Boost Your Toddler’s IQ Simply by Talking to Them

Toddlers are a fount of endless questions. They want to know everything about the world around them and you’ve got the answers. So, if you’re one of those parents with plenty of patience who is willing to answer any question they throw your way, then you’re doing them a great service by engaging with them. In fact, a recent study showed that talking to your toddler can boost their IQ.

But head’s up: the study showed the benefits came from holding actual conversations with your toddler, not merely speaking to them.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The study, published in the journal for the American Academy of Pediatrics, was run by Jill Gilkerson. She and her team studied kids between the ages of 18 months and 2 years for six months, then brought them back to test their IQs and language skills when they were between the ages of 9-14. Gilkerson spoke with the Evening Standard about the results, which showed that toddlers who took more turns speaking when having conversations with an adult scored an average of 14-27% higher on IQ tests, verbal comprehension, and receptive and expressive vocabulary.

“Parents need to be aware of the importance of interacting with children who are very young and not necessarily even talking. The more interaction, the better.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Researchers also wrote that their study showed “early talk and interaction, particularly during the relatively narrow developmental window of 18-24 months of age, can be used to predict school-age language and cognitive outcomes.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The time in a child’s life the research focuses on – from a year and a half to two years of age, can be a challenging one for parents for so many reasons.

New siblings are often added, sleep issues abound, and there will certainly be days when the last thing that appeals to you is having a mostly one-sided conversation with your toddler about blocks or dogs or bubbles or poop (all favorites in my house!), but hopefully this study will encourage parents to remember that every little chat could help your child have a more positive experience years down the road.

The post Boost Your Toddler’s IQ Simply by Talking to Them appeared first on UberFacts.

12+ People Share Their Favorite Paradox and Why They Think It’s Awesome

A paradox is defined as a “seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.” Does this sound familiar to you? If not, don’t worry, because Redditors are here to tell you all about their favorite paradoxes.

And in this case, we’re all better for it.

#15. Design conundrum.

“Maybe not a true “paradox”, but a great design conundrum:

Prescription pill bottles must be: 1) Easy for older people with arthritis to open 2) Difficult for small children’s hands to open.”

#14. A weird mathematical result.

“Less of a paradox and more of a weird mathematical result: Braess’ paradox. Basically, by opening new lanes and roads to improve traffic conditions, you can actually worsen the congestion. The mathematical example in the article explains it well; basically if you have two moderately efficient routes, and you create a new connection which gives an alternative, more efficient route, everyone is going to start using this one and it’s going to make things worse, even for the people still using the original route!”

#13. They would have to be crazy.

“I really want to date someone, but not someone crazy. Someone would have to be crazy to date me. From catch-22.”

#12. Simple and sweet.

“Don’t take instructions from me.”

#11. When groups are combined.

“Simpson’s Paradox: when a trend appears in several different groups of data but disappears or reverses when groups are combined.”

#10. Don’t go there.

“No one goes there because it’s always crowded.”

#9. A problem in logic.

“Paradox of the Court.

“The Paradox of the Court, also known as the counterdilemma of Euathlus, is a very old problem in logic stemming from ancient Greece. It is said that the famous sophist Protagoras took on a pupil, Euathlus, on the understanding that the student pay Protagoras for his infrastructure after he wins his first court case. After instruction, Euathlus decided to not enter the profession of law, and Protagoras decided to sue Euathlus for the amount owed.

Protagoras argued that if he won the case he would be paid his money. If Euathlus won the case, Protagoras would still be paid according to the original contract, because Euathlus would have won his first case.

Euathlus, however, claimed that if he won, then by the court’s decision he would not have to pay Protagoras. If, on the other hand, Protagoras won, then Euathlus would still not have won a case and would therefore not be obliged to pay.

The question is: which of the two men is in the right?” (from wikipedia)”

#8. In that case…

“For this job, forget everything you learned in college.”

“But I never went to college.”

“Oh, well in that case, you’re not qualified enough for this job.”

#7. Extremely surprised.

