January « 2009 « Brian Sawyer

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Brian Sawyer 10:00 pm on January 31, 2009 Permalink | Reply

The Kindness of Strangers

About two years ago, I posted the following video to the YouTube:

As lead editor for O’Reilly’s Hacks series of books at the time, my purpose was to illustrate the audio-visual illusion described in Hack #59 of Mind Hacks, in which Tom Stafford and Matt Webb use a classic illusion known as the McGurk Effect to show how our senses combine to completely change our ultimate experience of perception (blog post and complete transcription available here).

Since I posted this clip, it has had over 50,000 views and 62 ratings that average out at 4.5 stars (on a 5-star scale). Based on the 76 comments generated by the post, I have to believe that the commenting audience must be distinct from the rating audience, because even if you generously tallied up an approximate rating from the comments, I think you’d find a rating somewhere around a single star or lower. But comments clearly must be evaluated qualitatively, not quantitatively (otherwise, the commenters could have simply voiced their opinions with a star rating), so I’ll give the viewers their due and include a fairly representative sample of the feedback I’ve received so far.

Let’s see, where to begin? I actually value the comments that critique the efficacy of the video, such as this one by kated101:

didnt work at all on me, sounded like you were saying ba ba the whole time.

There are even some that report a bit of failure on my part, mixed with at least a little success, like Janedoex0x:

It didn’t work.
I still heard “BA BA…” when I saw him say it.

The olive juice thing looks really real though.

Also, “elephant shoe” looks like I love you too. =)

These are fair criticisms that, given that I’m neither a neuroscientist or a filmmaker, expose me for the amateur 10-minute video producer I am. Heck, even given those handicaps, I get a few unqualified kudos from users like gagaboat:

Thank you. This was the most thorough and well done explanation so far in relaying the power of perception.

But then, there are those who, on no uncertain terms, must feel betrayed by me on a very deep level. People like moxmister2006:

i heard ba ba the whole time [expletive deleted].

and RiddSin:

i just hear bah bah all the way you [expletive deleted] big eyd [expletive deleted]

and moviedragon5000 (to quote just a few):

yeah i heard bababa the firrst time so this is a bunch of bs

Now, I’ve been around the Interwebs long enough to expect trolls, so I don’t expect anyone to think I’m exposing things I think they’ve never seen before. Really, I’m just genuinely dumbfounded by the point when the comments cease to be about the content at all and become ad hominem attacks on me personally. That is, I say they’re about me, though their bizarre content makes it almost impossible for me to really take them personally. What drives a YouTube troll to respond to a demonstration of a neuroscientific audio-visual illusion with:

your mustache is shaped like an “M”

or focussing on my eyes, as at least three commenters did, most recently by kevituz, just four days ago:

[begin comment] you have huge eyes [end comment]

Really, I encourage you to read as many of the comments as you can stomach and share your opinions in the comments. I have a thick skin and will even allow trolls to voice their opinion on this one. It’s not that I’m offended or hurt; I really just don’t get it. If you’re one of these commenters, how is this worth your time? If it’s just to get back at me for wasting two minutes and forty seconds of your life that you’ll never get back, I do apologize, but really, is it worth another 20 seconds or more to you to let me know just how much you don’t like me? Take me at my word when I say I’m not offended and am genuinely interested in hearing a genuine answer that might make one bit of sense to me.

Brian Sawyer 10:05 pm on January 5, 2009 Permalink | Reply

Running My Own Race

Anyone who follows my Twitter stream will have noticed (and been reminded … and reminded … and reminded …) that sometime around the last week of November 2008 I decided to make a real effort to get back in shape. As if my obsessive running-themed status updates weren’t enough there, I even decided to duplicate them in a new Exercise portion in the sidebar of this blog, displaying the most recent runs posted to my training log at MapMyRun.com. More than just a way to allow people a peek into the tedium of my daily routine, making my regimen public helps motivate me. As pathetic as it may sound, the shame of too many days without an exercise update keeps me going when my own intrinsic impulses fail me.

Speaking of motivation, like (I assume) most people who fall off the exercise wagon and want to jump back on, I felt I needed this little push to get over the initial hump, where even a couple miles on the road or treadmill felt a little demoralizing. I also held a bit of my motivation in reserve (that is, I didn’t make it public), something I’d counted on before–namely, training for a race. More specifically, I decided I’d prepare myself to run the Hyannis Half Marathon in February, which I ran last year as one leg of a two-person full-Nmarathon relay. When I started in November, this was the prize on which I set my eyes, the thing I told myself I’d better be ready for to keep myself moving.

