Line #100 Main/CentipedesDilemma


1	[[quoteright:276:[[Webcomic/{{Spacetrawler}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/centipedes_dilemma_spacetrawler_1888.jpg]]]]
2
3	->''"If I try to think about how it works, it doesn't work."''
4	-->-- '''[[Literature/{{Discworld}} Tiffany Aching]]''', ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight''
5
6	A trope named for the folk tale poem about a centipede who had no trouble walking until asked how he managed all those legs. He started thinking about the process and immediately became unable to do it anymore. In psychology the effect is known as as "hyper-reflection" or "Humphrey's law" after psychologist George Humphrey who wrote about the poem's profoundness in 1923.
7
8	Often encountered during the BizarreAndImprobableGolfGame, when one player attempts to induce a dilemma in his (usually winning) opponent by asking, "Do you breathe in or out on the backswing?" That said, this can show up in any context featuring a complex activity that requires one "get into the flow".
9
10	If this is attempted on a group of people simultaneously, it may lead into someone biting into the AppleOfDiscord. If done in works with {{Shapeshifting}}, it may lead to StumblingInTheNewForm -- after all, moving your body can suddenly become difficult if you think too hard about it, so imagine how much harder it would be if it's ''not'' your normal body you're trying to move.
11
12	The flip side of this trope is AutopilotArtistry, for when someone starts to succeed at something as soon as they stop paying attention.
13
14	Compare with AchievementsInIgnorance, ActingUnnatural, DamnYouMuscleMemory, DontThinkFeel, MagnumOpusDissonance, ParalysisByAnalysis, PerformanceAnxiety, PuffOfLogic, YouWereTryingTooHard, ThoughtAversionFailure, ReminderOfImpossibility, and ThereIsNoTry. DontLookDown can result in this, if the person was doing fine beforehand and being told not to look down causes them to look.
15
16	''[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Should not be confused]] with Film/TheHumanCentipede.'' Or even with the CreepyCentipedes, which are much more likely to give ''you'' a dilemma.
17
18	'''Warning!''' Reading the examples below may cause you to have similar problems.
19	----
20	!!Examples:
21
22	[[index]]
23	* CentipedesDilemma/RealLife
24	[[/index]]
25
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
29	* ''Manga/CaseClosed'':
30	** An AssholeVictim ruined the career of a promising young pitcher by (falsely) claiming that there was something wrong with his pitch, after which the poor kid destroyed his own shoulder trying to figure out what was wrong.
31	** Another victim died when her murderer induced semantic satiation on the word containing her last name, and then asked her to sign an important contract. (The poison was carefully applied to the edges of the dictionary that the victim would touch upon looking up the word.)
32	* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': People who get automail limbs have to relearn how to use those limbs and get used to things like not having any tactile sensation in them. Ed is shown going through this in a few flashbacks, and Paninya explicitly says that she pretty much had to learn how to walk all over again. TruthInTelevision; people with prosthetics go through those exact issues and it can take years to fully adjust.
33	* ''Anime/MonsterRancher'': One episode has Genki run headlong into this when he decides that they need to strategize more during battles. So he comes up with a bunch of plans and tactics ahead of time, frantically flipping through his notes trying to determine the best moves... which naturally proves to cause more problems than it solves.
34	* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'':
35	** While training under an OldMaster, Izuku Midoriya has an epiphany that makes him realize that a lot of the issues he's had with controlling the SuperStrength of his Quirk One For All stemmed from this trope. Having grown up Quirkless and gaining One For All as a teenager, he viewed his power as TooAwesomeToUse while his classmates have had their powers since kindergarten and use them as naturally as they breathe.
36	** That OldMaster also mentally notes that this is an issue with All Might and his instruction of Midoriya in One For All's use. All Might took to One For All far more easily than Midoriya did, and it shows in how he trains his student. The use of One For All came so naturally to All Might that his explanations to Midoriya are generally vague and less useful than they should be because he doesn't realize it ''isn't'' coming very naturally to Midoriya.
37	* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', Ash tends to screw up battles if he actually tries to get a long-term strategy together beforehand instead of using off-the-cuff tactics as he normally does. In his Gym battle with Elesa, Pikachu had to shock him out of thinking too much about it when he was on the verge of losing, rerailing him into his normal battle style and making a comeback.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Comic Books]]
41	* ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'': In one story, Jughead beats Reggie at bowling by tricking him into actually focusing on the mechanics of play (e.g. how many steps he takes during windup, the ergonomics of the bowling ball) instead of just playing.
42	* ''ComicBook/CerebusTheAardvark'': The titular aardvark tries to win a ball game using this trope, asking if he breathes in or out when tossing the ball. Cut to panel of his panicked partner contemplating it. Cut to panel showing said partner [[SubvertedTrope having won]] and saying, "I breathe out!"
43	* ''ComicBook/InferiorFive'': In an comic that parodied the ''ComicBook/XMen'', the equivalent of [[WingedHumanoid Archangel]] is shown wearing a sweater. Naturally, one of the Five asks him how he puts on a sweater over his wings. The poor mutant loses it because, now that he's thought about it, he'll never be able to do it again.
