Comments on: Metatalktail Hour: Stupid Human Tricks

Metatalktail Hour: Stupid Human Tricks

LobsterMitten — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 07:45:14 -0800

Hello weekend Mefites! This week soundguy99 wants to hear about your Stupid Human Tricks. "In light of this Ask, which is apparently inspiring some of us to contortion ourselves in our abodes to see what is & is not possible, here's a possible idea for a MetaTalkTail - Stupid Human Tricks. Unusual things you can do (physical, mental, whatever) or "common" things you can't do? Can you do the chair challenge? Curl your tongue? Move your eyes independently? Multiply 5-digit numbers in your head? Read backwards? Or NOT?"

As usual this is a conversation starter not limiter, so feel free to just let us know what's up with you this weekend etc, just no politics please.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 09:04:09 -0800

Once upon a time, I had the ability to quickly eyeball a stack of quarters and tell the dollar value just from the height. (Though it's faded over time since I don't handle quarters as much anymore.)

By: Going To Maine

Going To Maine — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 09:31:10 -0800

I can make this noise.

By: J.K. Seazer

J.K. Seazer — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 09:37:54 -0800

I can juggle, and I can unicycle, but I haven't managed to learn how to do both at the same time. Also, I can make a three-leaf clover with my tongue, like the kid in the Game Boy Pocket commercial.

By: MadamM

MadamM — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 10:07:15 -0800

I can wiggle my ears independently, and in two directions (back and forth and up and down)!

By: kimberussell

kimberussell — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 10:41:16 -0800

I taught myself how to write backwards in a particularly boring college class. I'm decent with print, slower with cursive.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 10:50:02 -0800

I can spin a thumbtack like a top.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 10:51:15 -0800

> Also, I can make a three-leaf clover with my tongue

One of my kids can do that, and both of them can curl their tongues into U-shapes. I say it's just that I choose not to because I have better, more important things to do with my time.

By: Slinga

Slinga — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 11:02:43 -0800

I can curl my tongue, dislocate both my shoulders, bend my pinkies back until they touch the backs of my hands, do various other knuckle things, and wiggle both my ears by sort of shrugging my entire scalp.

I can also spin a coin in five or six different ways.

By: fingersandtoes

fingersandtoes — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 12:07:14 -0800

I am so nearsighted that when I take my contacts out, I function as a human microscope: I focus perfectly on stuff 4 inches from my eye. Very useful for taking splinters out, for instance, or identifying tiny dead bugs.

By: essexjan

essexjan — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 12:26:42 -0800

I can read handwriting upside down, so if someone across the table from me is writing something, I can tell what it is, even if it's bad handwriting.

By: firechicago

firechicago — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 13:09:37 -0800

I can count to 1,023 on my fingers.

By: Dip Flash

Dip Flash — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 13:31:02 -0800

Once upon a time, I had the ability to quickly eyeball a stack of quarters and tell the dollar value just from the height. (Though it's faded over time since I don't handle quarters as much anymore.)

A long time ago when I worked in a print shop, I got so I could accurately eyeball how many sheets were in a stack of paper. It was a really useful skill while working there, and completely useless otherwise.

By: obfuscation

obfuscation — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 14:00:55 -0800

I always stop at 132 when counting on my fingers.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 14:01:29 -0800

The Corpse In The Library - I swear I read once that the ability to curl your tongue is genetic. Can your spouse do that?

Can't think of a stupid human trick at the moment, but hope you will indulge a proud -auntie moment - so it's bad enough that Covid is keeping me home instead of letting me visit the family, and it's bad enough that I am midway through getting over a broken knee on top of it; but on top of all that, my oven broke yesterday. So even the slice-and-bake cookies I wanted to make just to have a little taste of Christmas normality, I can't do.

However - that same day is when I got the box full o' stuff from my brother's family; the one little gift for Christmas, the picture my nephew drew, a bag of cranberries from the family bog. And - a box of cookies from my twelve-year-old niece, who has become quite the baker! She included three bars she called "beach brownies", which in her neatly-written note she explained were "brownies with a graham cracker crust at the bottom", and eight gingerbread cookies - four stockings and four santas. And best of all - one of the decorated santas is sporting a leg cast. :-)

By: baegucb

baegucb — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 14:13:34 -0800

After a job where I had to measure 100 feet many times a day (and occasionally other lengths) for 3+ years, I can just look and know when something is 100 feet away.

Before I broke my arm badly in a motorcycle accident, I could put my left arm behind my back and touch my right ear.

I can sleep on command, day or night. In the military I once went to sleep with howitzers going off a few feet away.

Reading a book upside down is easy for me.

By: Night_owl

Night_owl — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 14:17:20 -0800

I'm pretty good at picking things up with my toes.

I cannot snap my fingers. I also can only wink with one eye.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 14:41:10 -0800

Can't whistle, can't snap my fingers. But I can do a great impression of an Elvis impersonating Bullwinkle the Moose singing All Shook Up.

By: biffa

biffa — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 14:51:29 -0800

I think this has come up before on here, I can count letters in a word quickly. I think there was someone else on here who can also do it. It's not a desperately useful skill.

Back in my UG chemistry days one of my classmates could stick his finger in a water bath and tell you the temperature to 0.5C.

