Tag: perception

The Shatner effect

[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2011/05/The-Shatner-Effect.mp3[/podcast] We’d like to think that we’re extremely rational beings who, when listening to someone trying to convince us of something, cannot be influenced by such superficial things as the person’s appearance or the way he or she talks. We’d like to think that, but we’d be wrong, as any number of studies have shown …

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Inattention blindness

[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2011/04/Inattention-Blindness.mp3[/podcast]

The scientific case for live music

[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/01/The-Scientific-Case-for-Live-Music.mp3[/podcast] Music today is ubiquitous, both in public spaces like malls, elevators and offices and in the very private space between an individual’s ears, courtesy of personal music players. But that’s all recorded music. Live music remains far rarer. Live musicians may occasionally show up in a public space, but you generally have to seek …

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Perception

Is what you see what’s really there, or is it all in your head? “Well, I don’t know about you,” I hear you say (which is a good trick, considering this is a newspaper column), “but I see what’s really there. This newspaper is really here in my hands–I’m not imagining it.” No, you’re not. …

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