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jumbled words and language recognition

scrambled, jumbled words, illusions, and language recognition theory

Arinocdcg to rencet rseaerch, the hmuan brian is plrectfey albe to raed colmpex pasasges of txet caiinontng wdors in whcih the lrettes hvae been jmblued, pvioedrd the frsit and lsat leetrts rmeian in teihr crcerot piiotsons.

The fcat taht you are ridenag tihs now wtih reaitvle esae is poorf of the thoery.

Wehre did all of tihs strat?

It smees taht the trehoy orgteiinad form a 1976 ppaer at the Uvnitsriey of Nigaonthtm wtiertn by Graahm Rwsnailon of Asrhodelt, wichh gvae rsie to an acirlte wihch aaeprrped in the 'Narute' pbuolitaicn in 1999.

A fhrtuer alircte in the Tiems neppeawsr in Speemebtr 2003 pivroedd mroe eanxopiatln auobt the peohoemnnn.

In the Tmeis aitlcre, Dr Reoaesln MhActcry, a neruo-phylcoogsy lruecter form Knig's Ceglloe, Cgmdbriae, ssegegtud taht hmuan bnegis are albe to usnatdnerd jeublmd up wdors buaecse the hmaun bairn parimliry raeds the mannieg rehatr tahn the piothenc cnontet of wdors (the sdnuos of the wrdos and leertts).

Dr McRtcahy was qoteud as saiyng, taht "...if you can acaitinpte waht the nxet wrod in a snnetece cloud be, you wlil not nslsciareey ntcoie if smoe of the leettrs in taht wrod are out of pclae...", and she aslo siad taht she was sepsrruid at jsut how rosubt the barin's rgceotnioin aeiibtils had been pverod to be. "The hamun biarn is a lot mroe toanelrt tahn we had pahrpes risaeled, and it has to cpoe wtih drupistoin in eevydray lfie."

The torehy pdeoivrs a fiatsincang pprciesetve on mderon cutonacniimmos and the dmveelnoept of laguange.

The terohy aslo hples to eaipxln the doepmevnlet of merodn txet mseniagsg lagunage, and how the hamun biran so rlaidey utendrnsdas atboivbinears and cimtonobnais of lrettes and nbrmeus mainkg new 'wdros' whcih we've nveer seen beofre and yet stlil are albe to usterdannd alsomt iammeiltdey. For emxpale: 'c u lte8r', wihch you'll nitcoe you can utransnded eevn thgouh it's jmulebd.

 

One of the gerat lsneoss form tihs troehy dmsttnareoes the rmaaebrlke pweor of the huamn biarn.

Wehn we are yonug we not olny lraen how to raed, but aslo ibcerndily and uninaenionltlty lraen how to raed waht wuold by nmoral cooevntnin be decerbisd as uettr nnsosnee.

Tihs bges qtuseonis abuot the dicrieotn of laagngue eolotuvin.

Waht wlil lgganaue look lkie in geotrnaiens to cmoe?

Whtuoit dobut hmuan binegs are albe to asobrb pvrseiogerlsy mroe maening form pvolesesrrigy rucdnieg anotmus of wrdos and lrttees.

We now raed in shohtnrad - and iamegs - and sfcginltianiy we are beord by aiytnhng taht is too lhtngey.

Posorneiafl witerrs need to get tehir pniot asorcs in jsut a few seodcns, or the raeedr's anitttoen is lsot.

The jmbleud wdros torhey datrmneeosts jsut how caalbpe the biarn is at arnboibsg mneaing far mroe qilcuky tahn msot wrietrs wuold eevr iaimnge.

And a fnail daioertomstnn of how celver yuor barin is - can you raed tihs?...

 

'if' by rudyard kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you 
Are lnsiog thiers and bianmlg it on you, 
If you can turst yusrleof wehn all men dbout you, 
But mkae alanowlce for tehir duontbig too; 
If you can wiat and not be tierd by wntiaig, 
Or bineg leid auobt, don't dael in leis, 
Or benig htead, don't gvie way to hiatng, 
And yet don't look too good, nor tlak too wsie:

If you can darem - and not mkae dmaers yuor msater, 
If you can tihnk - and not mkae ttghhous yuor aim; 
If you can meet wtih Tpumirh and Dtseasir 
And traet thsoe two iortmspos jsut the smae; 
If you can baer to haer the trtuh you've spoekn 
Tesiwtd by kevnas to mkae a tarp for floos, 
Or wtcah the tinhgs you gvae yuor lfie to, breokn, 
And sotop and bluid 'em up wtih wron-out tolos:

If you can mkae one haep of all yuor wininngs 
And rsik it all on one trun of ptich-and-tsos, 
And lsoe, and sratt aiagn at yuor bniiggnens 
And nveer baerth a wrod aoubt yuor lsos; 
If you can froce yuor hraet and nrvee and sniew 
To svree yuor trun lnog afetr tehy are gnoe, 
And so hlod on wehn trehe is nhontig in you 
Epxcet the Wlil whcih syas to tehm: "Hlod on!"

