Partly from a puzzle. Here it is:

This is the “nine dots puzzle” and the goal is to draw 4 or fewer straight lines to connect all of the dots. There are some rules that must be followed however: 1. You cannot lift the pen.  2. You cannot trace the same line more than once.

Go ahead give it a try!

The goal of this exercise is to have you thinking creatively and to challenge any assumptions that you might have about a particular situation so that you can see it in a new way. This is not easy to do as we have noted in previous Mind Trips of the week. Our brains are creatures of habit.

The puzzle appears in Sam Loyd’s 1914 Cyclopedia of Puzzles. Sam Loyd’s titled his puzzle “Christopher Columbus’s Egg Puzzle” referring to the tale called the “Egg of Columbus” written in 1565  in “History of the New World” by Girolamo Benzoni.

Columbus was dining with many  Spanish nobles when one of them said: ‘Sir Christopher, even if your lordship had not discovered the Indies, there would have been, here in Spain which is a country abundant with great men knowledgeable in cosmography and literature, one who would have started a similar adventure with the same result.’ Columbus did not respond to these words but asked for a whole egg to be brought to him. He placed it on the table and said: ‘My lords, I will lay a wager with any of you that you are unable to make this egg stand on its end like I will do without any kind of help or aid.’ They all tried without success and when the egg returned to Columbus, he tapped it gently on the table breaking it slightly and, with this, the egg stood on its end. All those present were confounded and understood what he meant: that once the feat has been done, anyone knows how to do it. (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus)

So how did the term “Outside of the box thinking” become associated with the puzzle? It may have been through a problem solving technique devised by HE Robert Sabga in 1979-80 (you can find him on Linkedin). He called his technique ‘the Youngman Technique’ because it was inspired by a joke told by the Vaudeville comedian Henny Youngman. The joke is as follows: At the US/Mexico border a guard sees a man crossing into the United States. The man is riding a bicycle and has a box balanced on the handlebars. The guard pulls the man aside, tells him to get off his bicycle and opens the box, but all he finds inside is sand. This goes on every day for two months: the man comes across the border on his bicycle with a box balanced between the handlebars, and every day they open the box but find nothing but sand. One day, the guard sees the man at a store and says, “Look buddy, you drove us crazy. Everyday for 2 months you came in on your bicycle with that box of sand…what were you smuggling?” The man says, “Bicycles.”

Mr. Sabga when he was teaching his problem solving would tell his participants to always say to themselves “OK, I see the sand. Now, where’s the bicycle?”, and his punch line was ‘Learn to think outside the box’. (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking_outside_the_box)

Ok, are you ready for the answer to the puzzle? Here are 2 solutions:

It is hard not to see a box when you look at the nine dots, but obviously these solutions definitely have no ‘box’ to them. If you come up with another solution, please let us know.

By the way, the answer to Susan’s daughter’s puzzle is that Friday is the name of the cowboy’s horse.

This got us again! Daniel was brilliant in coming up with this and it just goes to show that we are not paying as much attention as we think we are. Are we sure of what we really see? How many things do we miss? Our attention is selective and there are many things that will impact what we focus on. One of the things you have seen in previous Mind Trips is that our brain likes to use heuristics because it is easier and helps process all of the data that is coming at us.

Daniel has a book out by the name of “The Invisible Gorilla” that looks at all of the fascinating. As Daniel says “Our minds don’t work the way we think they do. We think we see ourselves and the world as they really are, but we’re actually missing a whole lot.”

The question is how is this possible?

This is an excellent example of how certain questions can take advantage of our automatic assumptions.  The answer is . . . the surgeon is his mother.

Once we hear the answer, we all laugh at ourselves and say the same thing, “Of Course”.   We all realize we were victims of gender stereotyping. It is interesting to know that when this question is posed to children under 13, they had little trouble answering the question.  They have not been conditioned to believe that only men can be surgeons.  Some other answers from the younger group also surprised the researchers.  Some of the kids answered that the surgeon might have been his “step-dad”.  With today’s extended families, these are answers that say baby boomers don’t automatically think of.  Another answer was also a man and this was normal because both of the child’s parents were men.

If you have not seen the movie, “The Bad News Bears”  (1976), there is an excellent scene where Walter Matthau breaks down the word “Assumption”.  If you have not seen this particular scene..it is worth renting the movie for. (Note: this is the original movie, not the 2005 remake.)

Here are some other assumption traps:

The blue car is going 20 miles an hour.  The red car is going 40 miles an hour.  The blue car passes the red car.  How is this possible?

You’re not going to like this answer….but it is fair…. they are going in opposite directions.  Tell the truth, when you read the question you assumed the cars were going in the same direction, but the sentences never gave a direction, only speeds.  You filled in the blanks as you wished.

Finally:

You are locked inside your car.  You are desperate to get out.  You look around and all you see is a pack of gum, a flashlight, and a hammer.  How do you get out?

