THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS - THINKING LIKE A PIGEON

by John Clements

I have just watched a BBC programme about the personality of those few scientists who have made a giant contribution to our understanding of the universe on the large scale and our understanding of what goes on inside atoms on the small scale. Strangely enough here are similarities, for the mechanisms that operate on a universal scale also operate inside the atom.

Einstein was of course quoted endlessly, for it is Einstein and his understanding of space time as being ‘relative’ that unclothed much of what happens on the vast scale of the entire universe. What Einstein did was to imagine himself as a ‘proton’ (a basic particle of light) travelling through the universe. He imagined what the effects would be and how his ‘proton’ was affected by gravity. He ultimately described what happened and how space time is conceived. The imaginative process he employed was a ‘thought experiment’ conducted inside his head. Thought experiments happen in other fields and other disciplines as well as science. Football mangers, for example, use this device to imagine how well the various playing formations will work against their opponents. They ask the question will the ‘four three three’ be more effective than the ‘five three two’ or some other alternative.

If we are good fanciers we too should operate our own ‘thought experiments’. We should be able to put ourselves in the place of a 700 mile pigeon flying from Tarbes back to England.  We should, through our minds, be able to understand the situation the pigeon finds itself in when it rests for the night gets up next morning continues and then faces the channel crossing.  Equipped with this information in our minds, we can then decide what type of pigeon we should own to do the job.

Albert Einstein

It does not take much of an imagination to think that a pigeon, which psychologically relies on flying with other pigeons as a part of its nature, may be hesitant at the time it is about to cross the channel. Such hesitancy may make the pigeon wait for others to join him or her but hesitancy will not help a pigeon get into a high position in the race. It does not take much imagination to think that a pigeon which feels itself not in top form because it has a very minor respiratory condition will also not have the confidence and bravery to cross the channel in its stride. It does not take much of an imagination to understand that a pigeon has to be hugely driven and motivated to cross the channel alone.

Thought experiments can also work for sprint pigeons. We can in our minds join a pigeon flying from a 100-mile race and attempt to find out the kind of pigeon and the kind of circumstances that produce top speed. If we do this we find that a pigeon in a flock flying with other fast birds travels faster than a pigeon on its own. This is exactly the opposite of greater long distance birds flying from 700 miles where the pigeon is forced to fly alone and rely on its own resources. The fact that sprint birds fly faster in a flock is well known but the management of the flock is not so well known. Some fanciers think it is due to things they call ‘breaking points’.  This is only half the picture. The real way to speed is to create your own drag inside your own loft. If you can release a group of pigeons from the same section every day so they fly fast as a trained group they can then create their own flock and their own drag regardless of other pigeons in the race. These pigeons may or may not be superior individuals but as a trained group they are superior and faster. That is why thought experiments work and why those who understand pigeons through this process and are prepared to use what they find can take the first five or six places in the federation more than once in a season.

All this comes from a mental experiment imagining a sprint race and your group of pigeons homing at speed to your loft, but in this case the ‘thought experiment’ also has to take into account the dynamics of the pigeons from the same compartment. Individuals of course fight for perches jealousy between birds happens and other social dynamics common to pigeons occur. A thought experiment, thinking like a pigeon, releases greater understanding and ultimately competitive advantage. It might also sell a few pigeons and to cap it all I am of the belief that pigeons in flight can and do recognise each other sufficiently to join up as a fast flock for the journey home.

So, in truth it does not matter if we are racing from 700 miles or 70 miles in both cases we have to think like a pigeon. I should think that only ten percent of fanciers are able to do this. Ninety percent only think of winning and not of understanding. This ‘thought experiment’ stuff in common terms is called ‘imagination’ but in real terms it is a way towards greater understanding.

To get to these high points ‘thought experiments’ are vital. If we can manage it, it certainly pays off. Greater understanding can then be used to condition and select our pigeons.  Greater understanding can be used to train pigeons. Greater understanding can be used to win. Without this greater understanding we are lost souls without direction relying on the kind of ego that talks a good pigeon. In most cases this is not enough. It definitely seems to make a lot of sense to copy the thinking methods of great minds like Einstein in our quest to find out more about pigeons.

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