You know what really ‘Grinds My Gears?’ The fact that I am never able to maintain my pairs of socks. Over the years, no matter how hard I attempt, they just vanish. I’m not sure where they go or how they disappear, but they do.
My entire life, myself and others have mentioned these disappearing socks from time to time. It began to be clear that this was NOT just a coincidence and it was absolutely a connection that existed. I desired to know if there was some sort of psychology or scientific reason behind this phenomenon and that led me to do some research. Here’s what I found.
There was a study done about two years ago that Samsung commissioned when trying to launch a new washing machine. The study revealed that 84 million socks go missing in the UK each month. Next up, we have the late Stephen Hawking, a physicist and cosmologist who theorized that people may have “fallen victim to spontaneously-created black holes.” In whichever capacity Hawking mentioned this, I’m certain he was joking; however, it does make you think. The reason that seems the most logical to me is a term called heuristics. Heuristics is what we all use to problem solve. We naturally select the easiest and quickest avenues when searching for anything. With socks, we do the same. The difference is that we stop after the obvious places, and conclude that these foot coats are lost forever. Whereas with something of a bit higher value, we may be more diligent in our searching efforts. There are formulas that exist also. These equations allow you to conclude how many socks on average each of us will lose based on our current inventory. I’m sure you can find these formulas and many other theories using our second brain, Google. The ones I provided I feel make the most sense; black hole and heuristics (yes, I believe in black holes.)
In conclusion, we all face this dilemma and we can either choose to search in areas other than the laundry room and our sock drawers…or purchase a new annual inventory as I’ve been doing my entire life. It’s all up to you.
Thanks for reading! Cheers!
Trina Davenport, a Baltimore native, has been writing for over a decade and has an array of multiple talents. She holds a wealth of knowledge regarding media and loves to express herself through writing as well as a podcast she and her brother host. Trina’s background includes an IT degree as well as holding a four-year position as Vice President for a Baltimore Non-Profit. She also has a business called Vino Visuals that creates fine art using wine corks. She is thrilled to be a part of the OutWire family.
Podcast: Absolutely Alphas (YouTube, SoundCloud, FB, IG and all major streaming platforms)
Art: Vinovisuals.com