44	* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'': In ''[[Recap/TintinTheRedSeaSharks The Red Sea Sharks]]'', Captain Haddock is unable to sleep after Allan mockingly asks him if he sleeps with his beard under or above the covers. This ends up saving his life and those of [[NiceJobFixingItVillain everyone on the ship.]] (Captain Haddock is shown to sleep on his stomach in ''Tintin and the Picaros''.)
45	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'':
46	** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Gail Young's telepathy starts to break down the more she thinks about it, which is why she wears a blindfold or closes her eyes to concentrate to in order to cut down on even more distractions and explains why she didn't realize ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} was lying to her face while badgering her into using her telepathy to spy for her.
47	** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie]]'s first few outing with Hermes' flying sandals work out great, until she goes for a practice flight and starts questioning how they work which also causes her to fear falling from her incredible height which causes the things to stop functioning until she stops overthinking things. She only survives because she's accompanied by an adult with impressive innate NotQuiteFlight abilities. She gets the hang of using them just by instinct pretty quick, and shortly thereafter her power limiters are removed which allows her to fly without them.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
51	* ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey'': What do you do with your arms when you're walking? Mort Walker was nice enough to show a character walking before thinking about this and swinging them in the opposite order from how he moved his legs so that the reader didn't have to face the puzzle.
52	* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'':
53	** Bored, Dilbert [[http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2003-01-26/ contemplates the connection between his mind and body]] and forgets how to move.
54	--->'''Pointy-Haired Boss:''' The problem with engineers is that they don't idle well.
55	** Parodied with another series where Dilbert loses the connection between effort and reward and realizes that he still gets paid if he stands around flicking his fingers. Eventually the entire office is doing it, and the boss thinks to himself "I don't know what success sounds like, but I don't think this is it."
56	** Also happens to Ratbert once when Dogbert muses on how we unconsciously manage incredibly complex nervous signals to move our muscles; stopping to think about it, he immediately goes into a spasming fit as a FunnyBackgroundEvent.
57	* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'':
58	** There's a strip where Jon asks Garfield which way he puts his feet down when he walked. Garfield is then paralyzed.
59	** In "The Me Book", Garfield suggests an extremely subtle version for ruining someone's golf swing, in which he instructs the reader to tell the golfer, "Think about your right hip."
60	* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'':
61	-->'''Linus:''' I'm aware of my tongue ... It's an awful feeling! Every now and then I become aware that I have a tongue inside my mouth, and then it starts to feel lumped up... I can't help it... I can't put it out of my mind.... I keep thinking about where my tongue would be if I weren't thinking about it, and then I can feel it sort of pressing against my teeth..."
62	** Similarly, in a storyline Linus is asked how he tied his shoes, and he has to go barefoot for the rest of the week.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Fan Works]]
66	* In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy'', Izuku's neuroticism hampers his attempts to learn how to use his web-shooters, missing by a longshot after spending several seconds trying to aim at a still target. Once he stops worrying about the minute details and goes with the flow, he finds that both web-slinging and web-swinging come to him more naturally.
67	* In ''Webcomic/{{Guardian}}'', Yuna subconsciously walks on water, demonstrating Summoner talent, but she falls in once she realizes the others are watching.
68	* ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'': [[SubvertedTrope Harry refuses to share the secret]] behind the Patronus V.2, because it is unlikely that the majority of people would be able to reach the mental state necessary, and attempting it could [[BrownNote destroy their own ability to cast normal Patronuses]].
69	* In ''[[Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}} Lost World]]'', Tom narrates that he hates thinking about doing basic things such as talking and reading because he usually loses his ability to do them in the process. At this point, he's still getting used to being in control of his body again.
70	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
71	** In Chapter 8 of the fanfic ''Fanfic/ItTakesAVillage'' Spike finally figures out how to fly. He immediately makes it clear that ''no-one'' is to ask him ''how'' he managed it, otherwise he might forget.
72	** In the second chapter of ''Fanfic/ADelicateBalance'', after Twilight Sparkle realizes that she has a crush on Applejack, she makes a determined effort to act as normal as possible around her, and fails precisely because she's thinking too hard about what she should be doing. Another scene has a distracted Twilight pick up a cup with her hooves rather than with her telekinesis. She manages just fine until she realizes that she's holding it that way, at which point she promptly spills it.
73	* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'': Merry warns Sanji that he'll get a unholy beating from her if the [[BagOfHolding Bags Of Holding]] that connect to her hold stop working because he asked her how it worked.
74	* In ''Fanfic/OfQuirksAndMagic'', Izuku struggles to take his first steps to learn magic because he's constantly trying to control it rather than letting it flow through him. He only gets even more frustrated when Strange tries to teach him with a river metaphor and that the best way to control magic was to surrender control of it. To prove his point, Strange decides to lock Izuku in an infinitely long hallway flooded with water, forcing him to surrender control to make a portal or [[DieOrFly drown trying.]]
