A New Theory of Why We Yawn: The "Fonz" Effect

Why do we yawn?

The common assumption is that we yawn to get more oxygen into the blood, into the brain, but -- it turns out the world is stranger than we thought, i.e.,

There are more things in heaven and earth [dear reader],
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
~ (paraphrasing) Hamlet, Hamlet-1.5

Two recent studies:

• A Dr. Gallup and fellow researchers have a new explanation: yawning, they said, is a way for the body to cool the brain (New York Times, July 4, 2007).
• A second claim is that contagious yawning is based on the capacity for empathy. People who feel more empathy are more prone to it (Reported in Biology Letters, Online Date: Tuesday, August 14, 2007).

From these two lines of converging evidence, scientists have concluded that we yawn because it's "cool," and -- we all want to be "cool."

Scientists are calling it the Fonzie (or Fonz) effect.

A funeral for the "more oxygen" theory will be held next Sunday morning on the grounds of the The National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230 . . .