But somewhere along the way–and it didn’t take all that long, really–I actually started to enjoy running again for its own sake again. This isn’t to say that the goal was no longer important (to tell the truth, I started to get more impatient about getting to that distance), but I became less dependent on the ideal of participating in the official event. So, after running my longest distance (8.3 miles on December 21) since last February and feeling really good about it, I decided to push myself a week later to see what I was capable of.

The result? Half-marathon distance, on December 28, on my own, in 1:49:55, about five minutes faster than my time last February in the relay. Though proud of me, my running (and life) partner, Kristina, was probably right to call this jump in distance “stupid,” but I didn’t injure myself and felt great after, so I’m glad I did it. I feel like I’ve already accomplished what I set out to do, and now I’m ready to maintain my health and enjoy what I’m doing, without calling it “training.”

But I don’t want anyone to misunderstand my perspective on formal races, least of all Kristina, who does train and does run races, all of which makes me more than a little awestruck. I still think races are great events and very important for reaching major goals, and, to be honest, I’m probably rationalizing not running Hyannis a little more than making a big statement, largely because it’s a financial expense I feel I can (and should) avoid. But there is a nugget of truth in there, at least for me. For the distances I intend to run and for my own goals, I don’t think I need a race to get me there.

Now, if I were to run a marathon, that would be a different story, something I don’t think I could ever accomplish on my own. I actually ran a marathon with Kristina once (well, most of the way, before I allowed her to leave me behind a few miles from the finish) and it nearly made me physically unable to run ever again (my knees! my knees!). And as you can see in the photo on the left, I did not feel great at the finish. As it turns out, thankfully, it didn’t end up killing my ability to run permanently, but it just may have killed my desire to run 26.2 miles in one stretch ever again. I’ll leave that to Kristina (her next marathon is less than two weeks away) and support her every step of the way (though not literally, of course).

Anyway, I’ve been running as much as I can since late November and clocked over 75 miles in December, which I’m hoping will keep anyone from calling this a “New Year’s resolution.” I’ve already run 21 miles in the first five days of 2009, which is just over the modest 20-mile goal I’ve set myself as my minimum weekly distance (there, I’ve said it out loud, so I suppose I’ll need to follow through), and I continue to feel great. I don’t get the crowds, but I get a finish line every day, and every day, I get to break the tape.

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Brian Sawyer 11:59 am on January 4, 2009 Permalink | Reply

It’s All Downhill

In an effort to begin posting here a little more often than once every few months (call it a desire beginning in 2009, but something short of a resolution), I thought I’d lower the bar for creativity a little bit and see what happens when I don’t feel the need to write something important. We’ll see how it goes, and I hope my few remaining subscribers will appreciate the updates. If not, I can’t imagine I have many more readers to lose at this point, and I figure having anything current to read on the front page is better than months-old content. Either way, I feel the need to get my writing juices going again, so even if it’s just for me, I figure it will be worth doing.

With that in mind, here’s a little of what’s been keeping me busy since Christmas:

This Twist & Rail marble run from Quadrilla (a difficult-to-navigate site, because it’s primarily German) is one of the more versatile sets you can get (others sets include just Twist, just Rail, Basic, and several Expansion kits), and it provides hours and hours of fun, including both setup and actual “play.” I highly recommend it to anyone, with or without kids, but it makes an especially great toy for parents and kids to share.

The construction is complicated enough to require adult help (or at least an older child working alone), but it provides a bigger feeling of accomplishment as well when it’s time for the marbles to start rolling. The building and the anticipation really ends up being exciting for even the most impatient of kids (based on a sample of one, granted, but I think it’s fairly representative), and it’s a much more active and stimulating game than many, many others I can think of.

As a nice bonus, the components are all sturdy and well-constructed wood pieces (similar in look and feel to the fine Melissa & Doug toys), which makes them durable (helpful for when a run gets knocked down, which is not infrequent) and attractive enough to keep you from feeling ashamed when leaving them set up in your living room for days (as I’ve been doing lately without complaint in the household).

Here are a couple other models I’ve completed (a few more pics here), with a little help and equal enjoyment from my four-year-old:

I’m back to work tomorrow, which I guess means that my son will be getting some of his new toys back.

In the meantime, does anyone know of any additional proven designs? I’ve executed all the ones that came with the instruction booklet for the set, but I don’t have the expertise to wing it with new creations just yet.