Categories: Uncategorized

Go Ahead. Flip a Coin.

I use this trick sometimes. It works pretty well:

Update

Josh Hull informed me via Twitter that the text in the poster above is an adaptation of the poem A Psychological Tip by Danish polymath Piet Hein. I figured that I couldn’t be the only one to formulate this trick after experiencing “flipper’s remorse” one too many times, but I had no idea it had been turned into a poem:

A Psychological Tip

Whenever you’re called on to make up your mind,
and you’re hampered by not having any,
the best way to solve the dilemma, you’ll find,
is simply by spinning a penny.
No — not so that chance shall decide the affair
while you’re passively standing there moping;
but the moment the penny is up in the air,
you suddenly know what you’re hoping.

Thanks to looking up Piet Hein, I also discovered the term Flipism, which I sometimes use to refer to Filipino cultural folderol. “Pointing with your lips? That’s a Flipism.”

Thanks for the heads-up, Josh!

Joey deVilla

View Comments

Recent Posts

Unexpected product: The half-gallon milk crate car cup holder adapter

I’ve done the occasional Tampa-to-St. Pete commute during peak times, and they can easily stretch…

2 days ago

Lucky Tigre / relationship goals

Anitra and I saw the sticker pictured above on a Model Y Tesla parked outside…

3 days ago

Sunday picdump for Sunday, May 3

It’s Sunday, and it’s time for another “picdump!” Here are the memes, pictures, and cartoons…

5 days ago

Before there were demotivational posters, there were demotivational tapestries

I saw this a couple of weeks ago in Austin at Uncommon Objects, a delightfully…

1 week ago

Your regular reminder that we live in an age of wonders

This stuff makes for amazing fried rice or musubi (a.k.a. “Spam sushi”).

1 week ago

No weapons allowed in the bridal shop

Anitra and I were dropping off a package at the UPS Store on Kennedy when…

1 week ago