It was Sibley-blog-regular, Jen, who sent me details of a video card trick performed by one of my favourite magical people, Professor Richard Wiseman...As a member of The Magic Circle, I am most certainly not in favour of the exposure of magic tricks because the moment we know how they are done, the 'magic' really does evaporate and that delicious sense of wonder is replaced by disappointment - even annoyance at having been so gullible.
Richard began his career as a magician, but many of his experiments, nowadays, are concerned with the psychology of perception; our ability - or inability - to see and understand things as they really are - not as people tell us they are.
The Professor's lesson can be applied not merely to the world of magic but to politics, religion, media, advertising and any other sphere of life where people seek to influence our view of the ourselves, each other or the world...
So, watch and be vigilant!
Image: Brian Fischbacher
3 comments:
Well, that completely passed me by ! The only thing I have in my favour is that yes, I DID spot the gorilla, sitting quietly in the corner....now what was that all about ?
Just going back to the page, I thought it was odd.... have now got the gorilla joke but won't spoil it for those that haven't...
The gorilla is part of another experiment, but you knew that didn't you --- or were just trying to make a monkey out of me? ;-)
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