Search Results for: "The Psychology of Pooping"

The proper receptacle for some substances is a white porcelain bowl, not a public forum. Not interesting to most of us over the age of five. Well, our readership seems to consist of the under-5s then, given the dozens of emails still piling up. A final push to get it all out of our system: Since you’re on the subject, this Craigslist story one of my all-time favorites. I don’t know what it says about me that I think this is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. I guess I’m a child. Another: In York, England, there’s a Viking museum whose featured display is a 7-inch petrified “log” known as the “Lloyds Bank Coprolite“. Money quote: Another: I know your thread is about the Psychology of Pooping, but you may want to share this link on the Mechanics of Pooping. In short, you’re doing it wrong: grab your ankles. I took this advice, and I’ve shared it with friends, and we agree it’s the shit. Another:

Readers keep the popular thread moving:

Do not forget Jonathan Swift, who wrote in Chapter VI of Gulliver's Travels: "Men are never so serious, thoughtful, and intent as when they are at stool."

Another:

From James Boswell's journal (Boswell in Holland): "Tuesday 11 October [1763].  From this day follow Mr. Locke's prescription of going to stool every day regularly after breakfast.  It will do your health good, and it is highly necessary to take care of your health." The reference to Locke is from Some Thoughts Concerning Education, Section 24 ("… if a man, after his first eating in the morning, would presently solicit nature, and try whether he could strain himself so as to obtain a stool, he might in time, by constant application, bring it to be habitual.").

That's why I have a picture of John Locke in my bathroom!

Weirdo. (Just kidding!) Another:

If you're quoting Auden's bowel movement poetry you really should have Updike's too! "The Beautiful Bowel Movement" by John Updike:

Reddit had a thread on epic dumps recently. One for starters: I just spent 8 minutes sweating, rocking back and forth and hyperventilating while shitting. I thought it was death. At 36 I have never experienced anything like it. It kept getting worse and worse until finally my ass let loose with the fury of … Continue reading The Psychology Of Pooping, Ctd

How did we miss this from W.H. Auden? Money quote: Lifted off the potty, Infants from their mothers Hear their first impartial Words of worldly praise: Hence, to start the morning With a satisfactory Dump is a good omen All our adult days. Revelation came to Luther in a privy (Crosswords have been solved there) … Continue reading The Psychology Of Pooping, Ctd

First, a moment of Zen:

This is one of the great mysteries of life.  All I know is when I take a gigantic, um, trip to the bathroom, I feel empty, yet, somehow, fulfilled.

Another reader:

Thought you might be interested in a classic story that explored that very topic, from the perspective of athletes. It's a terrific read, and I'm not just saying that because I work at the magazine that published it. Nut graph: "We can exhaustively ­explore every aspect of athletic life — victory, defeat, violence, racism, drugs, brain damage, paralysis, death — but nothing reveals as much about the physiology, psychology and sociology of sport as the excretory experience of athletes."

Another shifts gears:

I am not a psychologist but rather a pediatric urologist at Wake Forest University, and as someone who deals with poop every day, all day, I can tell you that the psychology of pooping is indeed worthy of serious study.

Nick Haslam makes a serious case for studying it: In 30 years of studying the field I rarely came across any recognition that human beings are creatures who excrete. Much of what we psychologists care about is on the mental side of the mind/body divide, but even when we go corporeal we eliminate elimination. Psychologists … Continue reading The Psychology Of Pooping

Yesterday we made one final bleg requesting “your favorite moment of Dishness” – and you delivered in spades, as you always do. It’s hard to disagree with this reader’s pick: Your wedding, plain and simple. The photos, the setting, the dogs, the look in your faces: I’ve been reading you for 10+ years and you kept me looking forward and to … Continue reading Your Moments Of Dishness