Teller talks about the science that makes the magic possible
Teller, the mute half of the wonderful magicial duo Penn & Teller talks about the science that makes the magic possible. On Smithsonianmag.com you can read an article by Teller’s hand on the deception he uses in his magic acts. Those who find their root in the neurological tricks that fool our brains that make a subtle exploitation of our evolutionary origins into an art-form. The magician’s skill, Teller says, is understanding and utilizing this for their devious plans to continually surprise you;
“But magic’s not easy to pick apart with machines, because it’s not really about the mechanics of your senses. Magic’s about understanding—and then manipulating—how viewers digest the sensory information.”
We can certainly recommend the article to anyone interested in magic and the hidden science behind it, but especially to aspiring magicians who would like to know more about what really makes this amazing craft tick and would like to learn from one of the best.
Once you’ve read the excellent article you can dispel another illusion, by listening to Teller himself talk about his article on the NPR podcast. And what a lovely voice he has, miracle indeed. Don’t forget that Derren has a book out where he makes similar… confessions of a conjurer.
You’re a better person with an…electric hat!?
The amazing science of electro-chemistry is showing us new ways to enhance our brains for learning. In an enthusiastic article about her experience with the technology of electrical brain stimulation, science journalist Sally Adee shows us a world without that nagging inner voice, constantly chipping away at our hard won confidence — a world of pure and intense focus. How can we achieve this enviable state? Either by deep meditation, or as scientists are now finding out, by wearing an electric thinking cap. Research shows that a band — or in the future a hat, for the fashion conscious — of electrodes, sending a weak current of only a few milliamps of electricity through your brain, improves learning, concentration and even increases our cognitive computation in tasks like mathematics.
Sally Adee’s experienced her improved capacity on the shooting range. However, in the future this technology of neural enhancement may find common use outside of the military and enter normal society. Because of this, bio-ethicists are already having a field day with the implications of human enhancement, but the supporters of transhumanism – who want to ‘transcend’ our biological limits through technology – are of course elated with these results.
Who knows, in a few years time, our teenagers will be in school wearing all sorts of hip hats, bands and wigs with some tiny batteries and nearly invisible electrodes, living a neurosis-free life of easy learning and enhanced smarts. On the other hand, will those who are brilliantly evil now, be even more brilliant at being evil after wearing one of these thinking caps…? Cue dramatic music. Also, how would an overdose of this ‘drug’ look? A bit crisp?
Check out Sally’s personal article on the experience on her blog and read her New Scientist article explaining more about the technology.
TED talk about the power of introverts in our noisy world
Picture by Alubavin, licenced under Creative Commons License.
Former corporate lawyer and negotiations consultant Susan Caine has written an interesting take on introversion in her book Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. She asks for more understanding and room for introverts in a world where extroverts get all the praise and attention. An introvert is simply a person who likes to spend a considerable amount of his or her time alone in quiet introspection, with a good book, listening to music while thinking things over or similarly solitary experience. It doesn’t have to mean you don’t like to have fun with friends or don’t enjoy being loud every once in a while, just that often an introvert prefers a more intimate and quiet setting over a crowded party. Susan argues convincingly that introverts have certain advantages over the more extrovert of us. For example she cites statistics that show that introverts are better performers in school, despite the extroverts getting the limelight and applause. In out world introverts often get ostracised as eccentric or anti-social by those thinking all of us should be outgoing and socially hyperactive. She says;
“Extroversion is an enormously appealing personality trait, but we’ve turned it into an oppressive standard.”
Take a look at a very good TED Talk below summarizing some of the points from her book. We would live in a better world if introverts are given their place in society without being pressured to fit the an odd cultural norm;
Great short video series on critical thinking: “Argument: A Field Guide in Six Parts”
Do take ten minutes out to watch the six videos on critical thinking below. A wonderfully soothing voice, combined with great graphics, teaches you the basics of logical thinking and the scientific method. May come in handy when talking with your intransigent science, logic and climate denying uncle. Just sit him down and make him watch. Also covers some of our innate brain-biases in the first episode.
