Research Article–The Science of Magic: How Magicians Manipulate Our Minds

Kelsey Holland

Professor White

Idea Development

May 5, 2012

The Science of Magic: How Magicians Manipulate Our Minds

Have you ever wondered how magicians work their magic?  Most humans are easily fooled by magicians and fascinated by magic tricks that appear to defy the working laws of science and logic.  Magicians have been tricking and manipulating the human mind for years, and most of us do not question their tactics.  But how do they do it?  Magicians use a variety of techniques such as misdirection, illusions, and forcing of ideas to manipulate audiences during performances.

During his TED presentation Marco Tempest says, “Magic is deception.  But it is a deception that we enjoy…It’s fun to be fooled.”¹   Most of us do not know how a magician tricks us, but we still enjoy it.  Recently, psychologists and neuroscientists have begun researching how magicians manipulate our minds; however, scientific research is still in early stages.  Psychologist Ron Rensink says, “The degree to which a magician can control someone’s minds tends to be far greater than anything we come up with in the lab” (qtd. in Powell).

Gustav Kuhn, a psychologist at the University of Durham, breaks this “science of magic” into three categories:  misdirection, illusion, and forcing (qtd. in Powerll).  Misdirection involves distracting the audience’s attention away from the magician’s actual deceptive tactics; Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris, psychologists at the University of Illinois, demonstrated an example of misdirection in 1999 when the pair exhibited the human phenomenon of “inattention blindness” (Powerll).  When given a task, individuals failed to notice other aspects that did not directly impact the task at hand—in the case of Simons and Chabris people were instructed to count basketball passes and failed to observe a man in a gorilla suit who walked directly across the scene: ²

 Simons and Chabris's "inattention blindness" experiment, 1999

In addition to Simons and Chabris, Gustav Kuhn has also observed misdirection.  Diverting an audience’s attention is key for magicians— Kuhn has especially stressed the importance of controlling an audience member’s eye movement and focal attention.  Magicians have learned that the easiest way to control an audience’s attention is to manage their own eye motions because the audience will follow the focus of the magician.  The individuals in the audience hope that, by watching the eye movement of the magician, they will uncover the trick behind an illusion (Macknik et al. 872-873).  Another easy way for magicians to divert attention is through laughter.  Humor often distracts the audience’s attention away from the physical motions of the magician; therefore, when an audience is laughing is the ideal moment for a magician to make a deceptive move (Powerll).  In addition, Devin Powerll also discusses how the human mind has tendencies that are often exploited by magicians:

“The trick also relies on another glitch in the visual system.  Information captured by the retina takes about 100 milliseconds to reach the brain.  To compensate for this lag, the brain predicts what the world will look like in the near future and acts on this prediction rather than the real information at its disposal.  This is useful in real-world situations such as driving a car, but it also gives magicians an opening to exploit.  Magicians have developed tricks and loopholes around the natural psyche, taking advantage of the tendencies and flaws of an audience member’s mind.” (Powerll)

Marco Tempest discusses the exploitation of magicians to the TED audience.  He says, “The tricks of magic have one special element.  They are stories with a twist.  Now Edward de Bono argued that our brains are pattern-making machines.  He said that magicians deliberately exploit the way their audiences think” (Tempest).  The audience watches a magician perform a magic trick as they would listen to someone tell them a story; however, it is when there is a surprise effect or an element that defies natural logic that an audience is truly amazed by a magic trick (Tempest).  Martinez-Conde and Macknik discuss this in more detail:  when an audience watches a magic trick their attention is drawn to the effect but diverted away from the magician’s methods (75).

