• @[email protected]
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    22 years ago

    I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not the human that instigates the yawn at all, and it’s initiated by the lung microbiome to regulate its environment.

    For science: anyone up for huffing some chlorine to see if their yawning goes away?

  • Nougat
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    682 years ago

    Reading the title of this post made me yawn.

  • @[email protected]
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    2 years ago

    I watched a video a couple years ago where they did an experiment with chimps. I thought they concluded that the “cantagious” yawning has to deal with the animals empathy and wanting to be like others, it was a social thing in pretty sure. I have no idea where to even find this video though so take that with a grain of salt

    • frozen
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      102 years ago

      Mythbusters rated contagious yawns as plausible, I believe, because they observed multiple instances of yawns spreading throughout a building where the participants couldn’t see each other.

      • @[email protected]
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        22 years ago

        Its all pretty interesting to think about honestly! Hopefully we get an actual answer instead of just speculation!

  • Flying Squid
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    142 years ago

    I used to have a dog that would yawn with a little whine whenever she was frustrated. It was adorable.

    • digitalgadget
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      22 years ago

      That’s pretty common among cats and dogs. Sometimes the clever ones will hide a bite they decided against at the last second with a yawn, too.

      • Flying Squid
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        42 years ago

        It wasn’t silent, that’s part of what made it so cute. She whined while yawning.

        • @[email protected]
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          32 years ago

          Yeah mine does it too, but the scream is so quiet compared to how wide his mouth is… It looks like he should be screaming a lot louder but it’s just this little squeak

  • Nate
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    72 years ago

    I yawned as this was scrolling into view wtf

  • uphillbothways
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    2 years ago

    Seems like if you read between the lines, there’s a certain commonality in increased respiration/alertness, stress response and showing of teeth that solves a common need across species. When a subject recognizes a lack of alertness, a present threat or the need for aggressive action in the near future, a yawn can help prepare for that while also giving pause to those who might be threats and/or potentially paralyzing prey. The failure in consensus here appears, to me, an inability to describe those seemingly disparate needs as related to the physiology that drives them. Not a lack of understanding, so much as a deficiency in perlocution.

    • @[email protected]
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      402 years ago

      Ay yo so I was bout to tell you how that’s all wrong, but then you go throwin out words like “perlocution” and now I realize you probly know what the fuck is up, so I’m just gonna trust.

    • @[email protected]
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      42 years ago

      I’ve read that people with autism are less likely to catch a yawn. Not sure if that’s true.

      I’ve taken meds that caused uncontrollable yawning. That’s super annoying!

      • rich
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        52 years ago

        I can say that’s absolutely false, for me at least. I yawn all the fucking time

        • Flying Squid
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          12 years ago

          Yes, but can you catch a yawn from someone else? That’s the claim about autism, that someone else yawning does not tend to make people on the spectrum yawn. I have no idea whether or not that is true.

          • rich
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            2 years ago

            It’s absolute bollocks, I’m autistic and I’ve always had to curse out co workers for making me yawn or cough after they do. First I’ve ever heard of this claim.

            Reading this post actually made me yawn too! Just by even thinking of it. I have never actually even thought about it I’m depth until your post, it’s just a totally natural reaction to me.

              • rich
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                32 years ago

                It is a spectrum though! Others may have the issue, for sure. It’s like I have the issue with eye contact, more than some people but less than others.

      • @[email protected]
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        12 years ago

        You’re thinking of psychopathy.

        A true psychopath (someone with no real empathy) will not catch a yawn as it requires an empathetic response

  • NumbersCanBeFun
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    82 years ago

    I guess it’s just a biological indicator to remind you that you’re tired. In modern life people don’t usually find their jobs exciting. We were hunter and gatherers a few thousand years back and I bet they didn’t yawn as much hunting prey. Maybe when sewing or making clay pots. Of which I am smoking a lot of currently. What were we taking about again?

    • @[email protected]
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      12 years ago

      The big one for me is night watch, if you’re on watch and notice yourself yawning then you know that it’s time to wake someone else to take over, because if you fall asleep that’s very dangerous.

      • NumbersCanBeFun
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        12 years ago

        When I was in the military I used to hold my duty flashlight right in front of me with my arm extended. That way if I fell asleep the flashlight would hit the ground and wake me up.

        Also hot sauce under the tongue helps a bit.

  • @[email protected]
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    102 years ago

    i thought it was to clear out carbon dioxide build up deep in your lungs, and instinctually its an indicator of rest?

    • @[email protected]
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      22 years ago

      It seems most sensible to me that it serves a bunch of uses: clearing the lungs, alerting yourself and others that you’re tired and probably need someone else to take over, social bonding, spooking predators…

    • @[email protected]
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      42 years ago

      I always thought it was due to clearing the lungs out or to regulate them but then I saw a turtle yawn under water. I then thought it’s ancestors wouldn’t have been swimmers so maybe it’s instinctive still, but then it would need a mechanism to prevent water inhalation. So why retain the yawn.

      Perhaps as you say it’s more about visual communication to others around you.

    • @[email protected]
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      52 years ago

      As someone with asthma and lowered ability to cycle out CO2, yawning has always helped me restore the “full” feeling and your comment just made everything snap into place.

      The primary driver of suffocation panic, pain, and feeling of air starvation isn’t the lack of oxygen but CO2 buildup. It makes sense that yawning on command could then help alleviate the symptoms of CO2 buildup in asthma sufferers.

      • nomad
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        32 years ago

        Might be a group protection mechanism to indicate low oxigen in crammed spaces qith many individuals. In addition to that could be a geoup trigger for rest.