Are You Detective Material? Practice Your Visual Intelligence | Amy Herman | Big Think
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- Are You Detective Material? Practice Your Visual Intelligence |
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Are you detective material? This visual intelligence test will make you think twice about accuracy and just how much details matter.Amy Herman’s visual intelligence tests and exercises are best done with a friend, because every time they unveil something about perspective that you didn’t expect. Herman created and teaches a course called The Art of Perception to doctors, intelligence analysts and the NYPD, and while her lessons are entertaining for individuals looking to have their minds blown, they are immensely relevant for businesses and even more so for criminal investigations.
Here she uses one of Rene Magritte’s artworks to demonstrate the dangers of assumptions - both in observations, but also in communicating those observations. Her example from a real criminal investigation in Texas will spark an awareness of the different ways people see identical objects and our varying understandings of exactly the same words. Fine-tuning our visual intelligence makes us more careful, considered, and accurate - something so important when lives and money are at stake.
Amy Herman is the author of Visual Intelligence:Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life.
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AMY HERMAN :
Amy E. Herman, JD, MA, designed, developed and conducts all sessions of The Art of Perception. While working as Head of Education at The Frick Collection, she instituted the program for medical students to improve their observation skills. After expanding the medical program to seven medical schools in New York, Ms. Herman adapted the program for law enforcement professionals across a wide range of agencies including the New York City Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice and the Secret Service. Ms. Herman holds a BA in International Affairs from Lafayette College, a JD from the National Law Center, George Washington University, and an MA in Art History from Hunter College.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Amy Herman: This is an interesting painting and I want you to just take a look at it for a few seconds before we talk about it. I've looked at this painting a thousand times. I use it in my classes, I've seen it in art museums when it's been on view and there is so many subtleties. But one of the assumptions that I made, not as an art historian but just a viewer of art is that what I was looking at on the plate was a piece of meat like a piece of ham with and eye in the center. And when I first showed it at one of my classes I said okay who's going to tell me what they see and someone raised his hand and said that's a big old pancake on the plate. And I would have never considered that it was a pancake. Is it a material distinction? Maybe, maybe not. But he was so sure that it was a pancake and I was so sure that it was a piece of meat, while it might seem like a really subtle distinction it's not if you think about something like eyewitness testimony. Well, he was wearing a red sweater. No, he was wearing a blue sweater. That's a big difference.
And one of the things that reminded me of the Magritte painting there was a crime scene in Texas and they were speaking to a witness and they said what did he look like? What did the suspect look like? And the witness said he had a cowboy hat on. So everyone was looking, and in Texas lots of people wear ten-gallon hats. So they were looking for a suspect with a cowboy hat on. Well, it turns out the suspect was wearing a Dallas Cowboys cap. So the choice of words it wasn't a cowboy hat it was a Dallas Cowboys hat. The idea of a saying what you see and being sure about what you say that's how communication lines can get crossed. And another interesting thing about that Magritte painting that I found fascinating, one of the wonderful things about writing the book is people write to you. They read your book and they send you their own observations and I received an email from a woman who said has anyone ever told you when they look at that painting and describe it to you that the fork to the right of the plate is turned upside down and the tines are facing into the table. I had never noticed that. I had a look at the painting a thousand times. And again, material difference? No. Critical? No. Important? Yes. It's one of those details because if someone said to me describe the silverware in the painting I would've said you have a knife and a fork. And sometimes it's those very small details of the tines facing the table that can bring a whole case together or crack a case or be that one detail that brings all the other pieces together.
As the good detective I am I did some research... (*lights cigarette*)... the painting is done by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte... (*takes a zip of the cigarette*)... This painting depicts an almost photo-realistic table setting with a slice of ham in the center... (*blows out the smoke*)
And also...(*ashes cigarette*) pay attention to the fork...does it strike you as...odd? (*stretches back in chair*) Now I would expect you to notice this but that fork is upside down (*stares at cigarette, looks up*) thats why I get paid the big bucks, kid. Now get out of my office.
Darin P (*Takes a sip of cheap brandy*) Hey kid, anyone tell you about that strange wine glass? That's right, it isn't a wine glass, take a hike kid (*puts brandy back in dusty drawer*).
