# The human body's ability to adapt is amazing... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 22, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038 "2010-12-22T04:08:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/21 "2010-12-23T17:03:43Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > It was an interesting story and there is no reason not to believe it is a true one. Actually, there are many reasons to believe it is not a true story, namely that human bodies in general do not adapt like that. It may be true, but by default I would lean towards a mistake by your friend or a misunderstanding of what happened. It’s hard to accept the story at face value because it’s contrary to our knowledge of the human body. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/22 "2010-12-23T19:56:11Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Actually, there are many reasons to believe it is not a true story, namely that human bodies in general do not adapt like that… It’s hard to accept the story at face value because it’s contrary to our knowledge of the human body. Adapt like what? What knowledge do we have that precludes this from happening? Specifically? Because I didn’t run across any studies or other information indicating that this had ever been tested or studied, so on what basis would you say that? Don’t people adapt to all kinds of conditions? It’s not like I said he sprouted wings and flew. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/23 "2010-12-23T20:10:29Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Adapt like what? What knowledge do we have that precludes this from happening? Specifically? Because I didn’t run across any studies or other information indicating that this had ever been tested or studied, so on what basis would you say that? Don’t people adapt to all kinds of conditions? It’s not like I said he sprouted wings and flew. Not to be presumptuous, but well…are you a doctor, or in the medical field? If so, I apologize, but if not, are you really going to expect to come across every related case or study? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/24 "2010-12-23T21:39:01Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Not to be presumptuous, but well…are you a doctor, or in the medical field? If so, I apologize, but if not, are you really going to expect to come across every related case or study? Huh? I’m not the one saying that 'we know" XYZ, I think that should be directed at the people who are. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/25 "2010-12-23T21:39:59Z")
I’m saying that just because you haven’t run across other studies saying that this disorder/condition has ever been studied doesn’t mean they don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/26 "2010-12-24T01:14:23Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I heard this story from a very good friend a very long time ago. > > She had a neighbor, an elderly man, who had made it habit for decades to donate blood on a regular basis. I think it was every 6 weeks. He made the donation without fail, it was just part of his life’s routine. > > Well, there came a time when the blood bank told him they didn’t think he should continue to donate any more because of his age, and after all…decades? He’d done more than his part! > > A little more than six weeks after his last donation, he began to feel ill. I don’t remember the details of his illness, what the symptoms were, only that he was definitely uncomfortable. > > And I also don’t remember how long it took to figure out what was wrong, but I remember very well what it was: he had too much blood! His body had so thoroughly adapted to his regular donation that it “assumed” he would be losing a pint of blood at the regular time and produced an extra pint to replace it! > > Amazing. > > And of course, he went back to his routine! I’m curious as to why this very old story that you can’t remember any of the details to has you suddenly amazed at the body’s ability to adapt. And for the record, it’s complete bull. The body doesn’t decide to pump out an extra pint of blood (or anything for that matter) in anticipation of a rush like a candy corn factory at Halloween. It’s a cute story, but it has no basis in medical fact. ---
**Author:** ![Peeta\_Mellark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Peeta\_Mellark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peeta_Mellark)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/27 "2010-12-24T02:32:50Z")
I cannot for the life of me find reference to it, but I _swear_ this is an urban legend I’ve heard before. The moral of “it’s amazing what a body can adapt to!” and “it happened to a friend of a friend” just fits so perfectly. I haven’t been able to find it on Snopes yet, though. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/28 "2010-12-24T04:44:28Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > I’m curious as to why this very old story that you can’t remember any of the details to has you suddenly amazed at the body’s ability to adapt. > . I never forgot the story, I just felt like sharing it the other day. And you have no idea what is complete bull or not, unless you have knowledge of someone conducting research on it - I’m going to hazard a guess that you don’t. I get the impression that a lot of people hang out with a lot of other people who habitually lie. Or"invent" or “embellish” or whatever you like. How unfortunate for you. I don’t hang out with such people and I am not such a person myself. I remember the key aspects of the story and have for all these years because it was a fascinating story. (Key aspects: voluntary donation on a regular, predictable basis for decades. Stopped due to age, became ill due to excess blood production, returned to donating) If it had been a story about a man with a disease, it would not have been a story at all. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/29 "2010-12-24T04:56:09Z")
