The philosopher Karl Popper referred to the centipede effect in his book Knowledge and the Body-Mind Problem: In Defence of Interaction: "if we have learnt certain movements so that they have sunk below the level of conscious control, then if we try to follow them consciously we very often interfere with them so badly that we stop them".
O filósofo Karl Popper citou o efecto cempés no seu libro Knowledge and the Mind-Body Problem: In Defence of Interaction (O coñecemento e o problema da mente e o corpo: en defensa do interaccionismo): «Cando aprendemos certos movementos ata o punto de que se encontran por debaixo do nivel do control consciente, se intentamos realizalos de maneira consciente interferimos con eles tan seriamente que os detemos».