NancyLebovitz comments on Open Thread June 2010, Part 4 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: Will_Newsome 19 June 2010 04:34AM

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Comment author: NancyLebovitz 27 June 2010 02:59:48PM 4 points [-]

News and mental focus

RIKI OTT: Exxon never said it in a press conference. Just when the media started to ask questions, where did that 10.8 million gallons come from, has it been independently verified, Frank Iarossi, the owner of Exxon Shipping, at a press conference said, alcohol may be involved. And I kid you not, I witnessed the entire international media just switch tracks, and that was how we got 10.8 million gallons, rounded up to 11.

A couple years later, when I saw the movie Wag the Dog, I saw that scene where the president was just about to get nailed, and a plant in the audience says, well, what about the bombs in Albania? And the whole media switched to bombs in Albania. And I rose up out of my seat, and I said, that is how we got 11 million gallons. And my two friends each grabbed a wrist and pulled me back down into my chair. And I just swore that I would never forget 38 million gallons.

Comment author: xamdam 27 June 2010 04:27:13PM *  1 point [-]

I think Derren Brown uses this as a mind hack a lot.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vz_YTNLn6w (notice specific diversion into spatial memory, it's probably been tried and tested as the best distraction from the color of money in hand)

I feel that mental focus if VERY weak and very exploitable.

As a side note, I think there is another, less obious, mental hack going on, on the audience. Derren claims (in the intro to this TV series) that there is no acting here, but a lot of misdirection. I believe it. I think when he shows this trick work 2 out of 3 times, it's probably more like 2 out of 30. My guess is that he biases the sample quite cleverly, showing 3 cases is exactly the minimum that you can show giving the impression that a) reporting is honest (see - I showed a failure!) and b) the 'magic' works in most cases. Also I think getting caught/embarrassed by a hot dog vendor evokes certain associations that yeah, he can be beat which prevent you from thinking how much he can be beat.

Here is to you Derren, Master of Dark Arts.

Comment author: Vladimir_M 27 June 2010 08:16:08PM 4 points [-]

Note however that Derren Brown's tricks have turned out to be staged in at least one instance. This makes me extremely skeptical towards the rest of them too.

Comment author: Morendil 27 June 2010 08:06:59PM 0 points [-]

diversion into spatial memory

Oh. I thought the point of the subway anecdote jnf gb unir na rkphfr gb fyvc va n cerfhccbfvgvba, va gur sbez "Gnxr vg [gur zbarl], vg'f svar".

Comment author: xamdam 27 June 2010 08:32:56PM *  0 points [-]

Yes, I missed it, largely due to lack of knowledge of NLP. I wouldn't be surprised if the spatial thing is true also, (and possibly intended) making people picture something is supposed to make them look up IIRC.

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