Raymond Joseph Teller, American magician. Click image to see Teller reveal the deception and tactics behind one of his magic tricks.3

Most of the magic tricks that are performed by magicians are simply illusions.  Magicians use visual and cognitive illusions to fool and manipulate the expectations of an audience.  Examples of these illusions are “spoon bending” and object vanishment (Macknik et al. 871-872).  Martinez-Courte and Macknik explain why the illusion of “spoon bending is successful:  “Neurons in the visual cortex sensitive to both motion and line endings respond differently to oscillations than other visual neurons do.  The result is an apparent discrepancy between the ends of a stimulus and its center; a solid object seems to flex in the middle” (77).  Misdirection is a form of cognitive illusion—the magician is actually manipulating and exploiting the minds of the audience members.   When a magician performs a trick he or she knows that the audience is unlikely to notice motions or objects that he or she ignores. (Macknik et al. 872-873).  The key to a successful magic trick is managing a movement that the audience does not see, notice, or suspect:  this is most successfully done when the magician has power over their audience members.

The third aspect of magicians’ manipulation is forcing.  Forcing involves giving an audience the illusion of choice when, in reality, the magician has a plan in place, eliminating any real freedom of choice (Powerll).  For example, magicians frequently play off of the human tendency to believe that one event will cause another event.  Martinez-Conde and Macknik discuss this using the following scenario:  “The skilled magician takes advantage of that predisposition by making sure that event A (say, pouring water on a ball) always precedes event B (the ball disappearing).  In fact, A does not cause B, but its prior appearance helps the magician to make it seem so” (79).  In this situation, the magician is using the audience members’ own assumptions to force them into believing beliefs that are false—the audience will assume that event A causes event B.  Therefore, members of the audience will not discover how the magician is actually making event B happen.

Scientific research in psychology and neurobiology has made many strives to more fully understand the success of magicians.  Future research may involve further investigations into the human brain’s tendencies and susceptibilities to techniques of misdirection.  This knowledge would increase scientists’ understanding of the relationship between magic and science (Gustav and Martinez 5-6).  Audiences of magic shows love tricks that amaze and thrill them and that defy natural logic.  Magicians will continue to search for and practice new techniques of misdirection, illusions, and forcing to baffle and amaze their audiences.  Meanwhile, scientists will likely develop empirical experiments to test magicians’ techniques as well as the mental tendencies of the human mind (Gustav and Martinez 6).  Magicians work their magic with skills of precision and skill, and it may be a long time before audience members are able to fully understand how magicians manage to fool them so easily.

Works Cited

Kuhn, Gustav and Luis M. Marinez. “Misdirection—Past, Present, and the Future.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 6. Jan 2012. Web.

Macknik, Stephen L. et al. “Attention and Awareness in Stage Magic: Turning Tricks Into Research.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9.11 (2008): 871-879. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 May 2012.

Marinez-Conde, Susana and Stephen L. Macknik. “Magic and the Brain.” Scientific American Dec 2008: 72-79. Print.

Powerll, Devin. “Magicology: How Magicians Control Your Mind.” New Scientist. 24. Dec. 2008. Mind Power News. Web. 11. April 2012.

Tempest, Marco. “A Magical Tale (with augmented reality).” TED.com. TED Conferences. Mar. 2012. Web. 16 April 2012.

Media References

¹ Tempest, Marco. “A Magical Tale (with augmented reality).” TED.com. TED Conferences. Mar. 2012. Web. 16 April 2012.

² Simons & Chabris. “Selective Attention Test.” YouTube. YouTube. 1999. Web. 3 May 2012.

³ Gravenor, Misha. “How to Do a Magic Trick: The Magician Teller Tells How to Pull Coins Out of Thin Air.” Scientific American. 24 Nov. 2008. Web. 5 May 2012.

A Childhood Memory

I took this picture at a pond near my hometown, and it reminds me of my childhood days when I would feed bread to the ducks with my sister and two cousins.  When we were little the mallard ducks used to swim right up to us in the brook in my Grandma’s backyard and we would throw them pieces of break or handfuls of Cheerios. The water in this photograph represents the water of the brook that borders my grandma’s backyard.  I spent a lot of time sitting by the water’s edge, and this picture helps to demonstrate the peace and tranquility that I often felt when I was sitting there.  The point of view of this picture is from my point of view when I was little, sitting on the rocks at the edge of the water. I always loved the green heads that mallard ducks have, and after taking this picture I realize that I still do even though I no longer feed the ducks in my Grandma’s backyard.