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
78	* Implied to be the case with Lightning [=McQueen=] in ''WesternAnimation/Cars3''. His preoccupation with beating Jackson Storm is clouding his judgment and lowering his concentration, affecting both his racing and his training. However, when he accidentally enters a demolition derby and is ''forced'' to concentrate, he manages to weave his way through the chaos without a single scratch. Doc's old mentor Smokey points this out to him later on:
79	-->'''Smokey''': Funny what a racer can do when he's not overthinkin'.
80	* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1'', Po is utterly incapable of performing any kind of kung fu. He can, however, punch through doors and do perfect splits while [[BigEater trying to get food]]. Fitting the original usage of the trope, the moment it's pointed out to him he's ten feet off the ground he falls flat on his face.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
84	* In ''Film/BullDurham'', the hot young pitcher has no control when he thinks about what he's doing, and his catcher exploits this, goading him into throwing a fastball right at his chest from five feet away, and he misses. His girlfriend makes him wear garters under his uniform, and he's so twisted around thinking about how uncomfortable he is that he pitches beautifully.
85	* ''Film/{{Cimarron}}'': The newspaper printer Ricky has a stutter which improves over the course of the film. Towards the end, a character compliments Ricky for not stuttering so much as he used to. Ricky's stutter immediately returns.
86	-->'''Ricky:''' Oh, w-w-what'd you have to bring it up for?
87	* In ''Film/TheKingsSpeech'', Lionel Logue points out that this is Bertie's problem (though it's a significant problem and not easily surmounted) by having him recorded reading ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' while listening to music that makes it impossible for him to hear himself. It's not until much later, after getting drunk and dismissing Logue as a crackpot, that Bertie listens to the recording... and hears himself speaking without a stutter for the first time in his life.
88	* Referenced in ''Film/TheLastSamurai''. Nathan Algren's training fights always end quickly (and with him sporting a fresh bruise), until Nobutada explains that Algren has "too many mind -- mind the sword, mind the people watching, mind your enemy. Too many mind. No mind." Notable in that this is legitimate advice and something many martial arts schools teach. It does, indeed, work like a charm, but you're far more likely to hit your sparring partner harder than you should.
89	* In ''Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows'', Watson uses this to find Moriarty’s assassin in the climax; the guy has spent so much time perfecting his disguise as a partygoer that the acting comes naturally to him... until Watson does something completely random (knocking a bunch of drinks to the floor for no reason). With his rigid script broken, the assassin has to actually think about a response on the fly and promptly freezes up, allowing Watson to identify him.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Jokes]]
93	* One joke that comes up sometimes on the internet is to simply write "You are now breathing manually." (or blinking, reading, listening -- anything the reader is expected to be doing at the moment), which actually makes some people stop to reorganize their thoughts.
94	* Another joke is about a college student asking his bearded professor if he sleeps with his beard above or below the covers. The professor shrugs and says he has never thought about it. The next day, the professor comes to class with bloodshot, baggy eyes and grabs the student: "What the hell did you do to me? Now I can't sleep. It's uncomfortable either way."
95	* A similar one to both previously mentioned is the popular "You are now aware that your tongue does not rest comfortably in your mouth". Now take a few minutes to forget that statement.
96	* A subatomic particle is driving a car down the highway, when a cop pulls them over. The cop walks up to the car and asks, "Excuse me, do you know you were driving at 90 miles per hour?" The particle responds, "Oh great, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle now I'm lost]]!"
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Literature]]
100	* In ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'' book "Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym)", when Mal's name is called to be on one of the volleyball teams and she starts jogging over to her teammates she suddenly becomes very conscious of her arms.
101	* There is a French story called "La Barbe", where everyone asks a man with a long beard how he sleeps with his beard. In an attempt to answer the question, that night he tries many different sleeping positions, and is unable to get to sleep. The next day, he gets his beard shaved off.
102	* One of the ''Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon'' stories by Creator/SpiderRobinson is actually titled "The Centipede's Dilemma". In it, a character with a dangerous psychic ability is defeated and rendered powerless by using this technique.
103	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Referenced in ''Literature/AHatFullOfSky''. Miss Level once had this trope described to her by an acrobat: "Never ask the tightrope walker how he keeps his balance. If he stops to think about it, he falls off." This principle helped her out later on. This [[TruthInTelevision was proven]] on a Derren Brown show, where he asked an experienced tightrope walker stuff like that, and repeatedly told him not to fall off. Guess what happened next.
104	* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book ''Literature/GhostStory'', a newly-formed ghost [[spoiler:(Harry)]] is in a car when a comment from Mortimer Lindquist makes him realize there is a logical flaw in the fact that he can walk through walls, but is sitting here in a car. Before he can even complete the thought, he's fallen through the bottom of the car. A more experienced ghost drags him back up and explains this trope.
