Ken Jennings (1) (1974–)

via Edelweiss

I'm a longtime reader of Ken Jennings' blog, but I haven't read any of his books, until now. Because I Said So! is one of those rare books that I would recommend to everyone - male or female, young or old, numbers people or word people.

Jennings takes those stock phrases familiar to all, from the patently ridiculous "If you cross your eyes your face will stick that way" to the aggravating "Put on a sweater, I'm cold!" to the seemingly-logical "Don't run with a lollipop in your show more mouth" and investigates them: where and when did they originate, how they have been perpetuated, and whether or not there is any scientific basis for them.

Each "myth" gets about a couple of pages (I had the galley version on my e-reader, so the page numbers were a guess at best), and Jennings' writing is engaging, bright, and funny. Because I Said So! is perfect for those who enjoy Myth Busters and the Ig Nobel Prizes; children (of any age) who wish to say "I told you so!" (or, "Turns out you were right about that...") to their parents; or parents or teachers who care about giving kids factual information instead of questionable old wives' tales. A thoroughly enjoyable (and quick) read.

Quotes:

It is true that when we eat, our body diverts blood to the stomach to aid in digestion, but, as you may have noticed after every meal you ever ate in your life, that doesn't immediately immobilize your arms and legs....Not one water death has ever been attributed to post-meal cramping. (27)

Well, you can't buy Mercurochrome anymore. It turns out the "Mercuro-" part means it's full of mercury! (61)

[In case of a nosebleed] Sit down, tilt your head slightly forward, and keep your head above your heart. (Note to the American Academy of Physicians: This is the normal configuration of a sitting person. Do you treat a lot of circus acrobats?) (67)

It's even easier to see why a parents would endorse this myth: knuckle popping can quickly get annoying, and moms and dads have long sought to squelch annoying little behaviors by linking them to medical threats. This is why I tell my kids that knock-knock jokes cause colon cancer. (83)

Instead of a tumor, they found a two-inch fir tree inside his left lung, evidently growing from an accidentally inhaled seed. "I'm so relieved it's not cancer," [he said], obviously a glass-is-half-full type. (93)

[Re: sucking helium] Because what could be funnier that people with normal voices suddenly sounding like Donald Duck and saying stuff? Nothing. There is nothing funnier. (97)

"Thumb-sucking is bad for you!"
This was an open question back in the 1950s, with psychologists at war against their natural enemies, the dentists. (100)

No, this cockeyed myth is yet another case of parents saying, "That's dangerous!" when they really mean, "Why the hell are you doing that?" (162)

Jabbing a big piece of conductive metal into live, exposed wires is, obviously, problematic, and for much of the twentieth century, toaster electrocution was a not-unheard-of-way to die....But modern safety technology is helping to short-circuit evolution by making it much harder to die via toaster idiocy. (213) show less

I wasn't immediately sold on Jennings' premise but his case for humour proliferation had me be the end. The Chinese Room argument applied to Twitter was particularly stunning. Come for the jokes, get Searle's logic applied to emergent phenomena in social media for free.

As a kid, I pasted my bedroom walls with the maps included in National Geographic issues. I had a globe night light. I loved studying the borders of countries and finding fun place names to try to pronounce. Despite all of this, I was nowhere near as big a maphead as Ken Jennings and the people he introduces his readers to in this wonderful and fascinating book. I especially loved the parts about the National Geographic Bee and geo-caching and the map collection at the National Archives. show more There is so much interesting stuff included, even for someone who maybe was never into maps or eventually outgrew the love (I do still maintain an affection for them). Jennings has a lovely, warm writing style and his many humorous asides and footnotes are worth the time on their own. I read this over several days, one or two chapters each morning, and it was always a great way to start my day. show less

If you haven't read anything by Ken Jennings, please do because the man is absolutely hilarious (his twitter is definitely a must-follow). Here, he examines the "Mom-and-Dadisms" like "Don't swallow gum or it'll sit in your stomach for 7 years!" or "If you touch a butterfly's wings they will DIE!" and see how truthful they actually are. He checks his sources and is SUPER witty- and also asked reddit for suggestions of myths to follow, actually using about 20 from that thread and sending the show more contributing redditors free copies.

srsly, Ken Jennings is probably one of my favorite Mormons. show less