Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there by Richard Wiseman Page B
Authors: Richard Wiseman
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your friends and family. Want to appear to bend a spoon with the power of your mind? Try following this…
- When you are out in a restaurant or round at a friend’s house for dinner, secretly remove one of the spoons from the table, put it in your pocket, and go to the toilet.
- Once hidden away, carefully bend the bowl of the spoon towards the stem and then bend it back again. Repeat this process a few times. Two things will begin to happen. First, the metal around the bend will start to become very hot (be careful about burning your fingers). Second, the spoon will eventually develop a very fine fracture line at the point of the bend. As soon as you see the line, stop bending because even the smallest of movements will cause the spoon to break in half. You have now created what fake psychics refer to as a ‘pre-stressed’ spoon.
- Place the pre-stressed spoon back into your pocket and return to the table.
- When people are engaged in lively conversation, secretly take the spoon from your pocket and place it on your lap. Then, when the group is engaged in even more lively conversation, pick up the spoon from your lap and secretly place it back on the table.
- When the conversation has ceased being lively, bring up the topic of psychokinesis and claim that as a child you could bend metal with the power of your mind. Explain that you haven’t tried it for years, but are prepared to give it a go. If no one is interested, get your coat and go hang out with a more interesting group of people.
- Assuming there is some interest in your lies, pick up the pre-stressed spoon and place the finger and thumb of your right hand either side of the fracture. By giving the spoon a slight jiggle with your left hand you will find that it easily breaks in half. Hold the two halves together between your thumb and finger as if the spoon were still solid. Then slowly relax your grip and cause the spoon to appear to bend before finally breaking in two.
- Allow the two halves of the spoon to drop onto the table with a dramatic clatter. If you are at a friend’s house, now is a good time to ask them if the cutlery is especially expensive or has sentimental value. Either way, you now have two options. You can explain how you performed the trick and get your friends to try it with the remaining cutlery. Alternatively, you can claim that it was a miracle, explain that you are thinking of starting a cult, and ask people if they are interested in joining.
This trick is especially effective because people assume that the performance begins when you announce that you are about to bend a spoon with the power of your mind. In reality, it began when you secretly picked up the spoon and placed the fracture in it. This technique, referred to by magicians as ‘time misdirection’, accounts for the success of many illusions and demonstrations of alleged psychokinesis.
People often underestimate the effort that some magicians and fake psychics put in before the start of a performance. For example, British magician David Berglas was once invited to stage a private performance in the third floor apartment of a wealthy London banker. During the performance, Berglas borrowed an empty milk bottle from the banker, attached it to a long piece of string, and carefully lowered it out of the apartment window. Next, Berglas picked up a pear from the fruit bowl, and apparently made it vanish into thin air. The banker was then asked to carefully retrieve the bottle by pulling on the string, and was amazed to discover that the pear was now inside the bottle, even though it was too large to fit through the glass neck of the bottle. This seemingly spontaneous piece of trickery involved a huge amount of planning. Months before, Berglas had found a pear tree with budding fruits, and placed one of the stems into an empty milk bottle. Over time, the pear grew inside the bottle, giving Berglas his impossible looking object. During the
- When you are out in a restaurant or round at a friend’s house for dinner, secretly remove one of the spoons from the table, put it in your pocket, and go to the toilet.
- Once hidden away, carefully bend the bowl of the spoon towards the stem and then bend it back again. Repeat this process a few times. Two things will begin to happen. First, the metal around the bend will start to become very hot (be careful about burning your fingers). Second, the spoon will eventually develop a very fine fracture line at the point of the bend. As soon as you see the line, stop bending because even the smallest of movements will cause the spoon to break in half. You have now created what fake psychics refer to as a ‘pre-stressed’ spoon.
- Place the pre-stressed spoon back into your pocket and return to the table.
- When people are engaged in lively conversation, secretly take the spoon from your pocket and place it on your lap. Then, when the group is engaged in even more lively conversation, pick up the spoon from your lap and secretly place it back on the table.
- When the conversation has ceased being lively, bring up the topic of psychokinesis and claim that as a child you could bend metal with the power of your mind. Explain that you haven’t tried it for years, but are prepared to give it a go. If no one is interested, get your coat and go hang out with a more interesting group of people.
- Assuming there is some interest in your lies, pick up the pre-stressed spoon and place the finger and thumb of your right hand either side of the fracture. By giving the spoon a slight jiggle with your left hand you will find that it easily breaks in half. Hold the two halves together between your thumb and finger as if the spoon were still solid. Then slowly relax your grip and cause the spoon to appear to bend before finally breaking in two.
- Allow the two halves of the spoon to drop onto the table with a dramatic clatter. If you are at a friend’s house, now is a good time to ask them if the cutlery is especially expensive or has sentimental value. Either way, you now have two options. You can explain how you performed the trick and get your friends to try it with the remaining cutlery. Alternatively, you can claim that it was a miracle, explain that you are thinking of starting a cult, and ask people if they are interested in joining.
This trick is especially effective because people assume that the performance begins when you announce that you are about to bend a spoon with the power of your mind. In reality, it began when you secretly picked up the spoon and placed the fracture in it. This technique, referred to by magicians as ‘time misdirection’, accounts for the success of many illusions and demonstrations of alleged psychokinesis.
People often underestimate the effort that some magicians and fake psychics put in before the start of a performance. For example, British magician David Berglas was once invited to stage a private performance in the third floor apartment of a wealthy London banker. During the performance, Berglas borrowed an empty milk bottle from the banker, attached it to a long piece of string, and carefully lowered it out of the apartment window. Next, Berglas picked up a pear from the fruit bowl, and apparently made it vanish into thin air. The banker was then asked to carefully retrieve the bottle by pulling on the string, and was amazed to discover that the pear was now inside the bottle, even though it was too large to fit through the glass neck of the bottle. This seemingly spontaneous piece of trickery involved a huge amount of planning. Months before, Berglas had found a pear tree with budding fruits, and placed one of the stems into an empty milk bottle. Over time, the pear grew inside the bottle, giving Berglas his impossible looking object. During the
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