It's become a thing in my family when someone asks a question that no one can seem to answer.  One of us will invariably say, "Wait, there's this new thing called Google, and I can look it up!"

Many of us are old enough to remember a time when almost every home had a set of encyclopedias.  I researched many a school project by scouring through World Book at my bedroom desk.  (If you don't know what World Book encyclopedias look like, watch an episode of Stranger Things and take a look in the background of the scenes shot in characters' homes.  You can't miss them on the bookshelves.)  Back in those days,  if we couldn't find the answers we were looking for in a book, we were out of luck.  And "those days" were less than 20 years ago.

Now it's impossible to imagine life without Google.  It seems the answers to all of life's questions are right at our fingertips. The questions we have can run the gamut from mundane to existential, but one of the most common queries is the "Why do..." question.

All Home Connections just released a study of Google Trends that identifies the most commonly Googled "Why do..." question for each state in the U.S., except Wyoming.  (Apparently Wyomingites aren't so much interested in "why" as they are in "how".)  Here are some of the results:

  • Arkansas--Why do we sleep?
  • Idaho--Why do men have nipples?
  • Illinois--Why do zebras have stripes?
  • Minnesota--Why do apples float?  (FYI--The official State Fruit of Minnesota is the HoneyCrisp apple.)
  • Texas--Why do ears ring?

In Louisiana, the most commonly Googled is "Why do people yawn?"  Heck, who needs Google for that?  That's an easy one to answer.  It's because they stayed up all night partying!

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