“The unexpected exam. A professor says there will be an exam next week, and it will be a surprise: they won’t be able to deduce the exact day. The students reason that it can’t be on Friday, since if all the other days have been exam free, it won’t be a surprise anymore. So it must be Mon-Thu. But then it can’t be Thursday, by the same logic. Proceeding similarly the students deduce the exam can’t happen at all, and are thus extremely surprised when it happens on Wednesday.”

#6. Unambiguous proof.

“It’s not a paradox, but it is named the Fermi Paradox, so I’ll use it.

From anywhere on Earth, anywhere you look, there is unambiguous evidence of an intelligent civilization. You might have to look hard for it if you are in the middle of the ocean, but look up and you’ll see orbiting satellites and a telescope will prove they aren’t natural. Or look around you and see plastic, etc.

The Fermi Paradox asks ‘with two trillion galaxies in the observable universe, and quintillions (millions of trillions) of Sun-like stars, why don’t we see unambiguous proof of other technological life?’

Edit: This kinda exploded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDPj5zI66LA&feature=youtu.be is an excellent video discussing this, from Youtuber Isaac Arthur, who is one of the rare breed of actually good Youtubers. He has a minor speech impediment but you’ll get the hang of it fast.

Highly, highly recommend binge watching his entire channel the next time you have a long weekend.”

#5. More, not less.

“Jevon’s Paradox. If humans come up with a more resource-efficient way of doing something, it results in more of the resource being consumed, not less.”

#4. Experience.

“You need experience to work and you only get experience by working.”

#3. Infinite length.

The Coastline paradox. Despite being seemingly easy we can’t really measure the length of coastlines. If you start really going into every curve and turn you end up with a nearly infinite length.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_paradox

#2. Who wrote the music?

“Bootstrap paradox.

So this guy has a time machine and he is a big fan of Beethoven so he goes back in time with all of Beethoven’s sheet music to get it signed. He asks around and no one has heard of Beethoven not even his family. Beethoven doesn’t exist. He can’t bear the thought of a world without Beethoven so he copies down all of the sheet music and gets it published.

He becomes Beethoven and time goes on.

But who wrote the music.”

#1. The linguistic challenge.

“Non-Serious The Pudge Paradox – whenever you play against a Pudge he always seems to be killing it but, conversely, when a Pudge is on your team he always seems to suck.

Serious The liar paradox: “This statement is a lie”. I like the linguistic challenge it brings up.”

The post 12+ People Share Their Favorite Paradox and Why They Think It’s Awesome appeared first on UberFacts.

Use These 13+ Questions to Get to Know Someone Better

In this day and age, it’s easy to feel like we know everyone around us thanks to social media. But that can’t compare to getting to know someone through face-to-face interactions. So, what one question could help you get to know someone quicker?

Well, these 13+ people are here to weigh in with their advice – take it or leave it.

#15. The absolute truth.

“If you could ask the universe one question and get the absolute truth, what would you want to know?”

#14. A bit of humor never hurt anyone.

“Can I see your browsing history?”

#13. A more genuine answer.

“My boyfriend is an assistant manager at a bookstore. So when he is giving interviews for jobs, instead of asking someone what their favorite book is, he asks them what book did they hate. First of all no one ever expects that question, everyone is used being asked their favorites. So you get a more genuine answer instead of a scripted one. Also I think you can tell a lot from a person from what they dislike.”

#12. More interesting conversation.

“My hometown was small, but I enjoyed growing up there. How about you?”

Asking where they grew up and their experiences usually opens the door to a wider, more interesting conversation.”

#11. That told me a lot.

“When I was still dating my husband, I asked him: “If you could see one measurement or statistic over everyone’s heads, what would you want it to indicate?” And his answer was: “How happy they are.”

I feel like that told me a lot about the kind of person he is.”

#10. The dream…

“I ask about their dream vacation.”

#9. If you had the money…

“If you had the money to quit working, what would you spend tomorrow doing?”

#8. An intergalactic voyage.

“If you could take five non-replaceable personal artifacts on an intergalactic voyage, what would you take?”

