Sadagat Huseynli

Ethics & Public Affairs

CRN: 10027

Special edition case-3

Sometimes even if we pass by a place many times, we may never see a small detail that is there.

Azerbaijanis have a saying people they cannot hold 2 watermelons in 1 hand. İt means, while

focusing on one thing, it is difficult to pay attention to others. in these 3 videos, he gives us an

explanation of them. İt is about our cognition. My favorite and most appropriate word for this

topic is “unexpected”. Unexpected events are inevitable. As we can see in the video, 2 things

happen unexpectedly. the gorilla comes to the center and one of the women in the black blouse

leaves the game. but if we look more closely we can see that these events are happening

simultaniously. What we were asked at the beginning of the video was about players wearing the

white passing the ball . Therefore, we focus so much on what is required of us that we do not see

others. Daniel Simons highlights about Inattentional blindness and change blindness. Here, it

seems that the example of inattentional blindness is the Invisible Gorilla experiment. As I

understood, inattentional blindness means when you're so focused on something that you

completely miss noticing something else, even if it is right in front of you. It is as if your

attention acts like a spotlight, and if something doesn't fall within that spotlight, you might not

see it at all.

In the 2nd video, 2 different boys are shown, but most people don't notice that the boy has

changed. They are very similar but one is beardless. The question arises whether this detail

changes the process or not? They ask questions to passers-by, and at this time, people passing a
large piece of wood through their middle change the person who ask the question. This is about

the change blindness. Video explains that when something in your environment changes, but you

don't notice it because your attention is somewhere else or there's a distraction. It's as if your

brain expects things to stay the same, so it doesn't pay attention to every detail. Even if

something significant changes, you might not realize it unless you actively focus on that specific

change. I think that there is Manipulation of Attention in these videos. If someone intentionally

manipulates the attention of individuals, as demonstrated in the videos, it could create

circumstances where people make choices they wouldn't under normal conditions. This

manipulation might be used unethically to influence behavior. İf wee look at the public law side,

If individuals are induced to behave unethically or unlawfully due to manipulations exploiting

cognitive vulnerabilities, this can challenge the effectiveness of legal systems. It is more difficult

to enforce laws and regulations when people can be easily swayed or deceived. Furthermore,

influencing public attention has an impact on how the state operates. Political discourse,

propaganda, and misinformation may all use attentional biases to sway public opinion and even

undermine democratic principles. In an era where information is a powerful tool, the ethical

implications of manipulating attention require careful consideration to protect public law and the

integrity of the state.