I’m one for ever expanding knowledge, bits of trivia, and factoids from all around. Perhaps this is why I’m such a huge fan of games like Trivial Pursuit, Cranium, Scrabble, and other games that rely on a vast compendium of otherwise seemingly useless knowledge (I certainly do not think any knowledge is useless, more just inapplicable to many situations). My newest favorite game is one called What’s Cookin’? Too bad the questions entail such specific knowledge on dish ingredients, restaurants, and other gastronome categories that most of my burrito-loving, quick spaghetti meal friends are left completely clueless as to the main ingredient in gumbo (it’s okra – though it does vary by region; gumbo aux herbs is translated as “green gumbo” and highlights the use of okra). Aside from my far oft friends from culinary school, I’m left to giddily flipping through the cards myself, and quizzing myself, every now and then shouting to no one in particular, “Totally fine playing by myself!” (actually, I yell this to my boyfriend).

Though it may not cater to the culinarian, Wisen Up by Global Delight contains a vast array of all sorts of other information, particularly concentrated, it seems, in the physiological spectrum. As noted in this app’s disclaimer, while the information provided in Wisen Up is gathered from various references and public domains, and are all demonstrated as fact, they are meant wholly for entertainment and recreation purposes. The developers were wise in pointing out their intended light-heartedness, because the last thing anyone should grasp from this app is a tone of seriousness – even though, there’s a section titled Types of Doctors that breaks down the different medical fields for you. Who knew bits of trivia would largely comprise medicine?

The app features 12 categories: Personality Quizzes, Ancient cures, Body Language (with illustrations), Body facts, Types of doctors, Medical quotes, Tell me why (covers most bodily functions like sneezing, farting, vomiting, dreaming, etc), Myths (once again, dealing mostly with the human body), Phobias, Weird and Incurable diseases, First aid mistakes, and Be a Doctor (A quiz to test your ability to identify ailments). For each section, there is a tab along the bottom, with different options available to the user for mailing out results, adding to favorites, or linking to facebook (the status quo of all apps today).

My favorite Wisen Up section was, by far, the Phobias. We covered a Phobia app not too long ago on Appstruck, and much in the same vein, Wisen Up details the specifics on certain phobias, notably highlighting the more rare or eccentric or downright ridiculous. I was amused to note many of the phobias had a definite focus on the anal area, a scatalogical sense of humor on the developers part, I’d like to think. For one, Defecaloesiophobia is a fear of bowel movements – a disease, I’ll say with a wry tongue-in-check, most commonly found among the uptight and anal-retentive. Or, who knows, maybe most people suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or flare-ups of Colitis actually have recurring bouts of crippling (literally) bowel movement fear. In any case, Defecaloesiophobia is not a phobia I would wish on anyone. Coprophobia, similarly, is a fear of fecal matter, and probably the next logical phobia to have after Defecaloesiophobia. Another anal phobia, Rectophobia, actually makes sense in a conventional way to me, being how it is entirely plausible and real to have a fear of rectal disease – and, unfortunately, many people suffer from this unfortunate condition. Other phobias in the list are entirely realistic on a large scale, like Cacophobia, the fear of ugliness – so many people suffer from Anorexia and a common sidelong symptom is body dysmorphia, or Body Dysmorphic Disorder, which often revolve around a severe anxiety on a flaw, or ugliness, or otherwise perceived lesser quality of oneself. Others are so specific as to incite ridicule, like Automatonophobia, the fear of ventriloquist dummies (that just goes without saying), and Consecotaleophobia, the fear of chopsticks (now that’s just ethnocentric).

Rather curious, though, is the section on Types of Doctors. I’m not sure I’d consult an app with otherwise humorous intentions for something as serious as looking up the meaning for my Gastrologist. Sure, the information is sound – thorough even, for a layman – but the seriousness of this section stands out sorely from the other, more lighthearted sections. It’s definitely wise to know the difference between an Obstetrician and a Gynecologist, or any physician for that matter, but it’s information I would more readily seek other sources to inform myself. Even with the success of shows like House and Grey’s Anatomy, somehow I think it’s more the medical terminology – words like intubation, hemorrhagic contusion, and whipple – that sinks into the viewer’s daily use than the differentiation between physician and surgeon titles. The X-Files was a hugely popular show, but no one would think to call Scully a Forensic Pathologist, more confusedly thinking “an Autopsy… ist?”

