# 10 Human Oddities (some very interesting) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2008, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032 "2008-07-19T08:33:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/1 "2008-07-19T08:33:24Z")
[10 Human Oddities](http://www.oddee.com/item_91848.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/2 "2008-07-19T10:12:54Z")
1. Mind-boggling. 2. Truly amazing. What a remarkable young man. 3. Rubber-freak. 4. How is this possible? 5. Superhuman freak. 6. That must come in handy! 7. Shouldn’t he be dead? I thought we absolutely needed sleep? 8. Outright freak. 9. Animal magnetism. 10. Goggle-eyed freak. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/3 "2008-07-19T12:18:00Z")
1. Once a member of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow & the only act on the tape that my brother (who hates needles) had trouble watching. (I had a bit of trouble watching Matt “The Tube” Crowley do his stomach-pump/bile-beer trick.) ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/4 "2008-07-19T13:36:17Z")
The Rubberboy: > [@](#): > > He dislocates his arms to crawl through an unstrung tennis racquet. _Yawn_… call me when he crawls through a strung tennis racket. Number 4 Mr, EatAll, shouldn´t that be on the doper´s picture thread? I think Mr. Liew Thow Lin just has really sticky sweat. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/5 "2008-07-19T14:44:27Z")
I hate lists like these. Selection is arbitrary and subjective. (See others on the sidebar - “20 Ugliest Celebrities”, “15 Stupidest Warning Labels”, etc.) Worse, fact-checking is just simply nonexistent. Still, there are a few gems in this list, though you need to dig. My reactions: 1. Daniel Tammet’s painting of the first twenty digits of pi can be seen at [his website](http://www.optimnem.co.uk/artwork.php). The sheer awesomeness of it probably kept it from being linked to from this list. 2. This kid is remarkable, but not unique. (IIRC, Ray Charles rode a bike blind as a kid.) “He’s the only person in the world who sees using nothing but eco location, like a sonar or a dolphin.” - anyone who’s read Douglas Adams’ and Mark Carwardine’s _Last Chance to See_ got a vivid demonstration of an _entire community_ of people using echolocation: the daily bicycle commuters in a packed Chinese city, madly ringing their bells. 3. Is this _really_ a magnetic effect, or another kind of phenomenon? I’m guessing there’s pictures his family desperately keeps from the press, of the dude sticking non-ferrous items to his body. 4. Instant reality TV show: give this guy a room with [Wiley Brooks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiley_Brooks#Wiley_Brooks). Have them watched for a week straight. First one who reveals himself to be a fake loses. (I’m betting neither makes it past 48 hours.) 5. I had a buddy in high school who pierced his own ear, using a paperclip. We didn’t perform “scientific tests” on him, but our general consensus was (a) it hurt like a sonofabitch, and (b) recreational chemicals can go a long way towards dulling pain, even if consumed when no one is watching. I’d give this list a pass if it was on [cracked.com](http://cracked.com), but only because their writing tends more toward “funny and smart” than [oddee.com](http://oddee.com)’s does. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/6 "2008-07-19T15:09:04Z")
What about the ten most stupid lists in the world? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/7 "2008-07-19T17:50:23Z")
Did anyone else think of that dead "[bear whisperer"](http://www.shewolfworks.com/wolfsong/news/Alaska_current_events_815.htm) when they saw the “lion whisperer?” ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/8 "2008-07-19T17:56:51Z")
If you’re into human oddities, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat [Amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Mistook-His-Wife/dp/0684853949/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216489938&sr=1-1) is one of the most interesting reads of my life. I couldn’t put it down. The author, Oliver Sacks, is the guy that Robin Williams’ character in _Awakenings_ is loosely based on. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/9 "2008-07-19T18:35:52Z")
[QUOTE=Subway Prophet] 6. Is this _really_ a magnetic effect, or another kind of phenomenon? [/QUOTE] From the photo, it appears to be at least partially a “leaning back very carefully” phenomenon. I suspect it’s the same basic principle used by kids to hang a spoon from the end of their nose. I also can’t help but notice that they don’t actually include a picture of him dragging a car around by a chain magnetically adhesed to his abdomen, like the caption alleges. You’d think that would be a more dramatic image than flatware dangling precariously from his grandpa dewlaps. I like the upbeat attitude of the cartoon-eyed Brazilian guy: “I can pop my eyes out four centimetres each, it is a gift from God, I feel blessed.” ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/10 "2008-07-19T19:09:32Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] If you’re into human oddities, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat [The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales: Sacks, Oliver: 9780684853949: Amazon.com: Books](http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Mistook-His-Wife/dp/0684853949/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216489938&sr=1-1) is one of the most interesting reads of my life. I couldn’t put it down. The author, Oliver Sacks, is the guy that Robin Williams’ character in _Awakenings_ is loosely based on. [/QUOTE] Totally irrelevant personal fact: I met Oliver Sacks at a cocktail party a few months ago. He was very nice, even to the woman with me who kept saying “Oh, my God, do you like know you are Oliver Sacks?” He and I exchanged eye-rolls. ---
