优享文档burstingthemagicbubble译文.docx

优享文档burstingthemagicbubble译文.docx

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优享文档burstingthemagicbubble译文

Burstingthemagicbubble

Firstthere'sshocktingedwithdisbelief.Amomentofwonderfollows.Then,adesperatescrambletorackyourbrainsandworkoutjusthowyou'vebeenhad.There'snodenyingtheeffectsofagoodmagictrick.FromthegreatescapesofHoudiniandthesurrealmentaltrickeryofDerrenBrowntotheconjurorsatchildren'sparties,theappealisuniversal.

"Magic'sbeenaroundforaverylongtimeanditimprovesovertime,"saysRichardWiseman,aprofessorofpsychologyatHertfordshireUniversity."Whatyou'relookingatwhenyouseeafinishedpieceofmagicisagreatdealofexpertise,andIthinkpsychologistshavealottolearnfromthat."

But,notcontentwithjustenjoyingthetricks,psychologistsarenowusingtheireffectsonthemindtoworkouthowwehandlethefloodsofsensoryinformationcomingintoourbrainsandprocessitintoamentalpictureoftheworldaroundus.Magicisadeception,adisruptionofthatorderlymentalpicturewherethingsseemtofloatinmid-airorcoinsandcardsvanishinfrontofoureyes.Scientistsnowbelievethat,bymappingouthowourbrainsaredeceived,theycouldevenhelptounlocksomeofthemysteriesofconsciousnessitself.

"Overthelastfiveyears,there'sbeenareawakeningaswelookatthingslikechangeblindness[afailuretoseelargechangesinavisualscene]andatthefactthatconsciousnessisaconstructionandmayevenbeanillusion,"saysWiseman,himselfanaccomplishedmagicianandmemberoftheMagicCircle."Nowthere'sarecognitionthatmagiciansaredoingsomethingveryspecial."

Someofthefoundersofmodernpsychologywerefascinatedbymagicians:

throughoutthe1890s,AlfredBinet,inventorofthemodernIQtest,andMaxDessoirwroteaboutthewaysinwhichmagiciansusedsuggestionandmisdirectedattentiontogettheirillusionstowork.In1896,JosephJastrowpublishedarticlesinScienceonthemechanicsofsometricksbycontemporarymastermagicians.But,asidefromdescribingwhatthemagiciansweredoing,theywereatalosstoexplainwhymagictrickshadtheeffectstheydidontheaudience.Asaresult,interestinstudyingthepsychologyofmagicfadedfornearlyacentury.

But,asWisemansays,arenaissanceisnowinfullswing.

Magicisallaboutconvincingothersthattheimpossiblehasjusthappened.Andthatdeceptionisachievedwithahighdegreeofskillandshowmanship.

"We'restartingtorealisethatmagicianshavealotofimplicitknowledgeabouthowweperceivetheworldaroundusbecausetheyhavetodeceiveusintermsofcontrollingattention,exploitingtheassumptionswemakewhenwedoanddon'tnoticeachangeinourenvironment,"saysWiseman."Thereisanenormousamountofreallydetailedinstructiononhowtoperformmagic.Peoplearealwaysblownawaybyhowdetailedadescriptionyou'llhave."

Acardtrickthatlastsfourorfiveminutes,forexample,mighthave20pagesofdetailedtexttodescribeexactlywheretolook,whattosay,whattodoandsoon.Andalotoftheunderstandingofatrickhastobefromtheperspectiveoftheaudience.

Whilethemagician'sdexterityisimportant,theaudienceisalsoavitalparticipantinthedeception.Afterall,itisintheirmindsthattheillusioniscreated."Magiciansseemtobeabletocarryoutsecretactionsinfrontoftheiraudiencewithoutbeingspotted.I'minterestedinwhypeopledon'tperceivethoseactions,"saysGustavKuhn,apsychologistatDurhamUniversity.

Asimpleexampleofmisdirectionisusedinthecoindroptrick."Whatyou'redoingthereispretendingtotakethecoinfromonehandtotheotherbut,infact,leavingitintheoriginalhand,"saysWiseman."What'simportantisthatyou'relookingwhereyouwanttheaudiencetolook.You'renotlookingatthecoin,you'relookingattheemptyhand.Intermsofmovement,you'removingthehandthatdoesn'tcontainthecointoattractpeople'sattentionovertothathand."

Anothertrick,whereamagicianpretendstothrowaballupintheair,takesthemisdirectionastepfurther."Peopleoftenexperiencetheballmovingupintheaireventhoughthereisnoballpresent,"saysKuhn.Theyclaimtoseeaballmovingbutobviouslyit'snottheresoitmustbeintheirmind."

Psychologistscanusethesetrickstocatchaglimpseintohowourmindsinterprettheworldaroundus.

"Magiciansaremanipulatingyourconsciousness.Theyareshowingyousomethingimpossible,"saysWiseman."They'regettingyoutoconstructanarrative,whichsimplyisn'ttrue.Sothatmeanstheyknowhowtomakeyouawareofcertainthingsandblindtootherthings.WhatI'mhopingisthatmagic,thisentertainmentvehiclethathasbeenaroundforalongtime,willgiveusarealinsightintothedeepmysteriesofconsciousness."