Genuinely made me lol.
watch “the nice guys” on netflix. get a kick out of it
why did i literally make the gestures indicated while reading
If you look really closely you can see there is a wine bottle to the right of the glass.
Tony McModeNut thats not a wine bottle its a limited edition kylo ren lightsaber dildo...... fuggin goof
Dr.CockNBalls Omg you're right! How could I have missed that?
And if you look even closer, there are some circular objects below the glass
What wine bottle???
that was too obvious
The painting, for some reason, made me think it meant "watch what you eat."
Lmaoo
Wouldn't this be more like "what you eat watches you?"
*Insert Soviet Russia joke*
I saw a pancake and an upside down fork.
Same :p I'm amazed she looked at this thing a thousand times without spotting that.
ok.. thats not upside down.. thats face down
saw the same, but i wondered how the patterns came into existence...like what kind of pan would create this...and the more i look at this, the more it looks like meat to me
Upside down is a perfectly fine description. Actually, it makes more sense than the others since we all know what direction a fork is set on a table, and the opposite is therefore upside down.
aSASa45454 ok.. i'll be sure to say you're upside down the moment you turn around you moron..
The upside down fork was the first thing I noticed. I also thought it was a pancake, but that said pancake looked a lot like meat as well. I missed my calling...
same
Round shaped bacon I insist.
Also the eye on the knife
renragged the upside down fork is not upside if u look at it properly it kinda looks like it was painted wrong as in the top of the fork is facing down the the long skinny part u hole on to , is not arched up enough to be upside ( I only looked at the painting shown in this video , I could be wrong was hard to see )
It is just canadian bacon
Either way it looks like a really boring meal.
I actually saw the fork having inverted shading as well sugesting it was being seen by the back. I saw that the first time I saw it but I wondered if she would mention that or not. Or also the fact that while there is a shadow for both the glass and the drink. Neither shadow is the exact same shape as the items themselves. Which to me made me think there were not one but two lights above our view in this image. One directly above our head except slightly ahead of it in order to not cast our own shadow on it. And another light slightly to the left but still a good bit further ahead. I also wondered whether or not the plate was living due to the eye or not but I knew for sure it looked like a pancake at quickest glance. Also, when the gray background and the line between the supposed table meet. It makes me wonder whether or not we see these set on a table or on a floor pained tan, With gray walls. However, it went off screen too quickly for me to see if anything was off about the knife. Oh, and by the way I'm only 16. Do what you will with that knowledge. 😆
(Edit for correct English writing)
All that was after my first view of it in the Video after she said she used this painting to test whether or not they had "Visual intelligence?".
I saw the fork too
If there was a wall may be the shadow won't come that way...seems like light is coming slightly from left side on top...if it wall and let's suppose it's a restaurant then there lights are not generally fixed on walls rather lined up on cealing
Well in my opinion it's a cloth...if you can see something written on it and if thats included in this picture 😅
Huh, I thought it was a crêpe...
Yup...I thought...that's a crepe with a fucking eyeball in it...what an idiotic painting.
I noticed that the wine shadow stops at an obvious point, until you look at the shadows on the knife, as if they were extended
Noticed the fork thing! Where's my cookie?
Short but sweet, thanks
gave it to person above you.
Oh my… The fork being turned was the first thing I noticed… And she didn’t see that even after looking at the painting a thousand times… I feel like I could be a detective someday 😂👌😌
I believe in you homie
I first thougth we are looking at soup. because the shadow of the plate seems to big for a flat plate.
UMos it would have to be a thick soup 😂
you dont say..
Or perhaps an orange slice
I noticed the upside down fork almost immediately, but honestly, the word "detective" in the title made me prone to watch for the slightest details.
I noticed the fork being overturned right away, and I also thought it was a pancake, although after watching the video I've come around to the idea that it's a slice of ham; the white around the outside looks like fat, and the edge looks thin and sudden like a slice rather than thick and rounded like a pancake would be. (It would also explain the bottle of wine, which would go better with meat than a pancake!) Very cool painting. I love Magritte's style, but I hadn't seen this one before.
