Centipede's dilemma

The Centipede's Dilemma is a concept related to cognitive behavior theory that describes a way of confusing someone who was self-taught. [ [http://www.cognitivebehavior.com/theory/quickconcepts_p.html Quick Concepts in Cognitive Behavior Management] ] It involves forcing an individual to think about the steps involved in performing a task that he or she does intuitively, rendering the individual incapable of performing the task in question. [ [http://www.will-ludwigsen.com/blogapr04.htm Will Ludwigsen: Wednesday, April 21, 2004] ] The mental block that the Centipede's Dilemma creates is usually temporary. If a task or action can be taught, then it can be understood, and thus a process one has previously performed intuitively can be learned consciously, removing the mental block.

Origin

The phrase seems to have two sources:The first is from a story where a centipede was about to consume a spider when the spider asked for a final question.:The centipede said, "Sure, but then I will eat you."
:"How do you keep all those legs coordinated?" the spider asked.
:The centipede replied, "I don't know. I'd never thought about it before."
:At this point, the spider ran off, and the centipede tried to give chase, but was unable to because he couldn't make his legs walk properly, and he could never move again.

The second is a poem:"The Centipede's Dilemma"
:A centipede was happy quite,
:Until a frog in fun
:Said, "Pray, which leg comes after which?"
:This raised her mind to such a pitch,
:She lay distracted in the ditch
:Considering how to run.
::-- Anonymous [ [http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1665.html Minstrels - The Distracted Centipede] ]

Recording

Cultural References

It was famously applied in Spider Robinson's Callahan's Crosstime Saloon story of the same name, [ [http://zzmaster.best.vwh.net/SF/crosstime_saloon.html Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, by Spider Robinson] ] in which an amoral but unimaginative man was using an unusual psychic power to win games, do well as a fisherman, and steal booze from others in the bar. He was found out, and when asked how he did it, he replied that he made things "want" other things. His glass "wanted" booze, the dartboard "wanted" darts, and so on. When pressed for details on what the "state of wanting darts" was like, which he had never actually considered before, he created the state in his own head—which caused the darts to fly from the dart board to hit him, luckily non-lethally, in the forehead.

Robinson also uses the concept in his completion of the Robert Heinlein novel "Variable Star"

References