The Story of Stuff video

I found this video to be really interesting and easy to follow.  I really enjoyed how honest the woman and the information were.  The narrator lives in America just like me, and she has taken the time to objectively observe our nation and the society that we live in.  It is easy for us to live our lives without considering the consequences of our actions/lifestyles.  I think it is well-known that our production and consumption of goods is destroying the Earth, but Americans consider to ignore the warnings that scientists and experts are giving us.  Our pollution and destruction of natural resources may eventually lead to the demise of our civilization.  I have to be honest and admit that I, like many others, am guilty of taking advantage of the lifestyle that I live.  It is much easier to avoid thinking about the destruction of forests, the pollution of the air and water, the detrimental effects on third world residents, or the garbage that is overloading the Earth.  But after watching this video I have hope that it is not too late to change our lifestyle.  If many people come together, then I have hope that it is not too late to save our planet.

Learning to Love You More assignment

Record the words of your day.

How to do this:

1. Choose a day that you are going to record, and carry around a notebook, pad, Post-Its, or journal all day

2. Every time you say something, write down it down

3. Every time you hear someone else say something that interests you, write it down

4. At the end of the day you will have a long list of quotations and thoughts that summarize your entire day.

5. Consider adding small mementos such as ticket stubs or candy wrappers that you may have used during the day and add them to the notes.

6. Do this for as many days as you like, and before you know it you can have a book of quotes that may be fun to go back and read one day.

Reaction to Readings and Films

I really enjoyed the “Learn to Combine” article because it helped me recognize simple questions that I can ask myself when generating creative ideas.  I have always had the problem of either not being able to come up with a creative idea or not being able to develop the ideas that I come up with.  This article helped me to recognize that there are very simple ways to encourage your creative ideas:  look for similarities, break rules, consider “what-if” situations, and look to other fields or mediums for support.  This article goes hand-in-hand with another article, “Borrowing,” which revealed that innovators and creative thinkers have been borrowing thoughts and ideas for centuries.  I believe both of these articles are going to help me with my personal project of autobiographical stories; I have plenty of stories in my head, but I just can’t figure out the best ways to tie all of them together into a creative book that flows from one memory to the next.

The New York Times article “How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect” exposed a thought that I had never considered before.  When I first read the article it seemed as though it was not a very big discover; naturally, when one is placed in a strange or unusual situation he or she will search for a logical explanation.  The fact that patterns are discovered as a result of this search seemed a little coincidental to me.  If you look for reason that may not exist, then your mind will begin to play tricks on you.  I don’t believe the mind is actively searching for patterns during unusual situations, at least not in the unconscious way that this article describes.  I am slightly skeptical about the discoveries or conclusions that this article proposed.

I was very interested in the various discussions of dreams in these readings.  I believe the Creatomatic is certainly a creativity builder.  When you combine two objects and eliminate close-mindedness, you are granting yourself the potential to develop an object or idea that may have never been considered before.  I feel it is thoughts such as this that evolve out of dreams.  When we dream our mind is in a relaxed state, free to jumble thoughts, twist facts, and develop options that may not be considered on a normal basis because of societal constraints and pressure.  The elimination of preconceived notions about a thought, idea, or objects leaves the opportunity for creative thought wide open.  After searching the art by John Stezaker, I agree with the audio clip’s interpretation of his work.  His portraits are intriguing, and I could imagine them being the work of a creative dream.  He makes connections between different individuals and while he uses the features of the human body, he also identifies that no two individuals are the same.

The work of the various surrealist artists were intriguing to look at.  These artists testing the balance of reality by forcing art to take on forms that reality never could.  So many of the surrealist art shows a scene or scenario that is impossible to exist outside of the realm of art because they are physically impossible.  I particularly enjoyed the work by Salvador Dali because it shows a series of almost apocalyptic scenes.  Some of the images are a little disturbing and frightening, to the point where I can imagine his images showing the world’s end, or at least the end of the human race.  As strange and frightening as some of his pictures seem to me, I cannot help but look at them.  His work presents such a dream-like quality; his use of color makes his images attract your eye and jump off of the page.

