Derren Brown-Behind The Screen(1), BROWN Derren
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
What u up 2?U Behind the screenPowers of suggestion Each week in Mind Control Derren Brown has presented us with mind games we can play at home. In the first episode, he asked us to think of two shapes, one inside the other, and to give each a colour, then amazed us by revealing the very colours and shapes that were in our minds. This week Derren performs a similar feat when, at his subtle command, crowds at the Whitgift Shopping Centre in Croydon unwittingly raise their hands. The bemused shoppers stop and look around, unaware of why their hands have suddenly shot up in the air. In both instances Derren knows just what the outcome will be and why any group of people will react almost exactly as he wants them to. Conditioned responseCommonly referred to as 'thinking inside the box', this form of mind control underpins most of the others. Psychologists, hypnotists and mentalists base their work on the theory that we are conditioned by society to think and act in certain ways. 'We learn suggestibility from an early age,' says Derren. 'We have to learn that if we touch a flame, it will burn. We pick up this kind of thing subconsciously so that next time we know not to touch.' This theory is the basis of the work of authors Laurie Nadel, Judy Haims and Robert Stempson who, in their book The Sixth Sense, explore the relationship between intuition and logic. 'From earliest childhood we are praised and rewarded for performing mental feats involving logic, memory and other measurable cognitive skills,' they say. 'The entire foundation of our traditional education system is predicated on the belief that these skills are superior to other mental abilities such as imagination and intuition. Thus you learn early on in life to programme your mind to use only a limited part of its ability in performing tasks.' Trained to obeyThis issue of authority is central to why most of us are inclined to think 'inside the box'. As Derren points out, 'It's important to learn how to make patterns and generalise but through it we also learn unquestioning suggestibility and authority. This leads us to accept what societal figureheads such as parents, teachers, tutors and doctors say – and even find ourselves offering their opinions as our own.' It was on this basis, then, that Derren was able to condition the shoppers in the Whitgift Centre to act outside their own free will. 'I used the tannoy as a subtle form of authority,' says Derren. 'As people are not really paying much attention to it, their subconscious takes over.' Authority and imaginationDoes 'thinking inside the box' seem to you a perfectly viable go-with-the-flow option? Or does it bring on the horrifying realisation that you need to get out more? Whatever your reaction to it, don't switch your TV set off yet. According to Derren, we should really be hoping for a mixture of both. 'Ingrained patterns are something we all need to learn for our own safety and development,' says Derren, 'but they can be limiting so sometimes we need to think outside the box. That way we can learn to be more creative and challenge our limitations.' Further informationChannel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of third party sites BooksThe Sixth Sense by Laurie Nadel, Judy Haims and Robert Stempson (Prion Books, 1996) How to Develop your Sixth Sense by David Lawson (HarperCollins, 2001) . Reading People: Secret tips that will change your life by Jo-Ellan Dimitrius (Vermilion, 1999) I Know What You're Thinking by Lillian Glass (John Wiley & Sons, 2002) Obedience to Authority by Stanley Milgram (Pinter & Martin, 1997) Coercive Persuasion and Attitude Change The Man who Shocked the World Skepdic
Behind the screenSeeing the future Clairvoyance is a subject that's guaranteed to generate argument. While some people ridicule the idea that anyone can look into a crystal ball and see the future, others tell amazing stories of fortune tellers who knew everything about them the minute they sat down. Even the cynics can't help being fascinated by tales of inexplicable insights and predictions. But how can a stranger know things about us that no one else knows apart from ourselves? How can they guess what work we do and describe our hopes and fears within seconds of meeting us? In general termsAccording to Derren Brown, it's easy – but it's not fortune telling. When, in this week's episode, Derren walks through London's Carnaby Street stopping people at random and instantly exposing intimate details about their lives, he is not calling upon some mysterious psychic gift, but is using a form of mind control referred to as 'cold reading'. A well-known mentalist technique, Derren explains, 'Cold reading is when you look for responses in someone in order to narrow down possibilities. It's more of a linguistic trick: you talk to someone apparently about them but using general language that applies to everyone.' Astrology is a good example of this where, Derren says, 'Generalisations, are used. "You're an extrovert with a shy side," could apply to absolutely anyone. You hear the things you want to hear and not those that you don't.' Deductive reasoningA variation of the technique can also be used to 'read' a person's life. 