105	* In ''Literature/TheElenium'', by Creator/DavidEddings, Sephrenia, a Styric, steadfastly refuses to learn to read the Ehlene language at all. When one of the Ehlenes asks her why, since being able to read the language would make some things much easier for her, she replies that to learn to read Ehlene, she would need to learn to ''think in it'' as well, and she doesn't want to risk that she would then at some point have to stop and remember how to think in Styric when she needs to.
106	* ''Literature/TheFirstMenInTheMoon'' begins with Bradford's attempts to write a novel being confounded by Cavor -- who keeps walking past his house, shaking his shoulders and making strange noises to himself. Bradford confronts Cavor over it, and Cavor confesses that he's a scientist and that he finds his daily walk to be the best time for thinking about his research -- and he's so engrossed in his thoughts that he had never noticed that he was acting so outwardly strange. About a week later, Cavor confronts Bradford--he hasn't been able to make any progress on his research in the past week, because every time he goes out for a walk he's too focused on the walking to get any thinking done. When Bradford offers to help with his research, Cavor brightens up, and as he walks back to his house, he begins shaking and making noises in his old manner.
107	* In Walter Brooks's ''Literature/FreddyThePig'' series, at one point a beetle came to Freddy saying he couldn't walk anymore, since every time he tried he got distracted by where his legs were and tripped. Freddy had him stare at the ceiling while he walked, and it worked.
108	* Stephen Potter's satirical how-to-win-at-games-without-being-able-to-play-them book ''Gamesmanship'' lists breaking your opponent's flow in this manner as a fundamental technique, explicitly stating "CONSCIOUS FLOW IS BROKEN FLOW" as being "Rule 1".
109	* Every time Abel Hopton overthinks in ''Literature/GrentsFall'', something goes wrong.
110	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
111	** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' we learn that, when interacting with snakes, Harry has been speaking to them via Parseltongue without realizing it. Later, when he needs to use it without a real snake around to trigger it, he has a much harder time doing so.
112	** Later, in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Dumbledore takes Harry to view a memory involving a family called the Gaunts. Harry fails to realize the Gaunts speak in Parseltongue until it's pointed out to him.
113	* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': In book one, Leo Valdez, as a son of Hephaestus, has the ability to operate ''any'' piece of machinery. When he needs to fly a helicopter, he is explicitly described as going back-and-forth between doing things right without thinking about them and doing things wrong by thinking about them.
114	* In the ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' series it is possible to ''fly'', as long as you don't think about the fact that you're flying. It's not terribly hard -- all you have to do is throw yourself at the ground and miss. (The only way to miss is to distract yourself, somehow, right in the instant before you hit the ground.) Once flying, though, it becomes vitally important not to let yourself become aware of the impossibility of the act, e.g. through a passer-by helpfully pointing this out, because they will be proved suddenly and painfully correct.
115	* In ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe]]'', only those who enter the wardrobe when they're ''not'' looking for Narnia actually wind up there.
116	* In the Literature/ModestyBlaise novel ''I, Lucifer'', Lucifer has no martial training, but is able to defeat Modesty in single combat because he can instinctively [[CombatClairvoyance see what she's about to do]] and always has the counter ready. In the rematch, Modesty trips him up by getting him to consciously think about how he's predicting her moves, which stops him doing it effectively.
117	* Referenced in ''Literature/NoCountryForOldMen''. The narrator recalls a ballplayer saying that if he had a slight injury nagging at him, his game generally ''improved'', as it kept his mind focused on one thing instead of a hundred.
118	* In the ''Literature/ParadoxTrilogy'', Devi is able to subconsciously resist Evelyn's plasmex telekinesis until Evelyn points out to her that she's resisting. This causes Devi to realize that she doesn't know exactly how she's resisting it, which makes her resistance immediately fail.
119	* In the ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'' novelization, Anakin is dominating in his duel against Count Dooku until Dooku realizes that Anakin is unconsciously calling on TheDarkSide. Dooku taunts Anakin over the anger in his heart and his fear of said anger, causing Anakin to worry about controlling his anger, ruining his ability to fight. He's even compared to the [[HoldYourHippogriffs Corellian multipede]].
120	* ''Literature/RhythmOfWar'' has a variant. The Sibling doesn't actually know ''how'' it is able to generate Towerlight or control the tower-city of Urithiru, it simply ''does'' so (much like a human child can move its arm without understanding the mechanics or biochemistry involved). Which becomes a problem when a metaphysical catastrophe causes the Sibling's powers to ''stop'' working, and the heroes have to try and figure out how to restore them.
121	* Jamie Lannister encounters this due to a case of DamnYouMuscleMemory in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' after [[spoiler:the loss of his right hand]] forces Jamie to have to learn to fight all over again and he finds himself having to ''think'' about his every action.
122	* Creator/HilaireBelloc's poem ''The Water Beetle'' describes the same effect on the pond skating creature, who would immediately sink if he stopped to think how he does it.
