6 ms·

I did this too and also momentarily forgot how to tie my shoes! (Forgot the new method, and the old method.) Now I have saved literally minutes of my life on sh

I did this too and also momentarily forgot how to tie my shoes! (Forgot the new method, and the old method.) Now I have saved literally minutes of my life on shoe tying.

elliekelly 6y ago
Is there a word or a phrase for this phenomenon? When something becomes a habit requiring no thought at all and then, when forced to actually think about it, the brain draws a complete blank?
- mindfulmark 6y ago
  Personally I call this « playing piano », as I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten passed this stage when practicing..
- sixhobbits 6y ago
  In classical music at least it's often referred to as a "memory lapse"
  - Andrex 6y ago
    Your comment got me looking into the phenomenon, and I found this great article: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-07-17-1994198196-story.html https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-07-17-19941981... From 1994!
    - coyotespike 6y ago
      Wonderful article, great find! And I like being reminded of the great pressure many creative spirits feel. It's serious business, managing pressure and also doing your work.
    - ie21 6y ago
      Would love to read if anyone has it mirrored? Looks like the original article isn't available for EU market.
      - nkurz 6y ago
        Maybe one of these two will work: https://outline.com/SeEEHt https://outline.com/SeEEHt https://archive.is/D05nu https://archive.is/D05nu For the future, you can usually create these for yourself by going to top of the sites that I linked.
        ie21 6y ago
        Works great! Also on other sites, thanks for the tip.
- kibwen 6y ago
  Yes, "the centipede effect": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede%27s_Dilemma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede%27s_Dilemma
  - sebmellen 6y ago
    What a great poem: “A centipede was happy – quite! Until a toad in fun Said, "Pray, which leg moves after which?" This raised her doubts to such a pitch, She fell exhausted in the ditch Not knowing how to run.“
- davidgh 6y ago
  Check out the Backwards Brain Bicycle. Lots of fun. https://youtu.be/MFzDaBzBlL0 https://youtu.be/MFzDaBzBlL0
  - qwertox 6y ago
    This is worth a watch, from Smarter Every Day.
  - shard 6y ago
    Isn't it just muscle memory? Like how it is difficult to switch back and forth between a Qwerty keyboard and a Dvorak keyboard, except with the addition of balance thrown in.
- __mharrison__ 6y ago
  Emacs!
- HPsquared 6y ago
  That and, apologies in advance, the phenomenon of 'manual breathing'.
- arc-in-space 6y ago
  Some refer to it as an effect of muscle memory. Something you can do effortlessly, but can't actually describe how to another person.
laurieg 6y ago
A few weeks ago I went to play a piece on the piano. I completely blanked, tried to piece together the intro by ear but wasn't really getting anywhere. My teacher played the intro and then boom, the whole thing was back under my fingers. The brain really is fascinating.
- dkersten 6y ago
  This happens to me all the time when playing guitar. I could be there blankly strumming wondering what the notes were, but the moment I get something right, I’ve got it. Or sometimes it’s that I can’t remember the rhythm at all and I try to hum it or anything at all that might help me remember and once I’ve got the first few moments it comes flooding back. It doesn’t help that I’m relatively new to guitar.
  - virgoerns 6y ago
    > It doesn’t help that I’m relatively new to guitar. I've played for 16 years and I still have these moments. But thankfully it's so satisfying when the music finally kicks in.
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  I went to the shops yesterday and forgot the PIN code for both my cards. I've been typing one of those in for nearly 20 years. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My mum frequently punches in her postal code instead.
  - mkesper 6y ago
    Try to remember the finger movements.
    - sdeframond 6y ago
      Works well until you encounter a new keypad layout (eg when going abroad). I locked my card once like this although I had been typing the code for years before.
tomcam 6y ago
I want to say sincerely that this exchange is life-changing. I'm old and in rapidly declining physical health. I feel like my brain is working just fine, but the fact of my always-bad memory has been leaving me with the existentially terrifying question "is that going too?" I realize now I've been having these incidents all my life. Recently I've had the niggling sensation that maybe it's just self-delusion. Nope! Been going on the whole time, just like the lot of you. Thanks for sharing, and I mean that.

