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{{trope|wppage=The Centipede's Dilemma}}
{{quote|''"If I try to think about how it works, it doesn't work."''
|'''Tiffany Aching''', ''[[Discworld|I Shall Wear Midnight]]''}}
A trope named for the folk tale of a centipede who had no trouble walking until asked how he managed all those legs. He started thinking about the process and immediately became unable to do it anymore.
Often encountered during the [[Bizarre and Improbable Golf Game]], when one player attempts to induce a dilemma in his (usually winning) opponent by asking, "Do you breathe in or out on the backswing?" That said, this can show up in any context featuring a complex activity that requires one "get into the flow".
The trope is sufficiently well-known that sometimes the writer will just have someone comment, "Oh, he's got Centipede's Dilemma," or the like, rather than actually explaining what the problem is when Mr. Awesome starts messing up.
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Warning: reading the examples below may well cause you to have the same problem that the characters are having.
Compare [[Achievements in Ignorance]], [[Puff of Logic]], [[Performance Anxiety]], [[Don't Think, Feel|Don't Think. Feel]], and [[Magnum Opus Dissonance]]. Attempting this on a group of people simultaneously may lead into someone biting into the [[Apple of Discord]].
[[I Thought It Meant|Should not be confused for]] the [[Ciem Webcomic Series|Centhuen Prototype's]] [[Doom Magnet|Dilemma]], nor should you ever think it has anything to do with [[The Human Centipede]].
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
==
* In one ''[[Tintin]]'' story, ''[[
* There's a ''[[Garfield]]'' strip where Jon asks Garfield which way he puts his feet down when he walked. Garfield is then paralyzed.
** In "The Me Book," Garfield suggests an extremely subtle version for ruining someone's golf swing, in which he instructs the reader to tell the golfer, "Think about your right hip."
* ''[[Peanuts]]'':
{{quote|
** Similarly, a storyline in which Linus was asked how he tied his shoes and had to go barefoot for the rest of the week.
* In ''[[Cerebus]]'', the title aardvark tries to win a ball game using this trope, asking if he breathes in or out when tossing the ball. Cue to panel of his panicked partner contemplating it. Cut to panel showing said partner having won and saying, "I breathe out!"
* ''[[Dilbert]]''
** Bored, Dilbert contemplates the connection between his mind and body and forgets how to move.
{{quote|
** Parodied with another series where Dilbert loses the connection between effort and reward and realizes that he still gets paid if he stands around flicking his fingers. Eventually the entire office is doing it, and the boss thinks to himself "I don't know what success sounds like, but I don't think this is it."
** Also happens to Ratbert once when Dogbert muses on how we unconsciously manage incredibly complex nervous signals to move our muscles; stopping to think about it, he immediately goes into a spasming fit as a [[Funny Background Event]].
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* In one [[Archie Comics]] story, Jughead beats Reggie at bowling this way.
* Harry Potter from ''[[Harry Potter and
▲== Fan Fiction ==
* In Chapter 8 of the ''[[My Little Pony
▲* Harry Potter from ''[[Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality|Methods of Rationality]]'' [[Subverted Trope|refused to share the secret]] behind the Patronus V.2, because it is unlikely that the majority of people would be able to reach the mental state necessary, and attempting it could [[Brown Note|destroy their own ability to cast normal Patronuses]].
▲* In Chapter 8 of the ''[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' fanfic ''[[It Takes a Village (Fanfic)|It Takes a Village]]'' Spike finally figures out how to fly. He immediately makes it clear that ''no one'' is to ask him ''how'' he managed it, otherwise he might forget.
== Film ==
* In ''[[The King's Speech]]'', Lionel Logue points out that this is Bertie's problem (though it's a significant problem and not easily surmounted) by having him recorded reading Hamlet while listening to music that make it impossible for him to hear himself. It's not until much later, after getting drunk and dismissing Logue as a crackpot, that Bertie listens to the recording... and hears himself speaking without a stutter for the first time in his life.
* In ''[[Bull Durham]]'', the hot young pitcher has no control when he thinks about what he's doing, and his catcher exploits this, goading him into throwing a fastball right at his chest from five feet away, and he misses. His girlfriend makes him wear garters under his uniform, and he's so twisted around thinking about how uncomfortable he is that he pitches beautifully.