123	* ''Literature/{{Deverry}}'': Cullyn, acknowledged as the best swordsman in Deverry, is training Rhodry how to better his swordmanship, by going through the motions very, very slowly. Rhodry reflects on how hard it is to manage the sword properly when you have to think about each movement, rather than doing it instinctively -but he's also far more aware of how each step fits into the whole of using a sword.[[note]]Cullyn's daughter is able to beat men several years her senior in combat.[[/note]]
124	* ''Literature/TheSaintOfSteel'': The perfumer Grace has been burgled, with her extensive and painstakingly researched notebooks on the creation of perfumes stolen. When she attempts to continue her work, she begins by working on muscle memory, but quickly begins second-guessing herself and overthinking to the point that she cannot work at all; wondering if it was seven drops in a particular recipe, how big the drops should be, if ''seven is even a number''...
125	* Buddy Telemachus from ''Literature/{{Spoonbenders}}'' has visions of certain, dramatic events happening that can't be averted, but he ''can'' control the context of the vision and try to avert disaster, but he's so worried that every action/inaction he takes could lead to things spiraling to disaster that it has rendered him a passive observer of his own life. He tries communicating this to Frankie by giving him a book on Chaos theory, [[PoorCommunicationKills but Frankie just thinks he wants it read to him]].
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
129	* ''Series/ThirtyRock'':
130	** Kenneth tries to ask Liz a question, but she is in a hurry so he responds "Can you walk and talk at the same time?" Kenneth: "Well, normally I can, but now you've got me thinking about it" and he immediately starts staggering and slurring his words for a few paces.
131	** Jack in "Jack-Tor", who forgets how to walk, hold his arms, or enunciate words when the camera is on him.
132	* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': At a shooting range, Terry, who hasn't shot a gun since he relegated himself to a desk job, becomes frustrated with Gina and shoots seven shots with no problem. When Holt and Gina reveal that the real reason they're there is to get him recertified and that he just needs one more shot to get his license back, he starts freaking out and can't bring himself to shoot the last one.
133	-->'''Jeffords''': Guys! I forgot how to breathe! Is it two-in one-out?
134	* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', when Jeff becomes a law teacher, he spends a lot of time confused about what he's supposed to do and is unable to actually teach, falling back on lazy excuse assignments to give his students. After his students watch him successfully LogicBomb Annie with her own thought process, they ask him how he managed to pull that off and he winds up accidentally teaching a lecture on how to win an argument in that manner.
135	* Cliff discusses this on an episode of ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' when Clair breaks her toe and is holding her cane in the wrong hand. He demonstrates how people naturally walk and how awkward it would be for her if she didn't switch hands.
136	-->'''Cliff:''' If you hold the cane in this hand, you become like the movie ''The Walk of the Drunken Mummy.''
137	* In ''Series/FamilyMatters'', this happened as Carl was trying to teach Steve how to swim. Steve actually began to do really well... [[NiceJobBreakingItHero that is until Carl pointed out that he was in the deep end.]] This did, however cause Carl to realize that Steve simply needed not to think about what he was doing, so he had Laura fall in and pretend to be drowning. Steve jumped in and tried to rescue her.
138	* In ''Series/LittleMosqueOnThePrairie'', Sarah spends all day accidentally insulting people after Fatima asks her how she always knows the right thing to say.
139	* In the ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' episode "A Case of the Yips", Murdoch briefly becomes obsessed with golf, and invents a machine that should train someone for the perfect swing. It doesn't help him, and ruins the game of the club champion. Then Dr Ogden performs a perfect drive and, when asked if she was focusing on the ball or the club, says she wasn't really thinking about anything. This advice saves the champion, but the cerebral Murdoch finds it [[ThoughtAversionFailure impossible to follow]], and the episode ends with him throwing his clubs in the lake.
140	* In ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', Leslie tries to affect a laid-back stance while at a campaign stop. Ann suggests that she just stand like she normally does; however, this causes Leslie to forget how to stand altogether.
141	* ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'':
142	** Season 5 contestant Alyssa Edwards became a fan-favorite due to her LargeHam personality making her a FountainOfMemes. But whenever she specifically has to be funny for a comedic challenge, she gets stuck in her head and the jokes never land, which ultimately leads to her elimination.
143	** Kennedy Davenport made a name for herself in Season 7 as the best dancer in the cast. When she reappeared in ''All-Stars 3'', the queens had to imitate various pop divas for a challenge and Kennedy is assigned Music/JanetJackson for seemingly-obvious reasons. However, Kennedy struggles with the challenge and admits that she's more used to dancing off-the-cuff rather than following a choreographed routine.
144	* In ''Series/TheYoungOnes'', after some incredibly mean-spirited negative vibe-merchant boards Neil's bedroom up, meaning he can't get to his wardrobe, Neil is forced to protect his modesty using a plant pot. The plant pot incredibly manages to stay on without any visible means of support...until Rik asks him how he's keeping the plant pot on?
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:Music]]
148	* The Scottish folksong of "The Wee Kirkcudbright Centipede" who is an incredible dancer until someone asks her to demonstrate her dance step-by-step. She basically ties her legs together.
