Because I Said So! : The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids by Ken Jennings

Because I Said So! : The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids Reviews

• 
  Jim

  This was great & touched on a great number of every day 'facts' that are rooted so deeply in our collective consciousness that we don't even question them. He does & I found so many of them topical that my wife is teasing me that he's my new hero. Every conversation has, "Ken Jennings said..." in it somewhere.
  
  I admit, I really like Jennings. We followed his run on Jeopardy! & every appearance thereafter with great attention. I've also read a couple of articles by him. Here's one in Smithsonian Magazine:
  
  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cu...
  
  His questions & the answers were well done & concentrated on the practical aspects. There's quite a bit of humor that every parent will appreciate, too. He's a good writer & this book was about perfect in audio since he also read it.
  
  There were a lot of interesting topics. For instance, the idea that sitting too close to a TV could hurt you actually was true at one point. GE manufactured one model of TV briefly that put out a horribly high concentration of xrays, but it was a short-lived danger.
  
  It was more interesting to hear how many incorrect facts became part of our society's knowledge. For instance, while vitamin A is necessary for good eye sight, eating a lot of carrots won't give you better eye sight. Many think that because the British said so during WWII. In reality, that was just a cover story they used to keep the Nazi's from discovering plane mounted radar units.
  
  Other 'facts' have been known to be false for decades or even centuries, but are still kept alive in parental lore. Sometimes these are beneficial. 'Early to bed, early to rise...' might not be scientifically true, but a few hours of down time at night does keep parents from strangling the little monsters.
  
  I don't think I'd enjoy this as much as a printed book. It would get a bit old after a while, but would probably be perfect bathroom reading material, a factoid per visit, much like
  My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places by
  Mary Roach.
  
  If you liked this book, you might also enjoy
  What Einstein Told His Barber: More Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions by
  Robert L. Wolke &
  Bad Science by
  Ben Goldacre.
• 
  Cheryl

  Despite the easy accessibility of information, we're still passing on old-wives' tales. Some are wise, some not so. Jennings collected a bunch of stuff his parents told him, he catches himself telling his kids, and some other tidbits of advice from friends & online. Then he researched many of them through Straight Dope, Snopes, and and Mythbusters, but continued his research with the more original sources, the science journals etc.
  
  I trust his information in the mini-essays that answer all the questions. I *do not* trust his 'meter' icon at the end of each essay, colored in against how "False, mostly false, mostly true, true" the adage is. Only *you* can decide whether the risk of doing something, vs. not doing something, is worth it....
  
  I also was surprised to see a lot of warnings and tales I'd never heard of before. But there were also ones I'd never questioned. For example, who'd have thought that the advice not to let someone who has bumped their head sleep, for fear of concussion, is *wrong* - ? Turns out that it's actually the *monitoring parent or caregiver* who shouldn't sleep, because s/he should wake the victim "every two or three hours [during the first 12 hours] to make sure they know where they are and that their condition is unchanged." Sleep is actually probably healing to the victim.
  
  The essay on "Don't feed the ducks" should be required reading for everybody, esp. those in cities & suburbs. Not only are you messing up their migratory patterns and their ability to live wild and free, but bread (the most common offering) is very bad for them. Not to mention the poopy parks and even contaminated ponds and nests that too much feeding (of any kind) can lead to. (Jenning's meter is almost entirely colored, and is labeled 'True.")
  
  If we all did our research before spouting these 'wisdoms' we wouldn't need this book. But I sure as heck wish I had it when my sons were little. And I will buy a copy for them if they ever give me grandchildren. I think this would make a wonderful gift this holiday season, too.
• 
  B Schrodinger

  Cross-posted from my blog
  The Periodic Table of Elephants
  
  Ken Jennings gets out his bullshit detector after telling his son that he shouldn't run and eat a lolly pop because a tragic accident would ensue. He realised he got this from his mother and wondered if there were any basis to other 'parentisms' such as chicken soup for a cold, don't eat cheese before bed because you'll have weird dreams, running with scissors and not swimming for an hour after eating.
  
  Ken digs through medical journals, interviews experts and tirelessly researches each parentism to gauge the level of nonsense. But if you are worried that this would be dry, you always have Ken's humour to fall back on which is certainly up there in non-fiction humour with Mary Roach and Bill Bryson.
  
