# Ah-choo!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-choo/9181>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 25, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-choo/9181 "2000-03-25T19:02:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-choo/9181/1 "2000-03-25T19:02:00Z")

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Is it really impossible to sneeze without closing your eyes? I’ve heard it is, and I can’t.

What would be the biological/evolutionary advantage to this? Sneezing causes you to propel spittle, snot, etc. out and away from yourself, not up into your eyes.

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“Nothing is so firmly believed as what is least known” - Michel Gyquem de Montaigne

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-choo/9181/2 "2000-03-25T19:18:00Z")

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I don’t think that we have to have an evolutionary advantage for every feature of the human body. (Think–briefly–of men’s nipples.)

I would guess that the muscles that are called upon to execute the sneeze simply have a secondary effect that results in squeezing shut the eyes.

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Tom~

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**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-choo/9181/3 "2000-03-25T19:29:00Z")

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[QUOTE]  
Originally posted by tomndebb:  
\*\*I don’t think that we have to have an evolutionary advantage for every feature of the human body. (Think–briefly–of men’s nipples.)

\*\*[/QUOTE}

Men’s nipples do have an evolutionary advantage. Think–very briefly-- pacifier.  
Peace,  
mangeorge

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-choo/9181/4 "2000-03-25T19:34:00Z")

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While that is very definitely a way to pacify one’s wife, I’m not sure that that qualifies as an evolutionary advantage since a great many men do not employ them in that manner.

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Tom~

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**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-choo/9181/5 "2000-03-25T20:03:00Z")

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## The Master on [sneezing with one’s eyes open](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_304.html) and on [nipples on men](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_093.html) .

[Change Your Password, Please](http://204.95.48.199/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getannounce&ForumNumber=3&Start=2451545.99&End=2451911&Session=2451598.1854) and don’t use HTML, as it has been disabled, but you can learn about superscripts [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000795.html)

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**Author:** ![Phil\_Saoud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@Phil\_Saoud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phil_Saoud)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-choo/9181/6 "2000-03-26T14:25:00Z")

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I think Manhattan’s post has answered the original question but I have another question.

Does your heart stop when you sneeze?

Many people have told me this and now I’m starting to wonder, is there any proof of this or is it (as I assume) a lot of nonsense?

(Hey, whatever happened to Manny anyway?)