The video is a discussion on the evolutionary psychology behind the act of kissing. The speaker, Michael, begins by stating that the average person spends about 20,160 minutes of their life kissing and that the world record for the longest, continuous kiss is 58 hours 35 minutes and 58 seconds.
Michael then delves into the reasons behind our fascination with kissing. He explains that kissing feels good and is good for you, burning about 2-3 calories per minute and releasing epinephrine and norepinephrine into the blood, making your heart pump faster. Kissing more often is correlated with a reduction of bad cholesterol and perceived stress.
The speaker then discusses the evolutionary psychology behind kissing, suggesting that what we know today as "kissing" may have come from "kiss-feeding," the exchange of pre-chewed food from one mouth to another. This practice is common among many animals, including mother birds and many primates. In the past, it was common between human mothers and their children, and it provided nutrients that were not always available in breast milk.
Michael then introduces the concept of "Psychic Staring Effect," a phenomenon where people feel watched or observed even when no one is looking at them. He explains that this is due to the fact that humans are highly sensitive to being watched and have impressive gaze-direction networks inside their brains.
The speaker also discusses the concept of "uncertainty" in relation to attachment and love. He mentions an experiment conducted in 1955 by A.E. Fisher on puppies, where the puppies were treated either kindly or punished, and a third group was treated randomly. The puppies in the third group, who were never sure what to expect, grew up to be the most attached and dependent on the researchers.
Finally, Michael suggests that the purpose of a kiss is not just to taste-test a potential mate but also to turn uncertainty into knowledge, which is advantageous in making the best decisions possible. He concludes by encouraging viewers to go out there and kiss someone today.
1. The average person spends about 20,160 minutes of their life kissing.
2. The world record for the longest, continuous kiss is 58 hours, 35 minutes, and 58 seconds.
3. A passionate kiss burns about 2-3 calories per minute and releases epinephrine and norepinephrine into the blood, making your heart pump faster.
4. Kissing more often is correlated with a reduction of bad cholesterol and perceived stress.
5. Pacman's shape was inspired by the shape of a pizza with a slice missing and the Japanese character for "mouth".
6. Evolutionary psychologists argue that what we know today as "kissing" may have come from "kiss-feeding", the exchange of pre-chewed food from one mouth to another.
7. Mother birds are famous for doing "kiss-feeding", and many primates are frequently seen doing it as well.
8. Mouth-to-mouth attachment has a history of intimacy, trust, and closeness.
9. A good kiss can be biological evidence that your kisser might be a good mate.
10. As a strategy for mate selection, pre-historic people who enjoyed kissing and did it more often may have made better decisions, picked better mates, reproduced more successfully, and, eventually, become the norm.
11. Babies can only focus on things about 8-10 inches away from their face which, not surprisingly, is about the distance to their mother's face while breastfeeding.
12. Humans are off the charts when it comes to detecting faces.
13. Our surprisingly white scleras, the area that borders the iris, isn't just an accident, but is a vital piece of human eye morphology that makes it easier for us to ascertain the direction of someone else's gaze at a glance.
14. Our brains contain individual neurons that fire when someone is staring directly at us, but that stop firing if the gaze shifts just a degree or two.
15. The "Psychic Staring Effect" falls within the realm of pseudo-science. No widely-accepted studies have ever found evidence that it exists.
16. Harry Harlow conducted a series of famous experiments on monkeys at the University of Wisconsin in the 1950s, suggesting that warmth and comfort were more important than food when it came to nurturing attachment.
17. In 1955 A.E. Fisher conducted an experiment on puppies, finding that the third group of puppies, who were treated randomly with kindness or punishment and thus lived in a world of uncertainty, wound up being the most attached to the researchers.
18. Uncertainty, psychologically, can lead to some of the greatest feelings of attachment and dependence.
19. Not every person out there is the best mate for you, but if it didn't matter which one you picked, a kiss, a taste-test, wouldn't be necessary, and it wouldn't need to feel so good or bring us so much pleasure.