On the ubiquity of the “Impostor Syndrome”
Discussing complicated intellectual subjects with others often involves area’s of knowledge in which we feel uncertain or inadequate. You and I would not be the only one to have a sense of not belonging when caught in such a situation, even when we are in fact experts in that particular field. This feeling of being found out as an impostor who talks nonsense despite the fact that we are well schooled on the subject, is a widespread phenomenon called The Impostor Syndrome. Although a rather benign sort of mental aberration, it can severely hamper our confidence. The Cambridge professor of physics Athene Donald has broached the subject eloquently in a blog post, discussing her experience of the phenomenon in the world of academia. She noted that it seems mainly an issue woman seem to talk about openly, but she has now followed up with a second article showing there are also plenty of men experiencing these feelings, although they seem less inclined to identify them as genuine instances of Impostor Syndrome.
If you share the feeling of inadequacy in the presence of peers or when speaking as an authority in academic or other capacity, it may pay off to read the articles and realize that this is pretty common. It’s not unlike the notion of feeling our looks, smells or physical behaviour is inadequate compared to others. Whilst in most cases, others share these feelings, probably at the same time.
The spiritual opposite of the Impostor Syndrome is called The Dunning-Kruger effect. This effect comes down to an obliviousness to our inabilities, causing those with minor to no skill to be unable to detect their lack of competence and hence value their ability much higher than it in practice is. If you and your colleagues all wonder how how that supremely incompetent and dislikeable manager got that position in the fist place, it may simply be the Dunner-Kruger effect in action. The person may lack the self-consciousness and skill to realize his or her capacities are minor and hence prances around with the confidence of kings, which can translate eventually to promotion over more skilled, but far less confident, collegues.
In short, the Impostor Syndrome shows us that even the most competent of people, academics of fair repute, experts in their field, can constantly have the nagging feeling they are inadequate compared to others. Which brings us to a wonderful quote from the great British philosopher Bertrand Russell:
“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”
Painting of Bertrand Russell by Derren Brown (More artwork available in the Portraits art book)
Speech reconstructed from brain activity
Yes, scientists can now scan your mind and record what you’re hearing. How long before they can scan your mind and know what you’re thinking?
Read a whole article on this fascinating find on the Scientific American site and watch a video of the technology in action below:
Further reading also available at BBC News
How Do Placebos Relieve Pain?
“Scientists and doctors have been studying placebos for more than half a century. These inert “sugar pills” remain highly controversial, yet they are widely used in clinical treatment today—especially in the area of pain management. So-called “placebo analgesia” has been observed again and again not only in the pain clinic, but also in the neuroscience lab, where scientists have documented a placebo response in the brain’s pain pathways.
Despite this evidence, nobody really understands the psychological processes involved in placebo analgesia. Presumably the power of these inert substances has something to do with the expectation of relief, but how do expectations translate into basic cognitive processes, like attention and thought? One possibility is that when sufferers expect relief, they are able to redirect their attention away from their pain, creating an analgesic effect. If that’s the case, then expectation itself might actually act as an agent of cognitive control, and the mind’s executive powers might be the link between expectation and relief. Imaging studies have revealed placebo-related activity in a brain region involved in executive function—bolstering this theory.
But this brain imaging evidence is merely suggestive, and the theory has never been tested directly. A team of psychological scientists, headed up by Jason Buhle of Columbia University, decided to investigate this explanation for placebo analgesia. The brain has a limited supply of cognitive power, so if indeed placebo analgesia requires executive attention, then performance on a demanding cognitive task should interfere with pain relief from a placebo, and vice versa. One kind of executive power is working memory, and in previous work Buhle and colleagues have shown that performing a difficult working memory task itself reduces pain, presumably by distracting sufferers. So in a new experiment, they tested whether this same cognitive task interferes with the relief offered by a placebo drug, as one would expect if they are using the same cognitive mechanisms. If not, then the evidence would suggest that sugar pills and distraction have independent analgesic effects.”
Read more at Psychological Science (Thanks Annette)
What if humans were twice as intelligent?
