Conjuring With the Mind
One of life’s greatest joys is the human mind’s ability to conjure mental images that trigger other mental images.
I can speak only for humans. I don’t know if chimpanzees have the same ability. I’ve never tried being a chimpanzee. All I can do is assume that, with their type of brain, chimpanzees don’t have the ability.
Notice that I used the word conjure. The word is a jargon of the magic profession. Magicians usually use it to sound important and erudite. As a Filipino magician performing for family audiences, I use the word quite often. The reason? I have this frequent urge to sound important and erudite. It’s an urge I can’t resist.
What has all this to do with mental images?
Plenty. Imagine “hair and scissors.” What mental image do you see? A picture of two compatible things. Nothing jars the senses, unless the images of bald Britney Spears intrude.
Imagine something else, say, “scissors and tongue.” Now incomprehension paralyzes your brain. The image you see jolts you, and for good reason. “Scissors and tongue” is as incompatible as French kiss and Japanese sashimi.
Well, maybe “scissors and tongue” is an Italian’s statement of dissatisfaction with French kissing. You see, according to a news report, a Milan teacher cut an unruly 7-year-old pupil’s tongue with scissors to silence him. No, there’s no mention of French kissing before the incident, so please don’t get ahead of the story.
The child needed five stitches, while the police needed to review their investigative techniques. As of the filing of the report, they were still trying to find out whether the tongue-cutting was intentional or a bad joke.
They should have consulted a Filipino magician like me. I would have told them in .00023455 milliseconds that five stitches are a bad joke. And my expert answer would have enlightened them promptly.
Cutting-the-magician’s tongue, though, is a good trick. If memory serves me right, I believe Penn and Teller did it once on national television. But please don’t try it at home, or at school, or to your brother or sister. The trick is good only on television.
Stay magical,
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“French kiss.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2007. Answers.com 02 Mar. 2007. http://www.answers.com/topic/french-kiss-4
“sashimi.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 02 Mar. 2007. http://www.answers.com/topic/sashimi
Kuya Leo,
Please tell me if I am wrong, according to my experience, no matter how good a magician is or the act was, the audience can’t seem to really tell the whole story. I remember you telling us (me and my father,Rael) about the incident you have before, if I can still remember, it was with your tennis “barkada” where one said, you had his wallet disappear only to see it on top of the tree! he he…
I had the same situation last week with a cameraman. He told me a story a foreigner magician, here in the Philippines, who did an act with a deck of cards and some envelopes. The trick was so impossible it got me thinking of the story you have.
Can’t they really not remember the details? Or their mind starts to create scenes to fill the gap?
Thanks.
Slydon
Slydon,
You are correct in your observation. People just can’t remember all the details of a magic performance. Either they downplay or bloat the effects they have witnessed in retelling the performance to others. The good thing is, if the magician has done his job well in creating the illusion, most people will exaggerate the effect.
That’s why we have what I call the False Witness Effect. I wrote about this phenomenon in the article “In Praise of False Witnesses.”
Click the link and read about it if you have not done so yet.
Stay magical,
Leodini
Kuya Leo,
Thanks. I never read that one, and I got some details rumbled. Sorry.
Exactly! When I was in college, I usually perform with my friends and the effects I made were not merely half as legendary as the stories told by the witness.
You’re a genius!
Slydon
I think this is a case of “selective perception” wherein the audience simply remember what he/she wants to remember.