h a l f b a k e r yNot so much a thought experiment as a single neuron misfire.
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SQUIRREL!
Yell "SQUIRREL!" in a crowd, on a beach, in a major city or other crowded place and it triggers others to do the same. | |
Somebody down the block hears you and also yells
"SQUIRREL!" another block down another person hears
that
and responds with the same call and a chain reaction
occurs.
Before you start, you open the "SQUIRREL!" app on your
phone. You push the button and it registers this first call,
its
time and location on a map. The second person who
hears you and joins in the fun does the same and all the
participants get to
register how far the chain reaction has reached. So you
might be at a beach that's several miles long and create
a
chain that goes all the way along the coast for maybe a
mile or more. Records will be noted and accessible so
you
might get a notification saying "SQUIRREL RECORD!
Downtown Soho to Harlem, 10 miles, 235 participants,
time 5 minutes." You'd also get a participation badge
with a map showing where you were in the chain and
where the other participants were.
Now when that gets old, people can suggest new words
or
phrases. You could check in and see which phrases are
registered as suggestions and click like or dislike. You
might also get a warning that somebody's about to yell "I
LIKE TURTLES!" so you can get ready to yell the same if
so
inclined.
This might create a fad that, although passing, could be
remembered like phone booth stuffing or eating paste.
Stupid? Yes, but that's the point. Might create a sense of
community and lighten things up a bit.
[link]
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//Might create a sense of community and lighten things up a bit.// Sorry you're having a heavy, lonely day [Dr. R]. Let me be the second to take up the shout of "BUNNNN!" |
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By the way, got this idea when we were the beach
and somebody yelled "SQUIRREL!" (there was a
squirrel on the beach) and I was struck by the fact
that I felt
the urge to do the same. Wonder if we have some
kind of innate part of us that's like dogs barking. I
lived in a neighborhood once with a lot of dogs and
I could start a chain reaction of barking with my,
apparently good enough imitation of a dog barking.
I could hear the barks start up and fade into the
distance. Sure the neighbors loved it. |
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So as well as being stupid, there might be some
science in there. But mostly just stupid. |
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YAY for lightening things up here! + |
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I looked at this post and yelled "NUTS!" Perfect. |
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(was eating paste a fad that was supposed to stop?) |
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Yea, ever since they introduced eating tofu instead. |
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Yep, works as intended. Where's my app?! |
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Be interesting to test various words in a crowd. Not sure
what the metric you'd use is, heads turned I guess. Have
to be a plausible word so you don't just sound like a crazy
person. Although I think something like "FLYING SAUCER!"
would get a lot more heads turned than "SQUIRREL!". |
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Difficult to set this up. Have to work with different
crowds becase you'd only be able to fool them once.
Although I guess you could actually put a squirrel or flying
saucer on the beach. |
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A squirrel in a flying saucer |
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I'd probably look. The first time anyway. |
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So if there were formation displays of synchronised squirrel-piloted flying saucers, coming in waves from every side, you would only look at the first and then go back to your screen to read and/or post on a stupid ideas website... ok that's fine, as you were |
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It's all fun and games until somebody starts crying WOLF! |
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