An Overview of Cold Reading Strategies
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Mentalism Mastery
Mentalism Mastery To be proficient in the area of mentalism one must demonstrate the illusion of extraordinary cognitive, sensory or mental abilities. These must be demonstrated in an entertaining manner and work together thematically as an “act.” The performer may use any real-world performable means at his disposal. His methods may consist of pre-show work, sleight of hand techniques, electronics, as well as gimmicks to achieve his goal. If the performer is performing a one-person act, any stooges must be of the impromptu variety; i.e. unknowing audience stooges. This is not to imply that two-performer acts are discouraged, only that the use of secret confederates is not permitted. The mentalist must take a minimal approach to props. Any props used should be as innocent looking as possible. Audience members should be allowed to hold and examine as many of the props as possible. Since the mentalist is supposed to be a mind reader, his props should not lend themselves to suspicion and they should stand up to reasonable scrutiny. Of course, the mentalism must be strong enough to fool an intelligent layman. However, not only must the effect be strong, but it should be properly paced and sufficiently interesting to command attention. A good trick, presented in a drawn out and boring manner, will not be considered mastery. By the same token, an entertaining premise that fails to deliver a convincing demonstration of mental powers will not indicate mastery of the subject. While skilled sleight of hand is not necessarily required to earn the mental mastery award, there are skills that will be judged. -
When Entertainment Meets Science: Summit Boosts Innovative Education JAMES UNDERDOWN
SI May June 11 CUT_SI new design masters 3/25/11 10:01 AM Page 5 [ NEWS AND COMMENT When Entertainment Meets Science: Summit Boosts Innovative Education JAMES UNDERDOWN Can the entertainment media, with their formidable skills, help educate young people about science? That was just one of the hopes as the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) hosted the unusual Summit on Science, En ter - tainment, and Education at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, Cal- ifornia, on February 4, 2011. The all-day symposium featured a top- shelf lineup of speakers from all over the United States on the status and direction of science education today. Each of its From left: Superstring theorist Brian Greene, writer/director/producer Jerry Zucker, and educator Tyler Johnstone three categories (science, entertainment, discuss ways to attract students to the world of science. and education) was well represented by in- novators in their respective fields with rel- her students to testify how they are drawn tainment who need help with content. evant knowledge and experience. toward science. In this day and age of Thanks to a $225,000 grant from the From the world of science, luminaries myriad distractions, catching the eye of Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, such as Ralph Cicerone, NAS president; students is more of a challenge than ever. the Ex change “is seeking proposals to es- Sean B. Carroll, biologist; and Charles But the program didn’t begin and end tablish collaborative partnerships among Vest, president of the National Academy with a group of experts bemoaning the scientists, entertainment industry profes- of Engineering and president emeritus of failures of the education system and sionals, and educators to develop educa- the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pointing fingers at Hollywood schlock tional products or services that effectively were present. -
Gardner on Exorcisms • Creationism and 'Rare Earth' • When Scientific Evidence Is the Enemy