My observations, there is no cork in the wine bottle, but the bottle looks filled normally meaning this is a painting of a meal just before it was eaten, can't really tell if the meat is cooked or not but if it isn't the eye can represent the horror associated with it also the fork is flipped i don't really get it why, but it will make it easier for the person to lift it up and start the meal directly
Looked noticed:
Pancake
Fork upside down
The knife has a dark are on the edge, does not match up with any shading.
There seems to be a symbol in the glass of the whine bottle in the neck.
You can also see a bit of a mirror like reflection of the pancake in the glass. (also glass is stained)
Putting it all together I guess this is the second (or more) pancake and a fresh bottle of wine or perhaps just a fruit juice. The spot on the knife might be residue for something spread out on the previous pancake. The eye could be a reflection of your thoughts looking back at you if you really should take an other one :)
What?
The fork was face down.
Has nobody noticed that it's also not a wine glass? Or something else that's maybe a clue: the knife and the fork are not from the same set. The knife has a wooden handle and is significantly larger than the fork which has a metal handle.
Niosus o.0 nice attention to detail, I got some competition 😅
Did you notice the eye on the knife also?
theres a line across the large bottle, where a paper sign would have been peeled off. It could be a table off the floor or a set on the floor up against the wall, or a table up against another material, but not to far because of the light source. The plates shadow has more depth than it should. The liquid inside the wine bottle is a solid dark color and reflects light at the top, but in the center theres a reflection on the right sight suggesting the light would be going through it, or a light source on the other side. The fork is casing an extra shadow on the knife even though its extension ends before it. Theres a strange feather like symbol marking the top of the bottle on the right side of the neck. Two parallel vertical lines in the small glass indicating another light source, but doesnt appear on other objects. (looking at it closer the big bottle has a second fainter shadow)
the small glass has a weird curve with less volume on the left side, but that could just be how he drew and not intentional.
It seems like a lot of things were thrown in here that were just barely off.
oh shit I just noticed theres like an aura type thing around the wine bottle. The light is slightly brighter around the whole thing.
there must be other things im missing. I think I see shapes in the background but im still not sure if they were intentional or just left over patterns from brush strokes.
lol you're dumb
Nate Zeller because? found as many odd details as I could, did you think something was wrong, and why?
Richard Lane Delete your account Richard and get ready for Monday. I know who you are
Nate Zeller yeah my name is right there. It says Richard Lane. Im glad you showed you can read quite well and your astute. But what was it that I perhaps assumed incorrectly that would be used as a qualifier to my intelligence.
Nobody noticed that the fork is on the wrong side of the table? If had be set properly it would be on the left because it's not that could mean the painter or the person eating is right handed more evidence supporting that is that the glass and the bottle are more on the right side once again suggesting that it's a right handed person. Also the reflections of light on the cutlery and the bottle. if the place is outside could lead to the time it was painted or the time the person was eating. It could be 9:00 am or 12:00 am or even 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. The shadows are the other evidence to prove that the light source isn't from behind you or behind to left side/right side. However the shadows are long and dark which points more towards the morning time rather than a afternoon time.
This was recommended to me and in that painting I was more focused on which way the fork was placed. Because it looks like it could go both ways.
I thought it was a non-distinct circular thing, I couldn't tell, and I definitely noted the fork tines facing down.
i noticed that the fork was upside down in about 5 seconds. hard to believe she looked at this painting a thousand times and never noticed
the wine bottle and cup are on a completely different perspective plane than the plate and cutlery. with the fork and knife and plate, the artist was observing from directly above while the bottle and cup are depicted closer to eye level/horizon line
The lighting is casted from the upper left, down to the right. However, the left brim of the cup doesn't shine correctly. The light should rap around to the RIGHT side of the brim, yet doesnt properly. The food on the plate is either a pancake or a piece of meat presumably. The fork is unnaturally set curved side up, instead of down. The reflection in the eye of the food, doesn't account from the present upper left hand light source in the reflection off the pupil. I picked up on these before she mentioned anything about the painting. So I am Sherlock Holmes right?
it may be ham because of those lines. i think the reason why she said ham and the student said pancake was because the teacher was more experienced in this field and was thinking heavily of a crime scene, and meat goes well with it than a pancake , but also she may have noticed the smaller details more quick out of habit
The lack of dimension on the fork and knife is frustrating. They are just straight up and down, yet the glass is parallel with the plane of the table.
