TikTok Doctor Explains The Age-Old Science Of "Beer Goggles"
If you've ever knocked back a few cold ones and felt a strange attraction to your best friend's mushroom-obsessed cousin, I've got a TikTok for you. Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki, one of Australia's leading science commentators, has recently joined TikTok to answer everyone's burning scientific questions. Karl Kruszelnicki, often referred to as "Dr. Karl," is what Pedestrian calls "Australia's favourite weird nerd uncle." It seems he's a Bill Nye figure of sorts, and he's here to explain the science behind beer goggles.
Kruszelnicki's TikTok bio reads "an answer looking for a question." Basically, if you have a science-related question, he has your answer. Last week, Kruszelnicki created a TikTok to explain why someone may suddenly become more attractive when you've been on the sauce.
@drkarl Why are people more attractive when you are (slightly) drunk. #drkarl #drkarlkruszelnicki #science #beer
"Alcohol is absolutely amazing," Kruszelnicki said in the TikTok clip. "It can strip oil stains off a garage floor, but it can also change your human perception of reality." He then highlighted a study done in 2003 on heterosexual university students. The study's goal was to determine whether alcohol affected the students' perceptions of reality—and, in turn, the perceived attractiveness of other people.
"For both men and women, when they were slightly inebriated—or 'Molly the monk'—a bit of alcohol made a wrist watch look a bit more attractive," Kruszelnicki said. "But when it came to rating the attractiveness of other people, women found men a bit more attractive, but men found women a whole lot more attractive." He referred to this phenomenon as an increase in the "Facial Attractiveness Index." It's worth pointing out that the data relies solely on cisgender, heterosexual subjects, so the data may not track for members of the LGBTQ community.
As of today, the video has more than 36,000 likes. Do you have additional beer-related queries for the sweet, bespectacled Australian doctor? Check out the other videos on his feed, some of which involve elaborate wigs and spirited dancing. I don't need beer goggles to profess my love for Dr. Karl.