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Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
Like some of you, I first saw this three or four years ago on the Internet, but it’s worth a spot in the Brain Game library (and should fascinate those of you that missed it the first time around). Enjoy!
Your job is to watch the following film clip ONCE
(it’s under 30 seconds in length) to determine
the number of times that the basketball changes
hands between the players wearing white shirts.So take a sip of coffee or whatever you need!
THE VIDEO.
Here is the ANSWER.
Comments (16)
Comment
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I saw the gorilla only because I saw the video before
posted by Dave Wave on 5-20-2009 at 7:48 am
The question refers to the basketball; not the extraneous activities around the game. And the answer is still 15. You didn’t ask about other phenomena, so we don’t mention Jay and Silent Bob in the back row. Or the Martian.
posted by ArtW on 5-20-2009 at 8:02 am
man alive, ol artw seems to be upset about missing the gorilla.
i saw the gorilla and thought it was there to screw up the count or something. oh, and i counted 15 passes. does this mean i’m going to get recruited into a double secret cia spy group because of my wicked awesome visual cognition?
posted by grant on 5-20-2009 at 8:30 am
The original one is a little better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsgkYLkWlrE
posted by ARk on 5-20-2009 at 9:24 am
Sadly, Grant, it means that you’re a bit more perceptive than most, and that some double-secret CIA spy group will probably capture and interrogate you to determine if you’re a credible threat to their activities.
Or not. But nice job noticing the ape; I sure missed him the first time I saw the video. I was brought up in the age of early video games, and I learned long ago to focus on the one object (in this case, the basketball) at all times. It happens almost automatically.
posted by Sandy Wood on 5-20-2009 at 9:29 am
Am I the only person who sees two basketballs being passed around a collective total of 28 times? Oh yeah, and a gorilla.
posted by EMStoveken on 5-20-2009 at 9:48 am
I counted 14 and I did see the gorilla.
posted by FlatulentOne on 5-20-2009 at 11:00 am
i counted 15 and saw somehting in the background, but i didn’t know what
so that kind of counts, right?
posted by Ben on 5-20-2009 at 11:53 am
I counted 15 (the girl gets the ball and passes it almost immediately to a boy that walks in front of her… very hard to see). I noticed the gorilla but also thought it was just a distraction.
posted by Hyacinth on 5-20-2009 at 12:44 pm
Story of my life. Damn gorillas messing up my counting. First grade was a bitch, I tells ya.
I counted 14. I must have missed one while my brain was going “was that a f***ing gorilla”?
posted by Bert on 5-20-2009 at 2:25 pm
I counted 13… and saw the gorilla…but he was black, so I didn’t focus too long.
Shrug- guess it was long enough though that I missed the 1 or 2 throws :S lol
posted by ariaDne on 5-20-2009 at 5:03 pm
I counted 14 and saw the gorilla. It was a slight er? and then back to my counting.
posted by Tricia on 5-20-2009 at 5:46 pm
I counted 16 and saw the gorilla. Guess I was a little off.
posted by Isaac on 5-20-2009 at 6:40 pm
Counted 14 and noticed the gorilla. i figured they were going to add another person in a black shirt to mess you up – then i noticed it was a man in a monkey suit. i kept waiting for an albino gorilla.
posted by mamabug on 5-20-2009 at 8:00 pm
EM – read the directions. The question was how many times did the ball change hands between the players in white shirts. So, yes we saw two balls, but the other one doesn’t count.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 5-20-2009 at 11:25 pm
I counted 15 and didn’t see the gorilla at all…guess I’m single-minded, ha ha.
posted by Elsa on 5-24-2009 at 6:06 am