#7. Quirky but fun. Also, don’t pick mine.

“What character do you use in Mario Kart?”

#6. Find their passion.

“What are you passionate about? I’m passionate about whiskey and distilling, but also about pushing others to find their passion.”

#5. What scares you?

“Maybe not the most important but definitely useful. I usually try to find out pretty early on if anything scares or weirds the person out. For example, I’d say something like “Man, I couldn’t get into (show) because I can’t stand seeing people bleed. It sucks when a little thing ruins the whole show for you.” They’ll usually respond with something like “Oh, right? I hated (other show) because I can’t handle creepy children! They just freak me out too much.” Then I mentally file that away for later so that I don’t decide on Creepy Children Attack 3 for our next movie night or outing. Nothing is an evening ruiner like putting on Moana when someone’s grandma just died or something.”

#4. Some drama.

“Ask them about their relationships with others in their lives (in general). If they say that everyone in their life is toxic and full of so much drama, then there is a good chance that they may come with some drama.”

#3. I love this question.

“How do you spend your time? I love this question because “what do you do” is so work-centric, and many people don’t work (whether their choice or not).”

#2. What would you regret?

“If you were to die tomorrow what would you regret not having told someone?”

#1. What would you choose?

“Once I read over there a ice breaking question: “If you have to choose between a well paid work in europe or going to mars, what would you choose?”

It seems a pretty stupid question, but if you focus in what questions the people ask back usually tells a lot of things. What they choose is not so important, but usually the people will start asking questions like:

But how dangerous is to go to mars?

Can I come back?

Can I have children and a family in mars?

Can I take my dog with me?

For how long is the work?

How much I will be making?

How many hours/days I have to work?

Its a good work? What I have to do?

And that questions tells a lof about if they are focused on family, on work, if they are adeventoruos, if they already have a life plan established and a lot of things – just try to read between the lines.”

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You Will LOL at this Wine and Eggs Diet from the 1970s

There are too many weird diets out there in the world…that’s a fact. They didn’t start in the ’70s and they certainly won’t be ending anytime in the near future. I mean, anyone can write a diet and start telling people to follow it. Health often doesn’t have much to do with why people start recommending one thing or another, either. Doctors and nutritionists haven’t changed too much over the past several decades when advising on what sorts of foods humans need and in what quantities, but there’s always some new fad running around that makes people wonder if we’ve all been doing it wrong.

If you love steak, eggs, and wine, then this diet – recommended by Vogue – is going to seem like everything right.

Let’s take a look.

Photo Credit: Twitter,chaeronaea

For breakfast, you get 1 hard-boiled egg, 1 glass of dry white wine, and coffee. So, getting coffee is nice. It could help sober you up from drinking the wine on a mostly empty stomach.

For lunch, you get 2 more hard-boiled eggs, 2 glasses of white wine, and more black coffee. You’re definitely tipsy now, and if you don’t live alone, the smell of the eggs digesting has probably run your partner out of the house.

For dinner, you can include a 5 oz steak and finish off your bottle of wine, plus indulge in more coffee if you want/need it. No way you’re sober, and without any fiber in sight, you’re probably not willing to venture too far from your toilet, anyway.

Which is exactly what most people who replied on Twitter latched onto, with varying degrees of hilarity.

Photo Credit: Twitter,chaeronaea

Photo Credit: Twitter,fartpowder

Photo Credit: Twitter,JasonCross00

Photo Credit: Twitter,red_mercer

Photo Credit:Twitter,JasonCross00

Diane McMartin, a writer at The Kitchn tried the diet (no word on for how long), and was surprised at the (presumably unintended) results:

“Maybe it was the wine, or maybe the lack of food, but I legit felt sad by the end of the day. Weepy, even. Like, as I was sitting in bed reading, waiting until it was acceptable to go to sleep because I was so exhausted, and I could have burst into tears at any moment.”

So, that’s not great. I’m sad enough without having an upset stomach and a fuzzy head by bedtime.

