with the same active ingredient as Ozempic and Wegovy, as well as oral medication kits. Start your free online visit today at https://forhers.com/sysk INDEED: Get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING right now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
Today on Something You Should Know, some vegetables actually get healthier when you cook them. I'll tell you which ones. Then, why do you do the things you do?
For a hundred years or even more, we've always assumed that humans are fundamentally rational creatures. And one of the arguments that I've been trying to make is that we are fundamentally social creatures and much of what we do and decide is based on what others around us are doing.
Also, why is it so quiet after a snowfall? Then the fascinating anatomy of a great conversation. It's probably not what you think.
Even in conversations where you walk away feeling like, oh my gosh, that was great. If you look back at the transcript, what you would see is we interrupt each other all the time. There's all kinds of moments of misunderstanding. But there are these moments where you'd say, wow, oh, that felt really good.
All this today on Something You Should Know.
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I'll bet you think, I bet most people think, that eating raw vegetables is healthier than eating cooked vegetables. And while that may be true some of the time, it's not always true. Some vegetables are actually better for you when you cook them. Carrots, for example. Boiling carrots until they're tender boosts their concentration of carotenoids, it's a cancer-fighting compound, by 14%.
However, frying carrots has the opposite effect. Mushrooms. A cup of cooked mushrooms has about twice as much potassium, niacin, zinc, and magnesium than a cup of raw mushrooms. Spinach. Spinach is packed with nutrients, but you will absorb more of the calcium and iron if you cook it first. Asparagus.
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