'When I stopped the security guard,' says Derren, 'it was more a form of deductive reading that I was using. For instance, if you look at someone's belt and it seems that they have it on a tighter notch than normal, you can see they have lost weight recently and so are probably into health and fitness. I also put myself in their shoes: what would it feel like to be them. I looked at the security guard and felt how he would like to be moving around, have space about him. It's making deductions from looking at clues,' he concludes, 'rather like Sherlock Holmes.' We hear what we wantThis was the technique used by the renowned 1940s American circus impresario and skilled psychological manipulator, P T Barnum. The eminent psychologist, B R Forer conducted a series of tests to investigate what he termed the 'Barnum effect', and concluded that 'people tend to accept vague and general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to themselves without realising that the same description could be applied to just about anyone.' Handing out the same personality description to each of his students, Forer asked them to mark the accuracy of the description in relation to their character on a scale of 0 to 5, with 5 signifying an excellent assessment. The students' evaluation averaged at 4.26. The same test carried out today, still produces an average mark of 4.2. Further informationChannel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of third party sites BooksArts of Deception: Playing with fraud in the age of Barnum by James W Cook (Harvard University Press, 2001) The Elusive Quarry: A scientific appraisal of psychical research by Ray Hymann (Prometheus Books, 1989) Flim-Flam: The truth about unicorns, parapsychology and other delusions by James Randi (Prometheus Books, 1994) The Skeptic's Dictionary: A collection of strange beliefs, delusions and deceptions by Todd Carroll (John Wiley & Sons, August 2003) I Know What You're Thinking by Lillian Glass (John Wiley & Sons, 2002) The Forer Effect Cold Reading Cold Reading: The psychic's true power The Forer Effect Skeptic's Journal In this series of Mind Control, Derren Brown has used his amazing psychological techniques to surprise, delight and, above all, entertain us. However, he has also shown how easily we can be conned. This may be for good, as in the pain control programme, or for bad, as when Derren tricked the confused cashiers at the dog track with the winning-ticket swindle. Diversionery tacticsThis week's episode sees Derren illustrating one of the oldest psychological tricks in the book: picking pockets. 'Pickpockets are masters of psychological manipulation and control,' says Derren. 'Though they are gone in an instant, what they are doing when they steal from you is using a psychological version of visual misdirection – controlling your attention. For instance, they might focus your attention by 'accidentally' touching one wrist, so you're not paying attention as they slip your watch from the other.' Crowded trains make an ideal pickpocketing opportunity. As people press up against you, you are less likely to feel alarmed if someone happens to squeeze the pocket containing your wallet or purse. Another well-known trick thieves employ is to pretend that they have dropped something, then start scanning the ground. The chances are that you will, too, and while you're distracted, they are helping themselves to your wallet. But though some pickpockets are simply opportunists, real street thieves spend years mastering the art of distraction. Baffling speedThe young man whom Derren continually pickpockets at the train station, for instance, doesn't notice what's happening to him even though it seems perfectly obvious to the audience. But in a similar situation, most of us would be just as easily stripped of our possessions. As the baffled commuter admits, 'I didn't really know what was going on – it was so quick I didn't notice.' This is because, as anti-street crime experts will tell you, the age-old scam of picking pockets has survived simply because human beings usually focus their attention on one thing at a time. Distract them with something else, and they will soon forget about their wallets, jewellery and other valuables. Charm offensiveHowever it doesn't even take someone to dip into your bag to scam you out of your hard-earned cash. Even the most vigilant traveller can find their judgement suspended by the 'psychological misdirection' techniques of a manipulative salesperson. Derren says when he first approached the commuter at the station: 'I wanted to see how boldly I could fleece someone, while being as charming as possible, so I kept him slightly bewildered with a series of instructions and questions which rendered him very suggestible.' This is how hard-core salesmen operate, says, Derren. 