As far as the experts, they have weighed in on this, and I’m sure you’re not surprised they find the whole thing ludicrous. Julie Stefanski, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, went off for the The Daily Meal:

“If an intermittent fasting regiment went on a drinking binge in a henhouse, you’d pretty much have this diet. This random menu (I don’t even want to call it a diet) provides 1103 calories with43% of those calories coming from the alcohol calories in the wine!”

Photo Credit: CBS Television

There are some days when drinking your calories seems like a good idea (and some days when it actually is) but trying to keep up with this for more than twenty-four hours is obviously a disaster in the making. The next time I raise a glass of dry Chablis, I’ll remember the poor women back in the day who gave it a shot because Vogue said so.

The post You Will LOL at this Wine and Eggs Diet from the 1970s appeared first on UberFacts.

This Guy is the Master of Low-Budget Cosplay and it’s Absolutely Hilarious

Cosplay is pretty popular these days. For the unfamiliar, it’s a hobby built around crafting costumes of your favorite characters from pop culture. Cosplayers can spend a small fortune getting all the details of their costume just right, and the best of them even enjoy a degree of celebrity status and some even make money doing it!

If you’re a lover of geek culture, but don’t have the kind of money that top-level cosplayers invest in their outfits, fear not. Thai cosplay enthusiast Anucha “Cha” Saengchart, the mastermind behind Low-Cost Cosplay, can show you exactly how to create epic (read: “hilarious”) costumes, practically for free! Check out some of his best works below.

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The post This Guy is the Master of Low-Budget Cosplay and it’s Absolutely Hilarious appeared first on UberFacts.

What the Faces Behind Your Favorite Memes Look like Today

If you own a smartphone or use a computer for anything other than work, chances are you’ve seen a meme. For a lot of us, memes are a big part of our lives. We share them with friends for a good laugh and even try making our own every once in a while. But what about the people in some of the internet’s most famous memes? If you’ve ever wondered, “Where are they now?“, then we’ve got the answers.

1. Bad Luck Brian:

Kyle Craven became “Bad Luck Brian” when a friend posted his seventh-grade yearbook photo to Reddit.

2. Overly Attached Girlfriend:

Photo Credit: Laina, Laina

Laina Morris became famous as the “Overly Attached Girlfriend” after creating the character for a parody video of Justin Beiber’s “Boyfriend”, which she uploaded to YouTube for a contest.

3. Holding a Fart Next to a Cute Girl:

Photo Credit: aaduk_ala, McGeezyyy

As perfect as this image is, Michael McGee didn’t actually need to fart when this photo was taken. It’s just a funny face he makes that happened to go viral.

4. Ermahgerd:

Photo Credit: Maggie Goldenberger

Maggie Goldenberger was actually spending some time in India when a friend back home informed her that a picture of her when she was 11 had gone viral!

5. Scumbag Steve:

Photo Credit: Blake Boston

The original photo of Blake Boston, which eventually turned into the “Scumbag Steve” meme, was taken by his mom.

6. Disaster Girl:

Photo Credit: David Roth, zoeroth

“Disaster Girl” Zoe Roth was just four years old when this picture was taken. Now she’s an adult!

7. Hipster Barista:

Dustin Mattson, the face behind the meme, is actually a barista in real life. However, he doesn’t exactly love his meme status since it makes fun of his profession.

8. Doge:

Photo Credit: kabosumama

The Japanese dog known as “Doge” has made us all smile at one time or another. There was a terrible April Fool’s hoax that claimed Doge was dead, but thankfully she’s still alive and well!

9. First World Problems:

Photo Credit: Tiegrabberpods, silviabottini

Silvia Bottini, the face of this popular meme, is actually a professional actor in real life.

10. Side-Eyeing Chloe:

Chloe and her sister, Lily, are big kids now and have an adorable Instagram account.

11. Success Kid:

Sam Griner was just 11 months old when the photo for his now-iconic meme was taken.

12. Grumpy Cat:

Photo Credit: Cataliades, realgrumpycat

Saving the best for last, we’ve got everyone’s favorite angry kitty, “Grumpy Cat”… who’s real name is Tardar Sauce.

