Darren Brown, Mentalist: What His Profession Tells Us About Malignant Messiah And QAnon(sense)
Great analysis!
Thank you!
And thanks for sharing your insight with other recipients of the email I circulated yesterday.
There had to be some cleverness at the bottom of it all.
But for the life of me, I could not come up with a plausible hypothesis - no doubt due to Brown's masterful "misdirection."
Your comment about his ostentatious (yet nonchalant) "tossing" of the only clearly opaque envelope in his hand now seems a likely candidate for how he situated himself to read directly all the information that was inside the other envelopes.
The few times I've been able see through "magic tricks," the simplicity of their deception has always been so appallingly "transparent" that I have only been able to muster enough gumption to perform two magic tricks in my life, chiefly because I knew they would delight my kids and my "fellow campers."
The actual performance of the tricks was supremely tedious.
However, the effect the tricks had on my audience made it "worthwhile."
Beyond "the magic and mentalism," I remain fascinated by the mechanisms of belief.
And it is for this reason that I am unduly fond of Neil Degrasse Tyson, whose "video clip compendium" (below) I may have shared with you previously.
(A quick afterthought... If you do not know "The Gentleman Thief," Apollo Robbins, his story is intriguing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ed9H0tIYM4)
I am a "cradle Catholic," and still count myself among the flock.
I am also keenly aware that scientific evidence "is what it is," and -- in the name of Truth -- such evidence must be admitted, acknowledged, and even celebrated.
As French Jesuit paleontologist-cosmologist Teilhard de Chardin put it: "Research is adoration." (To which I add: Only a life of continual learning will satisfy the nagging disquiet of the human mind.)
It is also true that virtually all Christians -- without acknowledging their manipulation of scripture -- unconsciously "carry around" a single cobbled-together version of the gospel story that conveniently ignores the many inconsistencies that exist among the four canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
A certain kind of Christian is obliged to twist scripture to meet his (or her) preconceived needs.
This obligation to distort factuality is beautifully put by the Protestant publishing house, Zondervan, whose webpage reads: "The story of Jesus stands or falls on the trustworthiness of the Gospels. That's why skeptics pay so much attention to the Gospels' apparent contradictions."
What Zondervan does not say -- at least not out loud (although the heart of the matter is "hidden" in plain sight) -- is that evangelicals and fundamentalists must resolve "apparent" contradictions so that the many presumptions built into their faith are not corroded to the point of collapse.
As often happens, one person's quest (or need) for absolute certitude does not even ruffle another Christian's feathers.
The gospels (both canonical and non-canonical) go about the business of telling the story of Jesus' life.
And it just doesn't matter to Christians (who accept factual evidence) whether these stories are "inerrantly inspired by God," just so long as the stories -- be they biographical, mythological or legendary -- are inspiring stories.
If it is true that the heart of Christ's message is that "God is love" (as stated in John's first epistle) then fussing over "all the rest" is more of a distraction from this central truth, rather than a contribution to it. (See Emo Philips brilliant shtick below.)
And so, although it is evident to all free-thinking, non-biased, open-minded people that Science cannot generate evidence that knowledgeably corroborates or denies proposed answers to ultimate questions (such as "What happens to people's souls after they die?"), Science does establish the primary importance of evidence, Furthermore, Science establishes the primary importance of evidence in ways that are incontrovertible. For example, "the world is not flat, but (approximately) spherical."
In fact, Science is so concerned with evidence that it methodically tries to prove its "findings" wrong, and uses this "self-doubt" as one of the very best ways to "hone" scientific knowledge so that is increasingly illuminating.
Over my 77-year lifetime it has become increasingly apparent that knowledge discovered by rigorous application of the Scientific Method (despite knowing that such knowledge can routinely be made more precise, and that such knowledge is sometimes overturned as entirely untrue) it remains, nevertheless, the constant touchstone at the center of humankind's attempts to determine what is true.