149	* [[Music/ATribeCalledQuest Q-Tip]]'s lyrics in "Galvanize" by Music/TheChemicalBrothers reference this:
150	--> ''If you think about it too much, you may stumble trip up,\
151	Fall on your face\
152	(Don't hold back!)''
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
156	* OlderThanFeudalism: Literature/TheGospels of John, Matthew, and Mark give accounts of Jesus walking on water. Peter is initially able to do so as well, but starts sinking once he begins to wonder how this could be possible, and think about the waves and the wind. [[AnAesop The point is that Peter only falters when he takes his focus off Jesus and begins to worry about other things]].
157	* This is the whole point of, oh, ''all'' of ancient Greek esotericism, and therefore of half their myths. Hesychastic union with the divine, or the noetic experience of the Monad, ceases once you begin having discursive ("dianetic"[[note]]No, [[ChurchOfHappyology he]] didn't make that word up.[[/note]]) thought about it. Hence the Orpheus myth: the moment he looks to see if Eurydice is there, she vanishes back to the realm of the dead.
158	* The term comes from an 1800s poem by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centipede%27s_dilemma#The_poem Catherine Craster]], but the ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Taoism Zhuangzi]]'' (3rd century BCE) features a near-identical story. Here, a being with one foot asks a millipede how it can walk with all those legs. The millipede responds that it doesn't think about it, simply 'setting my heavenly impulse into action'. This is consistent with the "do what comes naturally, don't expend unnecessary effort" philosophy of Daoism.
159	* Some examples of TheFairFolk are able to do seemingly impossible feats out of believing they can (like breathing underwater or using the wind as solid ground), but when pointed out what they are doing is impossible, they will immediately fail. This overlaps into AchievementsInIgnorance.
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder:Roleplay]]
163	* In ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'', Mirielle's superpower allows her to visualise the relationships between people as strings that she can then interact with. However, this causes her to frequently [[TheKlutz trip over them]]. She realises that she can avoid this by not thinking about them, thus not causing them to physically manifest... but trying ''not'' to think about the strings naturally leads to her thinking about them.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Video Games]]
167	* A lot of games, especially songs with weird rhythms in {{Rhythm Game}}s can be easy for an experienced player until they actually try to break down exactly what they are doing. Similar to how a player doing extremely well starts faltering once they realized it.
168	** It works the other way as well. As a beginning player, you haven't developed the muscle memory to know more than a few basic actions common to the genre. Because of this, you focus more on what button to press for the desired action until you gain more experience so that you don't focus anymore.
169	** Players of HackAndSlash games such as ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' or ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' can often find themselves succumbing to this, realizing very quickly that oftentimes concentrating on the exact timing of dodges, attacks and blocks is much easier to stumble over than when they fall into a more [[DontThinkFeel intuitive groove of things.]]
170	** BulletHell shooters and timed puzzle games can be the same way.
171	* For some particular reason, in a game where two or more players are fixed to a side of the screen, it's jarring for a player [[DamnYouMuscleMemory who's used to one side to have to use another.]] In most situations, there's no practical difference.
172	* Invoked in-universe in ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity''. The PlayerCharacter encounters a pair of [[DemBones skeletal mooks]] discussing the inherent FridgeLogic of their design, like how they really shouldn't be able to speak, walk, or even stay assembled without any muscle mass, skin, tendons, or internal organs. It eventually causes them to fall to pieces.
173	-->'''Skeleton:''' Best not to think about it. [[TemptingFate I don't want to fall to bits]] [[PuffOfLogic 'cos of excessive existential thought]]. Nasty...
174	* Invoked by Yuna in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. At the Farplane, Yuna tells Tidus to think about his father, Jecht, to see whether or not Jecht is still alive. As Tidus himself notes in his narration, trying not to think about Jecht, of course, makes Tidus think about him.
175	* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'': Wonderfully referenced when you ask Kang how he manages to remotely pilot the Marvelous Dragonfly from the ground.
176	-->"Well, it's much like the dilemma of the centipede. If he relaxes and lets things happen, he can walk naturally all day long, his hundred legs not missing a step. But, if he thinks too hard about the complexity of what he's doing, [[{{Metaphorgotten}} those legs might crash into the teahouse and kill everyone]]. A valuable lesson."
177	* The player character of ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' can exploit this when fighting a swarm of killer bees:
178	-->"They start to swarm you, [[UrbanLegend but you give them a quick lesson in Aerodynamics]], and they all fall to the ground."
179	* Near the end of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', the game starts deconstructing itself as a mechanism for simulated emotional responses and player catharsis. An AI construct, in a lengthy radio conversation, spends ten minutes dissecting the postmodern condition, the player character's personality, and his role as a vehicle for the player. The player is left to wonder what the point of fighting is if he's just being manipulated by the game and its fictional stakes.
