Stomach Scare
If I’m walking down the street with my stomach pooched out and something scares me, will my stomach stay that way?
———- from A.M. Collins of Seattle, WA
Your mother probably used to tell you, If you make that face, it’s going to freeze that way. Making an ugly face and stomach pooching are, in fact, related phenomena, but your stomach is much more responsive to fear than your face. Pooching your stomach in the presence of frightening stimuli can indeed cause permanent pooching. So you can see that yet another old wives’ tale is true. Matter of fact, many scientists would often disguise themselves as old wives and wander the streets shouting aphorisms, old saws and theories like E=MC2 or A stitch in time saves nine. If you were to see one of these scientists on the street and you had your stomach pooched out, it would probably stay that way. You see, old wives and science are never wrong.
Your mother probably used to tell you, If you make that face, it’s going to freeze that way. Making an ugly face and stomach pooching are, in fact, related phenomena, but your stomach is much more responsive to fear than your face. Pooching your stomach in the presence of frightening stimuli can indeed cause permanent pooching. So you can see that yet another old wives’ tale is true. Matter of fact, many scientists would often disguise themselves as old wives and wander the streets shouting aphorisms, old saws and theories like E=MC2 or A stitch in time saves nine. If you were to see one of these scientists on the street and you had your stomach pooched out, it would probably stay that way. You see, old wives and science are never wrong.