== Literature ==
* In ''[[The
* One of the ''[[
* ''[[
** This [[Truth in Television|was proven]] on a Derren Brown show, where he asked an experienced tightrope walker stuff like that, and repeatedly told him not to fall off. Guess what happened next.
* In Walter Brooks' ''Freddy the Pig'' series, at one point a beetle came to Freddy saying he couldn't walk anymore, since every time he tried he got distracted by where his legs were and tripped. Freddy had him stare at the ceiling while he walked, and it worked.
* There is a French story called "La Barbe", where everyone asks a man with a long beard how he sleeps with his beard. In an attempt to answer the question, that night he tries many different sleeping positions, and is unable to get to sleep. The next day, he gets his beard shaved off.
* ''[[The First Men in
* In the ''[[Babysitters Club|Baby-Sitters Club]]'' book "Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym)", when Mal's name is called to be on one of the volleyball teams and she starts jogging over to her teammates she suddenly becomes very conscious of her arms.
* Stephen Potter's satirical how-to-win-at-games-without-being-able-to-play-them book ''Gamesmanship'' lists breaking your opponent's flow in this manner as a fundamental technique, explicitly stating "CONSCIOUS FLOW IS BROKEN FLOW" as being "Rule 1".
* During the ''[[
▲== Live Action TV ==
* In ''[[Little Mosque
▲* During the ''[[Myth Busters]]'' test to see if you could swim through syrup just as fast as you could through water, the team acquired an Olympic gold medalist swimmer for a more accurate result. They ultimately had to ''throw his results out'' due to inconsistency. Why? Because he wasn't used to swimming in syrup, and his focus on what he was swimming through (and how it felt) messed with his technique. In contrast, Adam, who had gotten used to swimming in syrup and didn't have to think about it, had more consistent times.
▲* In ''[[Little Mosque On the Prairie (TV)|Little Mosque On the Prairie]]'', Sarah spends all day accidentally insulting people after Fatima asks her how she always knows the right thing to say.
▲* ''[[Thirty Rock (TV)|30 Rock]]''
** Kenneth tries to ask Liz a question, but she is in a hurry so he responds "Can you walk and talk at the same time?" Kenneth: "Well, normally I can, but now you've got me thinking about it" and he immediately starts staggering and slurring his words for a few paces.
** Jack in "Jack-Tor", who forgets how to walk, hold his arms, or enunciate words when the camera is on him.
== Music ==
* The Scottish folksong of 'The Wee Kirkcudbright Centipede' who is an incredible dancer until someone asks her to demonstrate her dance step-by-step. She basically ties her legs together.
== Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends ==
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: The [[The Bible
▲* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: The [[The Bible (Literature)|Gospels]] of John, Matthew, and Mark give accounts of Jesus walking on water. Peter is initially able to do so as well, but falls once he begins to wonder how this could be possible. ([[An Aesop|The point is that Peter starts to doubt how he can do it, which means his faith in Jesus is faltering]].)
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Jade Empire]]'': Wonderfully referenced when you ask Kang how he manages to remotely pilot the Marvelous Dragonfly from the ground.
{{quote|
* A lot of games, especially songs with weird rhythms in [[Rhythm Game
** Similar to how a player doing extremely well starts faltering once they realized it.
* For some particular reason, in a game where two or more players are fixed to a side of the screen, it's jarring for a player who's used to one side to have to use another. In most situations, there's no practical difference.
== Web Comics ==
* Inverted in ''[[
** Later Elliot [//egscomics.com/comic/2015-07-01 explains] this while in the shape of a short girl. And, of course, immediately falls.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Spacetrawler]]''. [http://spacetrawler.com/2012/01/03/spacetrawler-197/ Emily deliberately invokes it.]
{{quote|
'''Krep:''' I... Oh crap. }}
== Western Animation ==
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* Similair to the religious example above, a [[Running Gag]] in [[Looney Tunes]] is that a character can run (pun not intended) across water or even air just fine [[Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress|as long as somebody else doesn't point them at this fact]].
** Lampshaded at least once in ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' - they can walk on air across a canyon as long as they don't look down.
* Happens to ''[[
** Actually, he realizes his shoes have always been tied.
** Another episode has Spongebob forgetting how to "assemble" a Krabby Patty after a rival {{spoiler|falsely}} tells him he forgot the pickles. It comes to a point where he tells Mr. Krabs that he cannot do it while saying the steps, then realizing he did just that.
