Page 1 of 7 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 70

Thread: Observation

  1. #1
    Platinum Member pmbguy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    PMB
    Posts
    2,095
    Thanks
    310
    Thanked 254 Times in 230 Posts

    Observation

    A few years ago I watched a documentary about human behaviour, memory and attention
    In the documentary a group of about 30 observers are asked to count exactly how many times a basketball is passed between 5 or so basket ball players. The observers are viewing the activity from the bleachers.
    After about 30sec of passing the ball it is put down and the observers had to note how many times the ball was passed. They are also asked whether they recall anything strange occurring at all.
    They averaged well in counting the passes.
    Very few said they saw anything strange, of those who did only 1 or 2 had correctly recalled the strange occurrence.

    The strange occurrence was a man in a Yeti suit running around the basketball court between the players! ........ And almost nobody saw it!

    When the observers were shown the video of what actually happened they were shocked!

    It shows us how limited our ability for observation really is. If we were consciously aware of how little we are aware of, we would struggle to function.

    Sometimes when I think I can’t work through a problem and I can’t see the answer, I think of this documentary. It reminds me that there are infinitely more aspects I am not currently observing even though they are right in front of me.
    It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin

  2. #2
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    22,649
    Thanks
    3,305
    Thanked 2,676 Times in 2,257 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    I recall seeing the video and the story somewhere.

    It's the downside of focus. If the observers hadn't been so focused on counting the passes, there's no doubt most, if not all, would have noticed the guy in the Yeti suit.

    Something else to consider, especially if you've watched much of Derren Brown's stuff - the subliminal mind probably did notice.

  3. #3
    Platinum Member pmbguy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    PMB
    Posts
    2,095
    Thanks
    310
    Thanked 254 Times in 230 Posts
    I am fascinated by the human mind...
    How focus can sometimes blinker.
    The other pole is over absorption. Great ideas but not focussed on one for long

    I find the method of compartmentalisation very affective for dealing with focus-distraction and memory. I try build specific and general compartments or boxes in my mind, into which I place different and random content, anything. It makes archiving easier and clearer......I am not crazy.
    It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin

  4. #4
    Diamond Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    6,329
    Thanks
    426
    Thanked 978 Times in 795 Posts
    How do you do it mentally? My short term memory is absolutely terrible and I find that I am often unable to access my memory. I would get stuck mid sentence waiting for a word, name or concept (sometimes they come and sometimes they don't). Or I would think about a recent event, like having lunch, and honestly not know whether I had lunch or not. It just seems that if I do not make an absolute point of trying to retain an event at the time that it occurs that it gets flushed out of short term memory into the bin. Yet I am able to remember to oddest most complex details of things that capture my imagination. I catch myself wondering what colour underwear I have on and I honestly don't know though I did see the colour a couple of times today. I'll say this much, I would never trust my own testimony in court because I simply cannot say for sure that I trust my own memory.

  5. #5
    Suspended
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Had enough
    Posts
    3,358
    Thanks
    114
    Thanked 213 Times in 201 Posts
    Yes it is fascinating. I have the same short term memory loss. Sometimes I can get off the phone and 5 minutes later I cant for the life of me remember who I spoke to. Perhaps its an age thing.

  6. #6
    Diamond Member wynn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    east london
    Posts
    3,338
    Thanks
    548
    Thanked 625 Times in 524 Posts
    Thanks, I just remembered to make an important call.
    "Nobody who has succeeded has not failed along the way"
    Arianna Huffington

    Read the first 10% of my books "Didymus" and "The BEAST of BIKO BRIDGE" for free
    You can also read and download 100% free my short stories "A Real Surprise" and "Pieces of Eight" at
    http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/332256

  7. #7
    Diamond Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    6,329
    Thanks
    426
    Thanked 978 Times in 795 Posts
    Some of us came fitted with 1Mb of static sensitive RAM and a 8 bit data bus with a loose plug! unlike most who have 1Gb ofram and a 16bit bus. Then of course there are those who have 16Gb of ram and a 32bit bus. And then there are the heavyweights likee my brother who came fitted with 20Tbyte of ram and a 256bit wide data bus....

  8. #8
    Suspended
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Had enough
    Posts
    3,358
    Thanks
    114
    Thanked 213 Times in 201 Posts
    lol ... and then there are those that came equiped with 16Gb ram that is faulty

  9. #9
    Diamond Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    6,329
    Thanks
    426
    Thanked 978 Times in 795 Posts
    True, a young know it all that can recite the entire MBA manual and doesn't quite know what to do with the information comes to mind....

  10. #10
    Platinum Member pmbguy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    PMB
    Posts
    2,095
    Thanks
    310
    Thanked 254 Times in 230 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by adrianh View Post
    How do you do it mentally? My short term memory is absolutely terrible and I find that I am often unable to access my memory. I would get stuck mid sentence waiting for a word, name or concept (sometimes they come and sometimes they don't). Or I would think about a recent event, like having lunch, and honestly not know whether I had lunch or not. It just seems that if I do not make an absolute point of trying to retain an event at the time that it occurs that it gets flushed out of short term memory into the bin. Yet I am able to remember to oddest most complex details of things that capture my imagination. I catch myself wondering what colour underwear I have on and I honestly don't know though I did see the colour a couple of times today. I'll say this much, I would never trust my own testimony in court because I simply cannot say for sure that I trust my own memory.
    My memory is reasonably good, but my wife would not agree.

    What I do with compartmentalisation is mostly.....method of loci

    The Method of Loci (plural of Latin locus for place or location), also called the memory palace, is a mnemonic device introduced in ancient Roman and Greek rhetorical treatises (in the anonymous Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero's De Oratore, and Quintilian's Institutio oratoria). The items to be remembered in this mnemonic system are mentally associated with specific physical locations.[1] It relies on memorized spatial relationships to establish, order and recollect memorial content. The term is most often found in specialised works on psychology, neurobiology and memory, though it was used in the same general way at least as early as the first half of the nineteenth century in works on rhetoric, logic and philosophy.[2]
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci

    The net is also full of all sorts of memory games... research shows it works. It may sound like work or boring, and it is in the beginning, but after a while it can get fun (15min a day).

    http://www.mindgames.com/memory-games.php

    This will improve your memory from day one, for work and life.

    My default memory is selective. I use as many visible representations of work paraphernalia as practical to overcome this. I try building visual systems on a big white board, diary, A4 on the wall etc. and in my mind.

    I have just been reminded of something I don’t want to forget...
    It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin

Page 1 of 7 123 ... LastLast

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •