Watch this video and expect to hear the word “brainstorm” and you will.
Expect to hear the phrase “green needle” and you will.
Just pick one of those, say it in your head clearly, and then play the video. You will hear whichever one you heard in your head.
[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]
Pronounced "Patter-EE-koh"
E-mail: Just use my moniker Patterico, followed by the @ symbol, followed by gmail.com
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Ding.
Patterico (115b1f) — 5/19/2018 @ 10:55 amOddly, on this one I can hear either. Depends on what I’m thinking before the sound is made.
Gryph (08c844) — 5/19/2018 @ 10:59 amMe, too.
DRJ (15874d) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:01 amCorrect. That’s what I said. What you hear depends on what you heard in your head before you play it.
Patterico (115b1f) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:08 amOnly the first time. I thought green needle and heard green needle. Then I thought brainstorm and heard brainstorm. After that, it’s been green needle even if I think brainstorm. The green power has defeated your power of suggestion, Patterico.
nk (dbc370) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:09 amI played it about 20 times and the video got it wrong maybe twice.
Patterico (115b1f) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:11 amYes, I just got brainstorm again by focusing on the word in my mind and also looking elsewhere.
nk (dbc370) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:13 am4. Yeah yeah, I know you said it. I just didn’t quite believe it. I was one of those goofs who took a side in the Yanny vs. Laurel debate. đ
Gryph (08c844) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:14 amGreen needle is clearer, but it’s just your brain trying to make sense of fuzzy noise. Still good for a card trick.
NJRob (b00189) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:23 amI know you told us what would happen but it is still odd. Does this mean when I wear my Longhorn shirt during a football game, it will help the Longhorns win?
DRJ (15874d) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:37 amProbably not, but I can convince myself they won.
DRJ (15874d) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:48 amDoes this mean when I wear my Longhorn shirt during a football game, it will help the Longhorns win?
You must also make a Sooners doll and stick pins in it, DRJ.
nk (dbc370) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:48 amIt’s a wonderful illustration of the power of hearing what you expect to hear.
Patterico (115b1f) — 5/19/2018 @ 11:51 am@ Patterico: So are the defense lawyers in LA using the “Yanny/Laurel” and “blue dress/yellow dress” examples in their closing arguments yet, in trying to impeach eye- or ear-witness testimony? These sorts of exercises certainly do create reasonable doubts in me about my own perceptions!
Beldar (fa637a) — 5/19/2018 @ 12:10 pmWell DRJ, as we all know, an Aggie has never lost a game. Not ever.
They just ran out of time. đ
Ed from SFV (b95465) — 5/19/2018 @ 12:18 pm@Beldar not sure if you saw (since you didn’t reply in the thread), but I suggested this very scenario in connection with a particularly discreditable lawyer just a few days ago!
đ
Dave (445e97) — 5/19/2018 @ 12:25 pmSorry, but I ONLY hear “Green Needle.” So I am not certain about cognitive bias.
My guess is that it has something to with frequencies. For example, I cannot hear the high whine of an electrical fly swatter, and my students can. Or think about this famous story:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-high-frequency-hearing/
Simon Jester (ad6a15) — 5/19/2018 @ 1:13 pmThis may explain something I’ve noticed about my typos. Age is playing tricks with my eyesight and even though I proofread, I “see” the words written correctly even when they aren’t. It is only if I happen to reread one of my comments later that I see the typo. I guess I see what I expect to see, even if it isn’t there.
DRJ (15874d) — 5/19/2018 @ 1:25 pmI’ve definitely noticed this.
Dave (445e97) — 5/19/2018 @ 1:35 pmDonald Trump shares our pain, Dave, but unlike us he has proofreaders (that he doesn’t but should use).
DRJ (15874d) — 5/19/2018 @ 1:38 pm@ Dave: Thanks for reprinting that, I’d missed it earlier and it’s indeed worth a good chuckle.
Beldar (fa637a) — 5/19/2018 @ 1:38 pmI just tried a variation.
First, I thought, then heard, “brain needle”.
Then I thought, then heard, “green storm”.
Which is in line with everything else.
Then…
Kishnevi (7289ba) — 5/19/2018 @ 1:42 pmI focused on a completely different word five times in a row as I listened.
The first three times I heard brainstorm.
The fourth time I heard green storm.
The fifth time I heard a first syllable that could have been either green or brain and a second syllable that was definitely storm.
Ed, I believe it. Aggies never quit.
DRJ (15874d) — 5/19/2018 @ 1:49 pmThought “brainstorm”, heard “brain needle”.
silverpie (ad56d2) — 5/19/2018 @ 1:49 pmI decided to hear “brain needle” – and did.
felipe (023cc9) — 5/19/2018 @ 1:56 pmI’ve worried about that but have not seen it yet myself. I’m sure some are.
Patterico (115b1f) — 5/19/2018 @ 3:00 pmYou can also do combinations try thinking greenstorm for example
Gil (fc5ad1) — 5/19/2018 @ 3:08 pmLawyer question (IANAL): Can you get a warrant to search person A for evidence of a crime by person B?