GARDNER ON EXORCISMS • CREATIONISM AND 'RARE EARTH' • WHEN SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE IS THE ENEMY THE MAGAZINE FOR SCIENCE AND REASON Volume 25, No. 6 • November/December 2001 THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS OF THE PARANORMAL AT THE CENTER FOR INQUIRY-INTERNATIONAL (ADJACENT TO THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO) • AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION Paul Kurtz, Chairman; professor emeritus of philosophy. State University of New York at Buffalo Barry Karr, Executive Director Joe Nickell, Research Fellow Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow Lee Nisbet, Special Projects Director FELLOWS James E. Alcock,* psychologist. York Univ., Susan Haack, Cooper Senior Scholar in Arts Loren Pankratz, psychologist. Oregon Health Toronto and Sciences, prof, of philosophy. University Sciences Univ. Jerry Andrus, magician and inventor, Albany, of Miami John Paulos, mathematician. Temple Univ. Oregon C. E. M. Hansel, psychologist. Univ. of Wales Steven Pinker, cognitive scientist. MIT Marcia Angell, M.D.. former editor-in-chief, Al Hibbs, scientist. Jet Propulsion Laboratory Massimo Polidoro, science writer, author, New England Journal of Medicine Douglas Hofstadter, professor of human under executive director CICAP, Italy Robert A. Baker, psychologist. Univ. of standing and cognitive science, Indiana Univ. Milton Rosenberg, psychologist, Univ. of Kentucky Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Professor of Chicago Stephen Barrett M.D., psychiatrist, author, Physics and professor of history of science. Wallace Sampson, M.D., clinical professor of consumer advocate, Allentown, Pa. Harvard Univ. Barry Beyerstein,* biopsychologist. Simon Ray Hyman,* psychologist. Univ. of Oregon medicine, Stanford Univ., editor. Scientific Fraser Univ.. Vancouver, B.C., Canada Leon Jaroff, sciences editor emeritus, Time Review of Alternative Medicine Irving Biederman, psychologist Univ. -
The Skeptic Contents Vol 25, No 1 Autumn 2005 ISSN 0726-9897 Regulars
the Skeptic Contents Vol 25, No 1 Autumn 2005 ISSN 0726-9897 Regulars Editor ♦ 3 – Editorial — Who to Blame?— Barry Williams Barry Williams ♦ 4 – Around the Traps — Bunyip ♦ 63 – Letters Contributing Editors ♦ 66 - Notices Tim Mendham Steve Roberts Technology Consultant Features Richard Saunders ♦ 6 - Facing Disasters — Rob Hardy Chief Investigator ♦ 8 - Communication Failure — Peter Bowditch Ian Bryce ♦ 10 - Much Ado ... — Sir Jim R Wallaby ♦ 11 - Nutrition Myth: Artificial Sweeteners — Glenn Cardwell All correspondence to: ♦ 14 - The Psychic Skeptic Pt 2 — Karen Stollznow Australian Skeptics Inc ♦ 19 - Pestiferous Laws — Colin Keay PO Box 268 ♦ Roseville NSW 2069 21 - Sensing Nothing — Christopher Short Australia ♦ 23 - Psychics Dealt Out — Anon (ABN 90 613 095 379 ) ♦ 28 - One Strange Brotherhood — Brian Baxter ♦ 32 - The Skeptical Potter — Daniel Stewart Contact Details ♦ 36 - Escaping the Gravitational Pull of the Gospels — David Lewis Tel: (02) 9417 2071 ♦ Fax: (02) 9417 7930 40 - Resting on Shaky Ground — Sue-Ann Post new e-mail: [email protected] ♦ 43 - The Good Word: Language Lapses — Mark Newbrook ♦ 46 - Review: An Amazing Journey — Rob Hardy Web Pages ♦ 48 - Review: Where Do We Go From Here? — Martin Hadley Australian Skeptics ♦ 49 - Review: Memoirs of a Country Doctor — Ros Fekitoa www.skeptics.com.au ♦ No Answers in Genesis 50 - Literature v Literalism — Peter Bowditch http://home.austarnet.com.au/stear/default.htm ♦ 51 - Feedback: Self Help Books — John Malouf ♦ 52 - Feedback: Sex Drugs & Rock ‘n Roll — Loretta Marron the Skeptic is a journal of fact and opinion, ♦ 54 - Forum: When the Cheering Had to Stop published four times per year by Australian ♦ 58 - Forum: Society, Medicine & Alternative Medicine Skeptics Inc. -
Puzzling Magic Set
Puzzling Magic Set 9 2 1 12 8 7 3 4 5 6 Contents: 1. THE RUBIK’S TRIANGLE 6. CLASSIC SIZED TRICK CUBE 2. RUBIK’S TUBE 7. RUBIK’S MENTAL CUBE BOX AND SHELL 3. RUBIK’S CUBE BOX 8. RUBIK’S CUBE CLONING (RUBIK’S CUBE 4. 11 RUBIK’S ESP CARDS JAR, TRICK CUBE, AND 8 MINI CUBES) 5. 56 RUBIK’S MAGIC CARDS 9. 6 RUBIK’S HANKIES 10. INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO DOWNLOAD Fantasmamagic.com/PuzzlingMagicSet Amazing, easy-to-perform tricks by Steve Vil. Layout by Jack Tawil, Suji Park, & Jessica Mercado. ©2017 Fantasma Toys Inc., www.FantasmaToys.com New York, NY 10001, USA . Made in China. ©1974 Rubik’s ® Used under licence Rubik’s Brand Ltd. All rights reserved. rubiks.com A Smiley company production | smiley.com • Keep for future reference. • Colours, style and decoration may vary. • Some tricks may require the use of ordinary household items. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. I TRICKS WITH THE RUBIK’S MENTAL 36. TIED AND UNTIED ...................................... 10 CUBE BOX AND SHELL 37. SUDSO ....................................................... 10 1. THE RUBIK’S MENTAL CUBE BOX AND SHELL 1 38. RESTORED ROPE ......................................... 10 2. THE RUBIK’S MENTAL CUBE PREDICTION .... 1 39. A COOL SHOW FINISH ............................... 10 3. THE VANISHING RUBIK’S CUBE ..................... 1 40. ANOTHER COOL SHOW FINISH! ................. 10 TRICKS WITH THE RUBIK’S CUBE BOX TRICKS WITH THE RUBIK’S CARDS 4. -
Messing with People's Minds Without Rabbits Or Hats
Chapter 1 Messing with People’s Minds without Rabbits or Hats In This Chapter ▶ Introducing magic and mentalism ▶ Deceiving the senses ▶ Looking into the human brain ▶ Examining how mentalism works or millennia sorcerers, shamans and priests used cunning, sleight of Fhand, clever ruses, gimmicks, gaffs and props to validate their authority and maintain control over the masses. Over several hundred years, however, the art of conjuring slowly morphed into a respectable form of entertainment. Magicians became admired for their skills instead of feared for their ‘mira- cles’. The nature of mental magic means that mentalists often walk a very fine line between entertainment and psychic fraud. In this chapter, I provide an introduction to the art of mentalism and the vari- ous ways in which you can, and in certain cases should never, use it. UnderstandingCOPYRIGHTED That Magic MATERIAL Is All in the Mind A mysterious man stands with his back to a woman on stage. He’s almost sinister looking, with his jet-black mane shaved into a widow’s peak. Nothing is said between the two people as they draw images on notepads – she draws the first thing that comes into her mind and he sketches the impressions he’s receiving from her. They’ve never met before, but when they turn around and reveal the drawn images, they match perfectly. 005_9781119953500-ch01.indd5_9781119953500-ch01.indd 9 33/14/12/14/12 88:54:54 PMPM 10 Part I: Going Purely Mental Travelling light Mentalism is simple, but powerful. I love that you I can stand in front of an audience of 5,000 or don’t have to carry around a lot of props. -
Issue-05-9.Pdf
THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION of Claims of the Paranormal AT THE CENTER FOR INQUIRY-INTERNATIONAL (ADJACENT TO THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO| • AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION Paul Kurtz, Chairman; professor emeritus of philosophy, State University of New York at Buffalo Barry Karr, Executive Director Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow Lee Nisbet, Special Projects Director FELLOWS James E. Alcock,* psychologist York Univ., Toronto Saul Green. PhD, biochemist president of ZOL James E- Oberg, science writer Jerry Andrus, magician and inventor, Albany, Consultants, New York. NY Irmgard Oepen, professor of medicine (retired). Oregon Susan Haack, Cooper Senior Scholar in Arts Marburg, Germany Marcia Angell, M.D., former editor-in-chief, New and Sciences, prof, of philosophy, University Loren Pankratz. psychologist. Oregon Health England Journal of Medicine of Miami Sciences Univ. Robert A. Baker, psychologist. Univ. of Kentucky C. E. M. Hansel, psychologist. Univ. of Wales John Paulos, mathematician. Temple Univ. Stephen Barrett, M.D., psychiatrist, author, Al Hibbs, scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Steven Pinker, cognitive scientist. MIT consumer advocate, Allentown, Pa. Douglas Hofstadter, professor of human Massimo Polidoro. science writer, author, execu Barry Beyerstein,* biopsychologist. Simon Fraser understanding and cognitive science, tive director CICAP, Italy Univ., Vancouver, B.C.. Canada Indiana Univ. Milton Rosenberg, psychologist Univ. of Chicago Irving Biederman, psychologist, Univ. of Southern Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics Wallace Sampson. M.D.. clinical professor of medi California and professor of history of science, Harvard Univ. cine. Stanford Univ.. editor, Scientific Review of Susan Blackmore, Visiting Lecturer, Univ. of the Ray Hyman,' psychologist. -
