On the road…again!
Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams
Chronicles of a Footloose Forester
By Dick Pellek

 

On Deceptions

Many of the games and puzzles one finds on the Internet are enticing time wasters.  And they are usually rife with hidden hacks, deceptions, and subterfuges that promote in us a sense of personal accomplishment. When the game of Hearts is initiated, the odds of the game player winning the first round are beyond the presumed odds of 1 in 4.  The computer program gives us a favorable handicap so that we are inclined to continue playing.  But the software program is packaged so that only a limited number of game options are available, and a frequent player learns how to recognize the patterned deals of the cards.

A recent addition to my small collection of computer games is one that has perhaps the most deceptions hidden in virtual layers of visual clues. The game: Differences, Find & Spot Them is seemingly addictive but the Footloose Forester chooses to plug away, knowing that all of the visual differences are not all presented at the same time.  Some clues or differences appear at appropriate times and are within the layers of color clues or shapes that make the current scene pairs slightly different.  And that is the objective, to spot the difference in color, shape, or size of the multiple objects in the scenes. 

The fact that boldly contrasting color clues are found in layers is beyond dispute.  Our eyes are deceived in accepting that all the clues we initially see in the graphic are all there. All of them are not.  When they do appear, we might wonder how we missed them the first time around.  The answer is: they were not present the first time when searching around.  It is not magic that they suddenly appear.  The illusion of a sudden appearance is perhaps akin to the sleight of hand of a magician, who knows that we get distracted.  The distraction of our eyes is a main tool of magicians. Thus it is, that we should not be too harsh with someone who looks closely but does not see. Methinks that at least one clue is kept hidden so that a programmed failure is inevitable, on a regular basis.  Thus, failure at puzzle-solving is part of the program, but so is the winning--if one is a good observer.

Withholding a featured clue is part of the game, but it is also part of the design of the game creators to keep you playing longer. Computer games are, however, a valid technique to exercise our brains, and the Footloose Forester was seeking a game that helped him become a better observer.  That recent addition to the small collection of computer games is one that has perhaps the most deceptions hidden in virtual layers of visual clues.  Looking for and recognizing clues is an acquired skill. Presumably, police forces around the world train their staff how to be good observers when looking for clues.

The game: Differences, Find & Spot Them is seemingly addictive, yes; but the Footloose Forester chooses to plug away, hoping also to learn new patterns in the extensive catalog of scenes. Some clues or differences appear at appropriate times and are within the layers of color clues or shapes that make the current scene pairs slightly different.  And that is the objective, to spot the difference in color, shape, or size on the multiple objects in the scenes.  The fact that boldly contrasting color clues are found in layers is beyond dispute.  Our eyes are deceived in accepting that the clues we initially see in the graphic are all there.  They are not.  When they do appear, we might wonder how we missed them the first time around.  The answer is: they were not present the first time when searching around.  It is not magic that they suddenly appear.  The illusion of a sudden appearance is perhaps akin to the sleight of hand of a magician, who knows that we get distracted.  The distraction of our eyes is a main tool of magicians. Thus it is that we should not be too harsh with someone who looks closely but does not see.  Withholding the featured clue is part of the game, but it is also part of the design of the game creators to keep you playing longer. Computer games are, however, a valid technique to exercise our brains and the Footloose Forester was seeking a game that helped him become a better observer.  

Human beings are highly suggestible, hence one theme of a pop psychology book by Vance Packard in 1957 entitled “The Hidden Persuaders” gave us a clue to the contents of the book. That is to say, some suggestions presented by advertisers are spoon-fed to us via our subliminal consciousness. “Subliminal Seduction” another such book by Wilson Bryan Key in 1973 delved more deeply into the subject matter of subliminal clues.   

Subliminal stimuli, the prefix sub- literally means "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception. Studies have shown that subliminal stimuli activate specific regions of the brain despite participants' unawareness. Visual stimuli may be quickly flashed before an individual can process them, or flashed and then masked to interrupt processing. Audio stimuli may also be played below audible volumes or masked by other stimuli.

 Images and clues are sometimes held back, in subsequently revealed layers

During the 1970s, a naughty subliminal trick was foisted on readers of Playboy.  At a time when subliminal suggestion was in vogue, the team of writers and photographers at Playboy purposely blended two photographs so that when the Playboy centerfold page was held up to strong sunlight, the blended photos produced a lewd result.  It was not an accident, it was planned.  That lewd composite can be found in the June 1972 edition of Playboy.  By the way, the Footloose Forester did not subscribe to Playboy; that issue was conveniently found in the magazine archive section of Hamilton Research Library at The University of Hawaii.  But it was a popular article about that time, on the subject of subliminal suggestion that prompted him to verify that two separate photographs in Playboy had indeed been used as a lewd composite construction.  

One example of subliminal impressions from long ago relates to a small plantation of mixed agroforestry tree species in Haiti. One common species used was Leucaena leucocephala; and for comparison, the other was Calliandra calothyrsus. Because both species were raised in the same nursery and outplanted at the same time, they both had nearly identical DBH measurements throughout the plantation. The point of subliminal messaging is this: the vigor and form of the Leucaena were transitioning into decline, while the Calliandra was transitioning into a stage of robustness.  The perceptible changes were there, but perhaps not to a casual observer.

Differences: Find Them and Spot Them is definitely a worthy training exercise to increase one’s observational acumen. There are well over two hundred colorful scenes, hence requiring the observer to embrace a wide variety of graphic materials; and in the process become aware of the need to not only look closely, but to be as quick as possible against the computer bots who are competitors in the game.  It is probable that the creators of the game also programmed in scheduled failures.  They don’t announce the programmed failures; it is part of the deception that is so beloved by con men and shady salespeople.  Most times, you can win with speed and accuracy; and you will certainly lose if you are too slow and inaccurate, but you cannot win every time.  The rouses and deceptions in the programming will not allow that.