  What is lacking compared to his other books is the geek charm. There are no long form interviews with weird people with weird obsessions. The short form of each section limits the charm factor.
  
  While it's harder to love this book as much as his previous two ('Mapheads' and 'Brainiac'), it is still a funny and informative read that is top of my non-fiction reads for the year. So if you are a fan of Mary Roach, 'Mythbusters' or just a snarky 12 year old looking for material to come back at your parents with, get reading.
• 
  Kelly Hager

  In this book, Ken Jennings takes on many of the things that we were told as children (and may be passing on to our own kids right now). Do you really need to wait an hour after eating before you swim? If you shave, does the hair grow back thicker and/or darker? CAN YOUR FACE REALLY FREEZE THAT WAY?!
  
  It's probably not a shock to anyone, but most of what our parents told us isn't 100% true. (Turns out that you shouldn't even teach your kids not to talk to strangers, but rather that there are different types of strangers and you needing help trumps not talking to strangers...provided, of course, you pick a woman with kids to talk to, for example.)
  
  This book was also incredibly entertaining. There were a lot of fun references (my favorite, for example, in a section on whether you can really get addicted to lip balm, was a line about learning to stop worrying and love the balm). I'm pretty sure a well-timed Kubrick reference can save the world. (And I'm not even a Kubrick fan.)
  
  Like many people, before I read this, all I knew about Ken Jennings was his incredible streak on Jeopardy. Now, though, I think that not only is he incredibly smart, he's also incredibly funny. Because I don't really read that much nonfiction, that made this book a lot more enjoyable than it otherwise could have been. (Although there's also a lot of enjoyment in just learning retroactively that your parents were so wrong about so many things.)
  
  I wish I had had access to this book when I was younger. I probably would've gotten grounded, but it would have been worth it.
  
  Highly recommended.
• 
  Danielle

  How could you read this subtitle and not be intrigued? I mean, you KNOW your parents have been lying to you, and now finally someone is going to tell you what about. (Incidentally, you know your parents lied to you as a child as soon as you have children of your own who are old enough to ask inane questions and do stupid things and you find yourself spouting the same warnings your parents said to you.)
  I really liked Jennings's other books, so I figured his writing style and this topic were sure to be a hit. I read it super fast, and I did enjoy it, but not really as much as I expected. For one thing, a lot of the myths he debunks were kind of "Duh" to me. Plus, he quotes/recaps heavily from "MythBusters" and other non-Trade Marked myth busting entities, so it has the serious feel of borrowed research. I mean, he details his experience shaking a can of soda with his kids, then opening it up 5 minutes later to discover it not only doesn't explode, but barely fizzes (that one WAS surprising to me. When I told my husband about it, he didn't believe me. We are programmed by our parents to believe a shaken can of soda is a ticking time bomb. Look at it wrong and it's going to blow up in your face.) Anyway, my point is, he did this little "experiment" and it was fun to read about. But he doesn't even go to that much effort with most of the other topics. He just regurgitates what others have said/proven about it. So, I guess my point is, this book is informative, but felt thrown together and not as "personal" as it could have been.
  Incidentally, I think I have a larger store of parental myths than most. My mom told me things with a straight face that are just straight-up crazy. One I would have liked to see Jennings debunk was when I was taking ballet and my mother warned me that if I ever did the splits (even once) I wouldn't be able to have babies. And that, my friends, is the reason I never became a professional dancer. That right there. I am, however, the mother of four children, so I guess I have my mom to thank for that.
  PS- One myth this debunks is that you need to bathe or shower everyday. Once my kids robbed me of this luxury, I began to suspect it wasn't that necessary in the first place. If I work out that day, there is a shower, but otherwise, I might go a day or two, which Ken assures me is Just Fine. But anyway, my son was watching a Sesame Street DVD with an old music video clip called "The Ten Commandments of Health" (a parody of that Oldie, "The Ten Commandments of Love"), Anyway, one of the "commandments" was to bathe or shower every day, and I yelled at the TV: "No, Sesame Street! You are perpetuating a myth!" The muppets didn't seem to care, but I felt vindicated, thanks to having read this book.
• 
  Nicole

  This book was actually very interesting because it listed very cool facts that I didn't even know. It also is very cool because it lists what parents often tell you and the book says if those facts are actually true.
• 
  Lisa

  I have been a Ken Jennings fan ever since his long run on Jeopardy. I think it is fun to cheer on fellow Mormons especially super smart ones like Ken. I became an even bigger fan when I heard him give a fantastic talk in church a year or so ago here in Seattle and knew I needed to read his latest book.
  