By: Kat Allison

Kat Allison — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 14:56:06 -0800

I have an uncanny ability to sit happily at home, alone, for many days on end, talking with no one, and reading. This knack has come in quite useful in 2020.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 15:06:38 -0800

I can count to 1,023 on my fingers.

Oh hey me too! Did not even know that was a thing. I can turn my tongue upside down in both directions, and wiggle my ears by doing that scalp-shrug thing. I can pick things up with my toes and if I am not thinking about it, can do things with my two hands independently (clean counter with one hand, pour coffee with another) but once I start thinking about it, I lose the skill. I can, but don't, chew on my toenails.

By: From Bklyn

From Bklyn — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 15:06:50 -0800

An acquaintance had the ability to remember (I think literally) every wine he had ever drunk. He was a great Somelier but, sadly, an alcoholic.

I know two people who can hear music and know what other music it might have stolen parts from - that is, pop song comes on the radio and they are able to recognize that the bass line comes from other popsong or else this melody, but drawn out a little and changed by just one or two notes comes from this other pop song.

Given a cordless screwdriver I can assemble any piece of Ikea furniture in under ten minutes without the instructions. I also bake a pretty mean scone.

If I can watch its flight, I can generally call which side a coin is going to land on.

Also, not to brag, but with little or no practice I can hold me breath for like 45 seconds.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 15:17:41 -0800

According to a test a music teacher gave me when I was about eleven, I have perfect pitch.

By: mightshould

mightshould — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 15:33:03 -0800

By: alchemist

alchemist — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 16:58:00 -0800

i can eyeball the needed amount of fruit and needed volume of liquid into our blender to give a perfect, to the rim of the glass, not one extra drop left, amount of smoothie for 2 people.

By: coppertop

coppertop — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 17:09:42 -0800

Absolutely useless for anything other possibly winning a staring contest: I can make my eyes vibrate. If the other stare-er was unaware of this, and/or not expecting it, the sudden movement generally resulted in a shocked/squicked-out reaction that made them flinch, blink or turn away.

We were going to have guests over for dinner, but got word yesterday that they had been exposed to someone 5 days ago that is diagnosed covid positive. They had a quick test, and it came back negative, but they are quarantining, so the dinner is rescheduled for the end of their quarantine.

A friend's father (aged 101!) got covid, and has made a full recovery, so that was really good to hear. It was mild enough that he did not go to the hospital, but it knocked him on his ass for a full two weeks.

By: solotoro

solotoro — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 17:34:38 -0800

wiggle both my ears by sort of shrugging my entire scalp.

Me too! I can also raise one eyebrow at a time, either side (one doesn't go quite as high as the other though).

Decades later, from years of marching band I can still pace off five yards to within a couple inches.

By: Eyebrows McGee

Eyebrows McGee — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 17:48:37 -0800

YOUS GUYS! I was talking to my mom who is in her 70s tonight, and she said, "Can I ask a question? Can you tell me how to know when to use 'they' for someone whose gender isn't male or female, and how to use it?" AND I AM KVELLING. Apparently she saw a singer (I'm assuming Sam Smith?) briefly misgendered on a morning show earlier this week, and another host interject to say, "Sam uses they" and the host who misgendered said, "I'm so sorry, they," and this made my mom realize it was a thing she'd been hearing but she didn't know how it worked and she wanted to do it properly, but she realized that the appropriate person to ask was someone who DIDN'T use singular they. So she asked me and my (much much younger) brother. And she asked us a bunch of question about people who are enby or prefer singular they, and how to know when to use it, and how it works and even HOW TO INTRODUCE HERSELF WITH HER PRONOUNS which is not likely to come up for her but if it does SHE IS READY and I am just very proud and excited that she asked, and that she wants to do it right, and that it matters to her in her 70s.

And then my dad who is also in his 70s came in and he already knew how it all worked because he is already using singular they at work.

By: nakedmolerats

nakedmolerats — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 17:52:11 -0800

Up to about 12-13 letters, and assuming it's a word I know and not a made up word, I can tell you how many letters are in any word almost instantly. I don't count them or break them into chunks or anything I realize consciously. I just know. I have no idea why and it is not useful for anything ever. "Useful" is six letters.

(and yes, everyone ever tests me on 'supercalifragilistic...." immediately after I explain the two constraints)

By: aniola

aniola — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 18:32:48 -0800

A lot of common body tricks like touching your pinky backwards to your arm or hyperextending and or dislocating joints and such can be signs of EDS, which as I understand it, means one's body does not process the vitamins and minerals necessary to make collagen very well. EDS comes in a whole gradient from not a huge deal to obvious really huge deal. I believe it is more widely recognized in Europe than North America.

Our bodies use collagen in all sorts of places and ways. If you're human trick level of bendy but not to the point of gee something major is obviously wrong, maybe just keep an eye on making sure you're getting the nutrition you need.

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 18:47:51 -0800

I can solve a Rubik's cube in under a minute.

By: thenormshow

thenormshow — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 19:08:41 -0800

I am colourblind, so i cannot tell you whether a thing is blue or purple.

Strangely enough, I worked as a photo editor at a big newspaper and spent much of my day looking at thousands of photos from the wire agencies around the world. Because of this, I can look at a photo and tell you what type of camera (phone, SLR, etc) and what kind of lens was used. For portraits, I can tell you what sort of lights were used and where they were placed, relative to the subject.

By: NotLost

NotLost — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 19:22:40 -0800

I also can't snap my fingers and can wink with only one eye.

But here is what I can do:
* I have memorized the squares of numbers up through 17 (17 x 17 is 289).
* I can distinguish between text that is only one point different in size.
* I can tell when there is an extra space between words of text.
* I can do one-leg squats.
* I can wiggle my nostrils.

I can also drink a little water while standing on only one leg. This is surprisingly hard. Try it!

By: halfbuckaroo

halfbuckaroo — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 19:56:51 -0800

I can type 140wpm, and most people cannot talk faster than about 80wpm, so...not overwhelmingly useful.
When I yawn, I sound like Chewbacca.

By: fancyoats

fancyoats — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 20:18:07 -0800

I can write with both hands at the same time, so that one hand's writing is the mirror image of the other hand's writing.

By: 20 year lurk

20 year lurk — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 20:30:36 -0800

i can say the alphabet backwards. haven't learned the song backwards (you know "me with sing you won't time next z, y, w, x..." and haven't had much luck the few times i've tried the tune forwards with the letters backwards). my grandmother could touch the tip of her nose with the tip of her tongue but nobody in the family since. i learned to count on my fingers in binary but it is a slog.

but what i wanted to talk about was the algorithm doing something good for, well, maybe the only time ever. yesterday on the blue Acari posted some covid carols, and i listened to a few and i read the only comment that was there yet, Greg_Ace, linking to their covidifications of christmas carol lyrics on twitter. then switched to my phone, so i could follow Greg_Ace on twitter. as soon as i did that twitter recommended a bunch of stuff and, as i turned away my eye brushed across that sequence of letters indicating the name of a good friend of mine who i last encountered at their wedding 15 years ago. the proffered tweet was from @[mefiusername] and read "porting over from @[friend'sname] blah blah blah." (i did not even notice or note the mefiusername). now, there could be any number of people with this name; my google queries over the years did not produce any that jumped out as certainly me person with this name. so i went to @[friend'sname] and scanned a few tweets. there was an anecdote about encountering a drug dog at son's cub scouts with half a joint in the back pocket that sounded promising, but who hasn't done that? probably everybody with that name has. one of their followers was an acquaintance we had in common back in the day; promising. so i checked images: there was some art that looked about right and there was a photo of the back of friend's head, showing off a hat and revealing a recognizable jaw line. i followed that user and came back over here to search for that name on metafilter. and there they were, identifying themself by name, being the right age, claiming an occupation that could only be theirs and providing an email address. i sent a mefimail and, growing impatient, sent an email. immediate reply: "that you? fuck yeah. i guess you must be @mytwitterhandle because who else would call themselves a panopticonoclast." long story just a touch longer: we hooked up facetimewise and fell right back into the ol' rapport for several hours. longlostfriend says they've been a regular metafilter reader since i first mentioned it to them 18 -- or something like that -- years ago, and a member since somewhat more recently.

to the degree you know me, you know me to be a touch cagey with respect to information that might lead to identifying me, and i try to extend that courtesy to others, so i will leave it to that user to identify themself, should they care to. it was the metafilter commonality that caused the algorithm to link us up, so, thanks again metafilter, and particularly proximate cause Greg_Ace. as far as i know twitter is still mostly making the wrong inferences about me otherwise.

By: 20 year lurk

20 year lurk — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 20:45:16 -0800

uhhhhh - z,y,x,w... that is.

By: gt2

gt2 — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 20:49:27 -0800

I don't have perfect pitch but I can play back melodies really quickly. Usually if I can sing the melody, I can play it back. Although black keys and baselines are harder for me.
With regards to the perfect pitch, a friend was testing my ear and he said that whenever I was guessing a note, I was consistently off by a whole note. I can't remember which way. Not sure why that would be. Something in my mental map seems to think that G is A or something.

By: Gorgik

Gorgik — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 21:27:14 -0800

I can triple-curl my tongue (apparently this is called (cloverleaf tongue).
I used to be able to tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue.
I can tell when my wife wants to take a nap based on how she blinks (admittedly, this is only impressive to one person).

By: mochapickle

mochapickle — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 22:07:56 -0800

Both of my thumbs are double jointed in two places, but my super-special skill is predicting who will be the most grossed out by it when I show them.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 22:45:58 -0800

I can also raise one eyebrow at a time, either side

I can do this, but I couldn't always. When I was a kid on holidays once my sister's friend could do it, and I couldn't, and this annoyed me. I can't remember how long it took, but I taught myself to do this.

So: if you can't raise either eyebrow independently, I could probably teach you my method for learning it. (It's not complicated, what with having been invented by a ten-year-old.)

Oh, and I can do that stomach-roll thing.

By: unearthed

unearthed — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 00:26:06 -0800

I used to be able to do the cherry stalk trick too Georgik, a cute girl in a bar in Anchorage showed me how and then tested me, a fun exam.

NotLost I used to be a great nostril wriggler too! It had no use whatsoever.

Not physical but I have a very reliable hunch when I encounter thieves, I can pick them at a hundred metres, something in their gait? who knows, but it's something I listen to.

