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John Jackson © UK-Skeptics

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We’re all aware of our conscious actions. If we want to pick up a pen, for example, we simply think about the action and do it. This is known as volition. It’s entirely natural; and it feels entirely natural. There are other actions that we perform however, that are unconscious, instinctive actions: actions performed without volition.

The first category of unconscious action is known as excitomotor actions. These are actions such as breathing, swallowing, and maintaining a heartbeat. The second category is known as sensorimotor actions. These actions are reacting to fright or reflex actions: pulling one’s hand away from a heat source before the pain has registered, for example. The common factor in these unconscious actions is that they are instinctive and involuntary. (more…)

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John Jackson © UK-Skeptics

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In 1891 William von Osten, a German, started displaying his horse “Clever Hans” before the public. His claim was that Hans could answer questions by tapping his hoof: numbers were simply counted, the alphabet was encoded as “A”=one tap; “B”=two taps etc.

Von Osten believed that animals possess an intelligence that is equal to that of a human. In his quest to prove this he attempted to teach animals, including a cat and a bear, how to do simple calculations; however, it was only Hans who showed any ability. (more…)

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Karen Garwood © 2008

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Reader and friend of this site, Melanie, sent in an amusing anecdote. It turns out to be an object lesson in how we can deceive ourselves however, so the story is being told here with Melanie’s permission.

The story.

Melanie’s mother called her one Sunday in a panic stating that she had a bird trapped in her loft or somewhere under the eaves. It must have got trapped sometime on Saturday, as that’s when it started to make a noise. Thankfully for her mum, the bird seemed to sleep until morning. (more…)