The example that interests me is disclosing classified information (a felony). Could you get a search warrant to investigate a news reporter for the name of someone who disclosed classified info to the reporter? [And I’m not saying the reporter did anything wrong. Just the person who disclosed the info. But publication would give rather strong evidence of the crime itself and of the likely success of the warrant in locating information, no?]
Anonymous (d41cee) — 5/19/2018 @ 3:20 pmThis is very easy to switch from one to the other. I did it with eyes closed and could move back and forth. Although the brainstorm sounds a bit like brain (pause) store (not storm). That said, a small pause in the middle of a compound word with two syllable emphasis is not unusual (like man made) and these sorts of words can move from a phrase to a hyphenated phrase to a compound word.
I wonder, what do people with ZERO prompting hear? Would have been interesting if you asked us to listen to it sans video and with no prompting and then gave the responses.
Anonymous (d41cee) — 5/19/2018 @ 3:44 pmI agree that would be interesting. But it would be hard to start the video without seeing the two possibilities in the top left.
Patterico (115b1f) — 5/19/2018 @ 3:54 pmMaybe the next step for law enforcement/prosecutors is to use the same safeguards in questioning witnesses that are used in line-ups, e.g., document that interviews avoid suggested answers?
DRJ (15874d) — 5/19/2018 @ 4:13 pm30. IANAL but it would be pretty easy to make a recording of the video. I’m not even computer literate and could manage it (just save video file into an MP3 or literally play the video and make a recording.)
Anonymous (ea5569) — 5/19/2018 @ 4:24 pmSo many wives (not to mention the porn stars), how can he be expected to keep all their names straight?
Dave (445e97) — 5/19/2018 @ 6:07 pmIn 2008, I was a Paul guy, briefly was for Palin, and then hated the ‘pukes for the bailout. Ended up voting ‘tarian or some such. In 2012, didn’t even vote. In 2016, had no intention either. But my team leader (ex McKinsey consultant) was constantly bringing up Trump (he was a repuke never Trumper) in discussions IN THE WORKPLACE. Not just with team, but with CLIENT. Like in the sense of only an idiot would vote for Trump I ended up looking him in they eye and saying “just because of you, I am going to vote and vote for Trump” (this was at a dinner with multiple clients in WI–it would have been a drama for him to take me on, so he didn’t. But felt like I had stuck up for anyone in the walleye eating group who was uncomfortable with his me ess doesn’t stink discussion of Trump.
And then I did vote for him.
So, never saw any of the TV shows or the like. And I am a free trader. But I have no problem pulling the pin and letting things explode if we get into a f&*-f*(& war. Bring it on.
Anonymous (ea5569) — 5/19/2018 @ 6:15 pmIf I had a Greek client named Yanni who was accused by dying declaration of having his killed his uncle for the inheritance, and he had a cousin named Laurel who had the same motive, then I can see a judge allowing this. But otherwise, only Judge Ito would allow something so collateral and without any evidentiary basis, and maybe not even he anymore now that Johnnie Cochran is not there to scare him.
nk (dbc370) — 5/19/2018 @ 6:16 pmI’ve replayed it 12 times and I hear Green Needle every time.
Mattsky (469401) — 5/20/2018 @ 7:35 amI hear what I was expecting to hear, after testing it out multiple times. When I thought “brainstorm,” that’s what I heard, and when I thought “green needle,” I heard it.
Now can we apply this to:
1. Interpersonal communication – we often hear what we want/expect to hear, based on our preconceived notions, rather than what the other person actually said. Therefore we need to try to interpret what they said from their point of view (by putting ourselves in their shoes) rather than from our own.
2. News reporting – our mental framework and preconceived notions determine what we hear, more than what is reported or what actually happened. So if we hear something that aligns with our mind, we are inclined to believe it is so – even if it isn’t actually what happened.
Confirmation bias is real – and it occurs in more realms of our lives than we think.
LJ (445277) — 5/20/2018 @ 10:52 amThis article says it is supposed to be brainstorm. The Green Needle shows how our brain can fill in an expected word though with a poor signal. Maybe something that helps us understand conversation even if every word is not well heard. Could be something for voice recognition software also (to use context).
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/18/brainstorm-green-needle-latest-audio-riddle-tricks-brain/
Anonymous (d41cee) — 5/20/2018 @ 11:38 amI can’t hear anything other than “green needle”, except perhaps for a slightly garbled leading syllable that could _possible_ be heard as “breen”. And note that I had to turn the volume up a lot to hear anything at all (usually I have the system volume set to 3% with the headphone volume knob at about 1/3).
I have zero ability to hear the second part as “storm”, even though the first time I played the clip with the volume up I primed myself for “brain storm”.
Soronel Haetir (86a46e) — 5/21/2018 @ 1:01 amIt doesn’t really sound like anything, because it’s too slurred (or played back slow – that’s exactly what it sounds like – a recording that’s played back too slow) but you can sort of make out a dull sounding “green needle.”
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/22/2018 @ 11:09 amWith hearing, you are more accurate.
With reading:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/02/the-mind-expanding-ideas-of-andy-clark
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/22/2018 @ 11:12 amIn the magazine, two of the repeated words are at the end of the line, and onmne pair in the middle – here it is on;y one at the end of the line.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/22/2018 @ 11:12 am