Hasta La Ideas

I had avoided watching this video because I assumed it was clickbait, but I was wrong. What we have here is a fascinating look at what happens when your brain is forced to re-write one of your body’s physical routines.

You know how it drives you nuts when they change the keyboard shortcuts in your favorite design software? Or have you ever accidentally broken a glass in the kitchen and instinctively wished you could press Command-Z in real life? Programmed by routines, our brains can easily be tricked into reaching for things that aren’t there.

So what we have here started out as a welder playing a prank on an engineer. The engineer is Destin Sandlin, the man behind the SmarterEveryDay educational channel, and the prank was to reverse the output of a bicycle’s handlebars. Simple premise, but it really starts to get funny when Sandlin learns to ride the new type of bicycle—then loses the ability to ride a regular bicycle: