Ok, I know this is going to be a very odd topic and I'm willing to bet no one has discussed it previously (I did try a search just in case...).
First of all, a photic sneezer is someone who sneezes in response to bright light. There's an explanation here; it's something that affects only about 25% of the population, and is passed on genetically.
I thought everyone sneezed when walking from a building into a bright sunny day; never thought it was odd until my dad found a little writeup on it in Discover magazine. He's a photic sneezer as well.
Now, why am I asking if Ender is one? I seem to recall a sentence in Ender's Game where Ender walks out of the cabin by the lake (when he's taken there later in the book) and sneezes due to the bright sunshine.
So, I pose two questions to Mr. Card: 1) Is Ender a photic sneezer?
2) Are you a photic sneezer? In my experience, people who are mostly assume everyone does it; for people who aren't, the idea usually doesn't even occur to them. So, my guess would be that you are.
...I suppose I should say hello, by the way - I've read all the Ender and Ender's Shadow books (minus Shadow of the Giant, but I'll get there), all the Alvin Maker books, Pastwatch, and Hart's Hope, and I'm currently reading Enchantment. I've enjoyed them all.
Posted by WntrMute (Member # 7556) on :
I suspect he is a philotic sneezer as well.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I am one.
Posted by Sergeant (Member # 8749) on :
Me too. 3 sneezes at least when walking out of a building into the sunlight.
Sergeant
Posted by onetrooluff (Member # 9036) on :
Hahah... WntrMute, I knew that was coming. Posted by Amilia (Member # 8912) on :
I'm not, but my dad and several of my siblings are.
I find it very funny that the adds Google picked for this page are for sneezeguards. :-)
Posted by Lucky_Sean (Member # 6223) on :
That is hilarious - I simply having nothing more to say on the matter.
Posted by CRash (Member # 7754) on :
I'm a photic sneezer, but no one else in my family is. I just thought I was weird.
Posted by TrapperKeeper (Member # 7680) on :
I thought I was the only one! Sweet! I dont care whether or not ender is, now i know that it is something that actually exists and (probably) has a biological reason.
Posted by TheSeeingHand (Member # 8349) on :
When I first read what a phlotic sneezer I thought it was weird but I just realized that I think I'm one...
Posted by TrapperKeeper (Member # 7680) on :
There is no question in my case, it happens ALOT!
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
I'm not, but I do sneeze when my hair is being brushed too roughly. I wonder if there's a word for that.
Posted by Black Mage (Member # 5800) on :
My brother tried to convince me everyone was. I'm certainly not.
Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :
Ive never heard of this condition before...huh...learn something new everyday.
Posted by HectorVictor (Member # 9003) on :
I thought looking into a bright light helps you withhold a sneeze. Maybe it's just true for 25% of the population, like the "photic" sneezers. Shouldn't it be photonic anyway?
Kind of funny though, I thought the topic name was philotic sneezer when I clicked on it lol.
Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :
Yes, I've never dobied before, but this thread seriously tested my resolve. Though I don't know if I'd be able to find a link to anything which pertains to both philotes and sneezing, much less a philotic sneezer. Such potential though.
On topic though, this is pretty interesting. Does anyone know if its hereditary or seemingly arbitrary?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I'd never even heard of this condition before. I've certainly never seen it. Is it more common in certain geographic areas?
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
I think im one, maybe its just coincidence since I've been sneezing for the last... 8 years or so.
Posted by genius00345 (Member # 8206) on :
I'm one. I always thought everybody did it.
I also thought it was 'philotic' when I first read through!
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
Philotic Sneezer: noun Fe-loh-tehk Sn-ee-hz-hur. def: One who engages in a forcible clearing action of the nasal cavity due to exposure to the subatomic particles which are the constituting particles of all matter.
Posted by Princess Leah (Member # 6026) on :
Philotic Sneezer, 2. One whose sneezes instantaneously extend threads throughout the known universe.
Posted by Sergeant (Member # 8749) on :
Philotic Sneezer, 3. One who sneezes while "outside" and creates extensions of himself in the form of siblings (This is where I thought the thread was going when I first read it). Maybe I ought to get more sleep.
Posted by onetrooluff (Member # 9036) on :
Dr. Strangelove: It's definitely genetic. A parent who has it will pass it on to 50% of their children; a child with no photic-sneezing parents will definitely not have it.
I got it from my father; my mother and brother had no idea what we were talking about.
TomDavidson: Not a clue on the geographic area thing. It's an interesting question. I didn't come across any answers to that in my original Google search; perhaps a search for "photic sneezer geographic," or something of the sort, is in order.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
I read this as "philotic sneezer" at first, too. I thought it might have something to do with all the connections Ender makes with the people around him.
I'm a photic sneezer, and so is the rest of my family. I always thought it was odd, and wondered why it happened. Sometimes I've deliberately looked at a bright sky (doesn't need to be anywhere near the sun) to hasten a hesitant sneeze.
Wow. I've never heard of such a thing as sneezing due to bright light! I'm not a photic sneezer myself, but I do always sneeze in pairs. I (almost) never just sneeze once.
Posted by Tarrsk (Member # 332) on :
quote:I'm not, but I do sneeze when my hair is being brushed too roughly. I wonder if there's a word for that.
Dandruff. Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
I am most definitely a photic sneezer. And I, too, thought that most everyone was. Learn something new every day, I guess. Posted by tms (Member # 9017) on :
Nice to finally know what it is. I've always quite enjyed being able to stimulate them myself, especially round hayfever system. It's a cool thing to be able to do as an actor to, believe it or not, coz faking a sneeze sounds, well fake. I've pulled it off on stage many times (now that I think of it only for gags) and all I have to do is think about sneezing and look at the stage-lights.
Posted by Occasional (Member # 5860) on :
I am a part time one. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, but when I look at the Sun on a very bright summer day there is a good chance I will.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
I come from a family of photic sneezers. My husband does not. He and his family had never heard of such a thing, and pretty much laughed at the very idea when I asked them about it.
One of my very first threads on Hatrack was to ask about it, so I learned about photic sneezing right here!
When I talked to my Dad about what I learned here, he explained the looking-into-bright-light-inducing-sneeze-thing. I'm glad for that little tip. Quite useful!
Posted by Subhuman (Member # 9052) on :
I am photically sneezing all the time. The trick is to breath out real fast when you get into a bright as place.
I kind of think that being a photic sneezer is sweet. Whenever I skateboard in the summer I have like an adventure just trying to get used to the light.
Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
I do that, but never thought it was odd.
Welcome, Onetrooluff!
Posted by onetrooluff (Member # 9036) on :
Heheh... I agree with Subhuman, being a photic sneezer IS sweet. And often useful (to get stubborn sneezes out).
And thanks for the welcome, aiua!
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
I sneeze when I pluck my eyebrows.
Posted by mistaben (Member # 8721) on :
This morning I put my 1-year-old in her high chair, then opened the curtains, letting the sunlight pour in.
She sneezed twice.
/meaningless but interesting anecdote
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
Ender is, and I am.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
You know, I polled everyone at work on this, and all my close friends, and none of us do this. I figure it's got to be genetic/geographic.
Posted by onetrooluff (Member # 9036) on :
Hahaha, you have no idea how tickled I am to have an answer to this question - it's been floating around in my head ever since I first heard about the whole photic sneezing thing several years ago. Thanks for answering.
And to sarcasticmuppet: I sneeze when I pluck my eyebrows too, like clockwork.
Posted by onetrooluff (Member # 9036) on :
Sorry for double-posting... but I was just thinking that considering the concerns they have about photic sneezers becoming fighter pilots, it's lucky Ender wasn't affected by it in battle school. Heheheh.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Accidentally pulling my nose hairs will not just make me sneeze, it will give me an instant allergy attack.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
*note to self: Never pull Icarus' nose hairs.* Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Thank you.
*relief*
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
DISGUSTING CONTENT ALERT:
What about when you pull nose hairs on purpose? That's how I deal with the suckers. I didn't NOTICE my nose hairs had started growing (one of the joys of old age) till I was out on my daily run and a moustache hair kept getting into my nose and tickling it. Drove me insane. I kept clipping this and that moustache hair but it didn't help. Then I finally tipped my head and saw that I had these long hairs inside my nose, and a hair on ONE side of a nostril could tickle the skin on the other side of the same nostril. Which is just stupid. My head hair and beard hair and LEG hair don't tickle the skin, but my NOSE hairs have this useless talent (or the skin is hypersensitive).
This is more than you wanted to know, of course ... one solution is to get a nose hair trimmer, but they get covered in viscous liquids AND they do a lousy job. Scissors are never at the right angle. So ... I grab on and pull hard and then cry a little, but ... no tickling.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
*ducks and covers*
Posted by Steev (Member # 6805) on :
Yeah, me too!
edit: the pulling hair part not the duck and cover part.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
*sneeze*
*twitch*
Posted by Irregardless (Member # 8529) on :
quote:Originally posted by Orson Scott Card: DISGUSTING CONTENT ALERT:
What about when you pull nose hairs on purpose? That's how I deal with the suckers. I didn't NOTICE my nose hairs had started growing (one of the joys of old age) till I was out on my daily run and a moustache hair kept getting into my nose and tickling it. Drove me insane. I kept clipping this and that moustache hair but it didn't help. Then I finally tipped my head and saw that I had these long hairs inside my nose, and a hair on ONE side of a nostril could tickle the skin on the other side of the same nostril. Which is just stupid. My head hair and beard hair and LEG hair don't tickle the skin, but my NOSE hairs have this useless talent (or the skin is hypersensitive).
This is more than you wanted to know, of course ... one solution is to get a nose hair trimmer, but they get covered in viscous liquids AND they do a lousy job. Scissors are never at the right angle. So ... I grab on and pull hard and then cry a little, but ... no tickling.
I have one very dull pair of scissors that I use for this exact purpose (i.e., plucking, not cutting). Yes, it causes tears, but I also find it strangely addictive; there's nothing quite so satisfying as a smooth nostril.
