ESP!

[plutherus]

I love it.
Thanks to stonemirror for the link.
First, if you haven't seen this before, there's a great online card trick here.

I first saw this done by someone else a few years ago, and it took me a few tries to figure out how the trick was done, then.

What I found most fascinating about this site, though, was all the explanations offered by various visitors. Amazing - from "obviously, the computer is simply tracking your eye movements as you choose the card" to the obligatory pseudo-science references to Quantum Mechanics ("we know that brainwaves are detectable with SQUID (superconducting quantum interference devices.)")

The eighth grade science teacher figured it out, but the "atomic physicist and professor of IT in Education" did not.

Of course, the people who claimed the computer got it wrong are the funniest, since of course that's impossible.

I really love these things, though I'd never make a good stage magician myself, as I'm much more interested in the engineering of designing a good trick than in developing the skill required to actually do it.


Nah, I'm not going to give away the answer here. But I will say that if you start from the assumption that it's a trick, rather than a phenomenon, then logical deduction should lead you to the answer pretty quickly. Of course, if you don't make that assumption, then the ground becomes a bit murkier...

Comments

[amytimm.livejournal.com]

Aha! That's a sneaky trick.

[docscarabus.livejournal.com]

The pseudo explanations are delightful!

There was considerable controversy in the magic community when this trick started showing up on the net. (Its a well cherished secret) People felt that since it was repeatable, they would inevitably figure it out.

In fact, some really smart people got really flummoxed.

[plutherus.livejournal.com]

Really? It's an old trick? I wouldn't think that it would be easy to do without the net: Any method of live presentation I can think of would just be too obvious, or too obviously a trick. Hmmm.....