'They draw your attention to another area of choice such as what colour you want, presupposing that you have already agreed to buy an object,' he says. 'By getting you to focus on the peripheral areas, they bamboozle you into thinking you are getting more value for money.' You have been warned ... Further informationChannel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of third party sites WebsitesTrue Magic Choreographic Misdirection World Magic Centre The Merchant of Magic
Mastering the Art of Watch Stealing with James Coats Most of us associate card tricks with the kind of sleight-of-hand conjuring that anyone can do if they practice hard enough – the traditional mainstay of party entertainers. In this week's episode of Mind Control Derren Brown transforms this tradition, imbuing it with a darker and altogether more lucrative edge. Taking his place alongside three other gamblers in a prestigious London casino, Derren wins at blackjack continuously, beating not only his fellow players but outwitting an increasingly suspicious croupier, who is forced to admit that Derren is almost breaking the bank at her table. 'I've never seen this happen before,' she says. 'That's just far too lucky.' One of Derren's fellow players observes astutely: 'If he had been taking risks, he would have lost as well as won – but he just won.' Keeping trackThis is the key: Derren was not taking risks. In fact, he knew exactly what he was doing, predicting every card before it touched the table. 'If you can keep track of the cards which are being dealt, you have the advantage of knowing whether the remaining cards are of a useful value,' says Derren. 'As the game progresses, I am following each player's hands and keeping track of the cards being dealt.' But while Derren is off cashing in his chips, the other players must have been wondering how on earth he does it. Rules for rememberingThe secret behind Derren's seemingly astounding feats of memory is actually quite simple. Using the centuries-old theory of mnemonics – the art of improving memory using an identifiable system of rules – Derren is showing us mind control at its most effective. There are records of people using mnemonics to improve their memory and sharpen their mind as far back as ancient Greece. An anonymous work from 82 BC, for instance, refers to a visual memory aid in which the mind uses locators such as buildings in which to carry symbolic pictures or objects. These are then attached to the facts to be remembered, so creating a 'memory room'. In the mind's eyeDescribing how he uses this method, Derren says, 'I visualise a sprawling Florentine house. In that house there are memory rooms, each yielding information I place there to remember. When I play cards, I visit the card room on the top floor. In it there are 52 objects, each with a mnemonic link to a playing card. A clock set at seven, for instance, represents the seven of diamonds. As cards are dealt on the table I move quickly to the relevant object and remove it. This means I can see at a glance which cards are left and then know when to play for high stakes.' The croupier at the casino has a less positive perspective on Derren's card skills: 'I can see why Derren Brown is bad for casinos,' she says, adding wryly, 'I think if he came here again, he would be asked to leave – politely.' Further informationChannel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of third party sites BooksMaximise Your Memory by Jonathan Hancock (David & Charles, 2000) Secrets of Mind Power by Harry Lorayne (Frederick Fell, 1999) Better Bridge with a Better Memory: How mnemonics will improve your game by Ron Klinger (Cassell, 2002) Metaphors of Memory: A history of ideas about the mind by Douwe Draaisma, translated by Paul Vincent (Cambridge University Press, 2001) History and Memory in Ancient Greece by Gordon Shrimpton (McGill Queens University Press, 1997)
Memory Master Memory Techniques and Mnemonics The Memory Expansion Channel
