Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Interpretations anyone?

Since Joseph isn't here with his multi-colored dreamcoat, maybe you can have a crack at this:

My daughter Molly had a dream last night in which she stood in front of a series of terraced platforms. Each platform had bathtubs on it, and she very much wanted to be in the highest one, so she climbed up into it. Suddenly, however, she found herself back at the bottom again, so she started climbing again, only this time she was dismayed to discover that she had skis on, which significantly hampered her efforts. She kept thinking to herself, "This would be so much easier if I didn't have these dumb skis on!" Then she became aware that the tub she was resting on was 0n top of and squishing some random guy, who kept yelling at her to get off.

I got nothin' (except the certainty that there must be some serious symbolism here)...

Tuesday, July 05, 2005


A 30-second film shows six people playing basketball, three in white shirts and three in black. Volunteers are asked to count the number of times the white shirt team pass the ball. At the end of the film, they are asked if they saw anything unusual. Most do not. The unusual thing is: halfway through the film, a man wearing a gorilla suit walks through the players, beats his chest to the camera, then walks off.
When shown the film again, people are utterly amazed to see this, to the extent that they often believe a different film has been substituted for the original one. Their focus on one task has blinded them to a truth.
The film illustrates a simple fact--that if we are only looking for one thing, we do not usually see anything different. This forms the basis of Professor Richard Wiseman's new book:
Did You Spot The Gorilla:
How to Recognise Hidden Opportunities
R Wiseman
Arrow Books (London)
ISBN 0-09-946643-0
The point at which people finally see the unexpected is what he calls a 'gorilla moment'.