If you said that you broke the car window with the hammer, I can’t fault you for getting out of the locked car.  I’m sure that would get you out.  However, unlocking the car door might have been a more efficient solution.  The way the question was worded, most people make the assumption that they are somehow unable to unlock the door.  What does locked inside your car mean?  It’s like saying, I’ve locked myself inside my house.  I can get out…you just can’t get in.  Assumptions . . . they can make an . . . . well watch the movie “Bad News Bears”.

First, we need to do a test. You will need 2 things:

1) a friend or family member to help you and 2) two pointy objects, like two pencils or two pens.

Starting with one of your palms, have your friend touch your palm with both pens at the same time a couple of inches apart. You will be able to feel the two points. (Note: you must not look when doing this. Turn your head away from the pens.) Now move the pens closer together and do it again. Did you feel two points again? Keep going until you no longer feel two separate points, but they have merged into one point. Mark how far apart the pens are.

Now do this same experiment on your back. How far apart were the pens when you felt both pens as one? Now try it on your thumb. Close your eyes and try it on your cheek.

Were all of the distances the same on the different parts of your body? They shouldn’t be! Here is what we look like from our brain’s point of view:

See how large our heads, hands, and feet are? That is because there is more sensory cortex devoted to these areas. This helps you make finer movements and have a better sense of touch. So the distances on your hands, thumb, and cheeks should be smaller compared to your back or your legs because they are more sensitive. Your back and legs cannot discriminate touch as much as these other parts of your body.

This above person is called a Homunculus. It is an interesting word. It means “little man”.  A Canadian doctor by the name of Wilder Penfield while studying patients with epilepsy created maps of the brain. Here is his interpretation of how our sensory cortex sees our bodies:

You can have your very own 3D model of a sensory homunculus. I found one on etsy. Here is the link http://www.etsy.com/listing/70834583/sensory-homunculus-model-made-to-order.

]]> http://www.mindtrippingshow.com/mind-trip-of-the-week-17-how-do-we-feel-the-world/feed 0 http://www.mindtrippingshow.com/mind-trip-of-the-week-16-strange-coincedence http://www.mindtrippingshow.com/mind-trip-of-the-week-16-strange-coincedence#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:45:47 +0000 admin http://www.mindtrippingshow.com/?p=2181 Are you ready to have some fun with your friends and trip them out?

I  thought so.

Have one of your friends join you and point to a closed Paper Bag sitting on the desk.

Here is what you will tell them: “For the moment this paper sack contains a mystery.  Today the planets are aligned in a synergistic cosmic rotation.  The magnetic forces of the earth are in a stable quantum flux, and today the solar activity is in a quiescent lateral mediocrity.  These three forces have come together to create this moment in the space time continuum.  Do you know what this means???   It means that at this very moment the forces of coincidence cannot be denied.

I want you to imagine that you are hold two dice in your hands. They represent random chance . Now throw them on the desk.”

Ask your friend “what number do you see?”  They tell you 9.  Keep the story going by saying : “Because the three forces of nature have come to create this moment.  I want you to multiple your number by 3.” 9 times 3 = 27

“Now I want you to add 3 to the number.” 27 plus 3 = 30

“Now for the final variable.  Another variable of pure chance.  We will need a pen to complete our calculations.  Open that desk drawer and see if there is a pen.”

Your friend opens the desk drawer and tells you that there is indeed a pen there.  Then ask him how many pens are in the drawer.  He says three.

“Great, that will be your final variable. Multiply your last number, in this case 30, by 3.” 30 times 3 = 90

So his equation will be:  9 times 3 = 27     27 plus 3 = 30    and  30 times 3 = 90.

“Now add all the digits of your number to come to one final single digit number.”  9 plus 0 = 9  ”Nine is your final number.”  ”Look under the paper bag sitting on the desk.  There is a small index card with the following information written on it:

1:  Water              2: Tea              3: Coke              4: Pepsi              5: Rootbeer             6: Orange Soda        7: Sprite        8:Cranberry Juice      9: Mountain Dew

“What was the final number we came to? What soda is next to that number?”  He tells you that mountain dew matches his number.

“Please open the paper bag.” He opens the paper sack and inside is a can of Mountain Dew Soda.

He is stunned.  He calls the local papers and they are stunned.  The story is picked up by the news and you are given the key to the city.  Well, maybe not, but the look on your friend’s face will be well worth it.

Here is how it works:

The Equation:  Any number on the dice (2-12) when multiplied by three, then have three added to it, then multiplied by three again, will have digits that always total 9.  It’s a mathematical quirk.

There are 2 small bits of preparation that you must make prior to doing this Mind Trip. 1. You must ensure that there are only 3 pens in the desk. Pens are a natural thing to have in or on a desk, so no one will not know that you have done this prior to them coming over to take part in the experiment. 2. You must write out the list of sodas that is under the bag. You must ensure that whatever soda you place in the bag is the soda you have written next to the number nine position.

On a side note, you could also use candy bars, office objects, or any thing small enough to fit in a paper sack.

Don’t forget, you can only do this once per person in a group because the number always comes out to nine.

Now go forth and have fun.

What words did you hear? Write down the words that you heard.

What actually happened is that your brain influenced the words that you heard. You did not actually hear any specific words. It was your mind that took in the sound and created the words that fit you. And depending on what mood you are in, what you were busy doing, what is on your mind, these things influenced the words that you heard.