180	* Parodied in ''VideoGame/PokerNight2'' when [[Franchise/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam]] asks [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} Claptrap]] how he balances on one wheel. Claptrap starts wobbling and panicking...and then laughs, explaining he's got "More gyroscopes than the Hubble."
181	* This concept underlies the flash game ''VideoGame/{{QWOP}}'', in which the player controls his character's legs with a keyboard. This makes the action of running, or even walking, almost impossible, despite it being second nature in real life. This is part because the game has four commands that denote movement of each thigh and each lower leg individually to move. Until you develop a rhythm instead of trying to conceptualize coordinating these movements in relation to each other, you will keep getting out of sync.
182	** The trope is, in fact, the basis for an entire genre of ''QWOP''-like games such as ''VideoGame/SurgeonSimulator2013'', ''VideoGame/{{Octodad}}'' and ''VideoGame/ManualSamuel'', which purposefully overcomplicate basic movement by forcing the player to consider motor functions that would otherwise be handled completely subconsciously in real-life, and automatically in other video games.
183	* ''Death Blow of Abernanit'', an [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks in-universe poem]] from ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' franchise, ends with a duel between the heroes Rangidil and Dagoth Thras. Throughout the fight, Thras [[StoneWall puts up an almost perfect defence]], effortlessly deflecting every attack Rangidil tries to land, and plans to exhaust Rangidil in order to make him an easy kill. When Rangadil asks how he became so good with a shield, Thras hesitates for a moment and realises he can't put his skills into words, and Rangidil, sensing a moment of confusion, finally manages to land a killing blow.
184	[[/folder]]
185
186	[[folder:Web Comics]]
187	* ''Webcomic/AntiHeroes'': Kaalinor can ride in a cart as long as he's not thinking too much about it. But since he's a ghost, once he starts questioning it... the moving cart goes right through him.
188	* ''Webcomic/AGirlAndHerFed'': Psychic healer Smithback tried to pass his knowledge to Hope (The Girl). But Hope's traditional medical training interfered with her understanding of Smithback's techniques, to the point where they stopped the healing lessons.
189	* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': A very rough [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/sketches.php?date=20070222 side sketch of Agatha and Borris]] has Agatha asking if he ever has trouble keeping track of his extra arms, and he replied only when people ask about it and make him self conscious.
190	* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
191	** When [[GenderBender transformed into a girl]], Justin initially has trouble walking because he tries to compensate for the new body... until he's told that he just shouldn't think about it, since the [[{{Magitek}} transformation gun]] already compensates.
192	** In another comic, Elliot discussed this trope, once again in regards to walking while transformed into a girl. He predictably [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2069 promptly falls victim to it himself.]]
193	---> Walking's also sorta different, but it's fine as long as I don't think about... -trips-
194	* ''Webcomic/Level30Psychiatry'' has [[http://lvl30psy.thecomicseries.com/comics/115 The Scolipede's Dilema]], where Audino questions Gardevoir's ability to stand on such small feet. She proceeds to crash immediately into the ground.
195	* In ''Webcomic/ManlyGuysDoingManlyThings'', the more you think about the logistics of time travel while traveling through time, the more likely you are to [[ButterflyOfDoom retroactively cause a disaster]]. Commander Badass has found that using an IceCreamKoan to distract people works well.
196	* ''Webcomic/SketchComedy'': Perhaps starting your webcomic off on the wrong foot is better than starting it off [[http://thesketchy.com/ic/2010/10/08/the-adventure-begins on no foot at all]].
197	* ''Webcomic/{{Spacetrawler}}''. [[http://spacetrawler.com/2012/01/03/spacetrawler-197/ Emily deliberately invokes it.]]
198	-->'''Emily:''' Nice shooting. I wonder if you'd trip up if you stopped to think what each tentacle is doing.\
199	'''Krep:''' I... Oh crap.
200	* In ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'', [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/walking_like_a_duck Dillon uses this effect]] to prove a point to Ruby.
201	* In ''WebComic/{{Tallyho}},'' the fox experiences this when Siegfried the hound points out that foxes can't climb trees.
202	-->'''Fox:''' I think I'm having a moment of satori.
203	* Julia from ''Webcomic/ThinkBeforeYouThink'' tends to have [[http://thinkbeforeyouthink.net/?comic=20100709-self-conscious this problem]].
204	* In ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'', [[JerkAss Black Hat Guy]] invokes this by telling someone that it is [[http://xkcd.com/972/ Tongue Awareness Month]]. The AltText includes a ShoutOut to the ''Peanuts'' example above.
205	[[/folder]]
206
207	[[folder:Web Original]]
208	* [[https://sports.theonion.com/russell-westbrook-briefly-forgets-how-to-dribble-after-1820239626 This]] article from ''Website/TheOnion'' features Russell Westbrook briefly forgetting how to dribble a basketball after thinking about it too much.
209	* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': SCP #1475 is a person who created and took a drug that allows him to use [[NinetyPercentOfYourBrain 100% of his brain]], giving him complete control over his body to the point where he made his brain rewire itself to [[TheSleepless remove the need for sleep]]. The downside? Everything his body ''used'' to do automatically, he now has to do manually, such has pumping blood through his veins or digesting food. [[BlessedWithSuck This takes so much of his concentration that he's left bedridden and unable to move]].