The post What the Faces Behind Your Favorite Memes Look like Today appeared first on UberFacts.

Teacher Uses Band-Aids to Demonstrate the Difference Between Equity and Equality to Second Graders

It’s funny how two words that sound very similar can mean drastically different things. Take, for example, the words ‘equity’ and ‘equality.’ The first means everyone is given the accommodation they need to be on the same level as their peers while the second means giving everyone the exact same thing.

The Tumblr post below illustrates the difference through images:

It all began with this post.

Photo Credit: Tumblr

But how would you explain this to a classroom full of 8-year-old children? It might seem to you that the concept is too big and unwieldy to teach kids, but I guess that’s why people like Tumblr user aloneindarknes7 are teachers and the rest of us aren’t.

Her post, which originally appeared on Citizenship and Social Justice, a blog that “tracks primarily issues of class, race, gender, education, and activism,” spells out how she tackles this issue with her students.

Aloneindarknes7 has been a teacher for three years and says she learned the technique from another teacher, and that they both enjoy figuring out how to impart big social concepts to eager young minds. The post below should even help a few adults grasp the concept, too!

Photo Credit: Tumblr

What do you think? The Internet is loving this, and it seems like other teachers might be tackling it using a box of Band-Aids themselves!

Brava!

The post Teacher Uses Band-Aids to Demonstrate the Difference Between Equity and Equality to Second Graders appeared first on UberFacts.

12+ People Share the Most Romantic Gestures Ever Made for Them

For me, it was a college boyfriend who cleaned up my entire station at the restaurant so we could go home together instead of me being an hour behind. Romantic gestures mean different things to different people, so the people who know and love us best are often the only ones who can really knock it out of the park.

These 15 people have some seriously romantic people in their lives who aren’t afraid to show how they feel – and there’s no way to put a price on that! Here is what made them SWOON!

#15. She was a keeper.

“My SO looked after my nieces with me for 2 years. We’d been together 6 months, at that point.

I knew she was a keeper. 15 years later and we’re still together.”

#14. A lucky guy.

“One birthday, early on in our relationship,my girlfriend came over the night before my birthday, right at midnight to take me out. We had a picnic by the lake, and she made all the food herself. Still makes me smile thinking about it. Another time, she threw me a surprise party, and I never had one before, so that meant a lot as well. I really am a lucky guy.”

#13. Giggles like a child.

“Me and my SO work together and we try to keep our relationship hidden (of course almost everyone knows it, but they respect our decision). Sometimes when we are alone, even if it is only for 5 seconds, she surprise-hugs me when I least expect it and giggles like a child, knowing that I can’t return the favour. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I love these small gesture and for me, these are the most romantic things, she can do.”

#12. She just let me ramble on.

“Maybe this isn’t the most romantic thing but it was incredibly sweet and I think of it often,

I often get distracted working on projects in room and sometimes I can forget to stop and make sure I give my girlfriend the undivided attention she deserves, but the other day she just let me ramble on about what I was doing and how I should make her something and how I was getting some new tools, and I turned to her smiling and said “one day I’m gonna have such a nice workshop!”

The way she was looking at me and smiling, I don’t know, I just kinda realized she doesn’t really care about the new tools I’m getting, or if I make her something, but she really cared about how happy thinking about that stuff made me and she was gleaming with just how happy it made me to think about my furture workshop, even if it’s so off in the furture she never gets to see it. I guess her letting me ramble and seeing how she looked at me when I wasn’t paying attention made me feel really nice and cared about.”

#11. What a mastermind!

“My GF at the time (soon to be wife) made me the best 30th birthday gift ever. You know how ppl alianate from their friends with age, especially when working 8-10 hours in corporate. Connections get shallow etc. At some point I was feeling I don’t have any real friends anymore. So she managed to prepare an old school, hard cover custom made album where all my friends since high school had written (by hand) a BD wish and attached a real hard copy picture (prefacebook editions). This thing had like 30 more pages. It had been traveling Bulgaria (where I am from) for months. She had to contact ppl she hasn’t ever met before and ask them to participate. She made Ppl that are living abroad to take a picture of the hand written wish so she can print it and keep the style of the “book”. It is scary what mastermind she can be when motivated ? She is so amazing!!!”

