The Centipede's Dilemma

[4] On May 23, 1889, the poem appeared in an article by British zoologist Ray Lankester, published in the scientific journal Nature,[5] which discussed the work of photographer Eadweard Muybridge in capturing the motion of animals: "For my own part," wrote Lankester, "I should greatly like to apply Mr. Muybridge's cameras, or a similar set of batteries, to the investigation of a phenomenon more puzzling even than that of 'the galloping horse'.

It has since been variously attributed to specific authors, but without convincing evidence, and often appears under the title "The Centipede's Dilemma".

It contains a profound truth which is illustrated daily in the lives of all of us, for exactly the same thing happens if we pay conscious attention to any well-formed habit, such as walking".

In 1996, psychiatric psychoanalyst Theo L. Dorpat compares questions and interventions irrelevant to the patient's current thought process during psychotherapy in his book Gaslighting to "the story of the centipede who became disorganized and unable to walk after he was asked, 'What's wrong with your 34th left foot?'.

[10] Spider Robinson's short story "The Centipede's Dilemma", one in his story-sequence book "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon", concerns a psychic who uses instinctive telekinetic powers to cheat at darts, and is foiled when another character triggers hyperreflection in him.