The Straight Dope 05/20/2005

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 05/20/2005

Dear Cecil:

I keep hearing about the Armenian genocide that happened
early in the 20th century. The Turkish have done a good
job of denial, and there doesn't seem to be that much
public recognition of the deed. So, what's the real
scoop--genocide or not? --monkeykarma, via e-mail

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Cecil replies:

It tells you something about human nature and the century
just past that the typical response to this question is:
What Armenian genocide? Hardly anyone remembers this
appalling crime, even though at a million-plus deaths it
was the first modern holocaust, ranking eighth on the
list of high-volume butcherings 1900-'87 compiled by
genocide historian R. J. Rummel. Few can even tell you
where Armenia is. (The traditional Armenian homeland
covers the modern republic of Armenia plus some of
Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, but the killings were confined to
Turkey and other parts of the old Ottoman empire.) It's
not like the murders were conducted in secret or were
over before anybody noticed--on the contrary, they
spanned 30 years and received sustained worldwide
publicity. So why the amnesia? Turkey's adamant refusal
to acknowledge the massacres is part of it, but equally
important is the West's agreement to forget.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050520.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

While at the bank machine last week, I noticed that the
little cartoon graphic over the waste slot had a gloved
hand with only three fingers. Which started me to
thinking about three- fingered cartoon hands in general.
What is the reason for this now-universal and
anatomically- incorrect practice? Was Walt Disney simply
not able to draw a credible 4-fingered Mickey Mouse?
--R.G. Lalonde 

SDSTAFF Euty replies:

I've always been preaching the idea, mostly to a tone
deaf choir, that the simplest answers are usually the
most correct. Here, to mix metaphors, I shall step out on
this limb once again and give you the answer preferred by
cartoon historians everywhere:

It was just simpler to do it that way.

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/m3fingercartoon.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 01/18/1985

Dear Cecil: 

How is it that people often wake up moments before their
alarm goes off? I know this isn't just me. I thought
maybe the body gets accustomed to a set number of hours
of sleep or maybe it responds to something like the sun
being at a certain place. But that isn't possible because
you'd have to go to sleep exactly at the same time every
night, and besides, the sun is in a different position
each day. I could see that the body would rather wake up
on its own than have a loud noise jarring it out of
sleep, but that doesn't explain how a sleeping person can
know when to wake up. Help, Cecil. --David D., N.
Sheridan  

Cecil replies:  

We can chalk this up to two things, Dave: your natural body
rhythms plus some classic Pavlovian conditioning. Scientist 
have long been interested in what are called "circadian
rhythms"--i.e., cyclic fluctuations in various bodily functions, 
such as memory and manual dexterity, over the 24 hours of the
day. Many of these rhythms are endogenous--that is,
controlled internally rather than by by external factors
like the sun. (Interestingly, if you're isolated from the
outside world and don't know what time it is, oftentimes
your body will adjust to a twenty-five hour cycle.) For
our purposes, the most important function to be concerned
with is body temperature, which is highest at midday and
lowest in the early morning hours. (That's why if you
pull an all-nighter you'll feel chilly around 4 AM, even
if room temp stays constant.) Studies by Harvard
researcher Charles Czeisler indicate that waking is
strongly linked with a rise in body temperature, and that
body temperature rises at about the same time each
morning regardless of what time you got to bed. In other
words, your internal alarm clock will wake you up even if
you aren't fully rested--which may account for the fact
that people on irregular schedules sometimes complain
they wake up tired. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_300.html

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