I was told a story by a science teacher when I was at high school about a scientist (I seem to recall it was someone famous, though I don’t remember who it was) who took to wearing prism glasses that would invert light before it entered his eye, thus making the image in his retina the right way up. He coped with day to day life for some period of time (a few weeks I think) and then he woke up one morning to find that his vision was normal, his brain had adapted to his upside down world and inverted the image. He took the prism glasses off and hey presto, everything was upside down again. I’m not sure if the story is true but it would be another example of the human body adapting to unusual circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/30 "2010-12-24T05:04:12Z")
It’s not so much that people lie as they’re gullible and ignorant. I’ve heard people tell the “guard dog choking on a robber’s finger” story or the Jamie Lee Curtis is intersex story in all truthfulness. They just don’t know better. ---
**Author:** ![Peeta\_Mellark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Peeta\_Mellark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peeta_Mellark)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/31 "2010-12-24T05:09:15Z")
> [@mittu](#): > > I was told a story by a science teacher when I was at high school about a scientist (I seem to recall it was someone famous, though I don’t remember who it was) who took to wearing prism glasses that would invert light before it entered his eye, thus making the image in his retina the right way up. He coped with day to day life for some period of time (a few weeks I think) and then he woke up one morning to find that his vision was normal, his brain had adapted to his upside down world and inverted the image. He took the prism glasses off and hey presto, everything was upside down again. There was an experiment by Dr. George Stratton along those lines. His results don’t match what you describe, though. His vision remained upside down the entire time he wore the lenses. As soon as he took the glasses off his vision was normal. PDF here: [http://www.cns.nyu.edu/~nava/courses/psych\_and\_brain/pdfs/Stratton\_1896.pdf](http://www.cns.nyu.edu/~nava/courses/psych_and_brain/pdfs/Stratton_1896.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/32 "2010-12-24T05:33:33Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > And you have no idea what is complete bull or not, unless you have knowledge of someone conducting research on it - I’m going to hazard a guess that you don’t. I’ve just conducted research on the matter. My conclusion is that loss of blood on a regular basis does not create a hyper-hematopoietic state upon sudden secession of blood loss, a state which can only be cured by blood letting. My sample size is every woman who has ever lived. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/33 "2010-12-24T06:04:03Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > It’s not so much that people lie as they’re gullible and ignorant. I’ve heard people tell the “guard dog choking on a robber’s finger” story or the Jamie Lee Curtis is intersex story in all truthfulness. They just don’t know better. In any case, this story here carries the faint but distinct odor of glurge. You can’t blame people around here for being skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/34 "2010-12-24T07:26:13Z")
The numerous exclamation points didn’t help anything. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/35 "2010-12-24T07:34:32Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > I’ve just conducted research on the matter. My conclusion is that loss of blood on a regular basis does not create a hyper-hematopoietic state upon sudden secession of blood loss, a state which can only be cured by blood letting. My sample size is every woman who has ever lived. Oh dear… you mean we’ve been losing a pint of blood directly from our circulatory system’s supply all at once inside a couple of hours on a monthly basis? _Holy moly!_ They told me we were just taking 2-4 days to shed the two tablespoons of bloody tissue that our bodies built up inside our uterus’ the month before! Dammit! I hate when that happens! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/36 "2010-12-24T18:49:25Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > In any case, this story here carries the faint but distinct odor of glurge. You can’t blame people around here for being skeptical. Oh, definitely. I was just responding to **Stoid** ’s claim that her friends wouldn’t lie. It does have a very glurgy aftertaste. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/37 "2010-12-24T19:54:39Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > This comes across as one of the dopiest stories I’ve ever heard. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/38 "2010-12-24T21:37:05Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Oh, definitely. I was just responding to **Stoid** ’s claim that her friends wouldn’t lie. It does have a very glurgy aftertaste. Are _ **your** _ friends are a bunch of liars who make things up to talk about? Ew. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/39 "2010-12-24T21:48:25Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Are _ **your** _ friends are a bunch of liars who make things up to talk about? Ew. 😕 No. I didn’t even say your friends were lying. They could be mistaken. Look at all the people who spout off the crap they hear on snopes or who forward on stupid e-mail chain letters. They’re not maliciously spreading information to be jerks (mostly)–they just hear something and without questioning it, spread it on. Dude, the motto of this board is fighting ignorance. Are you really surprised that you posted something and people are responding with skepticism? What are we supposed to say? Your friends are nice, awesome people and thus, whatever you hear from them must be true? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038/40 "2010-12-25T01:32:09Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Dude, the motto of this board is fighting ignorance. Are you really surprised that you posted something and people are responding with skepticism? What are we supposed to say? Your friends are nice, awesome people and thus, whatever you hear from them must be true? My friend was a 50 year old college-educated woman who told me this about her neighbor in 1983. That’s not the same as people sending stupid emails around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-bodys-ability-to-adapt-is-amazing/565038.md?page=3)