I will forgive the Amazing Body Facts section for quoting John Mayer’s, “Your Body Is A Wonderland” because the random factoids contained in this section are pretty cool.  Apparently, your thigh bone is stronger than concrete, despite it being hollow and filled with a spongy marrow substance. That may surprise most people, and illicit strong retaliatory thoughts – “that can’t be possible!” – but it makes sense when you realize that spider’s silk, so delicate, so seemingly fragile, is stronger than steel on a per weight basis. Don’t underestimate Mother Nature. It’s bad news for the anemic that 2 million red blood cells die every second, and since women have a higher olfactory capacity than men, able to detect far more smells, it’s unfortunate that people, on average, pass gas 14 per day. Woof! The fact that people generally read 25% slower from a computer screen compared to paper seems obvious enough, but it’s nice to read it in print. Other facts were entirely unknown to me, like how left-handed people are better than right-handed folk at sports that require fast reaction rates. I’m sure my left-handed boyfriend would just LOOOOVE that piece of trivia.

As Wisen Up points out in the info section, they are not liable for any outdated information. Good thing they mentioned this disclaimer, because the factoid, “once a human reaches the age of 35, he/she will start losing 7,000 brain cells a day, and cannot be replaced” isn’t true, after all. Recent studies have shown it is possible to regenerate and grow new brain cells throughout your life. Another fact listed was, “scientists say the higher I.Q., the more you dream.” My first thoughts were of cocky elation, I recalling vividly every wildly colorful dream I’ve had every night of my life (so much, I sometimes confuse with waking life). Then, I recalled from a college Psychology course that a most prevalent theory is that everyone dreams, every night, and some are just not apt to remember. So, either those who remember have a higher I.Q., or the statement in Wisen Up is just too vague to comprehend.

The Myths section dispels some common myths, mostly surrounding bodily functions again, like shaving creating coarser hair, and plucking a grey hair sprouts up 10 more (all myths, people).  Ladies, I was especially happy to read about the hair brushing myth. You see, brushing the hair damages the cuticle. This is great news for me because I never brush my hair. I’m serious. I wash, I put on a great leave-in conditioner by ABBA called “Nourishing” and then I let it air dry to wavy loveliness. When it’s fully dry, I’ll run a natural bristle brush, no more than five strokes, just to get the tangles out and distribute my natural oils, from my scalp to roots. Then I scrunch just a bit more Nourishing to the ends. Done. No drying, no brushing, no gels, no split ends and coarse hair from too much brushing. Sure, I don’t have immaculately groomed Hollywood hair, but so what?

I was laughing out loud with the Medical Quotes, which is rare for me. I really liked the brutal and succinct Short History of Medicine, but I was really tickled by Dick Wilson’s quote, “As she lay there dozing next to me, one voice inside my head kept saying ‘Relax, you’re not the first doctor to sleep with one of his patients,’ but the other voice kept reminding me, ‘Howard, you’re a veterinarian!” Some of the quotes are vicious, especially taken from the perspective of a physician’s daughter: “the closest most doctors will ever get to empathy is cuddling a hot water bottle; the closest thing to their hearts are usually their wallets.” Sounds like you’ve been wronged in the past, Mr. Swami Rej. Or, “Finish last in your league and they call you idiot. Finish last in medical school and they call you doctor.” Jeeeeez. Don’t go easy on the doctors or anything. They only help you improve your health. However, I do get the sense whoever created this app either has a medical background, or a sidelong interest in medicine. Doctors poke fun within their field like no other.

The Personality Quizzes and Be a Doctor sections are of similar enjoyment, with the latter being of a bit more interest. It’s a Quiz to assess your nascent skills as a Doctor – you are given a list of symptoms and your goal is to diagnose the ailment. I totally aced the test – thank you Dr. Dad -, but it did help that I’ve suffered from some of the ailments. Headache of a pulsating or throbbing quality, pain that worsens with physical activity, pain that interferes with your regular activities, nausea with or without vomiting, sensitive to light and sound? Well, by joe, is that isn’t a migraine, I don’t know what is.

If you like absorbing knowledge, however commonplace or obscure, you may enjoy Wisen Up. I wish it was more readily organized, so if you needed a fact to look up, you wouldn’t have to cycle through all the other ones just to get to it. But, other than navigation problems, and a generally blah grey background, Wisen Up is a pretty neat and informative app. If you feel like a sprig of entertainment, and feel like learning some random trivia along the way, then download Wisen Up for free, our treat, with the promo codes below:

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*When using the promotion code to download for free, it’s on a first-come, first-served basis. Out of courtesy, please leave a comment below mentioning you’ve used the promotion code.