My opinion about the painting is possibly, depending if the picture was mirrored or not is, most likely the person eating or the artist was left or right handed depending on where the fork were and also the person "eating" was probaby not fancy since s/he was using a normal glass rather than a wine glass
I looked at it twice before continuing and noticed the fork the second time, but first I noticed that the fork and glass were in the wrong places according to traditional place settings, and that the bottle didn't have a visible label. On third viewing it looks like the grey part of the background is a layer of fabric on a continuing table, rather that the floor behind the edge of the table.
I saw an upside down fork on the right which indicated right handedness, a round ham with an eye in it, and a butter knife as opposed to a steak knife.
Also if you look closer the eye that we all see can be seen as a slice in the pancake or ham or at least I noticed that, a slice in the food where you can see the plates design beneath idk if this is actually a detail but I just noticed it in the time she gave us to look at it I didn’t look very long so I might be wrong
all meal has beginning middle and end.1) which one is this? ...... the bottle has no cap and glass is empty, is the bottle empty? or is the wine is open allow it to breath? if the food was served and the person got gross out, could they just got up and left?
Amazing... Learnt a lot
It was common sense to observe that fork was upside down and also you can the shadow is a little off angle in the items. The bottle of wine is not opened yet, and the imaginary person is right handed.
The knife is trickier than I thought. It has the shape of a steak knife, suggesting the meat. The knife edge is not serrated, however, allowing us to justify the pancake interpretation. I would feel more comfortable with the glass on the right and the wine bottle in the middle. This painting is a personality test.
The fist thing I noticed is that the fork and knife and eye are flat pointed toward you, the plate is slightly foreshortened, the cup a little more and the bottle even more.
Also that is a thim pancake, clearly... that is not the color of any meat I've seen.
More of this please!
I seen a pancake with syrup around it in the shape of a smaller circle about half inch from the edge. I noticed the darker shading at the top of the bottle the shape and color of the eye. No shadow around the cutlery but darkness underneath. The color of wall was dark grey, bottle black glass the glass was clear and looked clean and the table I think was wood.
I feel a little like I should get a medal because I noticed the fork, and that the slab could have been taken for a pancake or meat. I was too distracted by the thought of slicing open the eye to pursue the fact that the wine bottle has no label and that the glass is inappropriate for wine.
I knew something was up with the fork, didn't place what in the time given, however, Did you notice; The glass has been drank out of? (Residue) The wine bottle is not filled with wine. (Too Dark) and The Wall has a stain on it.
How is everyone seeing a pancake?
Have you ever seen a pancake with marbling?
Fork is easy to notice because where the shadows are heavier is the part higher in the air.
Interesting... Also worth noting, why is there a water glass and a bottle of wine? And are the cutlery pieces from a matching set or no?
One of the first things I noticed (besides the eye) was that the fork was upside-down. And I was actually unsure the first time looking if that was a pancake or meat.
The fork prongs pointing down was one of the first things I noted as I scanned and memorised the picture.
Me too!
I perceive that the paintings shows a table having his dinner with meat in the plate , wine and glass combination perhaps the guy is happy for something and all utensils in one side means that the guy is one handed.. I just elaborate what I perceive..😅😄😄
What about the eye on the knife? It’s very small so most people might not see it. Since it is so small and hard to see it might not be an eye but it looks like the same one on the pancake but much smaller.
It's an under-cooked-thick-wrap-style-bread with an eye, on a plate, fork-face-down, everything else is normal besides that everything is actually on the floor facing the wall. Shadows are pointing up, meaning the source of light is farther then it would be on a table. Its a poor person about to eat under-cooked food in a rich style kind of painting.
I only noticed the fork because I was looking at the shadows to make sure they added up.
I just critically looked at it and was like "ok there's wine stains in the glass, bottle is open and is almost completely full..."
Importance of focus.
I said it was a pancake and then noticed the fork was upside down I’ve basically studied the painting in my head in like 5-10 seconds... I guess thats a talent of mine and I’m sure I’m not the only one am I?