A fun article at livescience.com poses an interesting question; “What happens if we all become twice as smart?”
This is not a strange thought since human IQ has been steadily rising since measurements began. This is called the Flynn effect and social scientists are not sure what caused it, though improved nutrition, education and social complexity in the media age are all pinned as being factors in the increase.
Interestingly, not as much would change as you think, says Richard Haier, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine. Although we would be able to learn faster and remember more (since our IQ’s would effectively be equivalent to that of rare crazy genius Isaac Newton) society is unlikely to suddenly turn into a futuristics utopia of like minded pacifists.
We would certainly be healthier, probably more physically attractive and less superstitious as these all correlate with increased intelligence, but the same personal defects (arrogance, anti-social behaviour, selfishness, etc.) would plague a civilisation of geniuses like they do today. Some of us would be able to devise brilliant new technological solutions to complex problems we face today, but similarly, those with nefarious purposes would be able to turn great new inventions towards destructive new ways of profit at the cost of others, or if we are really unlucky, new and apocalyptic weapons of war.
Certainly an entertaining thought. Be sure to read the article and post in the comments what you would think is most likely to change when we all have an average IQ of 200.
GCHQ challenges codebreakers via social networks
“UK intelligence agency GCHQ has launched a code-cracking competition to help attract new talent.
The organisation has invited potential applicants to solve a visual code posted at an unbranded standalone website.
The challenge has also been “seeded” to social media sites, blogs and forums.
A spokesman said the campaign aimed to raise the profile of GCHQ to an audience that would otherwise be difficult to reach.
“The target audience for this particular campaign is one that may not typically be attracted to traditional advertising methods and may be unaware that GCHQ is recruiting for these kinds of roles,” the spokesman said.
“Their skills may be ideally suited to our work and yet they may not understand how they could apply them to a working environment, particularly one where they have the opportunity to contribute so much.”
The competition began in secret on 3 November and will continue until 12 December.
GCHQ said that once the code was cracked individuals would be presented with a keyword to enter into a form field. They would then be redirected to the agency’s recruitment website.
The organisation said it was not worried that the problem’s answer might be spread around the internet.
It said it would still benefit because the resulting discussion would “generate future recruitment enquiries”.
However, it added that anyone who had previously hacked illegally would be ineligible. The agency’s website also states that applicants must be British citizens.”
Read more at BBC News (Thanks @siobha)
How Music Affects the Brain and How You Can Use It to Your Advantage
“Music can often make or break a day. It can change your mood, amp you up for exercise, and help you recover from injury. But how does it work exactly, and how can you use it to your advantage?
Photo by JT Theriot.
Recently, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords used music therapy to help her learn to talk again. The still unproven theory revolves around the idea that music is represented in multiple parts of the brain and therefore accesses deeper pathways between neurons. Music then helps patients connect the stored knowledge of words through songs and helps create the new connections needed for speech. This same idea has been used for stroke victims in the past, and has been referred to as the Kenny Rogers Effect.
You don’t need to have suffer from brain damage to get the benefits though, lets take a look at how music affects the brain in a more casual sense, and how you can use it to enhance your day-to-day.
Recall Memories
You might remember reports back in the 1990s that said that studying while listening to Mozart increases the likelihood of performing well on a test, but that has been disproven in some studies, and in turn, studies have shown some music has a negative affect on fact retention if you’re studying numbers or lists. Still, performing music has been proven to increase memory and language skills, but for listeners, it’s better used as a means to recall memories. It has been shown in Alzheimer’s patients to help with memory recall, and even restore cognitive function. It works for Alzheimer’s patients in the same way it works in everyone else.
When you listen to music you know, it stimulates the hippocampus, which handles long-term storage in the brain. Doing so can also bring out relevant memories you made while listening to a particular song. So, even though the Mozart-effect has essentially been disproven, the idea that forming a new memory with music, and then using the same music again later to recall the memory still appears to be a sound idea. If you’re having trouble remembering something, you might have better luck if you play the same music you were listening to when you first made the thought.”
Read more at Lifehacker (Thanks Annette)
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