Dear Eric P. Charles, Thank you for the Stomp/Romp. Too mild for a rant you behaved within the civilized parameters at all times. Toe on the line but let’s forgive that and cheer the sentiment.
I have to ask why even an intelligent person can make some kind of sense out of Gibberish. Was it all the years of my marriage that left that stain? Is it an evolutionary legacy? Something about our brains seems to Beg for Sense when there is none. The fact is plain to everyone who attends a Magician’s performance. We know better but for some reason people prefer their own explanations straight out of MAGIC books. We even elect Morons who we pretend make some Sense. We prefer magical explanations because they do not require any effort. All Physicists are apparently insane because they intentionally look for difficult explanations. We are probably discussing a regressive part of Human nature linked with superstition, optical illusions , alien visitations, secret conspiracies, and talking spirits. I applaud the vigor with which you dispatched the Wicked Witch of Popular/Group Opinion. Keep up the Good Stomp. Arm yourselves gentlemen or the Viagra adverts will swamp reason. Luckily I am reading Umberto Eco’s “Foucault’s Pendulum “ and am in the mood for a clever Anti-Populist satire. He has a beautiful description of using a word processor to scramble anything so that it appears Cryptic. He even includes a small Basic program for deranging letters. Apparently Cryptic equals Important for most people. What is wrong with our species to believe in such fairy tales? I curse St Augustine who claimed belief was greater than reason. Madness in Groups seems very fashionable lately. Vladimyr Ivan Burachynsky PhD <mailto:vbur...@shaw.ca> vbur...@shaw.ca 120-1053 Beaverhill Blvd. Winnipeg,Manitoba, R2J3R2 Canada (204) 2548321 Land From: friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of ERIC P. CHARLES Sent: February-11-12 8:08 PM To: Greg Sonnenfeld Cc: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] YES Since people are replying about the scrambled-word message.... <rant> I will continue to stress that these "skills", while interesting, are the opposite of impressive. Under virtually any other circumstances, the ability to carefully discriminate things is considered a "higher" ability, a sign of more sophisticated achievement, and, in the extreme, a mysterious and nigh-magical ability to attend details others are not sensitive to. In contrast, in virtually any other circumstances, the inability to distinguish things is considered a sign of "lesser" skill. For some odd reason though, when people send around these emails, it is asserted that our inability to distinguish a well-written word from a scrambled word demonstrates the magical and mysterious power of the Human Mind. It does not demonstrate mysterious skill, it demonstrates a (perhaps mysterious) lack of skill. The real mystery, if there is one, is why a person so well trained in reading would be fooled by such a simple manipulation. This might well be worth investigating, but for the same reasons that other types of optical illusions are worth investigating. </rant> Eric On Sat, Feb 11, 2012 08:06 PM, Greg Sonnenfeld <gsonn...@gmail.com> wrote: The fox who lnoegd for grpaes, bdelohs wtih pian The tpimetng cutelsrs wree too hgih to gian ; Gierved in his haret he fcored a clreseas slmie, And cierd , They are srahp and hlrday wotrh my wlhie . ;-) **************************** Greg Sonnenfeld “The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.” On Sat, Feb 11, 2012 at 5:46 PM, Nicholas Thompson <nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote: Why would anybody pass on a hopeless task followed by indecipherable gibberish. List has reached a new low. N PS (};-]) From: friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Rich Murray Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2012 1:32 AM To: kyle paxton; The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group; Rich Murray Subject: [FRIAM] YES ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: kyle paxton <k...@hotmail.com> Date: Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 6:56 PM Subject: FW: YES To: richard t murray <rmfor...@gmail.com> _____ Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2012 18:16:54 -0800 From: sa1h...@yahoo.com Subject: Fw: YES To: k...@hotmail.com; surra...@msn.com; rush_211...@yahoo.com; charles_ath...@hotmail.com; askrobarcz...@aol.com; txenergi...@aol.com; over...@hotmail.com Subject: Fw: YES To: Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 11:13 AM ----- Forwarded Message ----- To: Sent: Thursday, February 2, 2012 10:15 PM Subject: FW: YES yes, I can -- no problem at all! It is amazing If you can do this, pass it on to friends with the word YES in the subject, but only if you can read this. A Short Neurological Test 1- Find the C below.. Please do not use any cursor help. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 2- If you already found the C, now find the 6 below. 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 69999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 3 - Now find the N below. It's a little more difficult. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM This is NOT a joke. If you were able to pass these 3 tests, you can cancel your annual visit to your neurologist. Your brain is great and you're far from having a close relationship with Alzheimer. Congratulations! eonvrye that can raed this rsaie your hnad. To my 'selected' strange-minded friends: If you can read the following paragraph, forward it on to your friends and the person that sent it to you with 'yes' in the subject line. Only great minds can read this This is weird, but interesting! If you can raed this, you have a sgtrane mnid too Can you raed this? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed this forwrad it FORWARD ONLY IF YOU CAN READ IT Forward it & put 'YES' in the Subject Line ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org Eric Charles Professional Student and Assistant Professor of Psychology Penn State University Altoona, PA 16601
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
