illusions
esiegel | February 21, 2010When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about.
-Albert Einstein
I woke up this morning with the Sun in my face, which marks the first time all year that that's happened.
(The irony, that I'm now listening to the Grateful Dead's "Looks Like Rain.")
And after a few seconds had passed (you know, it takes me a few seconds to realize that I'm not still in my dream, trying to navigate through some bizarre hotel corridor), I realized I couldn't read the numbers on my old LED alarm clock.…
ddobbs | May 19, 2009
Found some Koufax footage. About halfway through this short clip he Ks Mantle, looking, and a bit later, in the dark footage toward the end, is a good strip of him throwing the devastating curve. Note there the emphatic downward motion of his shoulder -- which brought down his hand the faster, which (along with big, flexible hands and fingers) helped him make the ball spin 15 times on the way to the plate instead of the MLB-standard 12-13.
Following up my curveball coverage of last week, faithful reader and Cognitive Daily maestro Dave Munger wrote in noting that Arthur Shapiro, one of the…
ddobbs | May 15, 2009
Koufax, bringing the four-seamer. God save the guy at the plate.
I always look forward to the Illusion of the Year contest, but this year brings a special treat: a new explanation of how the curveball baffles batters.
Just a few days ago, during BP, my friend Bill Perreault threw me one of those really nasty curves of his, and though I read it about halfway in, I was still ahead -- and still unprepared for the sudden slanting dive it made at that last crucial moment. The good curves do that: Even when you have that millisecond of curveball detection beforehand, they still seem to take a…
developingintelligence | February 14, 2008Well, it's not quite as erotic as it sounds, but they could break the ice on more than a few Valentine's dates. Hayward's new article in Brain Research Bulletin describes all known tactile illusions. Some can be tried easily at home, but can work better when your gaze is averted and if someone else is performing these illusions on you (to reduce proprioceptive feedback):
The Aristotle: an object touched with crossed fingers will sometimes be identified as two objects (try it on your nose)
Comb: With a comb and a pencil, lay your index finger along the ends of the comb's teeth; use the pencil…
