Illusionist Derren Brown "converts" atheists

[Bataglin]

Derren Brown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_brown) rocks. You may have seen his performances before, if not - enjoy!

From YouTube:

"Mentalist Derren Brown poses as James Lawrence who claims to be able to convert atheists into believing in God with a touch of his hand."

Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sq-YUdq1OI)
Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DylNVUN_3I)

Lots of other cool Derren-stuff there too /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[madnak]

This guy's my [censored] hero. He is so cool. Some of his tricks are just crazy, you can't believe they aren't staged. If I had half Brown's talent, I'd change my career.

[Speedlimits]

In part 2 Derren Brown asked the male participant why he didn't believe in God. His reasons were horrible. Purely emotional and unscientific.

This guy should write a book though, mentalism is pretty impressive.

[tolbiny]

Are there any videos/articles where he explains his tricks?

[Magic_Man]

I'm a magician, but I don't know much about Derren Brown. I am extremely skeptical of this video, though. It seems to me that the people in the audience are far from being "mostly atheists." Why would they come to this demonstration? If you ask me, the people in the audience are pretty much guaranteed to be the best type of audience for this kind of thing. Dogmatic theists or atheists are not going to attend; instead, the people who come will all be on the fence, and probably the type who really, really want to believe. Who would want to give up their evening to attend one of these sessions? I'd guess most of them are depressed/lonely/some other suggestible mental state. Less certainly, I would also guess that most of them are undereducated and/or lower economic status. I don't know much about NLP, but I'd guess that those characteristics describe the most suggestible type of person.

Of course I can't know for certian, but I'm pretty sure that if I were the girl in the chair, I would immediately answer "no, no change." And if I were the guy in the 2nd part, I'd just shift uncomfortably for quite a while and eventually grow impatient.

Not that all of this doesn't make it interesting. A great percentage of the population shares the characteristics above, so his point is still valid; converting people through non-spiritual means seems possible, and the power of group thinking is enormous. However, I also wasn't shocked that they were so easily swayed. They probably want to be.

~MagicMan

[stigmata]

I'm pretty sure Derren is pretty open about the fact he utilises methods to select for suggestability etc - I guess it's all part of the trick, really.

[tomdemaine]

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This guy should write a book though

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http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/1905026269.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V36986632_.jpg

[madnak]

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Derren is pretty open about the fact he utilises methods to select for suggestability

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Of course there's nothing special about what he's doing - that's the whole point. The things he's capable of doing with suggestible, and sometimes even relatively skeptical, people are terrifying. This guy could effing take over the world if he put his mind to it.

He also exposes the techniques of con artists from "paranormalists" like Uri Geller and that so-called medium who's so popular, to dime-store psychics and readers, to preachers and evangelists, to outright swindlers. The techniques work, and he is one of the few people with both the talent and knowledge to apply them and the honesty to reveal them.

Knowing how to spot suggestible people is a huge elements of what these guys do.

[John21]

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Knowing how to spot suggestible people is a huge elements of what these guys do.


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I have no idea why, but I completely agree with you.

[DonkBluffer]

I bet the guy ACTUALLY has psychic abilities. He just says he doesn't, to attract a different audience!

[Bataglin]

Hi Magic Man,

I agree that this clip isn't the best of Derren Brown (two of my personal favorites are voodoo-doll (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW2yKlNFFuU) and supermarket (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5539977468646246210&q=derren+brown )). The reason I linked to just this one about "feeling
god", was that I found the topic well suited to all the discussions about religion that takes place on this board. Many believers hold inexplicable personal experiences as an important reason for their beliefs. When one witness how performers like Brown is able to manipulate his audience - that these sort of feelings can be induced on command - it's very telling about how susceptible we can be, as you mention. Strange experiences that numerous human minds have produced throughout history, should be seen in light of the fact that the human brain and mind sure is a fascinating thing that we do not understand all that well - yet.

I'm certainly no magician. My modest contribution on the field is limited to performances for nearest family and friends as a child, with a über-simplistic magic kit /images/graemlins/smile.gif. So I am in no position to vouch for the validity of what Brown does, not to mention HOW he does it /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

But I'm absolutely sold, and think it's incredibly fun and mind-blowing! I'll say as madnak: He's my f'ing hero /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Tolbiny:

Derren Brown has a website (http://www.derrenbrown.co.uk/). It's kinda weird (image is important, I guess...). Found a link there to Channel4 (http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/M/mindcontrol/), where he talks a bit about techniques used.

[Magic_Man]

[ QUOTE ]
(two of my personal favorites are voodoo-doll (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW2yKlNFFuU) and supermarket (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5539977468646246210&q=derren+brown )).

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Supermarket was cool, but I just can't believe Voodoo doll. Obviously the ring aspect of it is just a magic trick, but I don't see how the rest of it could possibly have been real, unless he picked the most gullible person he could find. It seems more likely that he had an actress act out the "voodoo" aspect of it, and then she was genuinely surprised by the ring "magic trick," which makes the viewer see the whole thing as more credible. This is a similar tactic to David Blaine, who uses camera tricks and editing tricks mixed in with genuine audience reactions. When you start to believe part of it, you mistakenly accept the whole thing. On the other hand, I will not dismiss the fact that Derren Brown could be a psychological genius. It would be awesome if he were.

~MagicMan