He mentioned B.F. Skinner very briefly at the end... but Skinner is probably worth a whole QI segment on his own. Skinner is the one who trained these pigeons. In doing so, Skinner found that it was more effective to *not* give the pigeon rewards every time that the pigeon performed the correct action, but rather to give rewards at intervals: for example, every 4th or 5th correct action would result in a reward. His research is the basis for many systems that trap humans by offering a reward at somewhat arbitrary intervals, like slot machines and video game loot crates. The correct action is giving away your money, but you won't be rewarded every time you do. The interval for each can vary, but it's specifically tuned to make you give away the most money possible, but still keep you doing the action. All based on Skinner's work.
@@spacejazz6272 Less than Skinner would have wanted, but still more than you'd hope. The man was a menace. Thankfully, it turns out that you can't apply simple behavioural techniques to every facet of human existence, otherwise we'd be able to teach animals to read or reprogram human sexuality. Indeed, the fact that conversion therapy _doesn't_ work is a great puzzle to behavioural psychology, while the rest of the field is a little more concerned with how bloody evil it is to even try it.
Apparently there is a behavioural difference between Italian and British robins. In Italy they're a very skittish bird and won't go near a human whereas in Britain they're quite happy to peck round the garden with you there and it's because in Italy they have historically and I imagine some still do shot them for sport like many birds whilst in Britain we've always quite liked them and sometimes fed them.
I believe the thing about pigeons having expert eyesight. Both times I've been to Europe I've been sniped by pigeons. I bet it was the same damn pigeon. Waited 11 years for me to come back to Europe to have a second go.
Ok this video which I was sure would bore me to death made me chuckle a lot......love the unexpected humour in Qi......get most of my laughter medicine from this RUclips channel.......thanks QI and thanks RUclips!!!!!
I am wondering how the initial acceleration of the missile didn't immediately kill the pigeon. This doesn't seem to be something that would work, despite his assertion that it had been tested.
A missile can continue accelerating after it leaves the launcher, so it doesn't need the same high impulse launch as a cannon. The Japanese even built human-piloted cruise missiles in the form of the Ohka.
@@alexholker1309 I still don't buy it. I read about the Ohka, and I'd hardly categorize them as cruise missiles. More like bombs with wings and rocket boosters. They looked like small planes. Also, the Ohka were piloted by people, who decided when to use the rocket boosters. The pigeons, on the other hand, would have no idea to brace themselves for the acceleration. Maybe this problem is one of the reasons it was never used.
it is weird how some of these guests seem know so much about some obscure topics. like the picasso thing about drawing pigeons and naming his daughter "paloma". wth these people are educated!
Little known fact regarding passenger pidgeons and their demise, it was the commercial harvesting for pidgeon meat that largely killed off the species, not sport hunters.
You joke, but the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) of 1914 severely limited the use of pigeons, and that’s when their use started to fall out of favour 😂
I knew about the pigeon guided missile and knew that it worked but never realised that it was never actually used. For some reason I thought there were two pigeons in the nose of the missile, not one.
so you mean to tell me that someone has finally found a snipe?!?! I remember many summer camping trips and going looking but never finding a snipe...good on he who found it!!!
Passenger Pigeon were gassed from their roosts in the uk by lighting drums of sulphur under the trees. The locals would dine on the thousands killed this way.
@@OatmealDonk What have they got to do with a completely false statement? The passenger pigeon never found its way to the UK, and the whole 'gassing them with sulphur' is nothing more that made up nonsense.
What if you tried to build a spaceship with a cannon that shoots crocodiles at everyone you hate? What if those crocodiles could shoot heat seeking killer bees insuring that there would be no escape?
“Italians, Americans, I mean REALLY...” Meanwhile, around the same time period, somewhere in the English woodlands, a fox wishes it was only being shot at.
The Passenger Pigeon wasn't killed off for sport, it was killed off because it was an agricultural pest. Also its numbers very possibly exploded as a result of European-style agriculture. The Indians didn't seem to have a huge problem with them.
I mean is it tho? The period we are talking about also featured mountians of buffalo carcasses just to wipe out the native Americans, same with the wolf... and the blackfooted ferret... and beaver... My guy I could go on for hours like this.
