Hey!, Want To Know

Quick Guides and Useful Info

Hey!, Want To Know (HWTK) is bite-sized information explained clearly.

Things about how brains work, why people do what they do, and the patterns behind everyday life. Ten minute reads in plain English.

Available Essays

Ants and Brains Work in Similar Ways

Individual ants are simple creatures following basic rules, yet as a colony are clever and intelligent and find solutions to challenges such as the best routes to new food sources. Just how brain cells solve problems!

#neuroscience #learning #antcolonies #brainplasticity #distributedintelligence #neuralpathways #skillacquisition #hebbianthinking #ArchitectureOfIntelligence

How Bodies Tell the Truth When Words Lie

Research shows people continuously send signals through posture, tone, and facial expressions - and these signals are harder to fake than speech. Discover the fascinating mechanisms behind blushing, fidgeting, voice changes, and why people believe body language over words.

#bodylanguage #nonverbalcommunication #psychology #humanbehaviour #communication #evolution #research

How Your Body Talks 24/7?

The body never stops sending signals - and that's the bit that important research in 1967 missed. Most people have heard that communication is 7% words, 38% tone, 55% body language. But what did Mehrabian actually study? Discover what contemporary research reveals about how verbal and nonverbal channels really work together.

#Communication #Research #NonverbalCommunication #Psychology #Science #Mehrabian #Misconceptions

Why Children Can Melt Down After Really Fun Playtime

The best play sessions can sometimes end in tears. Research shows most interactions go through seven stages - and many parents miss the crucial winding down phase. Discover why children can get stuck at high emotional intensity when adults skip from peak excitement straight to separation, and how bedtime routines demonstrate these stages in everyday practice.

#parenting #childdevelopment #emotionalregulation #playtime #transitions #bedtimeroutines #SolihullApproach #reciprocity #parentingresearch

What Eric Berne Discovered about Body Language in the 1950s?

Decades before brain scanning technology, a psychotherapist figured out that identical words mean completely different things depending on tone, posture, and facial expression. Discover how Eric Berne developed Transactional Analysis by watching people interact in therapy groups and recognising that complete communication includes everything people do while talking - not just the words they choose.

#EricBerne #TransactionalAnalysis #Psychology #HistoryOfPsychology #Communication #NonverbalCommunication #TherapeuticPractice

How an Oak Tree Knows When to Drop Its Leaves

No brain. No eyes. No calendar. But every autumn, oak trees drop their leaves in a perfectly timed sequence. The answer is chemical messengers—hormones coordinating millions of cells without any central control. The same trick works in humans too.

#plantbiology #hormones #oaktrees #distributedcoordination #chemicalmessengers #evolution #neuroscience #ArchitectureOfIntelligence