By: terretu

terretu — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 01:34:57 -0800

Like NotLost, I have eagle eyes for text formatting discrepancies like moving between one point of font or extra spaces in between words. Given that my job and one of my major hobbies both require a lot of editing and proofreading, it's incredibly useful. But it can also be super annoying at times because there's a lot of sloppy copy around these days and I sometimes get very frustrated reading things that are Obviously Wrong out in the wild when I have no power to correct them.

By: dancestoblue

dancestoblue — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 04:30:01 -0800

I have great feet, comes from growing up on construction sites -- if I trip or stumble I very rarely go down, I get this foot and/or that foot down, time and again until I catch my balance. However, when I *do* go down, it's generally a big production involving skin, blood, pain etc.

I ride my bicycle daily, and I ride with clips, and while mostly I'm able to kick free before going down it's at least once a year that I go down. It's just part of riding with clips, though anyone could go down without clips also. But I'll never ride without them, so much more power! I've learned to fall better, to roll fast and take the landing on my shoulder and thigh and butt cheek rather than elbow and hip but sometimes going down it's just so goddamned fast that whatever happens just happens.
This one the worst wreck I've been in. (So far.) Completely unmarked rain gutter, my front tire hit it and it's an angle so I dropped down until it jammed the front wheel and I didn't know it even happened until I came to, a few seconds, wracked and wrapped around the bike, still clipped to the pedals, completely unable to move. Not sure how much longer I came to again and was able to move. One hell of a concussion, some broken bones, and yet another big-time TBI.

~~~~~

My thumb and little finger on my left hand are both double-jointed, though arthritis seems to be doing my thumb out of that; I just tried, came close but it really hurts. When I was a kid I could crack knuckles on every finger and thumb and it was super-loud, I could easily disrupt a class-room by doing so; now only rarely can I get much noise out of any knuckle or toe, nor my knees either. Nor my neck; before the arthritis set in so flippin' hard I could crank/crack my neck around; now that only happens if I find myself in a chiropractors office.

By: moonmilk

moonmilk — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 05:18:13 -0800

Those of you who count to 1023 in binary on your fingers: in what order do you assign digits to digits? I usually go right thumb to right pinky, left thumb to left pinky, from least significant bit to most (and then right foot, left foot for overflow).

In a previous thread like this, someone said that they can always tell if potatoes have been reheated, and I was like ooh, me too, so this time I'm getting in first with the potato thing.

By: obfuscation

obfuscation — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 05:27:26 -0800

I count like so. (I have never actually counted to 1023 on my hands. BUT I CAN.)

By: moonmilk

moonmilk — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 05:29:58 -0800

Palms up? Startlingly innovative!

By: 5_13_23_42_69_666

5_13_23_42_69_666 — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 06:23:30 -0800

I can stealth whistle - I produce the whistling sound with my tongue and the roof of my mouth, so my lips don't go into the whistling shape. The funny thing is that I hardly ever whistle in front of people, even though I whistle a lot! (my bird likes it) So the few times someone has noticed they are like "how the hell did you just make that noise?"

By: quacks like a duck

quacks like a duck — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 07:09:10 -0800

I can munch my way through my employer's arcane bureaucracy in such a way that my team can actually get work done. Another incredibly useless life skill!

By: scruss

scruss — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 07:56:20 -0800

I can roll my tongue and whistle through it. Sounds like a faintly demented owl.

I can often soothe people into burping. I'm not sure how. I make people burp? Is that bad? Is that good? I have no idea! Maybe it's a gastro-intestinal ASMR thing.

I can't crack my knuckles (my hands are permanently slight contracted) and feel physically ill if someone nearby does so. This has been a great year for not feeling physically ill.

I can make above-average cat purrs and pigeon coos, but it's not from my unusually non-rhotic (I don't roll my Rs) Scottish voice.

By: bixfrankonis

bixfrankonis — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 08:43:12 -0800

I can't support myself; that's fairly stupid.

By: dbmcd

dbmcd — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 09:36:20 -0800

I can't roll my r's. Which makes learning Italian or Spanish problematic. I can also only whistle (badly) while inhaling.
I have a really good memory for the spoken word. When I was younger I could easily memorize almost anything, but not for forever, only until I didn't need it anymore.
I also recognize actors by voice more than face.

By: Greg_Ace

Greg_Ace — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 11:33:30 -0800

I can do a good deed inadvertently and tangentially, and despite my actions having been for my own selfish silly reason!

By: Too-Ticky

Too-Ticky — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 11:44:35 -0800

I can turn fabric into booze! I gave my neighbours some handmade cloth masks, and they gave me a bottle of liquor in return. And I wasn't even expecting anything... except that they would hopefully like the masks. Which they do.

A++, would gift again.

By: holborne

holborne — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 13:52:29 -0800

I can cross all four of my fingers on both hands without using the other hand for an assist (i.e. ring finger over pinky, middle finger over index finger).

By: backseatpilot

backseatpilot — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 14:04:46 -0800

I have that genetic trait that allows me to voluntarily move my tympanic membrane (or whatever it's called), the upshot being that it's very easy to pop my ears and I can do it just by moving the inside of my ears.

I can also crack nearly every joint in my body. Sounds a bit like firecrackers when I stretch after waking up.

By: Mister Moofoo

Mister Moofoo — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 18:48:45 -0800

Still can't really snap my fingers. I know how, finally, but I'm probably never going to practice enough to make it loud.

I used to be able to put the tip of my pinky finger into the dip between that same pinky and the ring finger next to it, but my joints are not as soft as they once were. I don't crack my knuckles any more, either. Used to all the time, but some joints would hurt before they popped, so I decided to quit before I hurt myself.

I used to be able to light a lighter with my toes, but I haven't tried it in years. (Requires both feet; my toes aren't so flexible as to hold and light it with just the one foot, but that would be impressive.)

I also used to be able to keep my feet in treacherous situations not including ice. I stumble a lot, but I rarely fall. I probably still can, but I avoid treacherous foot situations now. No more running down city steps, f'rinstance.

I think I can still balance stuff on my head, but again, haven't tried in years.

By: batter_my_heart

batter_my_heart — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 20:20:25 -0800

I don't think I can do any stupid human tricks! If I had to really stretch I can say that I can shed a lot of hairs.

Oh, when I have indigestion (i.e. most days), instead of burping, I make a croaking sound in my upper GI tract without any food smells. I have no idea what this is and would prefer to be rid of this ability (it's not like I can do it on command, anyway!).

By: cgg

cgg — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 20:28:51 -0800

My claim to fame is that I can burp, loudly and impressively, on command. Probably helps that I'm really never that far from a coke zero or some flavor of carbonated water, but I've never gone without long enough to test this theory.

By: biogeo

biogeo — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 21:18:05 -0800

I can whistle out of the side of my mouth, and it's slightly easier and more comfortable than whistling "normally" with pursed lips.

By: rhiannonstone

rhiannonstone — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 21:58:28 -0800

I don't extend my fingers in the expected order when counting on them. This weird some people out, for some reason!

I'm American and we typically start index-finger-first, so it's: index, middle, pinky, ring, thumb. But even in French class where they taught us the French always start with their thumb, I'd start with the thumb and then maintain the same pattern.

I have done this as long as I can remember, it's always felt natural, and I didn't realize until middle school that my way was unusual.

I can, with effort and much more slowly, extend my fingers in the "correct order". But only do that when the subject has come up and I'm demonstrating.

By: Eyebrows McGee

Eyebrows McGee — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 22:19:16 -0800

I can type-transcribe a written text at about 120 wpm with minimal errors, while carrying on a conversation about something entirely different. I don't even read it, I just type it. Also if I think of a sentence and start typing it, my fingers can usually finish it on their own without my conscious involvement, so I can talk to someone while I type it, although sometimes with hilarious terminal nouns that come from the spoken conversation. (Also I slow down to about 100 wpm when doing that. I can go 140 when I'm not doing anything but typing and concentrating.) I learned to do this at a newspaper before everything was digital and sometimes we had to transcribe written or typewritten or printed-out text, but it turns out to be surprisingly useful for having children. (WHO NEVER STOP TALKING AND NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE ANYMORE.)

I can also do a shit-ton of calendar math in my head regarding the Julian, Gregorian, Jewish, Roman civil, and related calendars. It is my most useless human trick but every now and then it comes up and blows people's minds. My masters degree is in liturgy and liturgists deal a lot with calendars and I just got fast with it. (Also people are sometimes amazed when I can explain why Easter moves around and how they decide when it is.)

By: Aleyn

Aleyn — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 22:43:33 -0800

I can straighten my fingers out and then bend only the tip to the first knuckle without bending any other knuckles for about four of them. It's apparently genetic as my mom can do this with all of her fingers.

By: Chairboy

Chairboy — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 03:18:15 -0800

Can read or write upside down. Also used to be very good at judging small sizes/measurements/gaps by eye due to years working in label printing.

By: Twicketface

Twicketface — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 06:06:40 -0800

When my son was a baby, I was extremely good at catching his bottles if he dropped them while I was carrying him. Like, they never hit the floor.

My other Dad Power is being able to hear the mail truck when it's three houses away when all the windows and doors are closed.

I can also interlock my fingers behind my back, between my shoulder blades. I think it's part of a yoga pose and a really nice stretch if you can do it.

By: Orlop

Orlop — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 07:11:10 -0800

My 13-year-old, a former gymnast and current diver (when the pools open again) and "flipper"—trampoline trickster—told me recently that he could learn a physical skill by watching someone else do it, and then his body would just know how to do it, and this is one reason he was such a good gymnast (and such a good diver and flipper now). I thought this was really cool.

When I was quite young, I taught myself to sing "We're in the Money" in pig latin, a la Ginger Rogers in "Gold Diggers of 1933. I still think this is a cool thing to be able to do, but, sadly, there has been little call for it in the subsequent 35 years.

By: theora55

theora55 — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 07:48:53 -0800

I used to be able to whistle with my tongue against my upper palate, but I appear to have lost this. I'm pretty good at whistling, so I know that some percentage of people feel the need to chastise women for whistling; it seems to be an old and widespread superstition. Sexist and annoying, too.

When my son was little, we taught him a few Made Ya Look gags which amused me no end.

By: Meatbomb

Meatbomb — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 08:08:22 -0800

OK this is going to be tough to explain in text, even showing it physically the people able to learn it is maybe 10%, and I often use this with classes just as an interesting little time filler...

Hey guys, would you like to create a strange floating finger like THIS?! Bizarre, right? Want to learn how to do it?

OK let's try.

1) Palms together like prayer or wai gesture.
2) Keep them flat and together, but interleave your middle fingers. So all other fingers still touching their counterpart, but the middle fingers are bent in towards the other hand. Got that?
3) Here is the tricky part, now keeping all of that in place you need to rotate your palms. So that the fingers of each palm is pointing towards the other wrist. So still palm to palm but now your elbows will be pointing out and your hands will be in at your waist...
3a) Cool, you did it, now wiggle your middle fingers, looks like one strange mutant finger... off you go, amaze your family and friends!
3b) Sorry, keep trying, not everybody gets it easily... But I believe in you, you can do it! Would you like me to show you again?

By: any portmanteau in a storm

any portmanteau in a storm — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 11:51:01 -0800

I can't blow bubbles with gum. My kids, who are small, can and they're kind of surprised that I can't. I'll figure it out eventually.

By: jon1270

jon1270 — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 12:05:07 -0800

I can guess the thickness of a coin to within one thousandth of an inch. I know that I can do this because I did it successfully on my first try, 20 years ago.

Not being eager to disprove this ability, I haven't tried to repeat the feat.

By: Krazor

Krazor — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 12:19:43 -0800

If I focus really hard for about two minutes, I can move the toe next to my pinky toe on each foot independently of my other toes.

By: aspersioncast

aspersioncast — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 13:43:36 -0800

I am proud to say that at age 41 I can still do 20 pushups on my fingertips, even after 8 months of WFH.

I can hum and whistle at the same time, a couple octaves apart but on pitch, which freaks the cats out.

By: eirias

eirias — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 14:02:17 -0800

I find four-leaf clovers (and five, and six, and once an eight).

This weekend was the first time I had spoken with humans outside my family in several weeks. We took our governor's stay-at-home pretty-please as seriously as we could. But now it's been close to two months and we're well into a downswing, COVID-wise, which is not to say it's a nice picture out there, but it's one of the places that's been falling for several weeks straight, so it felt okay to deliver our Christmas goodies to friends around town, and talk to them each for a few minutes outside, shivering. And I felt like a real person again.

By: Dashy

Dashy — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 15:04:10 -0800

perfect pitch. and a weird hinge thing with one pinky.

By: gorillawarfare

gorillawarfare — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 15:05:26 -0800

I can move my eyes independently! I cross them like normal, and then I can will either eye to drift back to looking straight ahead, while the other stays crossed. With some focus, I can use this skill to make it look like they are pinballs bouncing off each other.

By: General Malaise

General Malaise — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 16:47:33 -0800

I'm (mostly) ambidextrous.

I can lock my thumbs and only move the top joint on both hands.

I can make my tongue look like a W (as well as the more usual curl).

I can move my eyes independently by crossing them then uncrossing one. I can do it with both, and can switch them with no friction, so it looks like they are balls bouncing off each other. My wife hates when I do this so much.

I used to be able to independently wiggle my ears (figured out after watching Alf as a kid), but I can only do it with my right ear nowadays. The loss of ability to do it with my left still makes me sad.

I can injure myself in the most ridiculous ways. I broke my arm tripping on a clod of grass, and tore my ACL playing kickball.

By: Greg_Ace

Greg_Ace — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 17:15:50 -0800

I'm (mostly) ambidextrous.

Man, I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!

By: clavdivs

clavdivs — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 17:24:40 -0800

3486 two-way @$1, 2x day for 16 days.

By: Pax

Pax — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 18:15:36 -0800

I've never lost a headstand or hoola hoop contest (though it's been a good 15 years since the last hoola hoop challenge - I'm 45). I also never forget someone's birthday once I've been told it.

So, these tongue ones are fascinating to me based 100% on the fact that my mom has always been frustrated and offended that she can't do them. She was a Spanish teacher that can't roll her Rs, she can't blow bubbles with gum and can't U-shape her tongue.

(Oh, and EmpressCallipygos, I had always heard that the tongue curling was genetic, but I just Googled it and it seems there may be a lack of evidence, that there may also be environmental factors - what those might be, uh? My mom's tongue frustrations seem related! Her husband (my dad), is/was a geneticist. I don't think he ever had an opinion on tongue genetics.)

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 18:39:47 -0800

I have no idea if this is actually uncommon or not, but I can crack my toe knuckles?

By: h00py

h00py — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 07:17:05 -0800

Due to my enduring pectoral muscle stamina I am able to continue boob dancing as a party trick well into it's 4th decade. Unfortunately no-one invites me to parties anymore. Which is probably good because my other party tricks are doing that creepy eyeball wobbling thing and a variety of really silly voices.

By: showbiz_liz

showbiz_liz — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 07:19:38 -0800

I'm another one who can't snap my fingers. And I KNOW FOR A FACT that I can't snap my fingers, because if you say "I can't snap my fingers" in any social situation, three people will leap to try and explain to you that you're probably doing it wrong, here, put your finger here and your thumb here and and and -

And nothing. It does. not. work. I don't know if my hand is a weird shape or what but the loudest sound I have ever managed to create is a disappointing moist *plep*.

By: h00py

h00py — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 07:23:39 -0800

It is possible I may demonstrate at least the eyeball thing at the gala and one or more voices. Stay tuned!

By: AugustWest

AugustWest — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 07:55:56 -0800

I can write equally well (poorly) with both hands. I can throw equally well with both hands.

I can cry lots of tears at will.

I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime. (Including standing in the shower.)

I can chug a carbonated beverage from a can or bottle faster than anyone who has ever tried to beat me.

By: h00py

h00py — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 08:00:25 -0800

I can running write backwards pretty easily.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 08:56:19 -0800

I have that genetic trait that allows me to voluntarily move my tympanic membrane (or whatever it's called), the upshot being that it's very easy to pop my ears and I can do it just by moving the inside of my ears.

I can do this thing, which I never knew was a thing. I always thought I was just tensing my jaw muscles or something.

By: annieb

annieb — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 11:11:36 -0800

Actually find it neat that so many can whistle without the usual lip involvement. I used to be able to do a loud, impressive whistle that came from down my throat/up and out. I could do it with mouth barely open. My friends were impressed! (then one year I got laryngitis and was never able to do it again)

I can pick up things with my toes.

I can read upside down and backwards.

Yet I can only snap the fingers on one hand.

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 12:22:23 -0800

I can pick up things with my toes.

Ok so this isn't a stupid human trick so much as a way to annoy your loved ones, and what better time for that than the holidays?

Most people, even the folks with multitalented toes, lack phalangeal dexterity between toes 3 and 4.

If someone, let's say your gross little brother, is lying on the couch with his nasty bare feet up, put a AA battery (AAA will not work!!) between toes 3 and 4. Really snug it down in there. Chances are good he'll have to sit up and remove it with his hands, because it's hard to get those two toes far apart enough to dislodge it with toe action alone. When the family is together I'll walk around with a AA battery in my pocket so I'm always ready.

By: hydra77

hydra77 — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 12:32:57 -0800

My stupid human trick is that I can flare my nostrils quite well.

My other trick includes the ability to mystify people when I tell them that I haven't seen any of the original 3 Star Wars movies in my 43 years on earth. Except for that time when some guy in college tried to get me to watch the first one, and I watched part of it and fell asleep.

Can curl my tongue and flip it upside down (but only one way).

I also cannot snap my fingers. I've always attributed it to my generally weak hands, but ... ?

By: Too-Ticky

Too-Ticky — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 13:25:32 -0800

theora55: I used to be able to whistle with my tongue against my upper palate

I can still do that. But I can't whistle in any other way.

By: benzenedream

benzenedream — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 15:49:28 -0800

I can draw mirror images simultaneously with both hands. This is easier than you think (thanks to Lynda Barry for the tip), you basically just have to turn off the part of your brain that's suppressing movement of the non-dominant hand.

When half-drunk, I used to be able to make one eye spin in circles while the other eye went cross-eyed as if staring at the other eye. That was good for a few drinks.

By: fleacircus

fleacircus — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:06:47 -0800

I guess I'll just leave this here.

By: biogeo

biogeo — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:26:41 -0800

Absolutely useless for anything other possibly winning a staring contest: I can make my eyes vibrate.

This is called voluntary nystagmus, and it's definitely uncommon. It gets a brief mention in the introductory chapter of a lovely old textbook by Roger Carpenter, Movements of the Eyes, about, well, what the title says, when Carpenter mentions several types of eye movements he's not going to discuss in further depth but wants to include for completeness.

My brother used to do it all the time when we were kids in order to weird me out.

By: Aleyn

Aleyn — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:34:17 -0800

Thank you, person who me-mailed me, for turning one of the few neat things about my body into yet another downside to living in it. I really appreciate that.

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 17:55:48 -0800

Thank you, person who me-mailed me, for turning one of the few neat things about my body into yet another downside to living in it.

Ooh, is it re. your finger thing from upthread? Because I can do that, too! Whichever memailing fun ruiner you are out there please come tell me so I know what my dead goat is, too.

By: Oyéah

Oyéah — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:05:49 -0800

There used to be a place in Salt Lake City, called The Dead Goat Saloon. No downer, a pretty hip spot, back in the day, a beer well, anyway. I think poetically, process language that way, on any day. I am still finding my ink kink.

By: spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints

spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 06:09:36 -0800

I can recite the Greek alphabet backwards. I can't do this with the (English?) alphabet.

By: wittgenstein

wittgenstein — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 06:16:23 -0800

Here is how to square any number ending in the digit 5.

35 x 35 = 1225
How to do it: always ends in 25. 3 x 4 = 12.

55 x 55 = 3025
How to do it: always ends in 25, 5 x 6 = 30.

75 x 75 = 5625
How to do it: always ends in 25, 7 x 8 = 56.

Now you can do it too!

By: chesty_a_arthur

chesty_a_arthur — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 07:39:31 -0800

Phunniemee and Aleyn, I too wish to know how my slightly weird finger characteristic is a sign of my impending doom, and the destruction of all I love.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 07:54:11 -0800

Hell, I'm starting to wonder if this slightly weird finger thing is a harbringer of the rise of an Alternate Human Species which will ultimately adapt this aforementioned finger thing into a survival skill. Y'all may be the Best Hope For Humanity!!!

By: ook

ook — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 09:13:53 -0800

I can only count to 99 on my fingers (right fingers are 1 each, right thumb is 5, each left finger counts as 10, left thumb counts as 50). Never picked up the knack of binary, but the up-to-99 method makes it really easy to do basic addition and subtraction.

I have also perfected the technique of slowly spinning a large metal bowl on the countertop next to the popcorn popper while also drizzling melted butter into it for quality butter-to-popcorn distribution. If I ever lose or dent that bowl it will have a major detrimental effect on my quality of life

By: beagle

beagle — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 15:42:06 -0800

I can straighten my fingers out and then bend only the tip to the first knuckle without bending any other knuckles

I can do that, but I can also straighten out the fingers and then bend the finger only at the first (large) knuckle without bending it at the second knuckle, so into an L shape. When I do this, the tip is completely relaxed at the second knuckle and can be flickered back and forth. I ask people to feel it and they freak out, it feels like it's completely loose. Especially in the ring finger.

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 15:54:33 -0800

I can do that, but I can also

Sir, I regret to inform you that your knuckles have smallpox.

By: snerson

snerson — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 17:23:35 -0800

I can make a nice sound on a piccolo. This is a stupid human trick because nothing written for the piccolo is interested in sounding nice.

By: Dip Flash

Dip Flash — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 19:22:15 -0800

I can only count to 99 on my fingers (right fingers are 1 each, right thumb is 5, each left finger counts as 10, left thumb counts as 50). Never picked up the knack of binary, but the up-to-99 method makes it really easy to do basic addition and subtraction.

Chisanbop. It's probably the single most useful thing I learned in elementary school; I use it all the time for quick basic math. They taught us some way to go past 99 (I think maybe it was by using your wrists or elbows as 100 markers?) but that has never seemed necessary.

By: litera scripta manet

litera scripta manet — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 10:53:44 -0800

In my much younger years I could do trick acrobatics and a favorite skill was to stand with one foot each on a chair seat and to slowly dramatically slide the chairs apart until I was doing a full split; then I'd rotate my hips until I was doing a full side split and I'd easily stay there for a while. Then I'd slowly revere until back standing with a foot on each chair; and then, do a backbend until my hands were on the floor.

I had thunder-thighs and my upper arms wouldn't fit in button-down tops.

Reader; I now have hip, knee and back problems...

When I was a kid, I loved doing contortionist tricks. My "signature" skill was that I could bring my foot up and hook it around my hip (like a standing hamstring curl) and then I would do that with both feet, and walk on my knees. And yes, I now have severe issues with my hips, knees, and back.

I'm also really good at efficiently packing things. Give me a bunch of different sized boxes, and I can all get them to magically pack inside of each other. This is a useful skill for moving when you only have a small car to cram all your stuff in. Also for packing on trips. It's not good for much else.

By: DirtyOldTown

DirtyOldTown — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 14:06:31 -0800

Forgive me for shoehorning in a tangentially related humble brag, but I just found out my kid has been renaming sticks in Minecraft to be "Gucci sticks" and then selling them to other kids for five diamonds each.

By: slappy_pinchbottom

slappy_pinchbottom — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 14:07:15 -0800

I can only whistle by drawing breath in, not by expelling it, but I can carry a pretty fair tune that way.

By: theora55

theora55 — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 16:13:08 -0800

I discovered today that I can eat my weight in Chex Mix.

By: ArbitraryAndCapricious

ArbitraryAndCapricious — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 16:15:13 -0800

I have no particularly interesting abilities, but I did discover this delicious holiday cocktail recipe, and now I am slightly drunk. My stupid human trick may be googling up cocktails that do a really good job masking the taste of alcohol.

By: inexorably_forward

inexorably_forward — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 17:46:59 -0800

I can put my fist in my mouth.

By: automatronic

automatronic — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 11:40:38 -0800

I haven't tried in a while, but I used to be able to read SPI waveforms off an oscilloscope by eye and give you the hex bytes, basically fluently. (The 'scopes in the lab I was working in didn't have the protocol decoding options back then, and I did a *lot* of low-level driver debugging).

By: SoberHighland

SoberHighland — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 12:49:46 -0800

When standing in open water, I can use one hand to forcibly eject a stream of water a really, really high/far distance. I do this by quickly clenching my semi closed fist extremely tightly, ejecting the water up towards my thumb which stays out of the water. For some reason, I am extremely skilled at this. I do not have unusually large hands, nor am I particularly strong or muscular. But I never fail to impress others with this stupid ability, and I have never met another person who can do this as well as I can. I've seen others try with 2-hands, which can eject a greater volume of water. But as far as one-handed vertical water squirting goes (I can also fire these burst of water at angles) I am the best that I or anyone else around me has ever seen. I keep my hand loose when doing this so all the bones in my hand squish together a lot, which is the only "secret" I can try to relate about this curious talent.

I've been doing this since I was a little kid and all I can say is that I'm very, very good at doing it.

By: LaBellaStella

LaBellaStella — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:44:59 -0800

I work in a library. I pull holds daily, which is finding items that have been requested and gathering them. I have my title list in one hand and always reach out and touch a book to get my bearings as far as what's on the spine labels to start looking for the book I need. On a good day, I am almost always either touching the book I am looking for, or it's the very next one. When I started realizing I was doing this, I tried to consciously do it and couldn't. Now I just look at the list, not the books, run my hand along the book spines and it just happens. We shift books around frequently and it still happens. Fiction, nonfiction, everything. I love it!