The lady who discovered this is Diana Deutsch and she says that people who are on a diet hear “I’m hungry, diet coke, or feel fat. Someone stressed might hear: I’m tired. ” Professor Deutsch wrote a fascinating and easy to read article for Psychology Today on this called “Illusions and Curiosities: The paradoxical relationships between speech and music.” If you have a chance, I recommend that you read it.

We will be posting this mind trip on our facebook fan page and we’d love it if you would tell us what words you heard. Christian and I will post what we each heard.  Here is the link to our facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/mindtrippingshow

For more fun auditory illusions, visit these websites:

The Virtual Barber

Music Special: Five Great Auditory Illusions

You will need a pen and a piece of paper.

Take a breath . . .  prepare your mind.  Now read out loud, slowly the list of words.  When you come to the end of the list, look away.  The write down as many of the words as you can remember.

No Cheating!

door, glass

pane, shade,

ledge, sill,

house, open,

curtain, frame,

view, breeze,

sash, screen,

tinted, shutter.

There were sixteen words for you to remember.  But, I’m not really concerned with how many you remembered.  I’m more concerned with how many you added that weren’t on the list.  I’m betting that your list contains the word “window”.  That’s right, go back and look.  Window was not on the list.  Just about every other word that goes with window is on the list, but not window itself.  Don’t feel bad, this happens to most people.  In fact, it has been shown that there are many times a detail will creep into our subconscious by association as opposed to memory.

If you did include it, then you have just fallen into what is called the DRM Paradigm, named after the discoverers of this effect: Deese Roediger McDermott (DRM). The word ‘window’ is not on the list, however, all of the words on the list are associated with a window.

Studies such as the one you did above was repeated many times and the result is that “people recalled the non-present target words (in this case window) almost as much as words actually presented. Participants rated the target words at the highest confidence 58% of the time, which means that they felt the target words had been on the list over half the time.”

This is a very simple, but powerful example of how our brains create false memories.There is a lot of material to study on this topic, but here are just a few links if you would like to learn more:

http://memory.wustl.edu/Pubs/1999_Stadler.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deese–Roediger–McDermott_paradigm

Stand in front of the mirror about 6 inches away. Look from eye to eye. Observe that as you do this, you will not be able to see your eyes move nor will you feel your eyes moving.

Now have someone watch your eyes as you do this experiment again. They will however, see your eyes moving back and forth.

The truth is that we cannot see our eyes in motion. We can see other’s eyes in motion and other people can see ours, but we cannot see our own eyes move.

This phenomenon is called Saccadic Masking.

A saccade is a movement of the eye when it makes a sudden change of fixation, ie looking from one eye to the other.

As our eyes move, there is a blurring of the image on the retina. To counteract this so that the image stays clear and sharp, a part of the brain, believed to be the cortex, cuts off the processing of images. What happens is that we go momentarily blind as the visual information is no longer going to the brain, therefore stopping the blur. We can’t see this happening as it is done automatically and quickly thousands of times a day.

With your eyes closed, it feels as if your hands are even,  however, when you open your eyes you will find that they are off by a 1-2 inches.

Now, repeat this test with your palms facing up.  You will find that you are much better at lining up your hands when they are palm up!

The reason for this mental mind trip is that we tend to use our eyes and our minds in balancing and measuring more than we realize.   Once you knew what the goal was, you engaged your brain into helping you accomplish the goal. Younger people and athletes without any thought tend to do better with this test because they have more body/mind awareness.  If you fail badly, it might be a sign that you need to get out and exercise more. If you practice this over and over, seeing the even arms with your eyes and thinking about the arms being level with your mind,  your body will gain the muscle memory to consistently make them even.

So based on the concept of lying, I thought it would be fun for all of you to try and decipher this riddle:

You are in a room with 2 doors, one will lead to paradise and the other will lead to misery. The 2 doors are identical and you do not know which door will lead to which. In front of  each door is a computer. One will ALWAYS lie while the other ALWAYS speaks the truth.

You must ask ONE – and only one – question to find out which door leads to paradise or misery. Any type of question is ok, but it can be only one.

While you are thinking about this, look at these pictures of Tim Roth, the actor who played Cal Lightman in the TV Series “Lie to Me“. He is an expert at seeing people’s micro-expressions which give away what they are thinking and feeling and if they are lying.

But unfortunately with our riddle, you are asking the question to the computer and not a person so you will not see any micro-expression and the computer is unemotional.

So do you have the answer yet? If not, don’t read any further because here it is:

Answer: Go up to any computer and ask this question: “Will the OTHER computer tell me the left door is misery or paradise?”

If it is a LYING computer that you’re asking and the left door is paradise, it will say it is misery.

If it is a TRUTHFUL computer that you’re asking, and the left door is paradise, it will say misery also.

The truth is the opposite of whatever they say.

NPR did a story a few years ago about a scientist using an fMRI machine to detect lying. There is even a company called “No Lie” that will do them. They are calling it “truth verification technology”. This is the lie detection of the future.