Boring Facts About Why We Blink to Fall Asleep To

In this calm and deliberately boring episode, you'll listen to hundreds of quiet facts about why we blink, one of the most constant things the body does, thousands of times a day, mostly without our ever noticing. We take a slow and unhurried look at what a blink actually is and why we do it, since the eyelids sweep a thin layer of moisture across the surface of the eye, keeping it clean, smooth, and comfortable, and an eye left open too long soon begins to feel dry and sore. Along the way, we cover the parts of the eye and eyelid involved, the tears that coat the eye and where they come from and drain away to, the tiny muscles that snap the lids shut and open again, and the difference between the blinks we cannot control and the ones we choose to make. There are many overlooked details, including why we blink far more often than dryness alone would require, why we barely notice the world going dark during each blink, how the brain quietly smooths over those little gaps in vision, why we blink more when nervous and less when staring at a screen, and how newborn babies blink far less than adults. Nothing here is dramatic, and nothing needs to be remembered. Tonight, as you listen, you can simply rest inside the thought that even the most ordinary subject contains more quiet details than anyone could ever notice at once.