7 Replies to “Moon-Walking Bear”

  1. I fail to see how it qualifies as ‘ripoff’.

    The video Scot linked does not claim to be an original never-done-before experiment; instead it takes the existing demonstration to a whole new level of popularity by making it a public service announcement – which is the point.

    And the real question here is not ‘who did it first?’, but ‘will it help?’.

  2. Sad truth: No amount of psych tricks will raise driver awareness. Not when those drivers are on cell phones. Bluetooth won’t help.

    Do you listen to your iPod while biking to leave your ears open to catch ambient noise clues from the environment?

    Why so fast to put all the responsibility of maintaining a distraction-free environment on the motorists? Bicyclists use the same roads. Use them wisely. After all, these are two way streets.

  3. Red herring. It’s as if you’re saying that I’m saying no one should listen to anything in a moving vehicle.

    A) I only wear open-ear phones so I can stay tuned in to my environment.

    B) Listening is cognitively very different from a two-way conversation.

    C) Bicycles don’t weigh two tons and squish humans to a pulp.

  4. Well, I’m saying that distraction comes in many guises. Talking on a cell phone is almost certainly going to impair driving. No doubt about it.

    Not being able to hear the environment will, too. That’s why you bought those open ear headphones; you know this. I wish the cyclist who didn’t hear my car horn as he ran a red light into my path last weekend had those ‘phones. And I’m glad I wasn’t a pedestrian in his path.

    IMO, pedestrians are the only folks moving on city streets with any claim to cell phones or media players. They always have the right of way. But I keep my headphones loose when walking because there are a lot of stupid drivers and cyclists out there.

  5. I’m surprised nobody mentioned that the/a original plays in an exhibit at the exploratorium in San Francisco, it’s very effective in person.

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