I shall do my duty once again in the service of Etymology, and the unpacking of a cultural (mis)appropriation. The Japanese 'kamikaze' (well pronounced, Stephen!) quite literally means "divine wind". It does not, and never did, mean 'suicide' - as almost every English speaker now believes. The Divine Wind [神風] originally references a typhoon that destroyed the Mongol ships in the 13th century and saved the country from invasion. It was revived during WW2 for very obvious reasons, as the US fleet crept ever closer. It continues to amaze me how many highly educated people continue to perpetuate this error. Can we all make just a little more effort on correct usage, please?
Absolutely dreadful, the history of the passenger pigeon. It's even in American literature in the stories of Natty Bumpo (the character from Last of the Mohicans), but now those stories no longer make sense with all the species we've driven to extinction. The animals of this world are one of our greatest treasures, and we're killing them off left and right. Utterly repulsive.
I don't know. In this one, he was just relating the gun he saw at Puccini's house. Visiting someone's house and remembering what you saw there is not the greatest example of intelligence ever. Though I guess it shows he's not suffering from any memory loss yet. In the grand scheme of things, though, I'd say that being an insufferably unfunny bore of a know-it-all, showing off all the things he remembers, to the point of irritating everyone - whilst erroneously believing that everyone else thinks you're awesome for constantly showing off - is a great example of lacking enough emotional intelligence to realise how much you're socially shooting yourself in the foot. Which is a great example of NOT being intelligent enough. If he toned it down and had some self-depreciating humility - and, in the spirit of the programme, was funny and amusing and "quite interesting" about it (which I'm entirely sure someone of his intelligence should be able to master brilliantly) - then folks would like him more and he'd be invited on more often and gain more exposure, fans and appearance fees. Et cetera, et cetera. So, no, he's not as intelligent as he ought to be for someone who knows so much, frankly. Knowing shit is half the battle. Knowing when to tell people what you know is the other half. He fails on the latter far too often, to the point of being a terrible bore.
@@klaxoncow now that rant of yours is over I think he is intelligent because he is and I don't see how he saying something about puccini is showing off and what my comment has to do with my lack of intelligence and I never claimed I was intelligent infact I'm not intelligent at all and never claim I am. In fact I'm as think has pig shit, but you don't have the life I lived has a baby, child and now a 48 year old adult. There is one think for sure you pointing out my weaknesses shows how dumb you really are, but that's good because you're a stranger that has no affect on my life
Just recently happened upon a QI video. Been watching anything and everything I've been able to find for about a week now. I now think with a British accent, and occasionally have trouble returning to my normal accent and dialect when speaking out loud. When this happens, It usually tends to be posh like Mitchell, but it's absolutely horrible and ends up sounding more like an Australian or New Zealand. Help.
The elves fucked up here. If the passenger pigeon had not been eradicated then American agriculture would not exist as it does today. The flocks could literally wipe out hundreds of acres of recently planted fields overnight. They HAD TO GO!!! 🌽🌽🌾🌾🚜🇺🇸
It’s funny how often these guys whine about things Americans do considered we couldn’t care less about anything the UK does. I think most Americans have forgotten they exist to be honest.
He mentioned B.F. Skinner very briefly at the end... but Skinner is probably worth a whole QI segment on his own.
Skinner is the one who trained these pigeons. In doing so, Skinner found that it was more effective to *not* give the pigeon rewards every time that the pigeon performed the correct action, but rather to give rewards at intervals: for example, every 4th or 5th correct action would result in a reward.
His research is the basis for many systems that trap humans by offering a reward at somewhat arbitrary intervals, like slot machines and video game loot crates. The correct action is giving away your money, but you won't be rewarded every time you do. The interval for each can vary, but it's specifically tuned to make you give away the most money possible, but still keep you doing the action. All based on Skinner's work.
quite interesting
how often are discoveries in animal psychology used in relation to humans?
@@spacejazz6272 Less than Skinner would have wanted, but still more than you'd hope. The man was a menace.
Thankfully, it turns out that you can't apply simple behavioural techniques to every facet of human existence, otherwise we'd be able to teach animals to read or reprogram human sexuality. Indeed, the fact that conversion therapy _doesn't_ work is a great puzzle to behavioural psychology, while the rest of the field is a little more concerned with how bloody evil it is to even try it.
Until Chomsky came along.
These pigeons are as big as these ships! Why do they need the missile at all?
