"Magic is a great analogy for how we edit reality and form a story — and then mistake that story for the truth," says psychological illusionist Derren Brown. In a clever talk wrapped around a dazzling mind-reading performance, Brown explores the seductive appeal of finding simple answers to life's complex and subtle questions.
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literally can’t believe what i just read in the notification
I so like this guy
LOVE Derren Brown, always so interesting to watch!
Nice but I thought he was going to reveal how he did it at the end. Didn’t get what i came for :/
@Aven W. He mixes magic principles with getting info beforehand. That’s why it seems impossible. I wont tell how those tricks work tho.
@Mark Lucas you are correct in being limited. As far as addressing a flat earthers or an alcoholic you most likely fail at your approach because it is a direct approach. Think outside the box about how exposure through indirect approach would cause less offense, higher voluntary acceptence of thought.
@Aven W. Sure… He doesnt use stooges in the usual way. He gets the information from the persons which accompany the “stooges”. Otherwise the people he uses would seem openly disappointed, and it would ruin the show. It’s basically like “hey man, u are here with that guy ? tell me this and that about him, here u get 100$, dont let him know and motivate him to write up a question… What were his initials again ?” And later he gets the questions and correlates them to their initials… Cheapest trick in the book. All it is, is the performance. How he sells it to the audience. He’s a cheat without skill in conjouring or anything else than acting.
@Event Horizon never simply go with the first thought in your head without further thought to how thin it is and especially never state an assumption as fact.
I think if you look at the content of his talk you kind of realise that he’s leading you through a story then stripping away the parts of that story that allowed you to rationalise (incorrectly) what he’s doing. He starts off by making sure you don’t attribute his abilities to the supernatural. Then he makes a lot of assertions about what he’s not doing (plants, reading the questions, etc). In the first part he sets it up to look like he’s guessing the questions based on what he’s observing about the person in front of him, so you create the story in your head that that’s how hes doing it, and all of the stuff he said earlier about what he’s not doing must also be true. Then he strips away his abilities to use those observational qualities and makes it look much more supernatural. That leaves most people stuck to explain it, and stuck in the story that he is trustworthy from earlier. His performance isn’t about what he can do, its about what he can make you think he can do. It doesn’t really matter if he uses cheap tricks, because his performance and story convinces you he’s not.
I can appreciate the concept, but I have lots of doubts here. This seemed more an easily staged plug, than something educational.
@Aven W.
Did you ever consider that he wants you to think that?
@TeggyEgg of course derren lies and misdirects – he’s an illusionist. the lottery prediction he explained himself on tv, though perhaps even that was a fake explanation. the russian roulette used blanks instead of bullets, but that still could have been fatal and was still a dangerous routine. but the point i’m making is that there’s a difference between creating an illusion and relying on actors and stooges. the first requires great skill while the second is lazy and ultimately unrewarding for the magician. especially given that derren has gone out of his way to expose people who rely on prior knowledge, i think it highly unlikely that he uses that method himself. add to that the fact that he has done this trick countless times in live shows where he has (and i can say this from my own experience) had no knowledge of what people have written nor what they will say.
@Tom Treacy yeah, i have considered that. illusionists lie and misdirect – derren is no exception. but when you see his acts close-up you realise that he actually has no prior knowledge and is just applying the skills he’s learned. many other illusionists have done the same. he’s spoken about his methods at length.
@Edward Ashford lmao this is not cold reading
I mean, TED does stand for Technology, Entertainment, and Design.
Man! This is so hard to believe, yet I want it to be real and learn it.
easy , get an audience and on the screen where it usually says “clap now” you write: answer every question with yes. and boom !
@Der Nesor yeah, lol
Maybe the whole point of the video was getting inside our heads
looked at her hands- from them understood she had a farm. Seems legit to me
@Aidas Baranauskas my question is how he knew there was an allan with a big nameplate in the first row in front of him?
Darren on Ted, yipee. A good influence on skepticism and critical thinking
So TED is becoming a variety show act now? Where’s the explanation? The technique? It’s just a show!
TED -Technology, Entertainment, Design. So yes it’s also about Performances since it’s entertainment
@Baumann992 and MTV stands for Music TeleVision, is that where you go for music? Don’t act stupid, you know what I meant.
Last time I saw Derren Brown, he had hair.
I got old too looks like
I can’t get enough of Derren Brown. The Broadway show is something to look forward to!
3:56 clever to say , I mean red John will be pleased
That man with the nameplate Allan in the first row? How did he know !?
Ha Ha ! I guess he read it before he put on the blindfold – just like he did with Jessica. Wiring the chair beforehand to overhear the discussion with the friend sitting next to him (Norbert)…and so on.
He’s basically Sherlock Holmes but with better Charisma.
If facebook was a man..
Whoa, when did he go for bald look? Better than Travolta level of denial for sure.
If human mentalists are this good. AI is going to read all of our minds down to the last detail. No sweat.
Given enough time to learn and improve, yes.
Even the head bandage looked as if it was from the 1930s to match his clothes! . How did he do that?
So basically he tells stories to people and they think they are true because how they are told. The dude isn’t selling his company and dude had nothing with his toe. It’s just that they become convinced they do.
“Mentalism, mind-reading and the art of getting inside you…..” says the thumbnail. Sounds like an awkward date kit.
So, when exactly is Ted gonna show up, haven’t seen him in a single video yet.