**Author:** ![tirial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@tirial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tirial)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/11 "2008-07-19T19:26:35Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] From the photo, it appears to be at least partially a “leaning back very carefully” phenomenon. I suspect it’s the same basic principle used by kids to hang a spoon from the end of their nose. [/QUOTE] I’m a little sceptical of the magnetisim claim. Here’s a [link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9YXKypQ-fg) to James Randi on a show with a gentleman who claimed something similar. He failed Randi’s test. Apparently its done using sweat. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/12 "2008-07-20T00:30:22Z")
[QUOTE=tirial] Apparently its done using sweat. [/QUOTE] I was going to suggest the Casimir effect\*, but I guess sticky sweat could do the trick as well. I wonder how much starch the guy eats in a given day. - on the basis that it makes just as much sense as a magnetized body ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/13 "2008-07-20T00:34:07Z")
[QUOTE=Subway Prophet] I was going to suggest the Casimir effect [/QUOTE] So, he would repel objects in the Southern Hemisphere? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/14 "2008-07-20T00:38:14Z")
A [National Geo article on memory](http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/11/memory/foer-text) a few months back profiled a 41 year old woman called “AJ” who remembers every day of her life for the past 30 years- literally, every day of her life. If you ask her what she did on October 15, 1982 she’ll tell you who she talked to, what she ate, what she watched on TV (one of the things you can verify- not just that she watched _Gimme a Break_ [or whatever- no idea what was on that night] but which episode it was and what the commercials were). She’s been tested for accuracy and it’s believed she has the best memory on earth- and she’s not autistic or an otherwise impaired savant but a normal functioning human being who just doesn’t forget anything. > [@](#): > > “My memory flows like a movie—nonstop and uncontrollable,” says AJ. She remembers that at 12:34 p.m. on Sunday, August 3, 1986, a young man she had a crush on called her on the telephone. She remembers what happened on Murphy Brown on December 12, 1988. And she remembers that on March 28, 1992, she had lunch with her father at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She remembers world events and trips to the grocery store, the weather and her emotions. Virtually every day is there. She’s not easily stumped. She’s contrasted with an 85 year old man who has big holes in his brain due to syphilis and remembers with clarity his life before 1960 including his WW2 experience, his marriage til then, etc., but nothing between 1960 and things that happened a few moments ago. In his mind when he wakes up each morning he’s 38 years old (though in an 85 year old body he can’t explain) and each day his caretakers, who he sees everyday, have to introduce themselves to him as he can’t remember them from the night before- sometimes he can’t remember them from earlier in the day, ala _Memento_ and _50 First Dates_. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/15 "2008-07-20T00:41:52Z")
[QUOTE=Ale] Number 4 Mr, EatAll, shouldn´t that be on the doper´s picture thread? [/QUOTE] Hehe. No relation. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/16 "2008-07-20T04:49:53Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] So, he would repel objects in the Southern Hemisphere? [/QUOTE] No, he attracts kitchen sinks and toilet bowls. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/17 "2008-07-24T01:14:25Z")
[QUOTE=pseudotriton ruber ruber] Totally irrelevant personal fact: I met Oliver Sacks at a cocktail party a few months ago. He was very nice, even to the woman with me who kept saying “Oh, my God, do you like know you are Oliver Sacks?” He and I exchanged eye-rolls. [/QUOTE] Wow. Just wow… ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/18 "2008-07-24T02:48:52Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Wow. Just wow… [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/19 "2008-07-24T08:54:28Z")
I liked the Lion Whisperer, he looked like he was having a great time with the big kitties. I’m tempted to use that pic of him kissing a lion on the nose as my desktop. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032/20 "2008-07-24T13:15:28Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Did anyone else think of that dead "[bear whisperer"](http://www.shewolfworks.com/wolfsong/news/Alaska_current_events_815.htm) when they saw the “lion whisperer?” [/QUOTE] Yeah, I saw that show about the “man-who-plays-with-dangerous-big-cats” not too long ago, and kept thinking about the ultimate fate of the “bear whisperer” myself. I hope not, but the guy is really pushing his luck! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-human-oddities-some-very-interesting/457032.md?page=2)