27th June 2006, 7:28 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect
I've totally noticed this myself, and apparently it has been the subject of rigorous and repeatable psychological studies.
For those too lazy to read, it's that strange thing that happens when you do any single sort of repeated activity that requires coming up with a system to do it for a long period of time and finding yourself applying it in the back of your mind to the rest of reality for several hours or even days afterwards. Named basically because it was first studied with the game Tetris.
I've noticed it from something like playing Ocarina of Time in that I unconciously look for the context sensitive action when approaching a door, and after spending a long time outside with my cat "hunting" in the small wooded area nearby I notice unconcious "lookit that" type behavior. Nothing that dominates thoughts or anything, just an odd mental phenomenon that's worth studying.
I've totally noticed this myself, and apparently it has been the subject of rigorous and repeatable psychological studies.
For those too lazy to read, it's that strange thing that happens when you do any single sort of repeated activity that requires coming up with a system to do it for a long period of time and finding yourself applying it in the back of your mind to the rest of reality for several hours or even days afterwards. Named basically because it was first studied with the game Tetris.
I've noticed it from something like playing Ocarina of Time in that I unconciously look for the context sensitive action when approaching a door, and after spending a long time outside with my cat "hunting" in the small wooded area nearby I notice unconcious "lookit that" type behavior. Nothing that dominates thoughts or anything, just an odd mental phenomenon that's worth studying.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)