  Listening to this book was so much fun and I highly recommend listening over reading this one! Ken talks fast and if you don't listen up you will miss some very funny one liners. He has a quick wit and I really appreciate his fairly subtle, but smart brand of humor.
  
  If I wasn't laughing I was thinking, "No way!" So of the myths he explores are pretty obvious, like feed a cold and starve a fever, (that never made sense to me, thanks for backing up my common sense mothering Ken) but others were ones that I have believed and perpetuated for years, like putting hydrogen peroxide on open cuts to promote healing. I guess it doesn't help to clean out the wound, but it is still fun to watch it bubble even if it stings. My kids will be happy that this will not be part of our bandaid regimen anymore.
  
  I really appreciated and was interested in the topics Jennings explored regarding helicopter parenting. I have been thinking a lot lately about what I was able to do as a kid and how much more restrictive we are as a society with our kids and how we are more judgmental about what other parents are doing or not doing to keep our kids safe. I have ended up asking myself more and more is this an actual fear or is this another parenting myth like the halloween candy that Jennings debunks?
  
  I liked this book so well that I'm looking forward to reading another book by this author. Let me know if you have a favorite.
• 
  Lena

  Jeopardy winner Ken Jennings puts his sharp mind to good use in this collection of short essays examining the fact and fiction behind the so-called common wisdom that our parents passed down to most of us.
  
  In addition to clarifying whether it's "Feed a fever" or "Feed a cold," (and whether there is any truth to either) Jennings' book is full of fun facts like how many people end up in the emergency room each year for "toaster-related injuries."
  
  Jennings' precise yet entertaining writing style makes this book easy and fun to read. He's got a good sense of humor and succeeds in gently pointing out why believing everything you hear isn't always a good idea. I found this book is, however, best read in short doses; it can feel a little repetitive when read in larger chunks.
  
  Ultimately, though, I'd recommend this book to everyone as it does a fine job of illustrating how many things we think we "know" are, in fact, not based on good evidence, and I found it very satisfying to have a few bits of lingering mental clutter from my own childhood cleaned out.
• 
  Cheri

  This book probably won't dispel a lot of myths, tales and warnings you heard from your mother, your grandmother, etc., etc. but it reads like a walk down memory lane, revisiting your childhood and all the things you were told or heard about the things you should or shouldn't do. I had more than a few laughs reading about how these were told to others.
• 
  Taylor

  This is fun. I could also see a teacher using this as a tool to teach about proper sources and such.
• 
  Barbara Nutting

  I watched the 74 episodes of Jeopardy with Ken Jennings and thought he was a nerdy dork, although super smart and knowledgeable. Pleasantly surprised at his wry sense of humor. This book was hysterical, laugh out loud funny as he debunks all the things our Mothers warned us about i.e. poinsettias are poisonous, drink 8 glasses of water daily, alcohol kills brain cells etc. Looking forward to reading Brainiac, his Jeopardy experience, hope it’s as amusing 🙃
• 
  Jenny

  via Edelweiss
  
  I'm a longtime reader of Ken Jennings' blog, but I haven't read any of his books, until now. Because I Said So! is one of those rare books that I would recommend to everyone - male or female, young or old, numbers people or word people.
  
  Jennings takes those stock phrases familiar to all, from the patently ridiculous "If you cross your eyes your face will stick that way" to the aggravating "Put on a sweater, I'm cold!" to the seemingly-logical "Don't run with a lollipop in your mouth" and investigates them: where and when did they originate, how they have been perpetuated, and whether or not there is any scientific basis for them.
  
  Each "myth" gets about a couple of pages (I had the galley version on my e-reader, so the page numbers were a guess at best), and Jennings' writing is engaging, bright, and funny. Because I Said So! is perfect for those who enjoy Myth Busters and the
  Ig Nobel Prizes; children (of any age) who wish to say "I told you so!" (or, "Turns out you were right about that...") to their parents; or parents or teachers who care about giving kids factual information instead of questionable old wives' tales. A thoroughly enjoyable (and quick) read.
  