Ourbrainsfilteroutahugeamountofthemassofsensoryinputfloodinginfromourenvironment.Kuhnexplainsthatweseewhatweexpecttoseeandwhatourbrainsareinterestedin."Ourvisualrepresentationoftheworldismuchmoreimpoverishedthanwewouldassume.Peoplecanbelookingatsomethingwithoutbeingawareofit.Perceptiondoesn'tjustinvolvelookingatanobjectbutattendingtoit."

InKuhn'srecentwork,heperformedatrickwhereacigaretteseemstodisappear.Itinvolvednosleightofhandorsecret.Itwasasimplecaseofdroppingthecigaretteintohislap."Ithappensrightinfrontofthespectator'seyesbutImisdirecttheirattentionawayfromthecigarette,"saysKuhn.

Whilehisspectatorswatched,theyworeeyetrackers（essentiallyacoupleofcamerasthatmonitoreyemovementandprovideanexactlocationofwhereapersonislookinginascene）.

Itisknownthatweonlyreceivehigh-qualityinformationfromtheareawearefixatedon,rightinthecentreofourfieldofview.Ifyoustretchoutyourarm,itisabouttwothumbs'widthatthecentreofyourvision-everythingelseisprettymuchblurred.Thewaywecompensateforthisistomoveoureyesaroundtofillinthegapsandcreateabetterpictureoftheworldaroundus.

Kuhn'sresults,tobepublishedinthejournalPerceptioninthenextfewmonths,showedthatsimplystaringatthelocationofthedeceptionwasnotenoughforpeopletodiscoverhowthetrickhappened.

"Peoplecouldbelookingveryclosetowherethecigarettewasbeingdroppedwithoutevenseeingit,"hesays."Otherpeoplewerelookingquitefarawaybuttheydidactuallydidspotthecigarette."

"Whatitshowsisjusthowmuchofthepictureinourheadofoursurroundingsisamassiveconstruction,basedonexpectations,whatwethinkisimportant,whatwenormallyencounterandsoon,"saysWiseman."Andthat'swhatmagiciansareverygoodatexploiting."

Misdirectionofanaudience,therefore,dependsonmorethanjustmakingpeoplelookthewrongway-thetrulysuccessfulmagicianmisdirectsattention.Often,attentionisfocusedonwhereapersonislooking,butthiscanbemanipulated."Youmightbelookingatasceneandthenyouhearavoicefromthebacksoyourattentionismovedtowardsthebackandyourprocessingofvisualinformationwillbeimpairedatthefront,"saysKuhn.

Verbalsuggestioncanalsoplayabigroleinmisdirection.Inarecentstudy,Wisemanlookedathowtheclassicmetal-bendingtricks,employedbymagicianstheworldoverandperhapsmademostfamousbyUriGeller,usedverbalcues.Inhisexperiment,heshowedagroupofstudentsavideoofatrickwhereamagicianbendsakey,apparentlyusinghispsychokineticability（infact,thebendingwasdonebysleightofhand）.Themagicianthenplacedthekeyonatableandthevideoendedwithastaticshotofthebentkey,whichdidnotbendanyfurther.Butavoiceoverfromthemagicianatthisstagesuggestedthatthekeywasindeedcontinuingtobend.

Theresults,publishedthisyearintheBritishJournalofPsychology,showedthat40%ofpeopleclaimedtoseethekeycontinuingtobendduringthestaticshotattheendofthevideo.Inthecontrolgroup,wheretherewasnovoiceoverfromthemagician,only5%reportedthattheysawthekeycontinuingtobend.

Ofcourse,suggestioncantakeotherforms.

"Withtheballexperiment,wediscoveredthatpeoplearen'tjustlookingupattheball,they'relookingatfacialcluestojudgewheretheballisgoingtoendup,"saysKuhn."Ifthemagiciandoesn'tlookupintheair,thetrickdoesn'twork.Peoplefeelthatthey'rewatchingtheballbutwhattheyaredoingismonitoringthemagician'sfaceandcuesandusingthatinformationtoguidetheireyemovements."

Thisleadstoaninterestingidea-couldsomepeoplebeimmunetosomeoftheeffectsofmagic?

Peoplewhosufferfromautism,forexample,tendtohavedifficultiesgaugingfacialcues,sotheirattentionislessinfluencedbywheresomebodyislooking."You'dexpectthatsomebodywhosufferedfromautismwouldbemorelikelytospotthecigarettetrick,"agreesKuhn.

Thenextstepistolookatthebraindirectly.WorkingwithpsychologistsTimHodsonandBenParrisatExeterUniversity'sCentreforCognitiveNeuroscience,Kuhnplanstoputpeopleinfunctionalmagneticresonanceimagingmachinestostudywhichpartsofthebrainactivatewhentheywatchmagictricks.

"We'reveryinterestedinthepartofthebrainthatdetectscauseandeffectrelations,"saysParris.

Inparticular,theexperimentswillmonitorthedorsallateralpre-frontalcortex,whichisknowntobethebitofthebrainthatregisterssurprise,andtheanteriorcingulate,whichisactivatedwheneversomethingincongruoushappensinourimmediateenvironment.

Ofcourse,magicismorethanjustsurprise,sotheresearcherswillbelookingforsomethingmore."Whenyou'rewatchingmagic,thereisjustasplitsecondwhenyou'reindisbelie