There are gullible people. Here is a list of the powers I have had attributed to me by more than single individual or group and their mundane causes:
Flight. On occasion, I have arrived at destinations faster on foot faster than people in cars trying to arrive before me. This is simply a function of knowing my route and making accurate time estimates.
Raffle fixing. Several times I have manipulated raffles by waiting until the final opportunity and bidding on the under-valued prizes, or by calculating the value of the prizes and the number of tickets I would need to have a good chance at making a profit.
Jellybean counts. (as in original post)
Baby telepathy. Treat a baby like an adult or a friendly alien explorer who has yet to learn our language. Do not treat babies like dolls or inanimate objects. Babies have relatively few wants and needs and are easy to satisfy and teach.
Telepathy. Observation.
Fortune-telling. Accurate predictions.
Photographic memory. Not even close to true. Order your world according to relevant attributes and memories will be more easily accessed.
Speed reading. Nope. Practice and concentration.
Sadly, many observers would rather accept supernatural explanations.
Memories are more easily accessed, in humans, when contextual information is brought to mind. When making observations that lead to memories, if the context is relevant to the questions that you will attempt to answer in the future, you will not have to artificially call forth the contextual info. The solution is to approach new situations critically.
So, if you explore a neighborhood, before you set out determine what you will look for. For instance, ask yourself: Are architectural features related to the relative affluence of the area at the time of each building’s construction.
Or, in math classes, consider what the lessons build upon and where they may lead.
Consider new situations with conscious consideration of previous knowledge. “Blankness” is not appropriate when approaching an experience in which you have previous expertise. Calling to mind relevant experiences helps to ensure that memories attain relevant associations.
[The solution is to approach new situations critically.]
This is a skill that can be honed in reading rather easily—I became explicitly aware of doing exactly as you’ve described when I began to have to offer up explanations and critiques of scholarly papers whose topics I wasn’t innately familiar with on short notice. And it was just as surprising to my peers when I could come up with quick, cogent answers to complex questions about them on the spot.
Edit: Damnit, I fail at quote tags—is there a list somewhere of the tags the site uses?
Don’t worry about it—there have been many requests about changing that, making it more intuitive (like “markup formatting” vs. “help”) -- I think the upcoming redesign will probably handle this and make it easier for folks.
It’s not something that people would literally ascribe to supernatural agency, but it’s still something that people see as happening “by magic” in a broader sense — it’s associated with (e.g.) savants who have always been able to do it and don’t really know how they do it.
There are gullible people. Here is a list of the powers I have had attributed to me by more than single individual or group and their mundane causes:
Flight. On occasion, I have arrived at destinations faster on foot faster than people in cars trying to arrive before me. This is simply a function of knowing my route and making accurate time estimates.
Raffle fixing. Several times I have manipulated raffles by waiting until the final opportunity and bidding on the under-valued prizes, or by calculating the value of the prizes and the number of tickets I would need to have a good chance at making a profit.
Jellybean counts. (as in original post)
Baby telepathy. Treat a baby like an adult or a friendly alien explorer who has yet to learn our language. Do not treat babies like dolls or inanimate objects. Babies have relatively few wants and needs and are easy to satisfy and teach.
Telepathy. Observation.
Fortune-telling. Accurate predictions.
Photographic memory. Not even close to true. Order your world according to relevant attributes and memories will be more easily accessed.
Speed reading. Nope. Practice and concentration.
Sadly, many observers would rather accept supernatural explanations.
I would be very grateful if you could elaborate on this, or point to another explanatory resource.
Memories are more easily accessed, in humans, when contextual information is brought to mind. When making observations that lead to memories, if the context is relevant to the questions that you will attempt to answer in the future, you will not have to artificially call forth the contextual info. The solution is to approach new situations critically.
So, if you explore a neighborhood, before you set out determine what you will look for. For instance, ask yourself: Are architectural features related to the relative affluence of the area at the time of each building’s construction.
Or, in math classes, consider what the lessons build upon and where they may lead.
Consider new situations with conscious consideration of previous knowledge. “Blankness” is not appropriate when approaching an experience in which you have previous expertise. Calling to mind relevant experiences helps to ensure that memories attain relevant associations.
[The solution is to approach new situations critically.]
This is a skill that can be honed in reading rather easily—I became explicitly aware of doing exactly as you’ve described when I began to have to offer up explanations and critiques of scholarly papers whose topics I wasn’t innately familiar with on short notice. And it was just as surprising to my peers when I could come up with quick, cogent answers to complex questions about them on the spot.
Edit: Damnit, I fail at quote tags—is there a list somewhere of the tags the site uses?
Like how I quoted you?
If so, click the “Help” link to the bottom right of the text entry box after you clilck “Reply” and you’ll see that it’s the greater-than symbol.
Wow. Yeah. My brain remembers looking for something like that, but I think it’s only attempting to justify its embarrassment. Thanks!
Don’t worry about it—there have been many requests about changing that, making it more intuitive (like “markup formatting” vs. “help”) -- I think the upcoming redesign will probably handle this and make it easier for folks.
So basically, instead of just trying to collect facts, try to organize them in some way?
Try to integrate new facts with old. “Update” your existing knowledge base.
Speed reading doesn’t seem to fit the supernatural pattern.
It’s not something that people would literally ascribe to supernatural agency, but it’s still something that people see as happening “by magic” in a broader sense — it’s associated with (e.g.) savants who have always been able to do it and don’t really know how they do it.