I thought, this meal was most likely prepared by someone other than the person who is meant to be eating it. When you make food for yourself, you aren't setting your own fork and knife like a restaurant. It must be at home, because a restaurant would give you a wine glass. Seeing as the table ends, it's likely this is the only person eating, and is going to drink an entire bottle. Is it a special occasion? The wine is unlabeled so you might think it could be home made wine, but if a person made their own wine you would expect them to have a wine glass. I suspect there is something like water in the wine bottle.
There are two good comments here. One is about the shadow. The shadow means there is a light source 11 o-clock from the table. It means that if there is a window in the room, it should be in that direction, other wise there is a actual lamp/ceiling light. If there is a window, we know the picture was taken while there was sun out. If there is no window, the picture was taken after sundown. The other point is about the wine bottle. Someone said it has a european look, if it's a modern bottle you might find a manufacturing name and number on it. You could go to a wine expert and get the brand, and get a list of all purchases from a local wine stores of this wine in the past 6 months. Look at the CCTV for those dates and times and see if it matches a suspect/person of interest. Maybe a credit card match if possible. It's a stretch, but it shows you what you can do with meta data.
All the things mentioned went though my head, but i settled on what made most sense, a pancake with a meat like pattern and an upside down fork, then again an eye on a pancake doesn't make much sense so i'm not sure what the artist was trying to convey.
The shadow from each object shows that the light is coming from the top left corner. The wine bottle is open and the glass does have a plum stain. The glass however is more commonly used for milk or orange juice. As someone classy usually would have a wine glass. The knife isn't jagged and the fork is upside down. There isn't a napkin under the utilities. The meal seems to be a pancake as meat would be pinkish or a darker shade. Without explaing the rest of the details I would assume that this is someone lonely who is having breakfast for dinner.
I see a pancake with a slit cut in the middle with what is looks like the plate had a design on it so you could see part of the design through the slit in the pancake 🥞
I noticed that the shadow on the fork seemed odd. But I really did not notice it was turned around until mentioned
I saw the eye, the fork and that it looks more like the meal is on a blanket than a table. Then I took a hard look at the pancake and was like "that looks really undercooked" and ran out of time.
Noticed all of the details in one look. Am I a genius? No. Is that person bad at noticing things? Yes.
Proper silverware place setting would have the fork on the left side.
id suggest the 'artist' to reduce his consumption of psychoactive substances. pancake with an eye in it, from pattern could also be old ham but colour is all wrong, cuttlery on one side of plate which is just lazy, fork is properly turned tho. but the strangest thing about it are the shadows, bottle is clearly lit by two light sources of different strenth roughly 20 degrees apart, while plate only by the stronger one. and yet the glass has partial shadow only from weaker light source.
In the plate its look like a artificial skin with a artificial eye and the light above the bottle phases 70-60 degree left to the things.
And also if this painting is about the food then it must be dinner because its silverware or a splayd (food which are eat by the fork and knife) dish with wine.
If this painting is not about the food means it will be cannibalism, also anthropophagy (eating of human flesh by human) and the wine will be blood.
I see a knife with light maybe from someone taking a picture down to the table. The fork, a empty glass cup, a wine bottle probably full, and a plate of a pancake with a i think fruit- cant remember what its called.
Really interesting. I saw the pancake as a more of a nan / poppadom probably cos of where I am from in the UK. I also got an impression that the artist was intending to portray someone who is quite organised in their space as the scene composition is symmetrical. Interesting thought exercise.
I don't really know if it means anything, but atleast this made me feel good about myself.
I also thought dusk maybe due to the light, drink (maybe wine or fruit juice).
If someone want to drink wine why did he left the wine open and the glass is empty but the food is on the plate which shows he eats food with wine open doesn’t pour the glass 🤔. I think it’s about the perspective.
I've looked at it for a couple of minutes now, but it looks to me like the shadow of the fork makes it look like it's upside down. But when you look at the bottom of the fork, you can see that it is sort of defined a bit, telling me it's the front of the fork. Did not see an upside down fork. Definitely saw a pancake with an eye though 😂
The bottle is opened .. thats deffinitely an interesting clue...