#10. It made me blush.

“My girlfriend travels for work. This year she was gone on my birthday. To make sure I didn’t feel forgotten, she had her parents prepare a surprise. I foolishly didn’t request the day off so I was at work when her dad arrived carrying two baskets and a bunch of balloons. At her request, her parents got me lunch, snacks, and even brought cookies for my coworkers. It was a lovely birthday surprise, even if it made me blush a little.”

#9. A bouquet of sausage.

“My wife gave me a bouquet of sausage for my birthday.”

#8. Just a movie.

“It had been my birthday a couple of days before and we got together with a couple of friends to watch a movie at her house or at least my naive self thought it was just for a movie. They all left in the middle of the movie to do something in the kitchen. A couple of minutes go by and they’re still there. Im wondering whats taking them so long. I look over and she’s carrying a cake for me. It really meant a lot to me since I’ve never had friends that cared enough to get a cake for me before that.”

#7. 365 notes.

“I left for a year to work on a fishing vessel, my gf made me a jar with 365 notes with little memories and messages to me in it to open everyday while I’m away. About 7 months in now and we’re not together anymore lol. Was very sweet regardless.”

#6. Random and unexpected.

“When I was young, I was a huge Dr. Seuss fan. When my brother and his wife had a kid, I wanted to buy my new nephew my favorite Dr. Seuss book Fox in Socks. I ordered it, and when it arrived my fairly new girlfriend and I read it together on the couch. It was a very cute and innocent night together. Fast forward to our one year anniversary: she painted me a picture of tweetle beetles battling in a bottle with a paddle on a poodle eating noodles – my favorite part of my favorite Dr. Seuss book that we read together when we first started dating. Such a random and unexpected gift, but one of the sweetest most memorable things anyone has ever done for me.”

#5. The smallest gestures.

“To me the small gestures are the most romantic. One night I was over at her parent’s place late after work and I was very tired and very hungry (got off at midnight) and she made me a grilled cheese but kept returning to the couch to scratch my back while it cooked. It came out a little bit burnt on one side but it was the best grilled cheese i’ve ever had.”

#4. On my face.

“Ran into a friend I had not seen in months and was going through some personal shit, so we went to a pub and I/we drank a a stupid glorious amount of beer. Realized it was near midnight and I missed dinner so while staggering home I was texting my fiance for food or “I will die”. Got home and immediately crashed on the bed, and because I was too drunk to move my arms she left a sandwich on my face.

It was amazing. I love her so much.”

#3. A note on the counter.

“My exgirlfriend left me a note on the counter for me when I woke up to tell me how amazing I was. She said how much she loved me and how much I meant to her. That was when we were dating of course.”

#2. Drink it quick.

“I’m a big baseball fan. Had tickets to a playoff game a few years back, but the week before found out that I had to go away for some work retreat thing that was originally optional, so I sold the tickets online. Made a little profit but I didn’t care, I wanted to eat a hot dog and drink an overpriced beer with my girlfriend at a baseball game. Anyway, a few days before the work trip, of course they canceled it for our specific department because of funding or something or other, I don’t really remember because I was so angry. My girlfriend was texting me all day at work to see what we wanted to do that night, which I thought was weird because she kept asking over and over, and I told her I just wanted to stay home and sadly watch the game I missed on TV. Got home, she hands me a cold beer and says, “Drink it quick, we’re leaving in five minutes for the game.” Same-day scalped tickets were expensive, but she did it anyway, because she knew how much it meant to me. My team lost, but it was one of the moments that I realized I truly loved her. It was more the gesture than the money or the game, obviously, and she didn’t even like sports. We ended up breaking up amicably about eight months later, but we still stay in contact. She’s an amazing person.”

#1. The simple act.

“The simple act of her excitedly running at me whenever I get home from work and giving me a big hug!”