The two short films were strange.  The surrealist and dreamy qualities of them are clear, and both films present an air of mystery.  As silent films, the soundtracks are very important and the movie makers use music and sounds to evoke emotion and fear in the audience. Both films manipulate time to give varying perspectives of the characters and the storyline.  I have to be honest and say that I did not particularly understand either of the films, but that may have been the point of them.  As strange as they were though, I had a want to know how it would end.  I was curious as to how everything would tie together in the end.  Both films ended with death, which hints at an internal struggle within the individual, and both films hint that the individuals committed suicide.  I may be interpreting these films all wrong, but that is what I say when I watched them.

TED Talk–Keith Barry Does Brain Magic

link to video:  TED Talk with Keith Barry

This was such a cool TED Talk and I have to say that I do believe in magic after watching that. Maybe every one of us has a sixth sense within us. We just don’t know how to use it. Maybe I’ll start practicing my voodoo mind control. That would be awesome! I encourage people to watch this video if you are at all interested in voodoo, magic, or ESP.

TED Talk–Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts

link to video:  TED Talk with Susan Cain

This is a great TED Talk for anyone who identifies themselves as an introvert.  Susan Cain discusses how great it is to be an introvert and questions all of the stereotypical beliefs about introverts.  There have been plenty of introverts in history that have gone on to be incredibly successful.  There is nothing wrong with valuing personal thought and quiet down time.  Society is forcing introverts to become self conscious of themselves and their likes or dislikes.  Schools are established in a way that suppresses the introverts and gives the extroverts an advantage.  The same can be said for the business world and occupations in our society.  We definitely need to consider the benefits of being an introvert and consider the benefits of letting introverts have a stand in our society.

Reaction to Readings

We were given a wide variety of readings to examine.  The first one is short and brief, but out of all of the readings it may be the one that I can relate to the most.  While I don’t dream of one day being a professional photographer, I would be willing to classify myself as an amateur photographer.  Throughout high school I took photography classes and culminated these classes with AP Photography.  The class was demanding in ways that other advanced placement high school courses were.  You cannot become a good photographer by simply being intelligent, logical, or charismatic.  Photography require creativity, thought, and patience.  This short little story by Dave Eggers shows this.  Personally, I spent about seven months taking pictures of horses and in the end was forced to choose which ones were my best.  I took about 1000 pictures, and for my final grade I needed to choose 24, and only 12 of them could be of horses.  Photography is challenging.  It is a form of art that takes concentration to develop.

This leads me into the reading by Susan Sontag. Sontag discusses the importance that photographs have, and most people don’t realize how important a photograph can be.  Photographs are important memories. Whether the photograph is a snapshot for the family holiday greeting card or a image from National Geographic, there is a story behind it because that photograph as an instant of time that is now frozen in time, always available to look back on (assuming you don’t misplace it).  Always treasure your photographs because they may, one day, be the only memento you have an experience, memory, or relative.

People are everywhere these days, and no two people are the same.  “The Man I Didn’t Know Was There” tells the story of a janitor.  The janitor or custodial staff may, potentially, be the group of people in our society that are most often overlooked, overworked, and under appreciated.  This article makes me think of my own anecdote: In my last year of high school I was working at a bake sale for a club. When the sale was finished and all of the students had headed home for the day we still had a lot of cookies and brownies left over.  I took one of the trays of brownies, went to the janitors that were working at the end of the hallway, and offered them some brownies. They were so thankful that I had offered, and I don’t think it was something that they were used to.   I attended a very large high school where there were a lot of students that don’t give the custodians the credit that they deserve for cleaning up the enormous messes that we left behind.  It felt nice doing something for someone else, and it felt even better because I knew that my actions and my thoughts were appreciated by the janitors.  It was my way of saying thank you for all of the work that the custodians do for us. I hope that all janitors are, at one point or another, thanked for the efforts that they put in.  The stereotypes that people attach to janitors are unfair and it is wrong to tag people as lazy when they probably do so much more than the individuals that they clean up after do.