Am I the only one my one who directly tried to interpreted it something like the eye looks human even through the meat is probably an animal but what they have in common is that there both living beings and we should be honoring what we eat knowing it was a living being smth like that idk
Everyone in comments are talking about pancakes.
Me: *effing eye in the meat*
I noticed all this within seconds, but still quite interesting.
I thought it may be an omelette in the plate but didn't thought too much about it.
Is the fork suppose to be on the right?
by the thumbnail I thought it's a funny difference in pictures game,but it's greater than that .....
*AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT IT WAS A THIN SLICE OF GRAPEFRUIT LIKE THE GRAPEFRUIT FROM ANNOYING ORANGE*
I thought same Bro!
I love Amy Herman's video's, please bring her on more often
I noticed something was off with the fork, it not that it was facing down.
What? The strange curvature of the spikes that no fork has?
I noticed it as a crepe with an upside down fork, a full wine bottle with no cork and an empty water glass.
What about the eye in the centre??
"Take a look at this picture while we put a big banner advert over it"
I thought it was a pancake for about twenty seconds then I realised it was ham, so what does it mean if you see both
I saw a pancake. I still think it's a pancake. I think it's because I don't associate that level of "roundness" with any cut of meat. I also don't associate the color Tan with meat.
But, that's me.
I noticed the fork also, you can't unsee it once you notice it.
In isolation, the characteristics of the painting she mentioned are not important. There needs to be some connection to an outside framework for a characteristic to become important. Simply because some witness’s testimony about something else is confused doesn’t mean there is any consequence to the importance of the elements of the painting.
Since the painting is of something fictional, it’s a matter of opinion what is on the plate. So what if there is disagreement. If it’s a matter of testimony, the witness can only say what they think they see.
The issue about the witness’s description of a Cowboy hat is something else entirely. As Amy recognized, that’s a story about a miscommunication because of a word that has two meanings, and the interviewer didn’t realize it. The misunderstanding was a fault of the interviewer really, particularly if the interview occurred in Texas.
👎Thumb down on the video. Terrible: for the above reasons. The title is misleading too. Detective material? Visual intelligence? Neither of those terms is appropriate.
i noticed the fork thing too. I can see how it is a pancake but I can also see a piece of ham.
As far as I observed, the fork and knife are always placed on either side of the plate. But in the picture both are placed side by side. Nd may that person drank wine directly from the bottle.
I actually saw every single detail there was..... Does that mean I am a detective material
Why their is no shadow of the glass? Can this mean something strange.
Hmmm, before she even mentioned it, I saw the fork tines turned down, and the pancake/ham duality.
What disturbs me as a chilean, is that there's a glass for the wine, not a glass cup.
I predicted the whole video just by looking at the picture. I first saw the pancake, and then realized it was a piece of ham. I have also observed that the fork is turned upside down. All this in lousy 10 seconds.
I noticed everything she said. There’s even an arrow pointing to the left. I thought the meat was a pancake at first but then I noticed it had fibers and looked like muscle tissue.
As soon as I looked I saw a pancake with a left eye and then a few seconds after I saw the upside down fork. The only awkward things I could see in the picture though.
I thought people usually drank wine through those Classy types of wine-glasses not through a regular one.
I have no idea since I don't drink much.
HOLD
THE
FUCKING
PHONE
THERE IS AN EYE ON THE PANCAKE HOLY SHIT!
Well, well, here we have a Xeroque Rolmes.
That's not a pancake due to the layer of fat on the edges. It's too consistent to look like a non animal product and it's not soup due to the shape of it since that would mean the place itself would have to be extremely deformed. The other details are easy to spot.
I noticed the tines' orientation 😃
I noticed the pancake and the flipped fork in seconds I'm not saying I'm super observant but I just noticed it quickly.
I didn't loved the idea of serving wine into a "tall glass"... :D
Yeah this is what detectives do
Right off the bat I noticed the picture all the way to the left on the thumbnail has a fork with a missing tine. Anyone else actually notice?
I thought it was soup. I also saw something top right; Text or something. Also notice the "peacy"-ey vibes from the icon pn the knife. It kinda looks like the peace symbol.