Things That Make Us Uniquely Human

We are the only animals that cry tears of emotion. Scientists say when we do we release bad hormones and proteins from our body that build up during times of stress. That’s why we say we had “a good cry”.

Why do we kiss? Why don’t we bump elbows? Or feel each others ears? There’s a bunch of things we could do, but we kiss because there are chemicals in our breath and saliva that signal to someone else if we might make a good biological partner. You get a pretty good idea if you’d like to venture further based on kissing someone.

It’s natural for our body to grow hair, but we insist on shaving. Most men shave their faces. Women find all kinds of places to shave. Armpit hair and public hair tends to trap the odors that attract a mate. But in this day and age we shave to get rid of those smells and depend on other things to attract a mate.

One trait we share with monkeys and gorillas is that we laugh and smile. Why do we do it? Think about it. We’re letting out these short, loud breaths to signal an emotion. Scientists think it’s the same as panting. Dogs pant. When do they do that? When they’re anticipating something they enjoy, like going for a walk. So when you see your dog pant – it’s about the same thing as laughing.

For this one I guess you really have to be in shape. I’m not so sure I could do this anymore even if I wanted to. And I’m not sure how you’d verify this, but 15 percent of Americans bite their toes and toenails. Let’s just let that sink in for a moment. Alright, take a breath and let’s move on.

If you live in the city – you’ll likely have thicker, longer nose hairs than people from the country – to filter out all the soot, smoke and contaminants.

Most of the dust in homes is dried, flaked off skin. We inhale about 700,000 of our own skin flakes everyday.