I hypothesize that our current culture wars distill to the epistemological conflict between the Scientific Method and our often transcendent urge to "believe what we want to believe and to disregard the rest."
As DeGrasse Tyson points out in the following clip, the early Church "needed" to believe that the earth was the center of the Universe and -- even after contrary evidence came to light -- undertook flabbergasting cerebral contortions to maintain the provable falsehood that the Earth lies at the VERY CENTER of Universe.
I encourage you to listen to Neil DeGrasse Tyson's "Religion Ignores Evidence" in order to learn how Religion - particularly in its "conservative" "Christian" manifestations -- is obliged to keep wishful thinking alive at damn near ANY cost.
Once the centrality of "wishful thinking" is seen in the same field of intellectual scrutiny as "scientific evidence," it becomes clear that continuing to believe anti-scientific "articles of faith" is just that - asserting an act of faith that is held to be true, without any supporting evidence that can be put to scientific testing.
My close and constant interaction with Christian conservatives makes clear that these folks are in constant panic-mode to prove that their supposedly incontrovertible assertions-of-faith are not acts of faith but declarations of KNOWLWDGE.
How Do We Know What We Think We Know? "Sound Thinking Is An Acquired Skill, Seldom Possessed By Trump Followers." Trump Cultists Confuse Noisy Echo Chamber Opinionization With Thinking. They Are, In Fact, Too Stupid (Or At Least Too Stupefacted) To Know They're Stupid.
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Tyson is not against religion.
Rather, Tyson recognizes the irreducible mysteriousness of Universe, but he also believes - based on the evidence - that religion (at least in its "conservative" "Christian" forms) is against evidence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANZTjzcaoVc
Of course, Tyson makes you think. And since thinking is simultaneously exhilarating and tiring, you might wisely prepare yourself for exhaustion.
Notably (and perhaps by way of some resolution) French paleontologist and cosmologist, Teilhard de Chardin SJ, observed that "Research is adoration." (To which I add: Only a life of continual learning will satisfy the nagging disquiet of the human mind.)
Whether you are "religious" or not, you can only "do the right thing" by being honest.
And you can only be honest if you revere -- and actively pursue -- Truth.
Even in the New Testament, Yeshua lets us know that he (the acclaimed "son of God") is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.
John Calvin asserts: "As truth is most precious, so all men confess it to be so. And yet, since God alone is the source of all good, you must not doubt, that whatever truth you anywhere meet with, proceeds from Him, unless you would be doubly ungrateful to Him."
And Maimonides chimes in: "You must accept the truth from whatever source it comes."
It is also "true" (politically and religiously) that in your own personal life you can choose to believe whatever you want.
You can even proclaim that your beliefs coincide -- every jot and tittle -- with God's Truth.
But you cannot -- with valid, incontrovertible evidence -- prove that your religious beliefs are true for everyone, and therefore the Founding Fathers created the First Amendment so that every American is guaranteed the right to profess -- privately and/or publicly -- whatever they want, but they cannot "establish" a state-approved religion. The cheek-by-jowl conjunction of the British Monarchy and the Church of England was - specifically - the oppressive circumstance they were fleeing.
Scientific knowledge and religious faith are two different things.
That's why we call faith, faith.
And that's why evidence-based science (deriving from the Latin word for "Truth") is called science.
"When the twain meets," the conjunction of truth and faith is coincidental, not fundamental.
Emo Philips Saves A Man From Committing Suicide.Nearly..."I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. "Well, there's so much to live for!" "Like what?" "Well... are you religious?" He said yes. I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?" "Christian." "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant ? "Protestant." "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?" "Baptist" "Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?" "Baptist Church of God!" "Me too! Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you reformed Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God!""Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.
Darren Brown, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown
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The people in the first two frames of the meme below are likely to look at the third frame (The Tertium Quid?) and "offer up their thoughts and prayers."
We humans are remarkably gullible creatures.
(Consider the interesting etymology of "gullible." https://www.etymonline.com/word/gullible)
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No vale verga!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukw8fqbS1PU
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