f13.net

... so I putted a magic trick in your magic trick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C_iy7SyDJE&feature=channel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C_iy7SyDJE&feature=channel)

The video explain a trick but apparently, most people play along as they watch it and guess the correct answers.  I read a couple of comments but I  haven't found a decent explanation yet.

One theory is that only those who guess it right takes time to post a reply but I doubt it.  It's probably subliminal but i'd like a definitive answer.

You're kidding, right?

Not really.  I know how the girls is getting tricked in the video.  My question is how come most people guess like the girl while they watch the girl getting tricked.

Evidence pointing to this is what? You-Tube comments?

The defense rests!

Well it happened to me  :awesome_for_real:

Yeah me too. Rather weird.

Not me, I picked square first.

The first one IS square.

Seven days...   :awesome_for_real:

It's a complex variant on the 'non extremes' tendency of people. You can do the same by 'pick a number from 1-4' People pick 3, then 2. Add some attention grabbing shapes and it becomes easier. People avoid extreme choices, but also the exact middle. 1-10? 7

I'm not sure what is going on here, are you arguing that most people choose the same shapes as the girl?  You did watch the video right?

I actually did the exact same shapes as the girl in the video too. I don't think it's an intentional part of the trick but rattran might have an explanation for why so many people do go for the same shapes in a similar order. I'm guessing a big part of it is the fact that people are also generally unwilling to pick shapes that have already come up, otherwise it would be pretty ridiculously unlikely.

Yep and yep.

I was trying to figure out what exactly it was, but the best description I could come up with is multiple choice tests. People tend to change answers if something is too consistent or seems too far off the 'pattern'.

The apparently large number of people picking the same shapes as the girl in the vid is a perfect example of self-selecting cherry picked data and why you do double-blind studies.

The 199 out of 200 people who *didn't* pick the same shapes as the girl and didn't post on the YouTube comments don't appear in the data set, because they didn't think there was anything remarkable about NOT picling the same shapes. The 1 in 200 who *did* (randomly or influenced by various psychological tendencies) happen to pick the same shapes post "OMG! I picked teh same ones!" and thus the data set (of YouTube comments) is skewed.

It's an example of what coincidences are. People get freaked out by seemingly impossibly rare coincidences but the vast number of different sensory and mental experiences we all have every day mean that coincidences are actually highly likely, we just don't notice the ten billion non-coincidences happening all the time.

I think it's more than that.  Looks at this thread, it happened way more than 1 out of 200.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=hyperbole

 ;D

Yes, CLEARLY psychic powers are involved.   :awesome_for_real:

That must be one hell of a computer to capture, record,  and re-transmit the senders psychic message!  ;D

Must be a Mac. I knew they were good for something :grin:

Guessed completely different shapes each time. I would be pretty amazed if there is an underlying trick at play.

This thread is the unintentional comedy goldmine of the year so far  :why_so_serious:

Hey there is like 5-6 people at the top of the thread convinced sorcery is being used. Ive seen some pretty amazing tricks of psychology/perception so i didn't want to be mean.