OT: whispering game (was Re: Nibble DVD)

[Linards Ticmanis <ticmanis@gmx.de>]

Shawn B. wrote:

> We played a "game" in bootcamp.  There were about 60 people in our division
> (Navy) and we were learning communications in damage control scenarios.  The
> idea is that sometimes you have to pass a message on to someone else who
> would pass it on to someone else in extreme circumestances.  The instructor
> would whisper something into one persons ear who would whisper the message
> into the next persons ear.  If the 5th person receiving the message passed
> on the exact message then that row would get a free pizza, else they would
> get pushups.  The funny thing is, that even after 1 week of this training,
> we still couldn't get the message right the 5th person away.  What was even
> funnier was when the message was passed 60 people down and then finally we
> all got to hear his version of the message, it didn't even closely resemble
> the original message by a longshot.

It's a well known game (at least over here in Germany it's popular in 
Elementary Schools, minus the pushups and pizza).

What is less known is that the more sense the message makes and the more 
it has to do with the actual situation, the more likely it is to get 
through basically unaltered. "There's a fire, evacuate the building!" is 
likely to make it through, for example, while "Marilyn is wearing a 
green skirt" is not very likely, especially if there's no one around 
with that name and type of clothing.

--
Linards Ticmanis