The Backwards Brain Bicycle - Smarter Every Day 133

I've used Linux as my primary OS for > 20 years. My current job supports Mac and Windows and I accepted it with the understanding that I'd have to use windows, but couldn't get used to it, so switched to a Mac. Maybe I could have gotten used to this, but switching between the Mac UI and Linux at home always felt like switching between a normal bike and one with reversed steering (see e.g. ▶ this video ). Luckily Linux is unofficially supported at work so I've switched back to that now.

in “Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?” · View on HN

Slightly related: there’s a YouTube video [1] of a guy teaching himself how to ride a bicycle “in reverse”, i.e. you turn left, and it goes right. It takes some practice but in the end it just “clicks”. So now he’s balancing and moving completely opposite to perception. So you’re right about the little man. I struggle to see why some arbitrary axis transform is “too hard”. [1] ▶ this video

in “Why the Brain’s Connections to the Body Are Crisscrossed” · View on HN

Sadly it's wrong. My gripe with it is that it presents countersteering as necessary , while it's just a technique to more quickly initiate a turn. Basically by steering right while leaning left, then snapping the handlebars to the left, you can change your centre of gravity relative to the bike's faster than you can just by leaning left. When leaning your body left you also naturally push the handle bars right which produces a countersteer as well even if you didn't mean to. However, you can easily observe a bicycle steering without first initiating a countersteer. The easiest is if you just push it and let it coast by itself. It will naturally start leaning one way and continue turning that way until it falls on the ground without any countersteering. Another way is, if its geometry permits, to ride it without holding on to the handlebars - you can see you're steering left and right by shifting your weight on only the seat without any countersteering. Or you can consciously avoid doing a countersteer and make turns that way - noticeably less quickly than if you do countersteer, but quite possible. Another proof would be the fact that monowheels work and can be steered. You cannot countersteer a monowheel, yet it steers just fine. Look also at Destin's backwards bicycle experiment - ▶ this video . I really don't think you can countersteer that thing anyway, yet it steers just fine. I think if Veritasium had given people more time (days? weeks?) to adjust to the bike, they would le

in “Countersteering” · View on HN

> Look also at Destin's backwards bicycle experiment - ▶ this video . I really don't think you can countersteer that thing anyway, yet it steers just fine. Why wouldn't you be able to countersteer it as any other bike (except in this case by using the opposite handlebar motion compared to a regular bike)?

in “Countersteering” · View on HN

Thanks for pointing this out. It should be said, however, that Kuhn did cite Polanyi pretty extensively. Related: Destin, at the Smarter Every Day YouTube channel, has been kind of sliding into the same distinction Polanyi outlined, between "tacit knowledge" and explicit knowledge. Destin would label those "understanding" and "knowledge", respectively, but he has a lot of neat demonstrations of this distinction, e.g. riding a backwards bicycle[0], or hovering a helicopter[1]. [0] ▶ this video [1] [link]

in “Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions – outline (2013)” · View on HN

I wonder how similar that is to the effect of the "backwards bike" shown in "Smarter every day": ▶ this video It seems like there's a very deep idea of how a bike should work and instead of learning the new behaviour bit by bit the new idea just "clicks" at some point. I've heard people with up/down flipped goggles also say it's quite sudden change. I'm curious if it's similar for reconnected nerves?

in “Nerve transfer restores hand function, elbow extension in paralyzed patients” · View on HN

> Could we teach our brain to "think in 4D" and interpret these cues differently? To a certain extent probably, maybe if you spent hours and hours and hours in a VR simulation with 4D objects you'd starting getting a feel for it. I doubt you'd ever get as good as with 3D objects since we've been exposed to these literally every waking moment since we're born.* Good lord! Has anyone tried? This reminds me of the backwards bicycle video on youtube ( ▶ this video ). I... really want to try what you're suggesting.

in “4D toys” · View on HN

I wonder if he could walk normally (forward) again after his backward trip. Perhaps this is related: [link] And perhaps this Smarter-Every-Day video: ▶ this video

in “The Man Who Walked Backward” · View on HN

That's only half the story, what happens when a sighted person takes off their blindfold after leaning how to use the device? I picture some come of synesthesia, but it's hard to say. The most interesting thing would be if their eyes stopped being integrated for a while. ▶ this video

in “Phoneme- and Word-Based Learning of English Words Presented to the Skin” · View on HN

This reminds me of the backwards brain bicycle a bit [1]. I get that the argument they’re making here is one of physics - but failing to ride a counterintuitive bike isn’t something that can just be ‘done’ without a lot of practice! [1] ▶ this video

in “Uncontrollability of a bricycle (2014) [video]” · View on HN

Do you remember the list of other skills? I think it's kind of like teaching someone how to ride a bike. No amount of theory and coaching will help until the connections form in their brain. Smarter everyday has an interesting video[1] on this phenomenon where he showed that it takes considerable effort to learn to ride a "backward" bike and once you do, you will forget how to ride a normal one and need to relearn it. [1] ▶ this video

in “The Lucrative Art of Chicken Sexing (2017)” · View on HN

See also: ▶ this video YouTube channel Smarter Every Day tries to ride a bike that has been hacked to reverse which way the wheel goes when the handlebars are turned, which also reveals how much bike riding skill is implicit. (I also experience the "clicking" he refers to around 6:10 when I switch between QWERTY and Dvorak layouts. It takes about 15-30 seconds to switch, even after all the years I've been doing this, and I can "feel" it slide into place. This despite the fact that I use Swype (or whatever it is spelled as) on my phone all the time, which means I stay very familiar with the QWERTY layout every day... but somehow that qualifies as a different "thing", because I always get that instantly.)

in “Reality has a surprising amount of detail (2017)” · View on HN

Two points: 1. The opportunity costs for switching away are high. I suspect this comes into play in many areas -- say, emigrants to a new country who never develop a high functioning level of language skill (something I'll add applies just as much to English speakers abroad as those moving to English-speaking countries, if not more). And yes, there absolutely are exceptions, often many. You're highly effective in using one language. You operate functionally at the level of a young child in another. Cross training to the new language is a massive investment of effort. Adult minds lose plasticity present in children, so the task is inherently harder. Plus you've got to do everything else necessary to keep going. It's a Red Queen's race. Shifting tracks requires a very real sacrifice both in increased effort and reduced reward . It can be short-term satisficing to continue stretching out the lucrative current skill so long as possible. Situational awareness of that dead end may not dawn until late in the game as well. 2. Some skills are synergetic -- knowing one thing makes learning another easier. And yes, I see this all the time, particularly in metaphorical spaces. Thinking is I strongly suspect very much a matter of analogs , and collecting and applying appropriate analogs helps. But ingrained knowledge is ... quite different. Changing handedness, or quitting habitual behavior (drugs, smoking, alcohol, gambling) is exceptionally difficult. YouTube's "Smarter Every Day" has a

in “Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.” · View on HN

Cars used to have [link] for direction control. About forgetting how to steer, take a look at that video ▶ this video discussion here [link]

in “Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel” · View on HN