I have heard that it's unhealthy, though -- provides opportunity for potentially dangerous bacterial infection.
quote:I didn't NOTICE my nose hairs had started growing (one of the joys of old age) till....
I have nose hairs and I'm only 16!
Ironically enough, I do sneeze when I step into sunlight for the first time in a while, but I thought that was natural. Go figure.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
Now that was a weird site.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
Back to the blueprints guys. The sneeze reaction was "designed" to clear the respiratory system of foreign irritants before they can damage the system. Bright light irritates the eyes, which are plumbed into the system. So does plucking nose hairs. The design appears to be intelligent. However, the sensors are not all universally calibrated.
Posted by BaoQingTian (Member # 8775) on :
Holy cow there's a name for it (and to think I passed up this thread for days because I read philotic sneezer). My wife thought I was so weird how I always get the urge to sneeze when I get out to the bright light and then look in the direction of the sun to do so. Now I'm not only not weird, but I genetically belong to a minority now! Whoot.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I sneeze twice every time I walk outside on a bright day. Although lately it's been three sneezes.
I can't believe some people have neither experienced nor witnessed this.
Posted by BandoCommando (Member # 7746) on :
/boggle
I plead the 5th amendment.
Posted by Oliver Dale (Member # 8398) on :
Not that anyone cares, but I've heard that plucking nose hairs is not a good idea as that particular area is prone to infection (i.e. high exposure to trapped alergens and bacteria). Might want to go with the trimmer and just, you know, keep it clean.
And now I'm off to think happy, non-muculent thoughts.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
quote:Originally posted by advice for robots: I can't believe some people have neither experienced nor witnessed this.
For those of us who haven't experienced it, it's not that we've never witnessed it -- more like, why would we make the connection that going from dark to bright light is what's causing that other person to sneeze? People sneeze all the time. I would assume they breathed in something they're allergic to that I'm not or something. Since bright light doesn't make me sneeze, why should I think that's what's making you sneeze if no one ever pointed that out?
I guess if it always happened to someone I spend tons of time with, I might have been more inclined to make the connection. Believe me, after reading this thread I'll definitely be observing sneezes more carefully!
(And yes, I was one more person who read "philotic sneezer" when I clicked on this thread . . .)
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote: I can't believe some people have neither experienced nor witnessed this.
It's not actually all that common -- and due to the way it's transmitted, there's a strong likelihood that people who are photic sneezers know mostly other people who also are, and vice versa.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I now have a pimple on the border between my nose and my moustache.
I blame you all.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
I accept no blame for your pimple. Now, if you sneezed when suddenly entering the sunlight and your older sister appeared beside you in her most beautiful, idealized and youthful state, perhaps we would need to admit some culpability.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
Ha!
Posted by CRash (Member # 7754) on :
Dude, that happened to me today. And I don't even HAVE a sister.
Start with the admittances, people.
Posted by Sergeant (Member # 8749) on :
I was first alerted to my condition by a Russian missionary companion who thought it was immensly funny that I would sneeze three times every time we walked out of a building (all the stairwells in Russian apartment buildings are poorly lit and we went from one to another at an incredible rate of speed.)
Sergeant
Posted by Pinky (Member # 9161) on :
Me and my mom are both photic sneezer. As already said, I thought it to be normal. Question: Are you photic sneezers tong-rollers, too? And vice versa.
Posted by cheiros do ender (Member # 8849) on :
No, I'm a photic sneezer but cannot role my tonue. But touching the top of my mouth with my tongue usually contributes to making me sneeze. Not sure if that's the kind of connection you were looking for. Oh well.
Posted by Sergeant (Member # 8749) on :
Pinky,
I'm am a tongue-rolling photic sneezing fool
Sergeant
Posted by CRash (Member # 7754) on :
Ditto for me. But no one else in my immediate family can do either. Sometimes I think I'm adopted.
Posted by Pinky (Member # 9161) on :
Then either those gens are not-dominant (recessive?)or you are. The ultimative test for very child: when both of your parents are tongue-rollers and/or photic sneezers, but you are not, then you are probably adopted or "half-adopted".
Posted by Pinky (Member # 9161) on :
quote: Pinky,
I'm am a tongue-rolling photic sneezing fool
Sergeant
lol
Welcome in the Club!
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
quote: I'd never even heard of this condition before. I've certainly never seen it. Is it more common in certain geographic areas?
Both my father and me have it, at least to some extent. I thought all people had it... :S
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:Then either those gens are not-dominant (recessive?)or you are. The ultimative test for very child: when both of your parents are tongue-rollers and/or photic sneezers, but you are not, then you are probably adopted or "half-adopted".
That test doesn't work unless you know for a fact that a trait is autosomal recessive and both your parents have it... Or you know that a trait is autosomal dominant and neither of your parents have it but you do. (Although sometimes autosomal dominant traits are new mutations. Well, so are autosomal recessive ones, but not quite as often, because both parents' genes would have to mutate the same way at the same time for the trait to appear.)
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