Fish Can Do Math: A new Causes or Cures Podcast with Dr. Vera Schluessel
The title of this blog, “Fish Can Do Math”, was really there to get you to click on it. But…that said…in this podcast, you will learn about how some fish can learn to do mathematical tasks. While this topic is different than the usual topics I present on Causes or Cures, I thought it was a cool one to discuss. Several people who have listened to it, wrote me and told me that they found it really fascinating. I did get one humorous email from a disgruntled listener who requested that I go back to talking about “issues that impact human health.” Well, “good sir”, first, it’s my podcast. I can feature whoever and whatever I want. Secondly, if you take a “one health” approach to health, you’ll realize that the health of fish and their environment impacts us. In fact, the health of almost every species impacts our health, because that is how interconnected we are. It’s unfortunate that some humans have evolved into such Narcissists that they are incapable of seeing that. Anyhow, learning more about fish can help create more awareness of our fellow species and our environment and perhaps more respect. Maybe, for example, we’ll think twice about destroying our oceans, rivers and lakes, because we’ll pause to think about the fish. I don’t know…but have you noticed how disrespected fish are? In the podcast, Dr. Schluessel talks about this, for example, when she describes how something bad or suspicious is described as “fishy.” I think a great example of how disrespected fish are is in conversations I’ve had with some vegetarians. It goes like this: I’ll ask someone if he/she is a vegetarian, and they’ll respond: “Yes…BUT I EAT FISH.” I hear that answer a lot, an answer that makes it sound like we have a moral obligation to eat fish off the earth. Like, you never hear that for bunnies or cows. “But I eat bunnies! But I eat cows!” In fact, if you’ve ever heard those responses, I will give you a hundred dollars, right now. Anyhow, my point is that the fish podcast still ties into overall health, and besides that, c’mon! It’s a cool topic: Fish can do math! You will learn things that you can use as clever icebreakers at your next dinner party. :)
Who is Dr. Vera Schluessel?
She runs the Schluessel Cognition Lab at the Institute of Zoologie at the University of Bonn in Germany.
In this episode, she will discuss her work on the cognitive abilities of fish, with a specific focus on her latest study published in Nature Scientific Reports, “Cichlids and Stingrays can add & subtract ‘one’ in the number space from 1 to 5.” Basically, she is going to tell us how fish can do math. She will discuss why she started researching the cognitive abilities of fish, why the general public rarely considers it and wrongly assumes “fish are dumb”, some of her unique fish studies and results, and the overall message she hopes to convey to the general public. I hope you guys tune in. Please click here to do so.
In addition to “Fish Can Do Math”, you may want to check out this podcast on the history of psychedelic medicine, with a doctor who has been there since the beginning!
Thanks for reading, guys. Thanks to everyone who has subscribed to the podcast. I really appreciate your support!
Dr. Eeks.