underrated abilities

table of contents

I. eye speed
II. distance perception and peripheral vision
III. enjoying music they heard for the first time
IV. telebabag

there are some useful human abilities where the ability level differs widely among humans but we don't talk about. i can't even find the words that define some of these abilities.

I. eye speed

there is near sighted and far sighted. but we don't talk about fast eyes or slow eyes. yet it's very useful for enjoying and being good at certain sports that are entrenched deep in our culture. sports that can save you $100k on tuition if you child gets a scholarship.

is it just me who can’t see what the hell is going on in a boxing match until they show the slow motion replay? it’s the only sport where the commentator truly has to tell me what in the world is going on even if i’m watching it. maybe also in hockey but at least in hockey the play stops and the goal light goes on so you know a point was scored and at least you can see how the point was scored because you can see the players maneuvering even if it's difficult to follow the puck. but in boxing when the commentator says “jeff hornaceck just connected a good left jab”, i’m like “how the fuck did he see that?”. and i think most of the spectators also don’t see it based on their non reaction. however there are more obvious hits that causes the crowd to roar and all i can wish for is the slow motion replay so i can see what the other people saw. it’s like cock fighting when my friends narrate the details of the punches that caused the other cock to be disemboweled while all i saw was a blur. is there even a word for this ability? no one ever talks about this as if we all have the same ability on this skill. it would be interesting to find a way to measure this ability and do a survey to see if there is any pattern with respect to other personality traits. example, i notice my friends who has the abiltiy to see what goes on in a cock fight tend to be the ones who are not “mathematically inclined”. how does this relate to other sports? example in the driving range i became dear friends with a gentleman named gene aznar. he just passed away but he was one of the best golfers in the country during his time and he told me he could see the club face position as it hits the golf ball. i’m like that’s just amazing. i didn’t even know that’s possible. maybe this is a key ability in golf i mean who knows maybe the key to improving in golf is improving this ability if someone finds some drills or exercises that improve this ability maybe this will one day be part of golf development or training activities. i mean golf may be just a game but it's the best chance for filipino kids to get scholarships to top universities in the US - that's a monetary equivalent of easily $200,000 or P10 million in free tuition fee opportunities. i mean filipinos don't exactly grow to be 6'5" who can run the 40 in 5 seconds.

on a different note, i don't understand why people get bummed when pacquiao loses on an incorrect judgement. unless you lost money because you bet on pacquiao. just think about it.  if this was basketball and your team won by 2 points but basketball is a judgement sport and the judges ruled your team lost (again barring you did not bet), will you be sad? of course not. got it?

II. distance perception and peripheral vision

Beast Mode Crazy Driver in Philippines (FX)

the guy in this video is simply extremely gifted with distance perception and peripheral vision. and he is using it to bully other normal people who feel they are about to hit another car. those gifted with this ability knows exactly if both cars are 2 inches away or 24 inches away. u can easily test your ability on this try to drive to an object as near as you can and guess the gap then get down from the car to verify. as for me I SUCK TERRIBLY AT THIS ABILITY. i have friends who are extremely gifted with this and they are usually also awesome point guards in basketball or gifted soccer players - ones that require movement and distance perception and anticipation. my brother rex and my tito mike has this gift. unfortunately nature balances out - people with this gift also tends to have weaker logical ability (i hate to say this but for the sake of academic integrity i have to point it out). although as i wrote on this blog, logical ability is overrated and is not really important to be a great person and be successful in life.

now about the video - the video is actually very lame because who knows how many times and how long they've been doing this before they finally got someone to bite. that part when he predicted that by the time they reach the billboard the other driver will be pissed at them, what if they attempted that stunt 20 times before his prediction came true and only showed the part that was successful?

III. enjoying music they heard for the first time

i notice i can never like a music that i just heard for the first time. i have to hear it like a hundred times before i begin to like it. i thought everyone was like that. it's just recently that i learned a lot of people can enjoy a music they are hearing for the first time.

i remember in high school when duran duran just came out i thought my classmates who enjoyed their songs were just being pretentious or high class wannabees but 4 years later when i was in college duran duran became one of my favorite bands so it turns out i was just a dork in high school.

if i'm the first to document this trait allow me the honor of naming it: music sheep.

i heard about the die hard fans of green day before they were popular. but when green day became popular they didn't like green day anymore - that would be the extreme opposite of music sheep. .

IV. telebabag

this is more of a trait than an ability but i wonder if the art of telebabag is still alive - talking for hours everyday on the phone. i remember my brother was a telebabagger. are the newer generations carrying on the tradition? or did facebook kill the art of telebabag? i tried it once when i was a teenager it was like torture for me. i can't stand it. i know it's a personality thing but it really baffles me how telebabaggers does it so effortlessly. i remember when i was living in an apartment in silicon valley my roommates would come home from work and just talk for hours on their phone. example: "hey. what's up? did you try that new bagle joint you wanted to try? really? cool !!! how was it? i should try it tomorrow. the barrista got your order wrong? that sucks. i miss working as a barrista. oh by the way it's tod's birthday he invited us to his party this saturday. remember tod my coworker at subway who went skiing with us? i remember that skiing weekend. remember how janelle crashed into this really handsome dude and she was all, and he was all, and she was all, and he was all, and she was all, and he was all, and she was all .... (3 hours later) .... is that your cousin i hear in the background? when did she arrive? .....

very amusing. what's worse is when people keep writing blogs that no one ever reads. me i have hundreds of imaginary followers and readers so i'm cool.

(for more of my knowledge bombs, click the "ian's knowledge bombs" banner at the top of this article and choose any article in the table of contents that piques your interest)