I did this too and also momentarily forgot how to tie my shoes! (Forgot the new method, and the old method.) Now I have saved literally minutes of my life on shoe tying.

elliekelly 6y ago

Is there a word or a phrase for this phenomenon? When something becomes a habit requiring no thought at all and then, when forced to actually think about it, the brain draws a complete blank?

mindfulmark 6y ago
Personally I call this « playing piano », as I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten passed this stage when practicing..
sixhobbits 6y ago
In classical music at least it's often referred to as a "memory lapse"
- Andrex 6y ago
  Your comment got me looking into the phenomenon, and I found this great article: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-07-17-1994198196-story.html https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-07-17-19941981... From 1994!
  - coyotespike 6y ago
    Wonderful article, great find! And I like being reminded of the great pressure many creative spirits feel. It's serious business, managing pressure and also doing your work.
  - ie21 6y ago
    Would love to read if anyone has it mirrored? Looks like the original article isn't available for EU market.
    - nkurz 6y ago
      Maybe one of these two will work: https://outline.com/SeEEHt https://outline.com/SeEEHt https://archive.is/D05nu https://archive.is/D05nu For the future, you can usually create these for yourself by going to top of the sites that I linked.
      - ie21 6y ago
        Works great! Also on other sites, thanks for the tip.
kibwen 6y ago
Yes, "the centipede effect": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede%27s_Dilemma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede%27s_Dilemma
- sebmellen 6y ago
  What a great poem: “A centipede was happy – quite! Until a toad in fun Said, "Pray, which leg moves after which?" This raised her doubts to such a pitch, She fell exhausted in the ditch Not knowing how to run.“
davidgh 6y ago
Check out the Backwards Brain Bicycle. Lots of fun. https://youtu.be/MFzDaBzBlL0 https://youtu.be/MFzDaBzBlL0
- qwertox 6y ago
  This is worth a watch, from Smarter Every Day.
- shard 6y ago
  Isn't it just muscle memory? Like how it is difficult to switch back and forth between a Qwerty keyboard and a Dvorak keyboard, except with the addition of balance thrown in.
__mharrison__ 6y ago
Emacs!
HPsquared 6y ago
That and, apologies in advance, the phenomenon of 'manual breathing'.
arc-in-space 6y ago
Some refer to it as an effect of muscle memory. Something you can do effortlessly, but can't actually describe how to another person.

laurieg 6y ago

A few weeks ago I went to play a piece on the piano. I completely blanked, tried to piece together the intro by ear but wasn't really getting anywhere. My teacher played the intro and then boom, the whole thing was back under my fingers. The brain really is fascinating.

dkersten 6y ago
This happens to me all the time when playing guitar. I could be there blankly strumming wondering what the notes were, but the moment I get something right, I’ve got it. Or sometimes it’s that I can’t remember the rhythm at all and I try to hum it or anything at all that might help me remember and once I’ve got the first few moments it comes flooding back. It doesn’t help that I’m relatively new to guitar.
- virgoerns 6y ago
  > It doesn’t help that I’m relatively new to guitar. I've played for 16 years and I still have these moments. But thankfully it's so satisfying when the music finally kicks in.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
I went to the shops yesterday and forgot the PIN code for both my cards. I've been typing one of those in for nearly 20 years. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My mum frequently punches in her postal code instead.
- mkesper 6y ago
  Try to remember the finger movements.
  - sdeframond 6y ago
    Works well until you encounter a new keypad layout (eg when going abroad). I locked my card once like this although I had been typing the code for years before.

tomcam 6y ago

I want to say sincerely that this exchange is life-changing. I'm old and in rapidly declining physical health. I feel like my brain is working just fine, but the fact of my always-bad memory has been leaving me with the existentially terrifying question "is that going too?" I realize now I've been having these incidents all my life. Recently I've had the niggling sensation that maybe it's just self-delusion. Nope! Been going on the whole time, just like the lot of you. Thanks for sharing, and I mean that.