Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id NAA03883 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Tue, 9 Apr 2002 13:56:13 +0100 Subject: RE: memetics-digest V1 #1011 Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 08:50:06 -0400 x-sender: wsmith1@camail.harvard.edu x-mailer: Claris Emailer 2.0v3, Claritas Est Veritas From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu> To: "memetics list" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Message-Id: <20020409125003.131E21FD62@camail.harvard.edu> Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On 04/09/02 06:54, Vincent Campbell said this-
>generally intepretations of our perceptions are biased.
Yup. _All_ interpretations are biased. The self is a bias.
>how major league batters appear to have
>more time to spot the spin and direction of the ball than normal people
This is an excellent example of trained perception, and yes, it is
perception, learned and improved through practice. It's not that the
experienced batter 'sees' the ball any better, granting equal acuity of
vision, but that he can read the early indications of speed and motion
from the pitcher. The ball is, after all, coming almost directly at him,
and foreshortening perspective gives him a pretty good look at it. The
alert batter will be in a late stage of preparation to hit the ball well
before the ball leaves the pitcher's hand. This would be true in cricket,
as well, I'm sure, although, because the cricket ball will bounce off the
ground, there is less certainty about its trajectory.
One study of Ted Williams (purportedly the finest batter to trod the
diamond) indicated that he could maintain perceptual observation of the
pitch well past the first quarter of its progress. But, practice makes
perfect, and he was a perfectionist.
And it's not just batters. A good outfielder will be able to put himself
under the hit ball after only a microsecond of seeing its path from the
bat.
Physics and the natural world are giving us clues like this all the time.
- Wade
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