A Cats Purr
Is there anything more symbolic of domesticated contentment than the purr of a cat? If there is we haven’t heard of it. If you have a cat then you know just how content your kitty is when they are purring and there is little more rewarding for a cat owner than to bask in the love of an adoring cat. Yet, this simple act of purring has kept scientists on the edge of pulling out their hair for as long as they’ve been studying our feline friends. Scientists today cannot figure out how exactly cats manufacture their purring. Scientists to this day don’t have a solid answer down but the leading hypothesis is that cats use the vocal folds in their larynx in order to create the vibrating sounds we interpret as purrs. Why do domesticated cats all choose to do this? No idea.
Cats Purr
The Placebo Effect
If you are a child of the ’90s then the most iconic ‘placebo effect’ moment occurred in the Michael Jordan/Looney Toons crossover Space Jam. In that film our cartoon heroes drink from a bottle labeled ‘Special Stuff’ and then they are suddenly able to defeat the vile MonStars in a game of basketball along with the help of Bill Murray and Michael Jordan (oh weren’t the ’90s incredible?). The thing is, the placebo effect is real and has been shown to repeatedly occur in controlled tests by leading scientific studies. As long as your brain believes that your medication will work then it likely will. Pretty crazy right? It seems like our brain is willing our body to heal through the power of our faith in a sugar filled dummy pill. The craziest thing of all is this: even when we realize that it is just a placebo, the effect continues to work. The placebo effect isn’t just restricted to pills either as it can be found widespread in your life.
Michael Jordan
