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Mikael Eriksson Inner circle None of your business 1064 Posts |
You know the party trick where a few persons try to lift someone with their index fingers and it feels very heavy and they often fail? And then they rest their hands on his head, and then try again, this time discovering that it is very easy.
Does that trick have a name? And does anyone know if there is a scientific explanation of how it works? |
Patrick Differ Inner circle 1540 Posts |
Figure about 15kg per finger and the person has to stay absolutely rigid. It's actually easier than it looks. I don't know its name, 'though.
Will you walk into my parlour? said the Spider to the Fly,
Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy; The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, And I've a many curious things to show when you are there. Oh no, no, said the little Fly, to ask me is in vain, For who goes up your winding stair -can ne'er come down again. |
Mikael Eriksson Inner circle None of your business 1064 Posts |
Well the point is that you try first and it's very heavy, and then you try again, and it's much much easier. What I wonder is if science have bothered doing a test of why we experience it this way.
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Chrystal Inner circle Canada/France 1552 Posts |
Ahhhh that's nothing! I tend to wrap people around my little finger all the time!
(smiles) Chrystal |
Josh Riel Inner circle of hell 1995 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-09-21 10:01, Patrick Differ wrote: That's why it never works for me. Everyone I lift up is weighed in pounds... 15Kg is obviously numerically lighter than 33Lbs.
Magic is doing improbable things with odd items that, under normal circumstances, would be unnessecary and quite often undesirable.
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kregg Inner circle 1950 Posts |
Goosing?
POOF!
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Muckey Spleen New user 83 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-09-21 10:22, Mikael Eriksson wrote: It's a party game usually called "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board." One person lies down to be lifted, and four others do the work. The reason it works the second time is that after chanting the name of the game a few times, all four "lifters" are coordinated in their efforts and work in concert. It's pretty cool. (It also works the way Mikael described, with the subject seated and the lifters first pressing the subject's head, then lifting together under the arms and knees. The secret, again, is that on the second attempt the effort is coordinated). |
Mikael Eriksson Inner circle None of your business 1064 Posts |
In my opinion it's not because they are more coordinated. They are actually stonger the second time. I have done the same thing with handgrippers. If I try only one time and then rest for a minute, I get stronger in that I manage to do more reps then if I had done the reps immediately. In my opinion it's because the nervous system gets time to adapt. The same principle is used in weightlifting to manage to train with heavier weights.
I only wondered if science has looked into this. |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Close. It isn't that you are stronger (unless we are on the same theme and you are just presenting it differently). Here is how I think it works. The first time the attempt is made the amount of effort required isn't known and so it fails. The second time you apply the amount of effort required and thus the lift. Actually I just re read what Mikael wrote and he is exactly right.
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stoneunhinged Inner circle 3067 Posts |
The real "magic" here is that someone asks a question about some party game which I remember my sisters playing at slumber parties in the late 1960s, and someone gives the answer in a few hours. I love the internet!
(I also googled the phrase "light as a feather, stiff as a board" and found two or three other games I'd long forgotten...like "Bloody Mary". Now I'm having a real nastalgia trip. Thanks!) Jeff |
Josh the Superfluous Inner circle The man of 1881 Posts |
Yah Jeff I agree. In my browser I just highlighted the words "Bloody Mary" and right clicked. Instantly I had a description of the game. Even half of Jonathan Townsand's posts make sense with this crazy contraption.
What do you want in a site? "Honesty, integrity and decency." -Mike Doogan
"I hate it, I hate my ironic lovechild. I didn't even have anything to do with it" Josh #2 |
Patrick Differ Inner circle 1540 Posts |
From Josh...
Quote:
That's why it never works for me. Everyone I lift up is weighed in pounds... A bit of trivia for the American in you. Which is heaver? A pound of feathers, or a pound of gold? What is the real name of the American weight system? Not Troy, not Metric... what is it called??? Chrystal, I believe you. I believe you. I believe you. :cool:
Will you walk into my parlour? said the Spider to the Fly,
Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy; The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, And I've a many curious things to show when you are there. Oh no, no, said the little Fly, to ask me is in vain, For who goes up your winding stair -can ne'er come down again. |
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