Do the Test

[riverc0il]

So you missed the point. When I am driving I look for anything in the road, side of the road etc. including but not limited to cars, motorcycles, bicycles, bears, dogs cats, dear, moose, turkeys basketballs. I am not trying to count how many passes a white basketball team makes, I could care less, would I be aware of them, yes but concentrating on how many passes they make no. Take away the direction of counting passes and I think you would see the bear.

You drive much in the city? When there is a lot going on and attention is easily drawn to various things and the biggest thing most people are looking for is stop and go traffic and not rear ending the car in front of them or cutting someone off to take a right hand turn into a parking lot, it is easy not to see a bike rider. I don't ride any more but used to bike exclusively until getting my license around 20 or so... lots of people just didn't see you, especially in suberbia and cities. Might be a different story for you specifically or rural areas in general but the average person in suberbia and cities is not watching out for bike riders. And the video is a good parallel for drivers that are so focused on traffic and making a turn they don't see an other wise obvious rider.

BTW: That video is old and not originally made for that web site. Saw it before years ago and it got me too.

 

[riverc0il]

While this certainly was an eyeopener, it is a BS test. A dark moonwalking bear in the midst of other dark clothed folks, when you have been asked to concentrate on a pretty frantic group of guys in white. Yeah right... Like there would be a dark moonwalking bear walking down the middle of the road. Bikes, motorcycles, pedestrians, cars trucks, kids bouncing balls (always followed by a kid....) Those things are in the realm of reality.

Still a real eye opener.

Per my previous post, I again want to stress this video is old and not made specifically for that web site. It works well within context, but the broader implication (the reason that video was made from a psychological perspective, management as well you might consider) is that humans get so caught up in a specific task that they ignore something completely obvious. Not only did the big gorilla spend double digit seconds on camera, it danced in the center of the screen and then moon walked off the screen. Once you see the video once, you never miss it again because you are looking for it.

 

[riverc0il]

Hmmmm, maybe they redid the video specifically for that web site? I am pretty sure that is the video I have seen before, but found another version online that is more well lit in a hallway. The original versions are located here directly from the experimenter:

http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/djs_lab/demos.html

 

[ctenidae]

Hmmmm, maybe they redid the video specifically for that web site? I am pretty sure that is the video I have seen before, but found another version online that is more well lit in a hallway. The original versions are located here directly from the experimenter:

http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/djs_lab/demos.html

I would imagine the video has been done several times. You're right, though- while this video may not specifically test your ability to see a bike on a busy street, it shows very very clearly that the brain sees what it expects to see. If the instructions had said "Look for the bear", then you'd see the bear, and probably not notice the basketballs. If the video were shot on 5th Ave in NY, with the instruction to count the number of cabs, you probably wouldn't notice the two-seater bike with a fedora-wearing Elvis impersonator and Carmen Miranda riding by.

Douglas Adams covered this with the "Somebody Else's Problem" field.

 

[YardSaleDad]

If the video were shot on 5th Ave in NY, with the instruction to count the number of cabs, you probably wouldn't notice the two-seater bike with a fedora-wearing Elvis impersonator and Carmen Miranda riding by.

However you would notice the Naked Cowboy because everyone knows he normally hangs out in Times Square.

 

[ctenidae]

However you would notice the Naked Cowboy because everyone knows he normally hangs out in Times Square.

Last time I saw him he was in Rockefeller Center. Maybe he's expanding his horizons a bit.

 

[severine]

However you would notice the Naked Cowboy because everyone knows he normally hangs out in Times Square.

I've noticed the Naked Cowboy.... and made my mom pose with him.

:lol:

In any case, I do agree that many motorists are not looking out for the other guy, whether he's on a bike, walking, running, or in another car. Some people are just douchebags.