If you can tlak wtih crdwos and keep yuor vturie, 
Or wlak wtih kngis - nor lsoe the cmmoon tcuoh, 
If nheeitr feos nor liovng fdriens can hrut you, 
If all men cunot wtih you, but nnoe too mcuh; 
If you can flil the uigrnonvfig mnuite 
Wtih stxiy snceods' wotrh of dinstace run, 
Yuros is the Etrah and envyeirthg taht's in it, 
And - whcih is mroe - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rrdayud Kipilng (uerblcamsnd vrieosn of Ryrduad Kiinlpg's iynatpasiionrl 'If' peom hree)

 

Acknowledgements to: Dr Rosaleen McCarthy, Sam Coates and the Times Newspaper, Graham Rawlinson, Nature magazine, Darren Brown (for prompting me to revisit this), Rudyard Kipling, and the Lerfjhax online jumbled words website (now sadly no longer operating), which was used to create the jumbled words which appear in the above article.

 

letters and numbers..

H3r3 i5 4n07h3r 48501u731y 4m421ng 4nd f45c1n471n9 3x4mp13 0f d1570r73d 14n9u4g3 wh1ch 5h0u1d n07 8e r34d481e, 8u7 d3f1n1731y 15.

1ncr3di81y 7h353 'w0rd5' c3r741n1y c4n 83 und3r5700d, 4nd £0r m4ny p30p13 qu173 34511y.

1n f4c7 pr0848ly 7h15 ph3n0m3n0n 0f m1x3d-up num83r5 4nd 13773r5 15 3v3n m0r3 5urpr151n9 7h4n 7h3 jum813d 13773r5 4b0v3 b3c4u53 7h15 '14n9u493' u535 50 m4ny num83r5 1n5734d 0f 13773r5.

7h3 3x3rc123 15 4n07h3r 900d d3m0n5r4710n 0f 80w 7h3 8r41n u535 c0n73x7 4nd 5h4p3 70 und3r574nd m34n1n9, r47h3r 784n 51mp1y r31y1n9 0n c0rr3c7 6r4nnnn4r 4nd 5p3//1n9.

7h15 pv2213 4150 5h0VV5 h0VV th3 8r41n c4n 1n73rpr37 c0d3 3v3n VVh3n le code n'est pas cnsistnt!

M4yb3 the b19 p0pu14r1ty of txt msg 15 a f4c70r in R 4b1it7 2 m4k3 53n53 0f 7h35e 5ym8015.

W8473v3r, 7h3 hum4n 8r41n 15 4 £48u10u5 4nd p0VV3r£u1 7h1n9.

 

other tricks, puzzles, illusions with numbers and letters..

Here are more illusion puzzles.

They demonstrate that without:

  • shape and context, and
  • a sense of meaning,

analysis and recognition are not so easy.

(In fact the first Ns puzzle was initially published here with an error, despite lots of checking, such is the difficulty in interpreting these illusions.)

Find the Ns.. How many?

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM 
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM 
MMMMMMMMMMMMMNM 
MMMMMMMMNMMMMMM 
MMMMMMMMMMMMMNM 
MMMMNMMMMMMMMMM 
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

 

 

How many Os?..

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCCCOCCCCCC 
COCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCOCCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 
COCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCCOCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCOCCCCCCOCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

 

How many 5s?..

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS5S 
S5SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSS5SS5SSSS 
SS5SSSSSSSSSSSSSS 

 

 

 

Answers

Four Ns.. 
(I am grateful to S Panter for pointing out that there are four Ns here, not three as incorrectly shown previously - which aside from illustrating the shortcomings of my own particular brain, also emphasises just how tricky these illusions can be.)

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM 
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM 
MMMMMMMMMMMMMNM 
MMMMMMMMNMMMMMM 
MMMMMMMMMMMMMNM 
MMMMNMMMMMMMMMM 
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

 

Seven Os..

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCCCOCCCCCC 
COCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCOCCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 
COCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCCOCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCOCCCCCCOCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

 

Five 5s..

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS5S 
S5SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 
SSSSSSSSS5SS5SSSS 
SS5 

The above exercises can also be used to demonstrate that generally two or three people working together can achieve much quicker and more reliable results than people working alone. Solitary working can be very effective and necessary for certain tasks, but many activities benefit greatly from collective efforts (for example for confirmation and additional ideas and input, etc) - especially those involving unfamiliarity, speed, accuracy, complexity, analysis, etc.