Saying that the craft has taught him how easily we are deceived in our day to day lives, magician Alex Stone argued during his IdeaFestival 2013 talk for an intellectual modesty. We often know a lot less than we think we do.
Part of the IdeaFestival Uncut series, Stone's presentation is offered here in full.
The lovely thing about magic, as well as theater, poetry and the arts in general, is that they have always worked a subterfuge, exposing, in exchange for our willing participation, our shared presumptions and intuitions. "Being fooled," Stone said during his talk, is a way of experiencing something deep.
And science is now plumbing those depths, gaining new insight into how the human psychology works.
The mind, for example, remembers the final act in any drama. I think it explains why the experience of close-up magic in the Bomhard Theater in the Kentucky Center or being waived ahead in a crowded grocery queue is so powerful. It's as if our minds have been read. And in truth, they have. Having been pulled outside ourselves, the magic, if only for a moment, is that we can encounter ourselves anew.
Look for the release of the full 2014 IdeaFestival agenda soon!
Stay curious.
Wayne