Going along with the thought of stereotypes, I was shocked by the readings about the caged natives and the biography of Saartje (Sara) Baartman.  The racism in these two readings is unbelievable, and it is hard for me to consider people actually believing it is okay to consider other humans “savages” and think it is okay to put them in cages and take pictures with them.  The experiment described in this reading had startling results and I find it hard to believe that people can believe that one person or group is better or superior to another.  Racism is so prominent in our society and it is really hard to believe sometimes.

Lastly, the images and interviews of Girl Culture are clear depictions of the reality that exists in our society.  The three interviews that I listened to discussed how body image affects young women today.  Everyone has negative thoughts about themselves, and everyone is more than willing to dish out criticism against others, especially women.  Females are always criticizing themselves and other females around them. Everyone has hidden thoughts, and the reading about Gillian Wearing’s project explains this.  Similar to PostSecret, Wearing’s project involves people anonymously revealing their secrets to others. There are so many hidden thoughts inside an individual’s mind and there are always ways to reveal them without having those thoughts attached to you.  Venting your thoughts are a great way to reveal your thoughts without anyone else knowing to help you from suppressing your own mind.

These readings raised several questions in my mind: 1) Why is racism so prominent? It doesn’t make sense to me that someone can believe that they are physically, mentally, spiritually, etc. better than anyone else. 2) Why is society so critical of every person? Body image is becoming a prominent reason for issues such as depression and eating disorders? Why does society want everyone to look and act the same? That just sounds boring to me. It’s not worth living a boring life.

TED Talk–Robin Ince: Science Versus Wonder?

link to video: TED Talk with Robin Ince

This is a great TED Talk if you are simply in the mood for some new ideas. Or if you are simply curious about the sciences of the wonderful world that is around us. This talk comes with a little bit of comedy too, which, generally, makes any speech or lecture more enjoyable to listen to. Watch this TED Talk if you are a curious person. I am a curious person and I really enjoyed it.

TED Talk–Matt Cutts: Try Something New For 30 Days

link to video: TED Talk by Matt Cutts

In this TED Talk, Matt Cutts suggests that everyone spend 30 days doing something new or doing something that they have always wanted to do but have never actually taken the time to try. Cutts describes his various personal 30-day challenges and how much impact they have had on his life.  He reveals that 30 days is the perfect span of time for a new hobby or a new experience to develop in your life (in his case, he now ENJOYS biking to work and even climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro!).

This TED Talk reveals how much potential we have to change our own lives and our own happiness. With a little bit of determination, everyone can do something that they have always wanted to do. The possibilities are endless. This Talk is significant for everyone and anyone can take advantage of Mr. Cutts’s advice. His advice and simple and originates with a desire for change.  If you aren’t afraid of change, then you can do anything that you set your mind to.  His wish to challenge himself lead Cutts to his first 30 day challenge will quickly lead to another..and another..and you know how these things work.  All it takes is a spark of determination and hard work to succeed in performing your own 30 day challenge.

This TED Talk has the potential to spread even further in the future.  If one person watches this talk and begins their own challenge, then they have the chance to influence those around them and to encourage others to accept their personal challenges and take their lives into their own hands.  This “pay-it-forward” idea is inspiring and, personally, I may accept Mr. Cutts’s challenge to take on a new hobby or goal for 30 days.  I do not know what I want to try that I have not tried before.

However, the difference in the past is that I never gave a new hobby or a new experience a 30 day trial before brushing it aside.  Typically, I would wait maybe a fortnight of a new experience before deciding that it was 1) to hard to continue trying 2) not worth my time or 3) too boring for me to do on a regular basis.  For instance, I would never consider giving up my car and resorting to a bike, or maybe public transportation, for 30 days.  Acts such as those require patience, and while I may believe myself to be a rather patient individual, I know that I don’t have that amount of patience.  But maybe patience is something that can be acquired. I have heard a story about my sister when she was a child: She once said, “Mommy says I need to get some patience. I don’t know what that means.” As comical as this sounds, it inspires me to think that patience can be developed one way or another.  Maybe a personal 30-day challenge is the ideal way achieve some.  I think I will try it and find out…