* When Skull Boy loses his [[Magic Feather|lucky charm]] on the eve of a quiz game championship in ''[[Ruby Gloom]]'', he finds it impossible to answer even the simplest questions. What falls into this trope is that throughout the second half of the episode Ruby offhandedly asks him questions several times that he answers without thinking, only to fall apart when this is pointed out to him.
* Bob from ''[[Bob's Burgers]]'' couldn't flip burgers properly after Teddy asked how to do it.
== Real Life ==
* As a general rule, any situation where a person's pulse needs to be taken is also a situation where breathing rate needs to be taken. Since breathing rate is under direct conscious control, the proper procedure is to count breaths and take the pulse simultaneously, and ''never'' mention breathing to avoid this trope. And now you know. Hey, [[
** Somewhat related is [
* Riding a bike is probably the most famous example: practically everyone learns to ride a bicycle by having their instructor secretly let go of the handlebars so they'll continue riding along without thinking about it. If you try to worry about how the bike's staying upright, you're bound to lose your balance.
** Likewise, steering a two wheeled vehicle requires briefly countersteering (turning away from the intended direction) to get the bike to track into the turn. This is done automatically by new riders, but when trying to master leaning they often skip this step, keeping the bike from turning much no matter how much they lean.
* Just about any time you realize you're performing a complex series of actions (e.g. a sequence of keystrokes) over and over again, you're likely to start thinking about how you're managing to do it so
** Some people use computers a lot, and then suddenly realize they can touch type. Then they have difficulty doing so as long as they think about what they're doing.
* Learning "Drill and Ceremony" (D&C) in the military is an example. Teaching a soldier how to march makes him or her consciously think about how their arms and legs move during what is, essentially, "precision walking". It literally takes ''weeks'' to learn how to march to the proper cadence.
** Not to mention a plenitude of other skills in the military, such as firing a weapon, or [[Gun Stripping|disassembling and reassembling]] equipment for maintenance or repair. Particularly important if you need to fire, disassemble, and reassemble your weapon in the midst of combat (such as when needing to clear a misfire from your weapon). Also note that you may need to do this, and any other important tasks, while also dealing with the mother of all fight-or-flight induced adrenaline surges.
* Related to [
* Anyone who's learned to [[Driving Stick|drive stick shift]] after ''first'' learning to drive on an automatic knows this trope intimately. All the complicated motions and checking of gauges and looking around that have become instinct fall apart with the addition of just one more thing to do. Nothing you internalized involved moving your left foot or paying attention to the RPMs, and that's enough. And people who drive stick and shift to automatics have to remember that they don't have to use their left foot.
* Pianist Glenn Gould said this about his piano playing.
* A mild version can be experienced by saying, reading, or thinking about a particular word too much. After a certain number of repetitions the word itself will lose all meaning to you. Your brain still consciously know it's a symbol for something, and know what that something is, but it feels like you're no longer using a word, but rather a really weird symbol that means the same thing. It is called [
** This is even more unsettling when it happens with your own name.
* There is a ploy in American football called "freezing the kicker" or "icing the kicker" which relies on this trope. When one team is lining up to kick a field goal, normally accomplished within a set period of time while a play-clock is ticking down, the opposing coach calls a meaningless time-out ''just'' before the play is about to start, to stop the clock and give the placekicker a minute or two to overthink his kick. In some studies this has been [
* [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100925120110.htm This is a major factor] in professional athletes "choking" generally, and in fact can cause them to do so ''more'' often than amateurs.
* Sometimes people have this dilemma with sleeping. It happens when you're lying in bed, tired, but then you start thinking about sleep. Thus you become too conscious to relax. It'll happen sometimes when you need to be up earlier than usual the next day and try to force yourself into sleep.
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* Does this door open inwards or outwards?
** [[Take a Third Option|Look for the hinges.]]
* A condition called [
* Take up any martial art or combat sport and after becoming just a bit more skilled than a beginner, think about that perfect spinning backfist, left hook, or lunge. You are quite likely to fail the execution.
* People rarely get scared of the dark until they realize they are in the dark. For example, if you wake up in the middle of the night to urinate, then remember that your afraid of the dark, you'll run straight back to your room.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:Fight Scene]]
[[Category:Distraction Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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