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The Forum: Disgust

Disgust

05/01/2013

BBC Radio 4 - The Forum, Disgust

What disgusts you? Bridget Kendall and guests explore this basic human emotion.

Why do we find some things disgusting? Bridget Kendall finds out what's gross from psychologist David Pizarro, sensory scientist John Prescott and surgeon Iain Hutchison.

There's quite a lot of agreement between people on just what is disgusting and it usually involves some pretty basic body fluids. In this week's episode of the ideas discussion programme, Bridget Kendall rolls up her sleeves and delves a little deeper into this fundamental human emotion, one which stems from a basic instinct to keep ourselves alive. 
We hear from surgeon Iain Hutchison how disgust is a subjective response, from sensory scientist John Prescott how even rats dislike bitter food, and from psychologist David Pizarro how our level of squeamishness can even reveal our politics.

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