The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - It's amazing what people don't notice ...

pax · September 27, 2005, 11:03 PM

butch50 ~

Good information, and you're absolutely right about how little people generally notice if they aren't paying attention.

Oddly enough, if they are paying attention, they might see even less.

Check out the following link: http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/media/ig.html

Near the top of that page, there's a link titled, "View the 'basketball' video." It'll take awhile to download, but is absolutely worth checking out. The video is from a scientific experiment about visual cognition which won an Ig Nobel prize last year, and it's very funny besides.

The video is fairly large (7.5MB) so it might take a while to finish loading. When you watch it, try to count the total number of times that the people wearing white pass the basketball. Don't count the number of times the people in black pass the ball, just the people in white.

Watch the video a second time, but the second time through, don't bother keeping your eye on the ball. Just watch the whole scene and see if you see something surprising that you missed on the first time through.

Please, please -- if you do download the video, don't spoil it for anyone else by posting anything else about it here. Do follow the links after you're done, and read the rest of the experiment.

It's amazing what people miss!

pax

September 27, 2005, 11:03 PM	#12
pax Senior Member Join Date: May 16, 2000 Location: In a state of flux Posts: 7,520	butch50 ~ Good information, and you're absolutely right about how little people generally notice if they aren't paying attention. Oddly enough, if they are paying attention, they might see even less. Check out the following link: http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/media/ig.html Near the top of that page, there's a link titled, "View the 'basketball' video." It'll take awhile to download, but is absolutely worth checking out. The video is from a scientific experiment about visual cognition which won an Ig Nobel prize last year, and it's very funny besides. The video is fairly large (7.5MB) so it might take a while to finish loading. When you watch it, try to count the total number of times that the people wearing white pass the basketball. Don't count the number of times the people in black pass the ball, just the people in white. Watch the video a second time, but the second time through, don't bother keeping your eye on the ball. Just watch the whole scene and see if you see something surprising that you missed on the first time through. Please, please -- if you do download the video, don't spoil it for anyone else by posting anything else about it here. Do follow the links after you're done, and read the rest of the experiment. It's amazing what people miss! pax __________________ Kathy Jackson My personal website: Cornered Cat Last edited by pax; September 27, 2005 at 11:43 PM.