By
Eilis Flynn
One
of my favorite cable shows is Perception,
about a crime-solving paranoid schizophrenic neuroscientist college professor (whew!)
working as a consultant with the FBI. It’s on TNT, and it stars Eric McCormack and
Rachael Leigh Cook. Someone commented that it’s a little bit Beautiful Mind, which is fair, because
our hero is by his own admission (and everyone else’s) mentally ill. He even
has two sidekicks, one of whom is real (a former student of his, now an FBI
agent, played by Rachael Leigh Cook) and the other of whom is not (a former
girlfriend, who really wasn’t, but someone our hero created from a barely
remembered memory, played by Kelly Rowan). Our hero, whose name is Daniel
Pierce, is supposed to be on meds to control the delusions, but often doesn’t take
them, and that’s when a lot of the stories take a lot of depth and color. Of
course, the delusions that result—from someone wearing an alligator costume to
World War II soldiers to old-time baseball players—help Pierce solve the crime
of the day.
The
episode I was watching recently (okay, I was watching more than one, since the
new episodes are starting next month and I was getting caught up) covered the
topic of inattentional blindness, making the question of if you’re not paying
attention, did you really see it? According to Wikipedia, inattentional
blindness is the failure to notice something unexpected in your field of vision
when you’re taking care of other tasks that require your attention. It’s not
that you couldn’t see it; it’s that you were distracted. Too much to pay
attention to, and the mind has to focus somewhere.
There’s
a test that researchers use to study this particular phenomenon referred to as
the “invisible gorilla” test, in which people are asked to complete a task
while something unexpected is sprung on them, and then those people are asked
if they noticed anything out of the ordinary during the task. The episode of Perception used a variation of this for
a murder that takes place during the period of distraction (and using someone
dressed up in an alligator suit instead of a gorilla suit), eventually leading
to a serial killer. Anyone who’s ever had to answer the phone while answering
the door and fending off a persistent person (child or adult who should be
whapped over the head) will tell you that you can’t do it all, not at once, at
least.
I
keep thinking about the drivers who insist on using their cellphones as they’re
driving (I’ve been known to yell for them to hang up the phone, and none too
politely, and sometimes from the bus I’m on)(this is a source of great
amusement for many who know me, for some mysterious reason), causing harm to
themselves or others. It’s all too common, and even illegal in a number of
places, but I can’t help but let my mind wander about the possibilities. What
if when your mind wanders during these periods of displaced perception, you actually go somewhere else?
Think
about that. What if your mind is truly elsewhere?
Isn’t
letting your mind wander a wonderful thing sometimes? The possibilities are
endless!
Eilis
Flynn can be found to argue with at Facebook, Twitter, or at her website at www.eilisflynn.com. If you’re looking for an editor, you can find her at emsflynn.com as
Elizabeth Flynn. Either way, you’ll find her online somewhere!
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