# Anyone else lose a skill by thinking about it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-lose-a-skill-by-thinking-about-it/610021>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 19, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-lose-a-skill-by-thinking-about-it/610021 "2012-01-19T15:35:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-lose-a-skill-by-thinking-about-it/610021/41 "2012-01-20T19:12:29Z")

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> [@mrklutz](#):
>
> Back in the Mesozoic, when I was in a bowling league, someone discovered that the best way to mess someone up was to ask them, “Do you inhale or exhale as you release the ball?”

That was a joke on _Bewitched_. Someone asked Darren that about his golf stroke. Of course Sam made sure he made a great shot anyway.

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**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-lose-a-skill-by-thinking-about-it/610021/42 "2012-01-20T19:18:12Z")

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I hate it when I start thinking about the timing and mechanics of automatic breathing.

It confuses me and I end up hyperventilating.

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**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-lose-a-skill-by-thinking-about-it/610021/43 "2012-01-20T19:34:14Z")

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When I played the trombone and flute there was a strict difference between music I figured out/improved and music I learned from the sheet. I could play, by ear, many, many difficult songs I’d heard by ear on my first or second try. Do NOT ask me what notes or positions I’m using, or I will not be able to play it anymore.

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**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-lose-a-skill-by-thinking-about-it/610021/44 "2012-01-21T20:35:29Z")

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When still a youngster attending prep school, I was required to take piano lessons. The harder I tried, the worse the results. I did get adept at napping on piano benches. When recital time came, I was hopelessly unprepared. Three bars into my piece, I blanked out completely, but instead of stopping, continued messing around with the scales of the key I was in.

I had a thought that if I could just stay in major or minor key, eventually I would remember the ending. Noone was booing, or coughing, or shuffling papers and eventually after 10+ minutes of fiddling around, I remembered the ending to my piece. There was silence . . . and then very loud applause. I walked back to my instructor and he shook his copy of the piece at me and demanded to know what I had done.

I shrugged my shoulders and told him,“I got lost, I was just trying to find my way back.” He told me since I hadn’t actually played my piece, I couldn’t get an A, but I was very pleased with the B+ he gave me.

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