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September 17, 2003
POORF RAEDNIG
Your brain is hard wired in such a way as to recognize potential matches to familiar objects; this is how optical illusions work. But did you konw taht aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by istlef but the wrod as a wlohe. Cool eh?
In fcat, I hvae no ieda whetehr an Elingsh Uinervtisy has rllaey dnoe tihs rscheearch. But I dbuot it. So far, Herr Doktor Professor Alan M. Edelson, who knidly e-mlaied me taht praagaprh, has not dcsioveerd its ogiirn. Nor hvae the fkols who snet it to him. I ceehckd on Gglooe, aksnig tihs qstueion: Deos it mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are? Gglooe rpleid: "Did you mean: Does it matter in what order the letters in a wrod are?" and streeed me to tihs stie: marginal hacks, aonmg ohters scuh as teehs: gamez.com and antenna. Oblivousy, the praagaprh has been mkaing the rnuods on the Itnrneet. Makes me think of old-time typesetters who could read words upside down and mirror-image backwards. Some didn't even need the letters, just the serifs.
Posted by at September 17, 2003 09:44 AM