Sunday, May 29, 2011

How different is our thinking?

It can be said that no two people think alike. What is counter-intuitive is just how far reaching this can be. We can have one picture in our head and when we communicate that picture to another, a completely different picture can emerge in their mind.

In addition to things appearing the way we would like them to to appear (based on our past experiences and preferences), there is also a difference in the way we perform certain basic brain-functions, like counting.

Starting from 1:40 in the following video, Richard Feynman recounts an interesting discovery he made.

Richard discovered that he counts by imagining audible voices in his head, thus he was able to train himself to count and read simultaneously (two different brain functions), however he couldn't count and talk simultaneously.

He subsequently met a mathematics professor who was able to count and talk simultaneously, but couldn't count and read. As it turns out, this mathematics professor would count by reading the numbers, thus he couldn't count and read (multiple instances of the same brain function).

This difference between people in such a basic function as counting I find to be quite counter-intuitive (and Richard is also a pleasure to listen to). So enjoy!

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