Ian Rowlands-Full Facts Book of Cold Reading.Pdf
Full Facts Books are supplied from the website of Ian Rowland Limited. At the time of printing, the website address is: www.ianrowland.com The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading by Ian Rowland Third edition Website: www.ianrowland.com This book is dedicated with love to my Mother and Father, two exceptional, wonderful and admirable people. The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading (third edition) Copyright © Ian Rowland 2002 London, England 1st edition published 1998 2nd edition published 2001 Published by Ian Rowland Limited All rights reserved. This publication may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part by any means or in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the author. At the time of printing, Ian Rowland's website is: www. ianrowland. com Like everything else on the web, this is subject to change. You can always track down the current version using your favourite search engine, or your psychic powers. Contents Section 1: Welcome to the Psychic Circus 8 The Greatest Scam In History? 8 Overview: what you will find in this book 10 Three things this book is not about 11 Section 2: How Cold Reading works 14 Defining terms 14 What is cold reading? 14 What is a psychic reading? 14 Readings categorised by type 15 Readings categorised by content 16 Readings categorised by delivery 16 Readings categorised by client 17 Terms used in this book 18 Five popular misconceptions 19 1. Body language 19 2. Shrewd observation 19 3. Fishing for clues 20 4. Vagueness and generalisation 20 5. Stupid, credulous and gullible? 21 How it works 1/7: The Set Up 24 1. -
Oh No, Ross and Carrie! Theme Song” by Brian Keith Dalton
00:00:00 Music Music “Oh No, Ross and Carrie! Theme Song” by Brian Keith Dalton. A jaunty, upbeat instrumental. 00:00:08 Ross Host Hello, and welcome to Oh No, Ross and Carrie!, the show where we Blocher don’t just report on fringe science, spirituality, and claims of the paranormal, no, we take part ourselves. 00:00:17 Carrie Host Yup, when they make the claims, we show up so you don’t have to. Poppy I’m Carrie Poppy. 00:00:20 Ross Host And I’m Ross Blocher, and we are joined with two exciting guests today. We have Susan Gerbic— 00:00:25 Susan Guest Yay! Gerbic 00:00:26 Ross Host —and Mark Edward. 00:00:27 Mark Guest Hey. Edward 00:00:28 Ross Host Welcome, and welcome back, Mark. 00:00:29 Mark Guest Thank you. It’s been awhile. 00:00:30 Ross Host I had to look this up. Our thirteenth episode was an interview with you. 00:00:34 Susan Guest Carrie said this house was weird— 00:00:35 Mark Guest Blissfully creepy, which I really liked. [Carrie laughs.] 00:00:38 Susan Guest He’s bringing it to my house in Salinas now. My house is becoming blissfully creepy, it’s great. 00:00:43 Ross Host Wonderful. 00:00:44 Carrie Host So you’re moving in. You’re shacking up. 00:00:46 Mark Guest Yeah, we’re shacking up. 00:00:47 Susan Guest It’s only been ten years. 00:00:48 Mark Guest After ten years, you know. -
King of the Paranormal
King of the Paranormal CNN's Larry King Live has a long history of outrageous promotion of UFOs, psychics, and spiritualists. CHRIS MOONEY roadcast on CNN, the July 1, 2003, installment of Larry King Live was a sight to behold. The program, Bin Kings words, explored "the incredible events of fifty-six years ago at Roswell, New Mexico." What most likely crashed at Roswell in 1947 was a government spy bal- loon, but the panel of guests assembled on King's show pre- ferred a more sensational version of events. Jesse Marcel, Jr., son of a Roswell intelligence officer, claimed that just after the crash, his father showed him bits of debris that "came from another civilization" (Marcel 2003). Glenn Dennis, who worked at a Roswell funeral home at the time, said a military officer called him to ask about the availability of small caskets (i.e., for dead aliens). Later