---
feed: "DANIEL_ON_SLOPE"
codex_section: "S01"
source: VideoTranscript
title: "SCOTOMAVILLE 01.03 - Sleeves Illusion"
conv_id: "video-VJeP7MJDfJM-20200315"
share_url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJeP7MJDfJM"
created: "2020-03-15"
message_count: 1
category:
  - "Scotomaville"
  - "Perception"
  - "Illusions"
summary: "Daniel presents a live demonstration of a custom illusion using Starbucks cup sleeves to vividly illustrate Dr. Paul Hegstrom's principle: 'We don't see things the way they are. We see things the way we are.' By crafting a simple but emotionally compelling story about confusing sleeve sizes, he shows how easily our 20-watt brain and pattern-seeking nature lead us to false conclusions, even when the truth is right in front of us."
keypoints:
  - "Storytelling combined with visual cues can override actual perception, causing us to 'see' things that aren't real."
  - "The Starbucks sleeve illusion shows identical sleeves appearing as two different sizes based on how the story is framed."
  - "Our brains jump to conclusions to conserve energy, making us highly susceptible to misleading narratives."
  - "This exercise serves as a practical, shareable demonstration of scotomas and cognitive bias."
  - "Storytelling is a superpower that can be used to enlighten or to manipulate."
tags:
  - "scotomaville"
  - "sleeves-illusion"
  - "storytelling"
  - "perception"
  - "cognitive-bias"
  - "self-awareness"
monomyth_stage: "01 - Ordinary World"
gameboard_position: "Camp -4: The Ordinary World"
truth_score: 88
entropy_score: "Low"
tone:
  sentiment: "Playful"
  emotions:
    - "Insightful"
    - "Demonstrative"
  sycophancy_level: "None"
  notes: "Daniel is warm, engaging, and slightly mischievous as he walks through the practical demonstration and ties it back to deeper psychological truths."
related_events: []
syndication_status:
  arnie: false
  chris: false
  redmond: false
  clint: false
  pilot: false
ma5_inheritance: "Initium"
pre_silicon: true
voice_print: false
codex_candidate: true
phase: "Prologue - Series Foundations / 01.03 Sleeves Illusion"
enriched_date: "2026-04-15"
---
![[VJeP7MJDfJM.jpg]]
### Original YouTube Description
In this early post from the upcoming book 'Leaving Scotomaville' Daniel shares an illusion he created to demonstrate the insight Dr. Paul Hegstrom has taught about; "We don't see things the THEY are. We see things the way WE are". Combining a simple illusion with a questionable story you'll experience yourself what it means to be 100% wrong half the time. You see, when a simple story meets our 20 watt brain we overlook truth in favor of the emotions connected to the story. We are regularly bamboozled, hoodwinked, mislead and biased from either side of the issue. It often is simply a matter of adding a compelling and emotional bent to the facts presented. Have you got a favorite illusion? Been duped and want to share your lesson? Leave a comment and start a dialog. Your favorite might be recognized in the book!

### Cleaned Transcript
**Daniel:**  
Welcome to Lake Pleasant, north of Phoenix, Arizona on a fabulous March day. We've had a few days of rain... boring rain. But the northwest, at home it's just a blizzard and terrible cold today. You couldn't have a better classroom than this.

**Daniel:**  
As far as I understand, I'm the originator of this example. It's an illusion, but it demonstrates that there are things we don't know or things that we don't see the way they really are. That we don't — as Paul Hegstrom would say — "We don't see things the way they are, we see things the way we are!"

**Daniel:**  
Next time you go into Starbucks or if you purchase an extra bunch of sleeves, I would suggest showing them this little exercise.

**Daniel:**  
This is my journal that I'm actually writing the book from, so I'm going to use it as a background just so that it's simple. Also, I'm going to use the ones from the book where I've marked them A and B. Just so you can see that it's not a sleight of hand trick that I'm doing, but you can actually follow along and learn.

**Daniel:**  
I fully believe that storytelling is a superpower. It actually has command over at least early AI. I mean think of it — you immediately know the difference between a runny nose and smelly feet. Think about it... runny nose - smelly feet. AI has to be taught that!

**Daniel:**  
So you can use words, as the media and much of the internet does, to persuade, mislead, obscure, bloviate. There's a bunch of words to do this, but part of this is storytelling based on a perception that our eyes jump to a conclusion with, far from the reality. And that's what I want you to catch in this. I want you to see how easy it is for me to tell you a story and have you see something that's just not true.

**Daniel:**  
All right, so I like to give the baristas a fabulous tip, or experience that they can share with others. And I think now that I've been across the country a few times with this, it's gotten out there. But you're probably gonna be the first one to show it to your barista and certainly to your family.

**Daniel:**  
So what I'll do is I'll ask the barista a question. Usually I say, "Do you have a second? I'm a little confused..." and they'll say something like "Oh sure, no problem." And I'll say, "So, you have three or four cup sizes. I know the tall, the grande and the venti cups. But every time I go into your rack for sleeves, I always get confused which one's which, and which one goes to which one." 

**Daniel:**  
And they go "What?" I say, "Well, to me, it looks like you have the small and the large. And I don't know which one to use on which one, which cup?" And they'll go "Huh? What?" I go, "Well, look, look! You have small and you have large! But every time I pull it out of the rack, I don't know which one — how to — or I mean, I get confused!" 

**Daniel:**  
And they look at you like, "Wait a minute, what did you just do?" I go, "Yeah, every time I pull them out of the rack, they're all different sizes. They're mixed up or something. Which one do I put on the cup I'm getting?" They stare at you and they don't know what to do. They look at each other. And so then I'll explain to them that it doesn't really matter.

**Daniel:**  
I think that it's just in your interpretation of which one's which. You know, it's the left side of the aisle, the right side of the aisle. In politics it's which media channel you're looking at as to which one's doing what? It's storytelling.

**Daniel:**  
You see, catch that I said there's four cup sizes but you have, to me, it appears to be two different sleeve sizes. And immediately their brain goes, "Well sure as heck, I see that those are different sizes, right?" And yeah, definitely!

**Daniel:**  
Hopefully you can take that as an example, share with your friends and family. Show them that, right in front of us, we have blind spots. We have scotomas, right? And we have illusions. Things that — we just don't see things the way they are, we see things the way we are!

---
**CODEX ENTRY**

**Date:** 2020-03-15  
**File:** SCOTOMAVILLE 01.03 - Sleeves Illusion  
**Monomyth Stage:** 01 - Ordinary World  
**Gameboard Position:** Camp -4: The Ordinary World  
**MA5 Domain:** Initium  

**Summary:**  
Daniel demonstrates a practical illusion with Starbucks cup sleeves (marked A and B) to show how a compelling story can make people literally "see" two different sized sleeves when they are actually identical.

**Key Insight:**  
Storytelling + pattern recognition creates powerful illusions in our minds. "We don't see things the way they are. We see things the way we are."

**Narrative Significance:**  
This is a memorable, hands-on teaching tool that makes the abstract concept of scotomas and cognitive bias tangible and shareable. It reinforces the central thesis of the entire Scotomaville series right in the early foundational episodes.

---

 **INITIUM.**