Centipede's Dilemma: Difference between revisions

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** 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| '''Linus''': "I'm aware of my tongue ... It's an awful feeling! Every now and then I become aware that I have a tongue inside my mouth, and then it starts to feel lumped up ... I can't help it ... I can't put it out of my mind. ... I keep thinking about where my tongue would be if I weren't thinking about it, and then I can feel it sort of pressing against my teeth ..."}}

{{quote|'''Linus''': "I'm aware of my tongue ... It's an awful feeling! Every now and then I become aware that I have a tongue inside my mouth, and then it starts to feel lumped up ... I can't help it ... I can't put it out of my mind. ... I keep thinking about where my tongue would be if I weren't thinking about it, and then I can feel it sort of pressing against my teeth ..."}}

** 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| '''PHB:''' The problem with engineers is that they don't idle well.}}

{{quote|'''PHB:''' The problem with engineers is that they don't idle well.}}

** 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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== Video Games ==

* ''[[Jade Empire]]'': Wonderfully referenced when you ask Kang how he manages to remotely pilot the Marvelous Dragonfly from the ground.

{{quote| Well, it's much like the dilemma of the centipede. If he relaxes and lets things happen, he can walk naturally all day long, his hundred legs not missing a step. But, if he thinks too hard about the complexity of what he's doing, [[Metaphorgotten|those legs might crash into the teahouse and kill everyone]]. A valuable lesson.}}

{{quote|Well, it's much like the dilemma of the centipede. If he relaxes and lets things happen, he can walk naturally all day long, his hundred legs not missing a step. But, if he thinks too hard about the complexity of what he's doing, [[Metaphorgotten|those legs might crash into the teahouse and kill everyone]]. A valuable lesson.}}

* A lot of games, especially songs with weird rhythms in [[Rhythm Game|Rhythm Games]] can be easy for an experienced player until they actually try to break down exactly what they are doing.

** Similar to how a player doing extremely well starts faltering once they realized it.

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* In ''[[Xkcd]]'', [[Jerkass|Black Hat Guy]] invokes this by telling someone that it is [http://xkcd.com/972/ Tongue Awareness Month].

* ''[[Spacetrawler]]''. [http://spacetrawler.com/2012/01/03/spacetrawler-197/ Emily deliberately invokes it.]

{{quote| '''Emily:''' Nice shooting. I wonder if you'd trip up if you stopped to think what each tentacle is doing.~~<br />~~

{{quote|'''Emily:''' Nice shooting. I wonder if you'd trip up if you stopped to think what each tentacle is doing.

'''Krep:''' I... Oh crap. }}