When you need to empty your stool after entering a library – teach me about science

In 1985, Mariko Aoki, a 29-year-old woman, wrote a letter to a magazine commenting on an experiment, leading several people to report the same phenomenon that bears her name:

“Not sure why,” Mariko Aoki wrote. “But for about two or three years now, whenever I go to a bookstore I feel the need to vacate.”

People have many theories about whether this phenomenon really exists. Of course, we have more pressing problems, like dealing with a case of COVID-19 and discovering a cure for cancer, than researching the theory that we defecate when we walk into a library. This phenomenon has apparently become very common, and several people have also written to the publisher to say they have a “condition” that makes them want to vacate when they arrive at a bookstore.

People describe it as an overwhelming and sudden impulse; That pigeon instinct you only feel in libraries. Some people reported experiencing symptoms such as “abdominal pain” and “a kind of burning sensation in the rectal canal”. Others comment that the symptoms are so debilitating that they have to get others to buy books for them.

The question is what can cause this phenomenon?

We have many answers, although none are really definitive. Some people have claimed that it could be due to the chemicals in the ink in books that promote digestion (cAs you might imagine, it’s not urgent to treat this condition, so not much research has been done on this topic.)

However, the Japanese TV show “The Real Side of Un’nan” tried to get the participants to flush the toilet with the smell of ink, but to no avail.

We’ll also learn more about the case if library staff are constantly evacuated during work.

Other people think it might be due to an association, something like Pavlov’s dogs. Just like a bell that made dogs salivate by attaching it to food, in this hypothesis, books make people want to relieve themselves by associating it with reading while they go to the bathroom. However, that doesn’t explain why this doesn’t happen to people on the bookshelves at home.

Another theory is that it is due to the position people take when picking up a book and the impact on the rectum is inevitable (see image below).

The bottom line is that there is no such thing as Mariko-Oki syndrome at all, and it is simply some kind of frequency bias. Although history has turned the world upside down and people may have been conditioned in a Pavlovian way.

However, we recommend that you take wet wipes or toilet paper with you when you go to the bookstore, just in case.