mat@alice.UUCP (03/21/88)
A strange thing I have noticed is that sneezing frequencies or the number of sneezes in a set seem to be constant for two sets of conditions. (please note: these conditions may only be true for me, I haven't asked anyone else yet.) These are as follows: I. Sneezes from pollen or dust come in threes. II. Sneezes from illness come in fours. (Usually the illness sneezes come before other symptoms, then stop once I'm really sick.) Could this have a genetic/physiological or psychological basis? Please e-mail responses as I don't usually read this group. Thanks much! -- Mat Pirz ihnp4!alice!mat Standard Disclaimers(TM) Apply "Hive a nice day!" - Anonomous
cogen@XN.LL.MIT.EDU (David Cogen) (03/23/88)
In article <7756@alice.UUCP> mat@alice.UUCP writes: > I. Sneezes from pollen or dust come in threes. > II. Sneezes from illness come in fours. For myself, sneezes caused by sudden exposure to sunlight always come in twos. That is the only kind of sneeze I regularly experience. I do have occasional isolated single sneezed with no apparent cause. I never sneeze more than twice consecutively. -- |-|-----|-|-----|-| | |David S Cogen| | |-|-----|-|-----|-|
news@santra.UUCP (news) (03/25/88)
In article <939@xn.LL.MIT.EDU> cogen@XN.LL.MIT.EDU (David Cogen) writes: >For myself, sneezes caused by sudden exposure to sunlight always come in twos. Not commenting on how my sneezes come when they do, I would be interested to hear any suggestions why sudden exposure makes you sneeze in the first place. Not having adequate education in physiology I can't think of any reasons for this. Any suggestions ?
howard@pioneer.arpa (Lauri Howard) (04/01/88)
In article <11360@santra.UUCP> s30986u@kaira.UUCP (Martin Olav Helin) writes: }In article <939@xn.LL.MIT.EDU> cogen@XN.LL.MIT.EDU (David Cogen) writes: }}For myself, sneezes caused by sudden exposure to sunlight always come in twos. } }Not commenting on how my sneezes come when they do, I would be interested to }hear any suggestions why sudden exposure makes you sneeze in the first place. I was told it's genetic.
decot@hpisod2.HP.COM (Dave Decot) (04/05/88)
A scenario possibly installing the reflex of sneezing in reaction to sudden
exposure to bright light:
Upon birth, some liquid or other matter was present somewhere within
the one's upper respiratory tract. At the same time, one's eyes
are suddenly exposed very bright lights in the delivery room, and this
discomfort is further complicated by a requirement to begin breathing
air. The nervous control needed for sneezing could be insufficiently
developed for one to sneeze at this occasion. Nevertheless, sneezing
would be the most appropriate reaction to the circumstances, if it
could have been accomplished. Of course, one does not know that at
the time, at any level.
After experiencing one's first sneeze much later in life, subsequent
sudden exposures to bright light resembling the first experience
with breathing could subconsciously trigger sneezing as a survival
action.
Dave Decot
hpda!decotedk@gryphon.CTS.COM (Ed Kaulakis) (04/07/88)
In article <14830003@hpisod2.HP.COM>, decot@hpisod2.HP.COM (Dave Decot) writes: > A scenario possibly installing the reflex of sneezing in reaction to sudden > exposure to bright light: > > Upon birth, some liquid or other matter was present somewhere within > the one's upper respiratory tract. At the same time, one's eyes > are suddenly exposed very bright lights in the delivery room, and this > discomfort is further complicated by a requirement to begin breathing > air. The nervous control needed for sneezing could be insufficiently > developed for one to sneeze at this occasion. Nevertheless, sneezing > would be the most appropriate reaction to the circumstances, if it > could have been accomplished. Of course, one does not know that at > the time, at any level. > > After experiencing one's first sneeze much later in life, subsequent > sudden exposures to bright light resembling the first experience > with breathing could subconsciously trigger sneezing as a survival > action. > > Dave Decot > hpda!decot I'm posting this because I see a lot of hypotheses like the one above masquerading as explanations, to the general clouding of understanding. Not a flame. It looks like an imprinting paradigm collided in a fog of subjunctives with a gestaltish closure paradigm, bouncing off an observation, and generating a hypothesis that looks to me like it would be *real hard* to test. NOTHING HAS BEEN EXPLAINED. Yet. IF the hypothesis checks out in a series of experiments, AND IF other explanations are ruled out, THEN it's an explanation. I could dribble on for hours, but you either already had the idea, in which case, apologies for wasting your time, have got it, or need better explanations than I can provide. (Did you stop and evaluate my claim that there's an "it" to get?) Cheers, Ed
chris@mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek) (04/11/88)
In article <2549@ihuxv.ATT.COM> tedk@ihuxv.ATT.COM (Kekatos) substitutes `|' for `>' in too many places (note message id below) :-) and comments: >In article <11360@santra.UUCP| s30986u@kaira.UUCP (Martin Olav Helin) writes: >|... I would be interested to hear any suggestions why sudden exposure >|[to sunlight] makes you sneeze in the first place. >I was told that it has something to do with "histamines". The claim I heard is that it is something called `photic optic reflex', and has something to do with the optic and nasal nerves `interfering', so that the bright light is mistakenly interpreted by the brain as nasal irritation. It always makes me sneeze twice too. -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163) Domain: chris@mimsy.umd.edu Path: uunet!mimsy!chris