Dennis, obviously SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 2003 a UFO enthusiast, abruptly observed that the pyramids in Roswell crash site. Doleman admitted to King rJiat his dig had Egypt had recently been "[shut down] for three or four days not yet yielded any definitive evidence, but added that the and no tourists going out there on account of the sightings" "results" of his analysis will air on Sci-Fi in October—as (Dennis 2003). opposed to, say, being published in a peer-reviewed scientific King's program didn't merely advance the notion that an journal (Doleman 2003). [See also David E. Thomas, "Bait alien spacecraft crashed at Roswell in 1947. -
Toward a Postmaterialist Psychology Theory, Research, and Applications
New Ideas in Psychology 50 (2018) 21–33 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect New Ideas in Psychology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/newideapsych Toward a postmaterialist psychology: Theory, research, and applications T ∗ Mario Beauregarda, , Natalie L. Trentb, Gary E. Schwartza a Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health, Department of Psychology, The University of Arizona, 1503 E. University Blvd. Tucson, AZ 85721, USA b Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge MA 02138, USA ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: The majority of mainstream psychologists still adopt a materialist stance toward nature. They believe that sci- Scientific materialism ence is synonymous with materialism; further, they are convinced that the view that mind and consciousness are Mind-brain relationship simply by-products of brain activity is an incontrovertible fact that has been demonstrated beyond reasonable Consciousness doubt. This is an incomplete view of what humans are. In this article, we review two categories of empirical Psychology evidence that support a shift toward a postmaterialist psychology. The first category of evidence includes mental Postmaterialist paradigm events that seem to occur outside the spatial confines of the brain, whereas the second category includes mental events that seem to occur when the brain has ceased to function. Taken together, the two bodies of empirical evidence examined here indicate that the idea that the brain creates mind and consciousness is both incomplete and flawed. In the Discussion section, we argue that the transmission hypothesis of the mind-brain relationship can account for all the evidence presented in this article. We also discuss the emerging postmaterialist paradigm and its potential implications for the evolution of psychology. -
John Edward: Hustling the Bereaved
INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL John Edward: Hustling the Bereaved uperstar "psychic medium" John by a local printer. He visited dieir spook The great magician Harry Houdini Edward is a stand-up guy. Unlike show and volunteered as part of an audi- (1874—1926) crusaded against phony the spiritualists of yore, who typi- ence committee to help secure the two spiritualists, seeking out elderly mediums S mediums. He took that opportunity to who taught him the tricks of die trade. cally plied their trade in dark-room seances, Edward and his ilk often per- secretly place some printer's ink on the For example, while sitters touched hands form before live audiences and even neck of a violin, and after the seance one around die seance table, mediums had under the glare of TV lights. Indeed, of the duo had his shoulder smeared with clever ways of gaining die use of one Edward (a pseudonym: he was born John the black substance (Nickell 1999). hand. (One method was to slowly move MaGee Jr.) has his own popular show on the hands close togedier so diat die fin- die SciFi channel called Crossing Over, gers of one could be substituted for those "which has gone into national syndication JOHN EDWARD of die other.) This allowed die production (Barrett 2001; Mui 2001). I was asked by of special effects, such as causing a tin television newsmagazine Dateline NBC trumpet to appear to be levitating. to study Edward's act: was he really talk- Houdini gave public demonstrations of ing to the dead? HI the deceptions.