How perception keeps us from seeing things (Video)

In his TED conference presentation, Daniel Pink shared a great example of how we fail to see things that are ‘right in front of us.’

People are given a box of thumb tacks, some matches, and a candle. The objective is to attach the candle to the wall in a way that the candle wax doesn’t drip on the table surface. It turns out that most people overlook the solution for quite a while, often 5 to 10 minutes, before they see what’s staring them right in the face. Here’s Pink’s presentation: