Throat Reading
Magic brings out the gullibility in people. This is good and is bad. It is good for magicians. But it is bad if powerful people are dumb. We can therefore use magic to figure out, to some extent, who are gullible.
Nobody is more powerful these days than bankers. So in some lectures I use tricks to their highlight gullibility.
My favourite is the following. (I write this like a screenplay, maybe a big a producer reads this blog.)
INT. LECTURE ROOM – DAY
PAUL walks among tables set out in CABARET STYLE. The seated audience members’ eyes follow him. PAUL is carrying a DECK OF CARDS? PAUL stops in front of one person and holds out the fanned deck face down.
PAUL
Pick a card, as they say, any card.
The audience member picks a card, and makes eye contact with PAUL.
PAUL (CONT’D)
Look at the card. Are you happy with your choice? Now please stand. And don’t let anyone see the card.
PAUL walks back to his desk at the front of the room and puts down the deck. He turns to face the audience.
PAUL [ADDRESSING THE AUDIENCE]
I want you all to help me. I’m no magician, I have no clue what card our friend is holding. But I think we can use science to figure it out.
PAUL turns to the subject holding the card.
PAUL (CONT’D)
When I tell you I want you to shout out the name of the card as loudly as possible but only in your head. Got that? Only in your head. Please don’t say anything out loud. Just scream it inside your head. You look like the sort of person who screams internally a lot. That’s why I chose you.
After a short pause PAUL grins. The subject smiles weakly back.
PAUL (CONT’D)
Ok. Scream!
Nothing happens. But PAUL turns excitedly to look at the audience.
PAUL (CONT’D)
Did you see that? Yes? No? It’s difficult until you’ve had practice. Just look at his throat. Let’s try that again. This time please only shout the suit of the card. And everyone focus on his throat. Go!
PAUL is clearly excited.
PAUL [ADDRESSING THE AUDIENCE]
You saw it that time, no? Did you see his throat move, ever so slightly but just enough. What do you think? Spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds? What did you see as his throat moved?
No one says anything.
PAUL [POINTING AT ONE AUDIENCE MEMBER]
What do you think? Spades?
There is no reaction from the audience member.
PAUL (CONT’D)
I don’t think that’s it. Who thought Hearts?
Still no audience reaction. But PAUL nods at a few people. Clearly this crowd is a bit shy. Sometimes you have to pretend to get responses from the audience just to get the party going.
PAUL (CONT’D)
You did? Yes. And you? So maybe half of you thought he shouted Hearts. [NOW ADDRESSING THE SUBJECT] Are they right? Was it Hearts?
SUBJECT
Yes.
I continue in this vein, moving on to the number of the card, and the audience seems to agree that the card is the Five of Hearts. Amazingly this turns out to be correct. This “Throat Reading” is very powerful.
If you google “throat reading” you’ll find lots of comparisons with Neuro Linguistic programming (NLP), how it’s important to work with the right subject, how it works best if the subject is slightly tense (so it’s particularly good in the above setting), how the first language of the speaker makes a big difference (Dutch speakers are apparently the easiest to read), and so on. Research goes back to the 1950s, and there’s even some association with the MKUltra project. Apparently one could extract information from individuals under the influence of certain drugs, mescaline for example, even if they didn’t actually speak! Subjects can maintain control of their breathing but the drugs weaken their control of the larynx. And so you can observe movement, and with skill interpret what they aren’t saying out loud.
How gullible can you be?
Oh, come on! You didn’t fall for all that science nonsense did you? You’re a sucker for a bit of scientific mumbo jumbo then? No, surely you, dear reader, know that it’s all total baloney? If you do google “throat reading” all you’ll see are links to the British mentalist Derren Brown (there’s a YouTube video). No, this is a card trick, goddamit! And pretty elementary, like all of my tricks. (DB and I created this presentation independently, FYI.)
I know from doing this simple trick at my lectures that a decent portion of my audience will fall, hook, line and sinker, for the scientific explanation. Many will be unsure. (Most will be thinking when is the next tea break.)
Mathemagical Thinking Lesson
Ok, so no mathematics here, just pseudoscience. I use this trick to show people just how easy it is to be gullible. I hope it gets my audience into the right state of mind to start to question standard practices and received wisdom.
People like the idea of “tells,” body language. What were Harry and Meghan thinking during their Oprah interview? If anything. This trick taps into that. And notice how I threw in a bit of conspiracy stuff, MKUltra. That also appeals to a certain, frighteningly large, audience.