• Question: When you bang a drum, most people blink at the same time as the bang, why?

    Asked by theginge to Alex, Jools, Lynz, Matt, Rika on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Julie Greensmith

      Julie Greensmith answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      You blink as a reflex to protect your eyes. When you hear a loud bang, your body is wired to think that there is danger and you shut your eyes. It does not matter if the danger is real or not, your reflexes still respond, unless you force yourself to keep your eyes open overriding the reflex. (You can override other reflexes like training yourself not to respond to picking up very hot things).

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