Before we go any further, take a minute to take this little test... it's easy - there are three people wearing black shirts and three wearing white shirts. Each group has their own basketball which they are passing back and forth among themselves. The object is to count how many times the people wearing the white shirts pass the basketball. Got it? OK... now try it yourself
Did you get it? Seriously, if you didn't actually take the test go take it before you read any further or else the rest of this post won't make any sense at all.
Isn't that amazing? I had to go back and watch the thing over again just to prove to myself that it actually happened!
Anyhow, it struck me that this is exactly how our entire society operates. We live in a world with any number of proverbial gorillas marching through our living rooms: climate change, overpopulation, excessive corporate power just to name a few, but we're so busy counting our money, and checking FaceBook, and flitting about from one distraction to another that we never even see them.
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It all makes me wonder what else we're missing!
I've seen this video before and it's quite eye opening (pun intended). Fortunately, we don't all see things the same way, and we can share our ideas. I think with this collective use of our ideas and minds, we will figure out what we need to.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, everything goes so fast today and is being parsed out in such small amounts, I worry that we are losing our abilities to think long and thoroughly about a problem.
Sorta puts a new spin on the importance of listening to other perspectives doesn't it? I totally agree about the "short attention span theater" approach to life that seems to surround us these days. It's like, if it can't be absorbed immediately, we very quickly move onto something that can.
DeleteWow. When I went back and reviewed the video without trying to accomplish the task, the gorilla was sooooooooooo obvious. What would we see if we just observed rather than trying to be "productive"? Thought-provoking post.
ReplyDeleteI know... I was totally blown away. Gorilla?!? What Gorilla?
Delete'What would we see if we just observed rather than trying to be "productive"?' - I think you've actually managed to sum up the essence of Buddhism in that one sentence. People meditate for years to try to calm down the distractions in their minds so they can reach enlightenment and see the world as it really is. People who've experienced it report this amazing a-ha moment when they suddenly "see the gorilla." Sure makes you wonder doesn't it?
Wow I totally did not see the gorilla! But doesn't that just prove I have amazing concentration! :) That's a trip!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think that I have amazing concentration, but not only did I not see the gorilla, I didn't even get the number of passes correct!
DeleteWhen I see this it reminds me of: why traffic accidents occur (you only see what you expect you are going to see) and why eye witness reports of anything are so unreliable.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I never thought of traffic accidents that way. I saw a very interesting documentary on eyewitness reports once. They basically took a group of people on a "nature walk" and along the way they presented some "odd phenomena" designed to look like mysterious wreckage of some sort (I think the program was about the Roswell incident or something like that.) Anyhow, after the walk they interviewed people separately about what they had seen and the responses were all over the map! Very eye opening!
DeleteI saw the gorilla..but I think that was because I was suspicious that there would be some sort of trickery going on :)
ReplyDeleteHa! You outsmarted the test! Or perhaps you're just one of those very perceptive people who isn't swayed by distractions!
DeleteDid not even see the gorilla! Truly thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? Apparently the guys who produced this wrote a book on this topic called "The Invisible Gorilla" - I'm thinking I might have to check it out!
DeleteI saw that; probably an interesting read.
DeleteI had my husband, who I'm certain has ADD, do this - and when they mentioned the gorilla, he said "Well DUH, who wouldn't notice the gorilla??". OMG. He was shocked that I didn't see it. I was shocked he DID! LOL
AND - he is totally bothered by the S on the wall (he said there are two?). I didn't even see the S. What does that MEAN?? LOL
DeleteOK, now that's fascinating! Perhaps people with ADD just can't filter out the "unimportant" stuff to the degree that the rest of us do? Hmmmm.... more thoughts to ponder!
DeleteThere's actually a TV show that does stuff like this - brain teasers etc. It's called Brain Games. Here's an example episode:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybuUzgJ0aKA
They did a whole show of tricks like the gorilla one. (Sadly, I can't find it on youtube.) You would think spotting the gorilla would be easier if you saw this trick in real life, right? But . . it's not. They had a guy on a unicycle cut off people walking on the sidewalk and they later reported they hadn't seen any unicycles that day (most were on their cell phone). They also had a salesman change his clothes while talking to customer in a store and the customer never noticed!
Or have you ever reminisced about an event a few years later with a bunch of people? And each one of you remembers it slightly differently? I love that because then you realize what really stood out to that person. But it does make you wonder how much you miss everyday . .
OK... I'm gonna have to check out Brain Games. I've heard that magicians have used these sorts of tricks for centuries, but it just seems amazing to me that we all fall for it!
DeleteI saw the gorilla and thought it was there to distract me from counting the correct number of passes!
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to practice mindfulness for several years. I say trying because it is hard and also I sometimes wonder what I am being mindful about - I mean, I am noticing what I see but what if I am not seeing the whole picture (like the car accident reference above). There is a very good video on YouTube where it looks as if a young guy is snatching a woman's bag. In fact he is returning it having retrieved it from the actual thief. We put our own perpective on what we see based on our own judgements. So I suppose I'm trying to be mindful AND non-judgemental which is quite a big ask!
Ha! Well, I do remember being annoyed by some dark thing that was blocking my view, but it didn't permeate my consciousness enough to realize that it was a gorilla!
DeleteThat video sounds fascinating. It makes you wonder what other assumptions color our perception!
Wow. That was amazing. And here I was patting myself on the back for counting 15 passes . . . total wake up call!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the wake up call. I think on some level we're all running around "counting proverbial passes" and trying to get "gold stars" from our crazy society, meanwhile, the gorillas are dancing in the streets!
DeleteThat is just crazy! I didn't see it at all the first time I watched. After they showed it in slow motion I couldn't believe that had really happened and I didn't catch it! I very clearly saw it the second time. It's amazing that minds work that way. You're right, what else are we missing? Scary thought!
ReplyDeleteScary indeed!
DeleteOMG! I did NOT see the gorilla and had to rewind to make sure it was true!!! That is scary!!!!
ReplyDeleteYup... I sorta wonder how many gorillas are wandering through my living room right now!
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