Anyone watching Derren Brown as he baffles casino croupiers with never-ending winning streaks or inflicts sudden toothache on medical students, asks: 'How does he do it?' The feats Derren performs are not just perplexing, they seem downright impossible. Is he a mindreader, a miracle-maker or simply a super-sophisticated magician? 'The thing people tend to call me is a psychological illusionist,' he says. 'I suppose I employ a variety of different techniques and approaches to what I do but it's mainly a mix of hypnosis, magic and the power of suggestion. But then I prefer to avoid labels. I started off as a hypnotist but I didn't want to perform it professionally, even though I had a real interest in it ... Then I did some magic for a while but, rather than doing sleight-of-hand things, I became more interested in psychological techniques and veered more and more into that area.' Language of the mindDerren says that there is no real name for what he does, though it has some characteristics of what other performers call 'mentalism'. This draws on the idea that we are all born with basic thought structures in place and are conditioned to rely on intuitive forms of communication – a kind of universal body language, if you like. Derren has referred to this simply as 'thinking inside the box'. He has spent years studying these universal responses, learning their 'secret language' as a way of tuning in to our thoughts, and thereby appearing to read our minds. Harder than it looksSounds easy, doesn't it? But while even Derren would admit that what he does is 'not down to natural talent' and that, in theory, anyone could do it, he is keen to point out that it took years to develop his skills. 'It's all about working at it,' he says. 'It took me 10 years to learn this stuff.' Uri Geller also believes that 'psychic powers' are only an extension of our normal powers, and that everyone has the capability to possess them. For him, it's all about concentration, which is rather like working out in the gym. 'If you lift weights for a day or two,' says Geller, 'nothing happens. But if you lift weights every day for one or two years, then you will see the change.' But although these performers share certain approaches, each act is unique to the individual. Sheer force of personality is key. 'It's very rewarding to see what one can achieve without any fakery at all,' says Derren, 'but I also have a few things of my own design that I use to help me along the way.' What really matters, he believes is 'how you commit to the material; what you decide to believe you are doing, regardless of what the actual real-life method might be.' Ultimately, he says, the answer is to 'be inspired to go your own way and think originally in line with who you are.' A long traditionPerformers like Derren and his contemporary David Blaine have undoubtedly been inspired by the likes of Harry Houdini, probably the most famous illusionist of them all, who attracted worldwide attention through his famous public feats of escapology in the early 1900s. Acts of psychic phenomena however, were recorded as early as the 1600s, when they were commonly viewed as witchcraft or sorcery. By Victorian times, psychology was becoming increasingly significant in medicine, and psychic happenings were often attributed to the subconscious mind. This was thought to be particularly true of people who had experienced some sort of emotional trauma. The Victorians believed that shock resulted in an unconditioned part of the brain – the subconscious – taking over and was thought to explain some people's apparent ability to make crockery fly around a room. Beyond belief'There can be no doubt of the fact that when suggestion is actively and intelligently employed, it is always effective ...' said Thomson J Hudson in 1893 in The Law of Psychic Phenomena. The Victorian medium Daniel Dunglas Home seemed to have commanded his subconscious or 'free will' to spectacular effect. He became famous for such mind-boggling acts as washing his face in red-hot coals, and floating in and out of the windows of high buildings. The 19th century physiologist Charles Richet, meanwhile, came up with his own explanation for the phenomenon of 'cryptesthesia' – the act of reproducing drawings in sealed envelopes. He said: 'In certain persons at certain times, there exists a faculty of thought which has no relation to our normal means of knowledge.' He labelled this faculty the 'sixth sense'. Indefinable magicSixth sense? Free will? Mentalism? Psychological illusionism? Call it what you like, talents like Derren's are extremely rare. And while Derren and his contemporaries admit to having laboured long and hard to perfect their art, their amazing ability to entertain, fascinate and even terrify us, remains undiminished because what continues to elude us is their magic touch. Further informationChannel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of third party sites BooksUri Geller's Little Book of Mind-power by Uri Geller (Robson Books, 1998) Uri Geller: Magician or mystic? by Jonathan Margolis (Orion, 1... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |