[OT] Simple math considered physics; turns out it's fun, not harmful

[Bill McGonigle]

On Nov 21, 2007, at 17:51, Greg Rundlett wrote:

> That's fast.  It's also faster than the guy said.  He said it was
> supposed to be somewhere in the 70 mph range.
> Perhaps the numbers are off.


Perhaps it's more than a physics problem (likely it's still a math  
problem).

My guess is it's more of a neuroscience problem than anything, if you  
want to get into MLB equivalents.  What percentage of the pitch time  
is reaction time?  How fast do signals travel along the involved  
neuronal pathways?  How long does it take the brain to calculate a  
trajectory and hitting solution?

Whatever the numbers are, they'll figure into how 'fast' the ball  
feels.  Rather than calculate it, it's probably easier and more  
accurate to ask a bunch of pro hitters to swing and say about how  
fast the ball feels to them.  "About 70" might be a reasonable  
answer.  Or the guy at the cages might have totally made that up. :)

There's a trick with some (all?) spiders you can play where you try  
to touch them and they move out of the way before your hand moves.   
Really?  No, but their neurons are much faster and shorter than  
yours, so by time you get your brain into gear and move your hand and  
see the result, the spider has seen and reacted, and it looks to you  
like he has 'spidey sense'.  That is, your hand is moving before you  
realize it, because there's a delay in your perception.   It's tough  
that we have to make judgments about the Universe with this crude  
matter.

If somebody is really interested there are FMRI studies that have  
timed these intra-brain signals.

-Bill

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