>Sat, 19 Feb 2011 19:58:12 -0800, Stephen Black wrote: >>On 19 Feb 2011 at 22:35, Mike Palij wrote: >> >> It's not the answer you want but maybe the answer you need; see: >> http://michaelbach.de/ot/cog_impossWFallMcwolles/index.html > >OK, that's interesting, but wouldn't you say this comment is >something of a letdown? > >"There is a trick to the waterflow. While I have a strong suspicion, >I will not disclose it here unless the creator does so himself." > >Thanks for nothing, Michaelbach!
Yes, it is something of a letdown but consider that Mcwolles has created a brilliant 3-D representation of a visual illusion which is analogous to a magician who uses various techniques to create an illusion. You're now asking the magician "Hey, nice trick, how did ya do that?" Most magicians would blow you off and would take a dim view of anyone exposing the trick (unless of course the point was to show why it wasn't "magic" and merely the failed perceptual and cognitive processes of a naive viewer). They might say "If you're so smart, why don't you figure it out?" Indeed, once one has thought about the difficulty of creating the illusion, one might appreciate the position of not letting the marks, er, I mean, the naive in on the trick. So, how many hours/days/weeks are you willing to spend to figure out the solution? How long do you think it took Mcwolles to work it out? If one isn't willing to put in the work to figure it out, why should they be told the answer? Wouldn't this be similar to giving a student who didn't do any of the work during the semester and an "A" grade because they demanded it? By the way, it is helpful if one downloaded the video from gizmodo and watch it at about, oh, 1/3 speed. Pay attention to where there are shadows and how the lighting was set-up but more importantly watch how the water flows. If one was looking at flat surface, one would expect that the water would flow more or less across the entire surface. If the surface is titled, the water will flow along one side until there is enough water to cover the entire surface. In the Mcwolles contraption, is the water flow uniform or does it appear to flow against one side and then another? How might a tilted surface help to produce additional water pressure to move water along, even on slight inclines? Just saying, y'know. ;-) -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=8869 or send a blank email to leave-8869-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
