I was watching tv on a German channel, and this tv program came on called "Gedankenleser" (mindreader) with a host named Thorsten Havener. There was an episode where he visited a university of all medical students. He took 2 volunteers from the audience,one man was instructed to measure his pulse, while another lady was told to go into a separate room without windows, and draw a picture. He could not see the photo. She was on camera, so the audience could see her drawing the picture, but his back was towards her. The audience could not see what she drew, as she was instructed to hold the paper in such a way that they could not. After she drew the picture, she was told to flip it over so no one could see it. Then, he went on a bed that was placed there to get his pulse measured. Every time his heart would beat, the audience could hear a beeping noise. At first, his heart was beating at around 120 beats per minute. Then, it quickly went to zero for about 24 seconds. After this, his heart rate returned to normal. He got up, took a sheet of paper, and drew a picture. Then, he asked the lady to show her picture to the audience. Both pictured matched. The conclusion was that the only way that he could have done that would have been through an OBE. What is your impression with these mentalists? Real, or fraud?
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"He took 2 volunteers from the audience..."
Hey, you know, I have some ocean front property in Belgium pretty cheap...
Penn & Teller can do all of that, and they're more entertaining. It's illusion, trickery, stage magic...
Yes, it is a well known stage magicians trick.
The Amazing Randy did this YEARS ago at MIT. MIT sponsored a seminar to discuss the paranormal. Randy put a plant in the seminar. He then began a series of mind reading tricks that fooled all the experts. THEN, he revealed that it was a trick and explained just how he pulled off the hoax! Needless to say, the scientist had egg on their respective faces.
There is no such thing as mind reading, only manipulation. The subject of this manipulation is never the volunteer it is the audience....MEANING YOU!
What do I think of mentalists? Not much.
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I love magic shows!
Pork222, I recommend that you attend a professional magic show in Las Vegas or wherever truly effective magicians perform. You'll be stunned at what you see. It is beyond convincing. If I trusted only in my senses I would believe it was magic; only my reason and awareness of my own senses' flaws keeps me from deception. You are trusting in your gut and your senses. Don't. We all can be fooled. Rely instead on your full range of cognitive abilities and determine whether there is a sound basis for believing that a rabbit magically appeared or that a woman is harmlessly sawn in half or that one human has access to the inner thoughts of another person. Consider whether your senses conflict with what we know about reality. Don't be taken in by charlatans or your senses.
What do I think? I think it is bullshit.
No need to say its bullshit. I'm a magician myself and of course its not real. But that doesn't make magic bad. You know how they say watching a movie is the willing suspension of disbelief (as in you know its a movie but still enjoy it). Well magic and mentalism is the unwilling suspension of disbelief. :)
Right, I love magic so long as it is presented as such.
Pork222, another thing: If the mind reader could do what he says he can do, he wouldn't set up a show like some Barnum and Bailey Circus act. The mind reader would accept a series of controlled scientific experiments operated by skeptical reasearchers who would endeavor to validate the claim. And no, they wouldn't skew to process against the "mentalist". If someone could actually read minds, scientists would LOVE to know about it. The mental label shouldn't be applied to the charlatan, it should be applied to the credulous individuals taken in by his chicanery.
@Truett: "The mind reader would accept a series of controlled scientific experiments operated by skeptical reasearchers"
Yuri Geller even turned scientific testing into a circus. The funny thing was, even though he was obviously a hoaxer, people were desparate to believe in him. I saw him on TV in Japan in the 1980s. He offered to repair viewers' broken watches and clocks if they held them up against their TV screens. Hundreds called in to say broken timepieces had suddenly started ticking again, including one guy who said his digital watch was working without a battery.
I don't understand... ...why would hundreds tell such a lie?
Edit: I mean unless they were paid to call in. Uri was rich.
They were probably not lying per se. It is a little known fact that when exposed to accelerations, some old watches will start running for a short period of time.
@Tiberius: "why would hundreds tell such a lie?"
Because they wanted to believe. The best scams are when the victims want to be fooled. Ask any televangelist.
I liked the show "Greatest Magic Tricks Finally Revealed" I loved knowing how they did them instead of wondering about it, but know that I've seen the show I can spot how new tricks are done. Same principles and practices. oh hum
No gods or spirits required.
David Blaine on radio show
Radio host: So how do you feel when people say you've sold your soul to the devil?
David: I laugh