😆😆😆😆
QI - Not to scale!! 😬
haha! sounds like something zoolander would say. perfect!
so thats how they carried the coconuts!
even bigger, supposedly they're one mile wide and three hundred miles long
Apparently there is a behavioural difference between Italian and British robins. In Italy they're a very skittish bird and won't go near a human whereas in Britain they're quite happy to peck round the garden with you there and it's because in Italy they have historically and I imagine some still do shot them for sport like many birds whilst in Britain we've always quite liked them and sometimes fed them.
Shooting pigeons is only a sport if the pigeon in question is inside a missile, and you're wearing a t shirt with a boat graphic on it.
If you play chicken with a pigeon, do you call it "Chicken" or "Pigeon?"
@@wmradar O' fowl
The most dangerous game.
I want this as a sport
When Stephen brought that pigeon out, I yelled "SPECKLED JIM!!!!!"
"You shot my pigeon!!"
I scrolled down here to say the exact same thing! :)
I don't care if he's been rogering the Duke of York with a prize-winning leek! HE SHOT MY PIGEON!!!
@@dannym1882 Captain Blackadder definitely did not shoot this delicious, plump-breasted pigeon.
Lucky the Flanders pigeon murderer wasn't there
I believe the thing about pigeons having expert eyesight. Both times I've been to Europe I've been sniped by pigeons. I bet it was the same damn pigeon. Waited 11 years for me to come back to Europe to have a second go.
Thank you! My biggest laugh of the day!
Homing missile pigeons... quite literally.
when you realize worms 2 was actually based on IRL.
I glanced up at the screen at 3:47 and nearly died.
Are you new to computers?
@@hynjus001 I'm not at a loss to explain the phenomenon, it just startled me. Cheers.
Yes, it's just a computer glitch, nothing to do with the reptilians at all
To all those people who are scared of pigeons, just remember, if one flies at you - it may instead just be a harmless guided missile
Or a goose if you're Fabio
Oh thanks bird Jesus
(He was breaded and fried for our sins)
3:46
I am absolutely terrified
About what?
Man I'm learning so much
3:35 why did you say that name?
Frreak0zoid it was the name of the last pigeon that died in 1914
@@arthurborges7362 r/woooosh
Arthur Fernandes. It’s a Batman vs Superman reference
@evancain4906 that explains why nobody understood it lol
Imagine quoting that absolute abortion of a screenplay in public lol
At first I thought he was gonna say the pigeons were trained to peck enemy missiles so they exploded inside the ship.
Ha, I already started singing Una Paloma Blanca before Stephen Fry could mention it.
SPECKLED JIMMMM!!!!
In my days as U of Illinois filmmaker, I made a film for the study of pigeon's eyes by some South American scientists,
Milton Roberts Fascinating
It's sad that you ended with , instead of a . so now I feel like there was a fascinating story that didn't get typed. :(
Ok this video which I was sure would bore me to death made me chuckle a lot......love the unexpected humour in Qi......get most of my laughter medicine from this RUclips channel.......thanks QI and thanks RUclips!!!!!
RIP John Sessions
Useful pigeons! Who knew? The whole search and rescue application is great!
Speckled Jim! My only childhood friend!
Check out "punt gun". I've heard it said that it was a popular gun used when hunting carrier pigeons.
BF Skinner is one of the forefathers of operant conditioning,
I am wondering how the initial acceleration of the missile didn't immediately kill the pigeon. This doesn't seem to be something that would work, despite his assertion that it had been tested.
Not sure, does anyone know what the terminal velocity of an unladen pigeon is?
@@justvin7214 African, or European?
@@davidmandell1727 I...I don't know that...AAAAAAAAHHHHH!
A missile can continue accelerating after it leaves the launcher, so it doesn't need the same high impulse launch as a cannon. The Japanese even built human-piloted cruise missiles in the form of the Ohka.
@@alexholker1309 I still don't buy it. I read about the Ohka, and I'd hardly categorize them as cruise missiles. More like bombs with wings and rocket boosters. They looked like small planes.
Also, the Ohka were piloted by people, who decided when to use the rocket boosters.
The pigeons, on the other hand, would have no idea to brace themselves for the acceleration. Maybe this problem is one of the reasons it was never used.
Lovely bird the Norwegian Blue...
Beautiful plumage.
@@ClarinoI He’s resting...
E's pinin' fer the fjords!
Of course it would be Skinner that designed that....the guy might have been a pioneer of behaviourism, but he was also an absolute nut case 😂
I wish John Sessions was on more, he's a fountain of QI facts and is funny as well.
...
And now we'll never see him on again :(
@@medievalist :(
@@aeris2001 I miss John Sessions *and YOU.*
It’s all going well until one of the birds get loose and pop every liferaft in sight and probably try to eat the survivors for food
A primitive servitor targetting system using a bird from Terra... Trully astounding.
Speckled Jim !!!
Always admired John Sessions - never said a dull thing.
Pause it at 00:03:47 for a scary image!
As of 2019 passenger pidgins are being brought back via Jurassic Park technology apparently? You'll have to ask the Canadians.
it is weird how some of these guests seem know so much about some obscure topics. like the picasso thing about drawing pigeons and naming his daughter "paloma". wth these people are educated!
Picasso's father, to be precise, but yes, I very much agree!
Little known fact regarding passenger pidgeons and their demise, it was the commercial harvesting for pidgeon meat that largely killed off the species, not sport hunters.
So that's why Dick Dastardly was always trying to stop the pigeon!
ofc the reason it was never used is because the pigeon act of 1914 went into action, which gave pigeons the same rights as humans.
You joke, but the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) of 1914 severely limited the use of pigeons, and that’s when their use started to fall out of favour 😂
@@TwiS73DShad0wZ holy shit it fucking exists
I fucking love QI.
That's a plump breasted pigeon!
I knew about the pigeon guided missile and knew that it worked but never realised that it was never actually used. For some reason I thought there were two pigeons in the nose of the missile, not one.
Speckled Jim?
The saddest pigeon story is when Edmund Blackadder the flanders pigeon murderer killed a lovely plump breasted pigeon called Speckled Jim
so you mean to tell me that someone has finally found a snipe?!?! I remember many summer camping trips and going looking but never finding a snipe...good on he who found it!!!
Lol I was absolutely shocked when I learned a snipe is actually a real animal. Still waiting for word about the jackalope.
John Sessions always struck me as someone more clever than for his own good.
Used to switch it off if I saw he was on the panel
Martha?!?! WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?
That was the name of the last passenger pigeon that was in the zoo.
Pigeons taste nice
3:45
The missile worked. It wasn't used simply because it was considered too silly.
Helicopter with experimental pigeon crash landed in the ocean killing the birds.
Passenger Pigeon were gassed from their roosts in the uk by lighting drums of sulphur under the trees. The locals would dine on the thousands killed this way.
Passenger pigeons were native to the USA.
@@SluttChops as were grey squirrels.
@@OatmealDonk What have they got to do with a completely false statement? The passenger pigeon never found its way to the UK, and the whole 'gassing them with sulphur' is nothing more that made up nonsense.
What if you tried to build a spaceship with a cannon that shoots crocodiles at everyone you hate?
What if those crocodiles could shoot heat seeking killer bees insuring that there would be no escape?
The disgust Stephen had when he mention Americans and Italians and 'Sport'. Bit like we British and fox hunting then!
The hunters that killed off the passenger pigeons were Market hunters not sports hunters.
Exactly! You beat me to the comment.
They were evil wankers. And stupid - "oh yeah let's kill *all* of them." Put themselves right out of business.
@@laurawillits176 "Oh there's plenty of other species for us to exploit."
“Italians, Americans, I mean REALLY...”
Meanwhile, around the same time period, somewhere in the English woodlands, a fox wishes it was only being shot at.
You know fox hunting with dogs was banned in England in 2004? Sorry if the facts don't support your prejudices.
Seems to be working out perfectly: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/25/foxhunting-carries-on-with-impunity-says-former-police-chief
The Passenger Pigeon wasn't killed off for sport, it was killed off because it was an agricultural pest. Also its numbers very possibly exploded as a result of European-style agriculture. The Indians didn't seem to have a huge problem with them.
The passenger pigeons demise has affected the relative numbers of white verses red oaks and this is affects distilleries (barrels).
IF the QUI wants to see kamikaze pigeons, they only have to walk in NY City.
Another example of Fry's intentional blinders when it comes to the Brits by not mentioning their own love of hunting foxes and blasting pigeons.
Where are the UK bears , wolves ,....
So why don't they use the pigeons to find people lost at sea?
Wasn't the issue that they couldn't distinguish enemy ships from ally ships?
@ 3:15. UTTER UTTER HORSE SHIT
I mean is it tho? The period we are talking about also featured mountians of buffalo carcasses just to wipe out the native Americans, same with the wolf... and the blackfooted ferret... and beaver...
My guy I could go on for hours like this.
