Why did I "see" Thailand?

[Jyera]

Hi I have this experience last month.

There was a chess competition at a local club.
I passed by and was bring my child for their lesson.

There are many school children from one particular school sitting on the floor. They wore their school T-Shirt, and was practicing with each other while waiting for their turn in the competition.

As I walked by I noted the words on one of the boy's T-shirt.
And I saw "THAILAND". I was just 3-4meters away.

It puzzled me, and I thought it might be a school chess competition for the South East Asian region.

After sending my child off, I came back and realised that it was a National school chess competition. Only for Singapore.

I went passed the place where I saw the "THAILAND" team.
And when I took look the wordings is "NORTHLAND" not "THAILAND". Apparently, I had fooled my self.

My Questions:
1. What is this "illusion" (see THAILAND instead of NORTHLAND) called ? Is there a Magicain term for it?

2. Is it possible for the magician to make me see THAILAND instead of NORTHLAND?

 

[Jeff Wagg]

I believe the answers you seek are found in study of perception rather than magic.

You saw a shape and that shape said to you "Thailand." You know what Thailand is...you have a reference for it.

"Northland" means nothing to me, and perhaps to you as well. And the letters of Northland minus the N and the o are "thland," which looks like Thailand to me. So, it's not quite a big mistake to make.

As for a magician making you see Thailand, of course they could! Not only could they use a traditional gimmick, but they could set your context by telling you about old Siam or perhaps by reading you a recipe for Pad Thai.

Anyway, just the ramblings of the madman that is me...

 

[Jyera]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks so much for the response.

Your analysis of "thland" being perceived as "Thailand" made excellent sense. Didn't occur to me.

Come to think of it, perhaps this might interest you.

In a video series on "The Brain Story" featuring Susan Greenfield.
It featured this experiment on a brain damaged person, which i think, suggest a strong influnence of subconcious on us.

1. A man have problem with brain working together.
2. They operated him and cut off the connection between left and right. (I don't think it is totally).
3. He gets on his life "normally" after that .

4. They get him in for experiment. They flashed the following message on a computer screen to him and asked him to tell them what he sees and what comes to mind.

Message Flashed
(a) "hour + glass"
(b) "Sun + "
With + in the middle of left and right eyes.

Result:
(a) he sees " +glass" but is able to draw a perceive image of the hourglass.
(b) He cannot see any words but can draw a sun.

So Apparently,
- He CAN see the words on the right.
- He CANNOT see word on the left
- Right-Brain(left eye) is unable to pass the word on the left to the left brain for word identification.
- And the Right brain is able to associate the word with a correct picture. (without the person knowing why the picture appear)

Implications/Question
1. Is this a glimpse of what many called subconscious?
(ie. "my instinct tells me to run" , "something is wrong",
"some one gave me a vision")
2. How many of our decisions are based on our conscious, internal, freewill? Imagine I asked the man what is his favorite color and put the word "RED" at his left eye.
3. Could these "invisible" words affect us subconsciously?
4. Did the Tarot card triggered some thing?
5. What will emotive words, picture, sound do to our decision.

 

[Jeff Wagg]

Implications/Question
1. Is this a glimpse of what many called subconscious?
(ie. "my instinct tells me to run" , "something is wrong",
"some one gave me a vision")
2. How many of our decisions are based on our conscious, internal, freewill? Imagine I asked the man what is his favorite color and put the word "RED" at his left eye.
3. Could these "invisible" words affect us subconsciously?
4. Did the Tarot card triggered some thing?
5. What will emotive words, picture, sound do to our decision.

I am familiar with that study and similar ones, and it really brings home the idea that this thing we call "consciousness" is ill-defined and subject to changes in brain anatomy. You really can't believe your eyes much of the time.

So, my answer to your implications/questions:
1) I would say it qualifies as part of the subconcious. I'm a Masters student in Mental Health Counseling, and one thing I'm learning is that there is no one definition of subconcious, unconcious or even preconcious. However, I think it likely that are brains can perceive a threat even if we're not "consciously" aware of it. Makes good evolutionary sense to me.

2) Uh oh, you used the "F" word. I believe free will is a construct of language, and while it's useful to operate as though we are independent agents, ultimately, we're not.

3) If you mean those subliminal messages that were all the rage in the 60's, I believe the consensus is that they really don't. But, if your favorite actors holds up a Pepsi in a scene, you might find yourself wanting one, even if you don't realize that you've seen the Pepsi.

4) I'm not sure what you are referencing with Tarot Cards. ?

5) Our decisions are influenced by everything.

 

[Azrael 5]

Were this thread on a woo-woo forum,theyd be claiming a psychic premonition right now!