ciphergoth comments on xkcd on the AI box experiment - Less Wrong

15 Post author: FiftyTwo 21 November 2014 08:26AM

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Comment author: thakil 28 November 2014 08:06:56AM 1 point [-]

Well. While sleight of hand is a key tool in magic, traditionally confederates and even camera tricks have been too. David Blaine's famous levitation trick, for instance, looks so impressive on TV because they cheated and made it look more impressive than it is.

Mentalism as a magic power is not a real thing, sorry. It is a title magician's sometimes took and take to make their act look different. http://simonsingh.net/media/articles/maths-and-science/spectacular-psychology-or-silly-psycho-babble/ Simon Singh on some of the tricks. http://www.secrets-explained.com/derren-brown has a list of some of the tricks he performs as well.

Comment author: ciphergoth 28 November 2014 10:36:47AM 2 points [-]

At least some of these "explanations" are exactly like the explanations Brown himself proffers, eg http://www.secrets-explained.com/derren-brown/card-suggestion

Comment author: thakil 28 November 2014 11:23:01AM 1 point [-]

Well, that's what I get for finding a source without checking it properly I suppose.