GeezerGeek

Here is a video of 6 people throwing a basketball around. Three are wearing white shirts and three are wearing black. While you watch the video count the number of times the white team catch the ball. Do not read other messages in this thread until you finish watching the video.
https://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/grafs/demos/15.html

GeezerGeek

Do not read on until you look at the video.




























just paging down

GeezerGeek

Did you see the person in a gorilla suit walk through the video and wave at you? if not look at it again. When people concentrate on something they miss things in their vision. If a driver is looking for a street sign or some hotties they will not see your bike no matter how many blinkies you have on.

slvoid

Maybe I'm a little more aware than most people but come on, how can anyone miss that?

GeezerGeek

Less than 30% of people see it.

Dchiefransom

I saw it, but I admit I was very close to not seeing it. So, if people don't see us, then they are being negligent for not looking for us, as required by the Motor Vehicle Codes.

LittleBigMan

This is why drivers might not see you on the sidewalk, or other unusual place.

It's also why I use a yellow xenon strobe, similar to what the electric company and garbage trucks might use, to grab motorists' attention. They are conditioned to notice it.

AndrewP

So is there anything a cyclist can do to increase his visibility while the driver is distracted? I would be interested to see the results if the gorilla was wearing a yellow or red suit. This is a good argument for banning cell phones, radios, CD players etc.

slvoid

You know, this is actually pretty scary. No one bothered to point out that if someone whipped out this "test" in court, a driver can get off pretty easy with murder.
I mean think about it, you have a test where you can 70% of the time prove to the jury and judge that it's human nature to miss stuff like that. Unless I'm looking at this from a wrong point of view.

GeezerGeek

Sorry about this test. I blew it. The title gives you a clue that there is something fishy with the video and so it is easier to spot. I gave the test to 3 people before posting and none saw it. Try it on someone else emphasizing that they watch the white team without giving any hints that something is amiss. It is hard to hold your tung when the gorilla waves and they still don't see it.

vincenzosi

I have to say that I didn't see the gorilla until he was standing still and waving.

Guess that makes your point, huh?

ultra-g

But the gorilla didn't wave, he beat his chest.

I noticed it, but probably because I'm usually pretty aware of my surroundings as a regular bicyclist.

I can see though how driving a car can be more distracting.

I don't drive much, but when I do I always get nervous about hitting someone who might be in my blind spot.

operator

So if I hit a car and screw it up, I can claim this video as defense?

steveknight

I saw him too though I did not worry about what he was doing so I would not loose count. I had my daughter and boyfriend watch it. she saw it and pointed he still did not see it till the second time.

Rath177B

I saw it (and thought how can you miss it). I let two other peope try and both missed the gorillia and had to watch it again to believe there was a gorilla. Maybe be they shoud have the gorilla wear a blinke!

Marcus_Abundus

Laurence Gonzales uses this very example in his recently published book....Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. (Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (October, 2003) ISBN: 0393052761). He uses this experiment as an example of how people die in the outdoors. They are usually focused on a vary narrow aspect while missing obvious survival signs around them. It's a good book check it out.

Diggy18

Wow, that's neat. I love this kind of stuff.
Geezer you're right about the tipoff; I was kinda looking for something odd to happen - but I still found it hard to see the monkey!

When I noticed the monkey, I think I lost track of the White Team's catches. You have to ask how many catches were made! Was it 13 or 14?

Lastly, wow people sure are a little defensive, aren't they? Look at these posts saying rather huffily, "Well, so what, if you hit me it's still your fault!"

I think the point of this was to show that when biking you should never wear a gorrila suit! Hehehehe

dobber

When I was taught to drive, oh so many years ago, my dear old papa hammered into me the fact that you were not to become fixated on any single task. The best drivers are the ones who are constantly moving thier eyes, from dashboard to windshield to the rear views and back.

Karldar

For me, the point wasn't whether I saw the gorilla or not. I saw him, but I ignored him choosing to remain focused on my assigned task. Motorists might not have an 'assigned' task such as this, but they definitely have distractions aplenty(radio, makeup, food/drink, etc.). Nothing new about the message really--just a great visual to make it more easily understood(hopefully).

nitrous

I was kinda aware of something but was so busy counting the number of times the white team caught the ball. When I watched it again I couldn't believe there was a gorilla at all.

Just shows to go you that you should wear a gorilla suit if you want to go unnoticed.

?!?!?

AndrewP

How many people notice the gorilla when they are told to count the times the black team catches the ball?

Allister

The way I see it is that watching the traffic, including cyclists, is the 'assigned task' for motorists. Experiments like this, while interesting, don't in any way excuse motorists for failing to see cyclists. If they do because they're focused on some other task, they are not performing the task of driving anywhere near adequately.

I'm more concerned about the 30% that did see the gorilla. Did they still manage to keep count of the passes while they were distracted from the task they were supposed to be doing by irrelevant activity? If not, it's they that are the true danger to cyclists.

steveknight

I kept counting and saw the gorilla. though I did not notice what it was doing.

forum*rider

IMO It's kind of hard to miss the gorilla.

I did lose count of how many times they passed the ball though.

Erick L

No. The task in the video is like being asked to count red cars only, or read every license plates instead of having an overall view of surrounding traffic. But whether we see the Gorilla or not is irrevelent. That video has nothing to do with driving.