![]() For example, is a dog's look of surprise at a sleight-of-hand trick due to confusion, or annoyance at finding its treat suddenly missing? They note that for an animal to truly "get" a magic trick, it has to have some fundamental understanding of how things in the world work objects should fall down when dropped, for example, or remain in existence unless something forces them to disappear. More specifically, the authors suggest that researchers first try to determine if animals besides humans really are fooled by magic tricks. The authors suggest that it might be time to look a little deeper, and in the process, perhaps learn more about the brains of other creatures. What is missing from such videos, they note, are efforts to understand what the animals think, or whether they are truly as awed by such magic acts as their reactions might indicate. YouTube has a never-ending stream of videos demonstrating the humor of watching as animals try to comprehend how a food treat could somehow simply disappear. In their paper, the authors suggest the same should be true for animals exposed to magic tricks.įooling animals with magic tricks is nothing new, of course, as the authors readily acknowledge. How is the mind fooled, for example, and what impact does witnessing a magic trick have on the person watching it? Studying the ways that magic tricks fool the brain may also shed light on so-called blind spots in perception. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.As the authors note, scientists trying to understand how the human brain works have in recent years been looking at magic tricks as a possible tool. Not so different, perhaps, from the reactions that Silly Billy gets from an excited 3-year old audience, when properly entertained with just the right types of tricks. In another YouTube video, a young chimp introduced to magic appears to exhibit a wider range of responses, from puzzlement to perhaps something close to delight. ![]() Maybe it’s different for great apes, however. Anthropomorphic interpretation of the dogs’ reactions seems to indicate that they fall somewhere along the confused-to-angry continuum. ![]() The videos of magician Jose Ahonen making dog treats disappear right in front of their sad puppy eyes provide anecdotal evidence in support of my skepticism. So animals, even if deceived, may not experience magic in the same way as (adult) humans do. Ironically, magic seems better suited to elicit child-like wonder in adults than in children. Magician Silly Billy, who we interviewed for Sleights of Mind, modifies standard magic routines to make them more kid-friendly, for instance, by using abundant slapstick humor and announcing the outcome of the trick well in advance (“I am going to make this coin disappear”: usually a no-no in magic performed for adults). Most magicians agree that 5 years of age is the threshold at which standard magic will begin to appeal to kids. Having coins given to him-to be then magically stolen back-was particularly grievous, and grudges against the performer would result. Although he did enjoy himself with some tricks, he just as often became aggravated that the laws of nature-which he had recently discovered through the toddler school of hard knocks-had collapsed around him. He had the luck (or misfortune, he sometimes seemed to opine) to be entertained by a large number of these performers. Our son Iago-who was two and a half years old at the time-came along for the trip. We travelled to China (and then across China after the competition) with a tour group made up of over 100 Spanish magicians and their guests. In 2009, Steve and I attended FISM (aka the Magic Olympics) in Beijing while doing research for our book Sleights of Mind. Although stage magic is often portrayed as children’s entertainment, tricks that delight adults can be less than amusing for kids-or they may fail completely. It can be different, and not altogether positive, for children. Shouldn’t they be anxious about the failure of that the physical laws of the universe that they know and love? Confronted with the impossible, spectators of a magic show can’t help but laugh, as if the magician had just delivered the punch line to a good joke that they didn’t see coming. Indeed, the connection between magic and laughter is altogether surprising. If somebody tricks you for no good reason, you may feel angry, sad or confused, whereas watching a high-quality professional magic show elicits wonder and mirth instead. But do animals feel wonderment, awe, or sense that they are experiencing the impossible? There is no easy answer: animals can certainly be deceived, and numerous research studies show that virtually every species, from bower birds to bees, is susceptible to illusions. ![]() When Steve Macknik and I talk to audiences about our research on magic and neuroscience, one question that often comes up during Q&A is whether animals can experience magic. ![]()
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