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Earsy, Kneesy, Nosey
This week's
experiment comes from the comedy of Stan Laurel. I love the old comedy
teams! Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, and of
course, the Three Stooges. Growing up, my mother was always worried that
watching them would lead me to do dangerous things. Maybe she was right, since
I make my living by standing in water with one million volts of electricity.
While you should not try slapstick such as poking someone in the eye or whacking
them with a shovel, this is a part of Stan Laurel's routine which you can safely
try.
You will need:
It really is a
simple experiment.
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Sit
comfortable, with your hands on your knees.
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Lift your
hands and grasp your nose with your left hand and grasp your left ear with
your right hand.
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Bring your
hands back to gently slap against your knees.
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Then repeat
the process, but this time grasp your nose with your right hand and grasp your
right ear with your left hand.
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Bring your
hands back to gently slap your knees.
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Repeat this
series at least 10 times, moving fairly quickly.
Well, how did
you do? Very likely there were several times when one or both hands did the
wrong thing. It seems such a simple thing. Why is it so difficult?
As you go
through the process, you are making cross midline movements. Imagine drawing a
vertical line straight down the middle of your body. Though it may seem
strange, the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body and
the right side of your brain controls your left side.
Usually, your
right hand works on the right side of your left hand. If both hands are doing
something, the right one is to the right of the left one. This time, your
hands are performing a task in the normal orientation (clapping) and then
reversed (crossing to grasp nose and ear.) To add to the confusion, your vision
works the same way, so the left side of your brain is dealing with information
from your right eye and the hand that it sees on the right side, although it is
your left hand. The right side of your brain is getting a visual picture from
your left eye, seeing movement of the hand on your left side, which is really
your right hand. If that sounds confusing to read, just imagine how your brain
feels in trying to deal with it.
Then you go back
to the normal arrangement (hands on knees, each on the proper side) and then
things are reversed in the opposite direction. This is something that your
brain probably finds difficult to keep straight at first. The right half and
left half get their messages crossed and you wind up grabbing both ears, missing
your nose, etc.
Even more
interesting is that if you practice, you can learn to do it correctly, even at a
very fast rate. Like riding a bicycle, once you learn it, you will be able to
do it again easily, even after several years. Cross midline movements are
something that you had to learn as you learned to crawl and then to walk. It
plays a large part in the art of juggling. It is also important in
coordinating eye movements to give use depth perception. From my research,
cross midline movements are very beneficial, especially for children.
If you ever
watch a baby learning to crawl or walk, now you will have a better appreciation
of the task. I even got daring and tried a variation of earsy, kneesy, nosey
with a bowl of ice cream. Basically do the same thing, but instead of grasping
your nose, you put a spoon of ice cream in your mouth. It goes more slowly,
because you have to swap the spoon from hand to hand, but it is fun trying to
get more ice cream in your mouth than on your face. Just don't poke the spoon
in your eye! Leave that to the Stooges.
Have a wonder
filled week.
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