I shall do my duty once again in the service of Etymology, and the unpacking of a cultural (mis)appropriation.
The Japanese 'kamikaze' (well pronounced, Stephen!) quite literally means "divine wind". It does not, and never did, mean 'suicide' - as almost every English speaker now believes.
The Divine Wind [神風] originally references a typhoon that destroyed the Mongol ships in the 13th century and saved the country from invasion. It was revived during WW2 for very obvious reasons, as the US fleet crept ever closer.
It continues to amaze me how many highly educated people continue to perpetuate this error.
Can we all make just a little more effort on correct usage, please?
Absolutely dreadful, the history of the passenger pigeon. It's even in American literature in the stories of Natty Bumpo (the character from Last of the Mohicans), but now those stories no longer make sense with all the species we've driven to extinction.
The animals of this world are one of our greatest treasures, and we're killing them off left and right. Utterly repulsive.
I don’t think the question was answered clearly.”:
What’s the point of the 3x300 mile pigeons that shat hills?
That’s why they were hunted to extinction...
I realize they get the clicks but could you do snippets from the show that don't involve animals for a bit
Any particular reason?
@@_pb2 just some variety is all
That's an oddly specific request.
John sessions is so intelligent.
I agree, he is. But he's also quite irritating.
Nice try John Sessions
I don't know. In this one, he was just relating the gun he saw at Puccini's house. Visiting someone's house and remembering what you saw there is not the greatest example of intelligence ever. Though I guess it shows he's not suffering from any memory loss yet.
In the grand scheme of things, though, I'd say that being an insufferably unfunny bore of a know-it-all, showing off all the things he remembers, to the point of irritating everyone - whilst erroneously believing that everyone else thinks you're awesome for constantly showing off - is a great example of lacking enough emotional intelligence to realise how much you're socially shooting yourself in the foot.
Which is a great example of NOT being intelligent enough. If he toned it down and had some self-depreciating humility - and, in the spirit of the programme, was funny and amusing and "quite interesting" about it (which I'm entirely sure someone of his intelligence should be able to master brilliantly) - then folks would like him more and he'd be invited on more often and gain more exposure, fans and appearance fees. Et cetera, et cetera.
So, no, he's not as intelligent as he ought to be for someone who knows so much, frankly.
Knowing shit is half the battle. Knowing when to tell people what you know is the other half. He fails on the latter far too often, to the point of being a terrible bore.
@@klaxoncow now that rant of yours is over I think he is intelligent because he is and I don't see how he saying something about puccini is showing off and what my comment has to do with my lack of intelligence and I never claimed I was intelligent infact I'm not intelligent at all and never claim I am. In fact I'm as think has pig shit, but you don't have the life I lived has a baby, child and now a 48 year old adult. There is one think for sure you pointing out my weaknesses shows how dumb you really are, but that's good because you're a stranger that has no affect on my life
@@klaxoncow speaking of terrible bores :p
Don't tell elon Musk about this or he'll incorporate this method into his cars.
Just recently happened upon a QI video. Been watching anything and everything I've been able to find for about a week now. I now think with a British accent, and occasionally have trouble returning to my normal accent and dialect when speaking out loud. When this happens, It usually tends to be posh like Mitchell, but it's absolutely horrible and ends up sounding more like an Australian or New Zealand. Help.
@RustRoomOfDoom what is wrong with a Kiwi or Aussie accent? Just wondering.
Anna Pashley Didn’t mean there was, just the whole situation of my inability to speak normally any longer
Check out Would I Lie to You and The Big Fat Quiz. You can find them both on RUclips too 😊
@@annapashley6143 Why are you trying to be offended?
So long as Rowan Atkinson is not around, I see no reason why this shouldn't work.
after it the got 40 virgins of grain in the otherworld i guess😶
The elves fucked up here. If the passenger pigeon had not been eradicated then American agriculture would not exist as it does today. The flocks could literally wipe out hundreds of acres of recently planted fields overnight. They HAD TO GO!!! 🌽🌽🌾🌾🚜🇺🇸
More evidence of American logic.
At least they learn from the their mistakes!
Not.
Is that guy on the far left trying to get a gold star or something?
You don't seem to understand the idea of this show. I do however find it quite interesting that you still seem to enjoy it.
It’s funny how often these guys whine about things Americans do considered we couldn’t care less about anything the UK does. I think most Americans have forgotten they exist to be honest.
RIP John Sessions