  Quotes:
  
  It is true that when we eat, our body diverts blood to the stomach to aid in digestion, but, as you may have noticed after every meal you ever ate in your life, that doesn't immediately immobilize your arms and legs....Not one water death has ever been attributed to post-meal cramping. (27)
  
  Well, you can't buy Mercurochrome anymore. It turns out the "Mercuro-" part means it's full of mercury! (61)
  
  [In case of a nosebleed] Sit down, tilt your head slightly forward, and keep your head above your heart. (Note to the American Academy of Physicians: This is the normal configuration of a sitting person. Do you treat a lot of circus acrobats?) (67)
  
  It's even easier to see why a parents would endorse this myth: knuckle popping can quickly get annoying, and moms and dads have long sought to squelch annoying little behaviors by linking them to medical threats. This is why I tell my kids that knock-knock jokes cause colon cancer. (83)
  
  Instead of a tumor, they found a two-inch fir tree inside his left lung, evidently growing from an accidentally inhaled seed. "I'm so relieved it's not cancer," [he said], obviously a glass-is-half-full type. (93)
  
  [Re: sucking helium] Because what could be funnier that people with normal voices suddenly sounding like Donald Duck and saying stuff? Nothing. There is nothing funnier. (97)
  
  "Thumb-sucking is bad for you!"
  This was an open question back in the 1950s, with psychologists at war against their natural enemies, the dentists. (100)
  
  No, this cockeyed myth is yet another case of parents saying, "That's dangerous!" when they really mean, "Why the hell are you doing that?" (162)
  
  Jabbing a big piece of conductive metal into live, exposed wires is, obviously, problematic, and for much of the twentieth century, toaster electrocution was a not-unheard-of-way to die....But modern safety technology is helping to short-circuit evolution by making it much harder to die via toaster idiocy. (213)
• 
  Elena

  This was a cool "debunking"or confirming of common warnings passed down from parents to kids for generations. Granted, some of his final decisions seemed pretty controversial and some even seemed to go against that same research that he quoted 2 paragraphs earlier! I guess he chose to use his "expertise" gained on Jeopardy (which he mentions at least 10 times!!) to make the final decision.
  
  Overall - an interesting and quick read. Author/narrator was a bit annoying and snarky, but overall it was an ok audiobook :)
• 
  Robert

  The recipe for this book: Snopes + Mythbusters + Ken Jennings's patented wit and snark = a quick, easy read. Jennings analyzes how parental "wisdom" stacks up against empirical studies. Some of this debunking you've likely read before, but enough of it is new, and enough of it is funny that you should enjoy it.
  
  This isn't Jennings's best book—I preferred both Maphead and Brainiac—but if you appreciate his style of writing you might want to give this a look.
• 
  Ellis

  A wonderful book! Nothing gives me more pleasure as a parent than saying, "Because I said so!" (I often add the caveat "And I'm the mommy!") & it's nice to be correct about a lot of my parental wisdom.
• 
  Shane Phillips

  Some interesting facts but the authors weak attempt at humor really irritated me.
• 
  Crizzle

