Focused on the Wrong Things

I recently watched a fascinating video about the complexities of the human brain and how selective our attention can be. The presenter gave specific instructions: "Count how many times the team in white passes the ball." Simple enough, right?

The video began, showing players in white uniforms and others in black, all passing basketballs to their teammates. Having seen similar psychological experiments before, I thought I was one step ahead. "Aha!" I mused smugly. "I know this trick. They'll ask about the black team's passes when it's over, trying to catch me unaware."

So rather than counting the white team's passes as instructed, I cleverly (or so I thought) tracked the black-clad team instead. I was feeling quite pleased with myself as the video concluded.

Then came the question that knocked me off my high horse: "Did you see the big bear moonwalking across the court?"