210	[[/folder]]
211
212	[[folder:Western Animation]]
213	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' has the boys forget how to urinate after thinking too hard about how to do it.
214	* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'':
215	** In "The Fresh Princ-ipal", Teddy begins asking Bob how he is able to flip burgers so well, causing Bob to immediately screw up once he starts thinking about it.
216	** Teddy is frequently prone to this. Give him a task (outside his capabilities as a handyman) and he will make it overly complicated or outright fail at it, only to then comment on how simple it was when he does figure it out. [[NeverMyFault He'll then ask why no one pointed this out when he asked]].
217	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', Doug needs to talk to Chalky after being accused of cheating off him on a test, but Chalky is in the middle of track practice, and Doug is desperately trying to keep up with him, jumping over every hurdle along side him. After the second hurdle, Chalky comments, "Hey, you're pretty good, Doug!" That's when Doug realizes what he's doing and trips over the next hurdle.
218	** In another episode, Judy flunks her driver's test because she has trouble parallel parking. While they're out driving, Doug tries to encourage her to practice and try again. Finally he reveals the reason why. He had promised Patti that she could drive them to Bumper Car Mania that weekend. Upon hearing this, Judy becomes enraged, and starts chewing out Doug, during which time she successfully pulls off a parallel parking job. She doesn't even realize it until Doug points it out to her. Turns out she just had to not really think about it.
219	* A CreditsGag in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FishHooks'' has Snake reading a book on animals and come to the point where it says animals don't talk. When she points it out to Mouse, they suddenly lose this ability.
220	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': An episode has Peggy, Dale, and Minh secretly using Bill's interests and likes as an example of what to invest in on the stock market. When being used as an oblivious test monkey, Bill's a money-making machine. When he finds out and is actively trying to impress them, he begins second guessing himself and the results falter and fail. Dale name-drops the Observer Effect to explain.
221	--> '''Dale''': See now you're watching you.
222	* A RunningGag in ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' is that a character can run (pun not intended) across water or even air just fine, [[GravityIsAHarshMistress as long as somebody else doesn't point them at this fact.]]
223	** Lampshaded at least once in ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' -- they can walk on air across a canyon as long as they don't look down.
224	** Also played with in an episode where WesternAnimation/BugsBunny and WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd meet as small children. Elmer runs off a cliff, and Bugs tries to make him fall by pointing out that gravity should pull him down. It doesn't work, because Elmer is just a little kid and hasn't learned what gravity is yet. Bugs is later kind enough to provide him with a definition.
225	* When Skull Boy loses his [[MagicFeather lucky charm]] on the eve of a quiz game championship in ''WesternAnimation/RubyGloom'', he finds it impossible to answer even the simplest questions. What falls into this trope is that throughout the second half of the episode Ruby offhandedly asks him questions several times that he answers without thinking, only to fall apart when this is pointed out to him.
226	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
227	** "Pickles" has [=SpongeBob=] forgetting how to "assemble" a Krabby Patty after a rival (falsely) tells him he forgot the pickles; [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerated]] in that he becomes so confused and nervous that he can't do ANYTHING right. It comes to a point where he tells Mr. Krabs that he cannot do it while saying the steps, then realizing he did just that.[[note]]He actually says different steps than he does in the beginning of the episode. Either this was a directorial goof, or, more likely, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome all that really mattered was that the ingredients were still the same.]][[/note]]
228	** When Squidward repeatedly fails to win anything from a crane machine in "Skill Crane", he becomes so obsessed with it that any activity that involves picking something up, like a glass, became impossible for him to do.
229	* In the 2012 ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles\|2012}}'', Mikey tries to fight without thinking (he's [[TheDitz normally a natural]]), only to discover he can't, as he winds up "thinking about not thinking".
230	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Leela has issues with depth perception, but only if someone's just asked her how she can perceive depth with only one eye.
231	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', when the Flintstones and Rubbles went out, Barney took Fred out to a skating rink, with the latter stating he didn't know how to skate. After Barney quipped that Fred needed to go on a diet, Fred angrily chased him across the rink. Barney then called attention to Fred skating, causing him to realize what he was doing, resulting in him falling down and crashing into a wall.
232	-->'''Fred:''' ''(To Barney)'' You had to open your big mouth.
233	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
234	** Twilight Sparkle constantly overthinks on things. The episode "Lesson Zero" once had her only give a baker's dozen of cupcakes with only a drip oi frosting just to avoid a mere inconvenience of any other cupcakes getting more frosting than the rest.
235	** Starlight Glimmer also has a problem with overthinking, like when trying to make friends with Big [=MacIntosh=] or Mrs. Cake, she tries to use her magic to get on their good side, but it ends up backfiring on her.
236	[[/folder]]
237	----

Context Main / CentipedesDilemma