“Misdirection is a form of deception, where one feints in a particular direction, and then exploits the misled pursuer’s mistake to escape, or remain undetected.” Via Wikipedia. Same-sex-marriage, the death tax, the war in Iraq, the abortion issue, and the cost of gas are some examples of the wanton misdirection of the public. Some are very convincing and mortally distracting. The jury is out as to whether reporters and journalists are gullible fools or complicit.
Same-sex-marriage, the death tax, the war in Iraq, the abortion issue, and the cost of gas are some examples of the wanton misdirection of the public. Some are very convincing and mortally distracting. The jury is out as to whether reporters and journalists are gullible fools or complicit.
I am going to share you some information about the art of magic, sleight of hand, and misdirection. Since I have not taken The Magician’s Oath I can reveal to you how vaudevillian the important issues are in the news today.
“The limits of the human mind can be used to give the wrong picture and memory. The mind can only concentrate on one thing at a time. The magician uses this and the ‘victim’s’ picture of how the world is supposed to be, against him.”
I am going to share you some information about the art of magic, sleight of hand, and misdirection. Since I have not taken The Magician’s Oath I can reveal to you how vaudevillian the important issues are in the news today.
Whether or not main stream media is complicit doesn’t matter because none of us should feel bad, we have all fallen prey. We are the victims, in a lot of ways, of reality slight of hand:
“It is commonly believed that sleight of hand works because “the hand is quicker than the eye??? but this is usually not the case. In addition to manual dexterity, sleight of hand depends on the use of psychology, misdirection and natural choreography in accomplishing a magical effect. Misdirection is perhaps the most important component of the art of sleight of hand. Using misdirection, the skillful magician choreographs every movement in a routine so even the most critical and observant spectators are compelled to look where the magician wants them to. Misdirection is a misnomer, since the magician actually directs the attention of the audience away from a secret move as it is executed right under their noses.”
The system is professional and not only relies on prestidigitation but an assortment of techniques and sills. “It is understood by everyone that the effects in the performance are accomplished through sleight of hand (also called legerdemain), misdirection, deception, collusion with a member of the audience“
More about misdirection:
“One principle that underlies virtually all magic tricks is misdirection, which is the act of drawing the audience’s attention to one location while, in another location, the magician performs a crucial manipulation undetected. For example, by drawing attention to one hand by snapping the fingers, tossing and catching a prop, or saying “watch this hand”, the performer can force the audience to look, however briefly, in a certain direction, and use this as cover for what the other hand is doing. This is the basic idea of misdirection, although it can become very sophisticated and subtle for an advanced magician. These are based on the natural instincts of a human being, relating to psychology.
Misdirection can also mean to re-direct or re-structure the spectator’s perception of the action taking place. For example, telling a person to “look into the empty box” when really a secret compartment hides something. The word ‘empty’ is used to restructure their perception of the box. Another example is when placing something from one hand into another accompanied by the appropriate phrase and expression when really the item is not placed where it is said to go.
Many different techniques are used to create misdirection, and all require great amounts of practice to perfect. One technique is the use of natural-looking and confident movements, to disguise any surreptitious manipulations. Making a hand with a palmed coin move and behave like an empty hand is an acting skill used to misdirect the audience in coin magic. Another technique is the use of a confident flow of chatter from the magician, known as “patter”. Patter may take the form of a story, or it may simply be the magician (selectively) narrating the actions being performed. Either way, it directs the attention of the audience wherever the magician wishes.
Another technique of misdirection is the use of optical illusions to hide or displace the location or size of objects. When the sides of a box are painted with concentric rectangles, or a hollow tabletop is beveled so that it is thicker in the center than at the edges, such containers appear to be much thinner than they actually are. These are often used in stage illusions, since they allow an assistant to hide in a space that appears to be too small to fit in, or to turn sideways and assume different positions in a box when there appears to be too little room to move.
Misdirection, along with theatrical acting abilities and also NLP can help to improve how the magic is perceived by the audience, although the method is mostly based on gimmicks and manual dexterity with sleight of hand. These elements show the difference between an expert magician and a beginner, even while they perform the same effect.”
Since I am in the world of public affairs, I thought I would have a look at the good old-fashioned concept of spin, spinning, and spin doctoring:
“In public relations, spin is a usually pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one’s own favor of an event or situation. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, “spin” often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. Politicians are often accused of spin by their political opponents.
The term is borrowed from ball sports such as cricket, where a spin bowler may impart spin on the ball during a delivery so that it will curve through the air or bounce in an advantageous manner.
Because of the frequent association between “spin” and press conferences (especially government press conferences), the room in which these take place is sometimes described as a spin room.
- The techniques of spin include:
- Selective presenting facts and quotes that supports one’s position (cherry picking)
- Non-denial denial
- Phrasing in a way that assumes unproven truths
- Euphemisms to disguise or promote one’s agenda
Another spin technique involves the delay in the release of bad news so it can be hidden on the back of more important or favorable news or events. A famous reference to this practice occurred when UK government press officer Jo Moore used the phrase It’s now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury in an email sent on September 11, 2001. The furor caused when this email was reported in the press eventually caused her to resign.
Skilled practitioners of spin are sometimes called ’spin doctors’, though probably not to their faces unless it is said facetiously. It is the PR equivalent of calling a writer a ‘hack.’ Perhaps the most well-known person in the UK often described as a ’spin doctor’ is Alastair Campbell, who was involved with Tony Blair’s public relations between 1994 and 2003, and also played a controversial role as press relations officer to the British and Irish Lions rugby side during their 2005 tour of New Zealand.”