  I love Ken Jennings always and forever. This was a fun read to share little bits of information with my family... also, Ken Jennings is hilarious.
  Things I learned:
  There is nothing magical about a rusty nail that it will give you tetanus, except that it’s dirty and dirty things can have tetanus spores.
  Getting cold MAY be able to get you sick - your immune system could get weakened. But most of your body heat doesn’t exit through your un-hatted head. And when you have a stomach bug, “carbonated soft drinks” should be avoided because too much sugar can make your diarrhea worse. Pedialite is best.
  Poinsettias aren’t poisonous.
  Keep wounds under a bandaid instead of letting them “air out”; skin cells regrow twice as fast when wet and covered as opposed to scabbing. Vaseline is fine to use.
  Sleep might be the best medicine for concussions.
  Scientists still don’t know what causes “growing pains”, but it’s nothing to do with growing! Could be poor posture, bone fatigue, restless leg syndrome, or psychological issues.
  There’s no connection between cracking knuckles and arthritis.
  The chances of getting food poisoning from salmonella in a raw egg is one in every twenty thousand eggs... so the average egg-consumer will come across one once every 84 years. I think that cookie dough is fine.
  Sugar doesn’t rot your teeth, it’s the acid caused by mouth bacteria that break down carbs. Your best bet is to brush regularly. And apparently sugar doesn’t hype a kid up. It’s usually the environment in which they have a lot of sugar (parties, etc).
  8 glasses of water a day? Just drink when you’re thirsty.
  Caffeine doesn’t stunt growth.
  Chewing ice IS bad for your teeth.
  Yes, put the seat down before you flush!!
  Your lips won’t get “addicted” to lip balm.
  Wearing someone’s glasses won’t damage your eyes. Neither will reading with dim lighting. Nor sitting too close to the tv.
  A butterfly won’t die if you touch its wings.
  Mother birds can’t smell if a human has handled their young.
  “Venting” isn’t the best way to “let off steam”; hitting punching bags, screaming, even physical exercise will keep an angry person’s arousal levels high. Deep breaths, counting, etc. are better ways to calm.
  
  
• 
  Stephanie Fitzgerald

  This book made my giggle-box hurt from overuse! Perhaps it was because the author and I came of age in the same decade, so our respective parents were spouters of the same type of wisdom. Gems such as, “Don’t run with scissors!”, “Do not swim until you have waited exactly 60 minutes after eating”, (59 minutes, 59 seconds and one is asking for it!), and of course, the swallowed gum=7 years in the gut warning, are roundly debunked. Or, in some cases, such as in the theory that Grandma’s chicken soup can aid in relief from a cold, or that chewing ice can mess up one’s teeth, the elders are given a shout-out for correctness!
  Memorable Quotes: (Because I said they are!)
  (Pg. 95)-“Worms? In cookie dough? This old chestnut clearly has its origins not in a research lab, but from a frazzled mom tired of kids sticking their grubby fingers in a bowl of raw cookie dough.”
  (Pg. 19)-“When I was a kid, we knew who the real Halloween menaces were: the dentist on the next block who gave out toothbrushes instead of candy, and anyone who gave out candy corn or circus peanuts. What would be the point? How could you make them worse than they actually are?”
  (Pg. 88)-“Even worse, kids don’t have to get very old before they realize that the correct answer to “There are children starving in China/Ethiopia, etc.!” is to say, “Then why don’t you send it to them?” in a sassy voice that gets them sent to their rooms.”
  
  I recommend this book to anyone who has ever been told that sucking helium kills brain cells, sitting perfectly straight is good for the back, and that brushing hair 100 strokes every night is healthy, and plans to pass these and other gems of wisdom from childhood right on along!
• 
  Noah Goats

  I’m a sucker for a good myth debunking, and in this book, Ken Jennings provides a bunch of them. He takes many of the myths of childhood and destroys them (except, of course, the ones that are not myths and cannot be debunked). These myths range from “you have to drink 8 glasses of water a day” to “if you eat right before bed you’ll have nightmares,” and Jennings discusses them all with wit and good humor.
• 
  Redeemed

  Entertaining.
  
  This book does gives a rapid fire overview of different things that your parents or other caretakers in childhood told you, for example the "5-second Rule", and tells you if they were true, false, or inconclusive. It is a light and fun read, with a tone similar to "Mythbusters". It's not academic, but the author does share his sources when he can.
  
  It's good to warn your kids about stuff that's dangerous, but make sure it is based on truth. 😉
• 
  LauraW

  I was surprised at how many of these myths, tales, and warnings there were and how many I recognized. I didn't read the whole book thoroughly, but I sampled ones throughout the book that I found interesting. It was a good book to read for short times, since the vignettes are not long.
• 
  Leslie

  It isn’t just parents who give forth erroneous info. It’s those annoying know-it-alls we’ve all had to listen to, as well. In fact, I’ve heard the myths and tales much more often from them. You know who you are. I’ll keep this book handy to quote from because you’ll never read it.
• 
  Bryan

  So many fun facts. That is what you would expect from Ken Jennings. I now feel like I refer to this book more than myth busters to set things straight. I don't want to be that know it all guy. But, I do want to know it all. :)
• 
  Anna

  Fun, well researched and informative, if a bit random and scattered in approach.