E-Mail From Dad
My dad sent Bro and me the following e-mail:
Count the “F’s” in the following text:
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.
Managed it ? Okay, after you have counted them, then
Do you think there are 3?
Wrong, there are 6 !!–no joke.
Read it again.
The brain cannot process “OF”.
Incredible or what ? Go back and look again!!
Anyone who counts all 6 “F’s” on the first go is a genius. Three is normal, four is quite rare.
Now, I had received this e-mail in the past, and it still amazes me how I can only see three when I read and count them for the first time. Which is what happened again, until I became aware the word OF was the magic word, I only was counting three F’s. (I have no idea if it works the same way when posted on a website.)
But confirming that I’m no genius and only normal isn’t the reason for this post …
I just wanted to share my short reply e-mail to Dad:
Dad, I don’t F’n get it !
(There’s a slim chance that I stole that line from one of The UnUsual Suspects when that e-mail was passing around us, I don’t recall it being mentioned, but I really can’t believe I’d think of it before Singer or Hottie, so if I stole it from you of you two, I’m sorry. On the other hand, there’s no way I would have stolen it from Miss Daisy, whose response would have most likely been “Huh?” or Sister, who would have definitely said “I don’t fucking get it.” 🙂
I only got 3…what the phuck?? However…”I’m an excellent driver” & “K-Mart sucks!!!”
The Rainman joke is more pertinent than you’d think. People with autism can be great at taking in huge amounts of detail while having equally great difficulties apprehending the whole.
Remember, Rainman would easily see six “F”s.
Goober, are you out there?
It’s like that classic “Paris in the the Spring” sign that appears in psychology textbooks. It’s called cognitive laziness – you don’t process things that your brain just assumes to be there. When you read something quickly, you take in the essentials only and skip the details. “Finished”, “Files” and “scientific” are essential to the meaning, but the “ofs” are only secondary, which is why you miss them.
I only counted 3 fs, and I’m a Ph. D. That said, I’m not a very bright Ph. D……
Wait a minute, high IQ’s look at anal stuff? Hold on – iMom – you’re a proctologist, right? I’m ok now. Whew.
I’m going to go back to my coloring books now … 🙂
Sorry, chica, counted 6.
It’s my job, I’m anal-retentive.
I’m also up there in IQ, so we look at that kind of stuff. Sometimes, it’s not fun being a geek.
Wait…. was it F or S?
I counted 7.
What? You thing the great and all powerful Yodette could have overlooked three “F”s?
Pay no attention to that woman behind the curtain!
Yeah … yeah … yeah … you got all 6 too, didn’t you Yodette ? 🙂
The mind simplifies and habitually edits the chaff to focus on the wheat. There are certain mental conditions where the brain doesn’t process data that way, but I’d hardly term those with the conditions “genius”.
I’ve seen it before, that’s the only reason I knew there were 6 Fs.
Whatever !! 🙂 LOL
And a pre-emptive Whatever to all the rest of you that get more than 3 !! 🙂
Though will someone who only counted 3 please admit it so I don’t feel like the only butt !! 🙂
erm… I got 6 🙂
*grins*