The post 12+ People Share the Most Romantic Gestures Ever Made for Them appeared first on UberFacts.

Man Who Refused to Give His Seat to a Pregnant Woman Got Exactly What He Deserved

Chivalry may not be totally dead these days, but it’s certainly on life support. As a woman who has been pregnant twice in the past three years, I can confirm that people pretend not to notice unless they want to a) insult your weight or b) ask questions that are none of their business.

I don’t have to take public transportation on a regular basis, so I can’t really complain about having to squeeze into a tiny subway car seat sporting a giant, uncomfortable belly and swollen legs while perfectly normal-sized people refuse to make room. Based on this story — and the responses from others — I should count my blessings.

Twitter user Brydie Lee-Kennedy, an 8-months-pregnant woman, had that misfortune, and did not hesitate to share her tale of woe on the public forum.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Basically, there was one seat left, she was exhausted and carrying extra weight, and some guy thought his bag (and hand) needed the space more than she did. So, she sat on his hand and his bag, which apparently he still refused to move so they spent the rest of the ride in some sort of silent standoff.

Plenty of other women chimed in to share their stories of similar occurrences. All of them are my heroes, and braver than I would have been in a similar situation, though the discomfort caused by late pregnancy often causes one to lose one’s filter.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

This one, though, is my favorite. It honestly needs to be a scene in a movie.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Long story short? Don’t be stupid, rude and obtuse. Pay attention to the people around you who aren’t having the best of days.

And get off your ass if a giant pregnant woman is standing near you.

The post Man Who Refused to Give His Seat to a Pregnant Woman Got Exactly What He Deserved appeared first on UberFacts.

5 Scientific Facts About Spite That Are Sure to Surprise You

Did you know that the phrase “you’d cut off your nose to spite your face’ actually comes from a real incident? Back in medieval times, a nun cut off her nose (and lips) to try and make herself too horrific for Viking invaders to rape. The other nuns followed suit, and the painful plan worked – sort of. While they weren’t raped, they were eventually burned alive.

Okay, so that’s an extreme scenario, but what else do we know about spite? It’s defined as action deliberately designed to hurt someone, even when there’s nothing to gain and even though those actions might cause you to suffer as well. Sounds like a pretty terrible way to be, right?

Here are five more facts about spite and why it’s an aspect of human behavior.

#5. Science notes two specific types of spite.

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Hamiltonian spite — named for biologist W.D. Hamilton — are actions directed against unrelated or loosely related individuals. Meanwhile, Wilsonian spite — named for biologist E.O. Wilson — is when your act of spite indirectly benefits someone you’re closely related to.

The latter might seem like the lesser of two evils, but really, they’re both based in bad behavior.

#4. Men tend to be more spiteful than women.

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The same study found that men showed higher levels of spite than women, but the results weren’t clear as to why. However, the press release speculates that men tend to score higher across the board when it comes to traits that predict psychopathy in general, so there’s that to consider.

#3. It could be a sign of psychopathy.

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One of the traits of a psychopath is Machiavellianism, which is the willingness to be duplicitous and disregard morality to achieve one’s own goals. In 2014, researchers at Washington State University subjected more than 1200 people to a personality test, and the results showed that high scores in spitefulness correlated with the presence of psychopathic behavior.

#2. It’s not that different from altruism.

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Some researchers call spite the “neglected ugly sister of altruism,” since both practices come at the cost of a person’s own happiness. The spite-r doesn’t necessarily care what happens to them because they’re not acting for personal gain and they’re not deterred by the prospect of personal loss.

This 2006 paper notes, “any social trait that is spiteful simultaneously qualifies as altruistic. In other words, any trait that reduces the fitness of less-related individuals necessarily increases that of related ones.”

#1. Children and the elderly are generally less spiteful.

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Kids resent unfairness from an early age, researchers pointed out. “So, if they divide up candy and they get more candy than the kids they’re playing against, they’re like ‘nope, neither of us is going to get anything.’”

A malicious or spiteful reaction isn’t natural to children — everyone wins or no one does — and the elderly tend to revert to the same code of ethics.

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