A motorcyclist friend sent this to me about why cars don't see them on the road:
 

Watch carefully and see how many you can count.. I got a higher number the second time...

http://sciencehack.com/videos/view/HJPKrcnXRRc

A fairly unfair test, especially the "special guest". Asking you to very closely pay attention to one thing and unfocus on everything else and then specifically asking about the else is pretty stupid.

Overall, more "non-news" for a news magazine.

I know there is a level of set up.. but even so, don't you find it crazy that you can still miss things? Fair or unfair I couldn't believe it personally. I have a fairly competitive nature so I was REALLY paying attention. I totally missed it and told him not to ride around me ;)

This like that test where black people say its gamed for whitie?

goddamnit.. how many fucking passes were there?

15 . . . . maybe 14

I posted this a while back and most people "said" they got it. I think if you are into video games more you will see it as your brain is trained to focus on the screen as a whole rather than one part and blocking out the rest. :thumbsup

It's not really unfair. Unfair would have been say to ask you how many total players there were or what color shoes the girls were wearing ..like a minor detail that could easily be missed if you weren't trying to remember it etc.

Failing to see such an obvious detail proves the point that when you over focus or only expect to see a certain thing, then that is all you will see. :)

i dont see how this relates to motorcycles.

I got 14 then 16..

exactly my thought.:1orglaugh

Hmm.. I don't think so.. I've been a gamer since the Atari 2600 and done enough LANs to last me a lifetime (I came very close to opening a gaming cafe) and I didn't pick up on shit ;) I know half the people see it.. I wasn't one of them :)

It's not a direct comparison it's about focussed attention though - basically given that motorcycles are a very small minority of road vehicles and you aren't expecting them as much while you subconsciously search for cars when you look left and right there is a slight tendency not to see them. It's not as dramatic as in the "experiment" but I guess it's there.. that and a bike is literally 1/8th the size of a car and is less visible anyways. Thats the context I was sent it in. I don't really care either way I'm just fucking shocked I didn't see the fucking thing!

fucking bullshit they told us they would tell us how many passes were made .. GRR or maybe imissed itlike ther gorilla .. HAH

funny because i have seen this one before and i still fell for it.