An Amazing Feat Performed by a Child.

[mawnansmiff]

I've been following a documentary series on the BBC called 'The Brain' by American writer and neuroscientist David Eagleman. It reveals much about how the brain functions both in wake mode and sleep mode and tells us, amongst many other things how the brain can be trained to do some amazing tasks.
The last episode had nine yearold Austin Naber showing cup stacking at lightning speed. There is no speeded up video here, what you see is in real time...and really quite astonishing.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-nhRPVWM9A0
If ever you get the opportunity to watch the series I highly recommend you do...it reveals so much of ourselves we never likely knew.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[cortezattic]

Fascinating bit of neuroscience there. Perhaps the lad should have spent his time on the piano instead.

 

[sumusfumus]

Amazing! But have you ever tried to quickly unstack/separate these plastic cups? They sluggishly pull apart because they are tapered, and sometimes they fit so tightly together that you need two hands to separate them. A weak vacuum prevents them from pulling apart very quickly.
Just speculation....do you think that the cups are specially prepared for this stacking trick? Maybe holes are drilled into the bottom of the cups to prevent either compressed air or a vacuum from slowing down this unbelievable "trick"?
Bravo, young man!

Frank

 

[mso489]

Lemme see, so it is like the difference between a student learning to touch type for the first time and someone who has been touch typing for years. That makes sense.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Each cup has three good sized holes in the bottom. Compression and suction become non-factors.
Yes, it's amazing what our brains can do, and that which they don't.

 

[mso489]

I suppose and hope that this young guy can harness this experience to serve him in other ways, in a career of his choice. Finance, medicine, the arts, or whatever.

 

[sablebrush52]

I suppose and hope that this young guy can harness this experience to serve him in other ways, in a career of his choice. Finance, medicine, the arts, or whatever.

Soda jerk, carhop, waiter...
It's cool, but seriously? Years of practice spent doing this 4 hours every day? His parents must be a pair of nimrods.

 

[mso489]

Yeah, I sure hope the kid was exaggerating, sensing that the interviewer wanted to hear about vast practice required. The kid seemed intelligent and well-spoken, so even if he spent too much time stacking cups, I presume his imagination and memory were working on other things. He did end up participating in a sort of research project, so that opened the door to science for him (a little). I sure hope his horizons extend beyond this party trick, indeed.