# Negative Suggestion - Derren Brown - Kill a Kitten **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-suggestion-derren-brown-kill-a-kitten/767562 "2016-10-03T13:56:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-suggestion-derren-brown-kill-a-kitten/767562/1 "2016-10-03T13:56:33Z")
[I call bullshit.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2YSNm66sQQ) This is an excerpt from I guess a British show featuring some guy I never heard of called Derren Brown. He uses what he calls “negative suggestion” to get some woman to press a button and supposedly electrocute a kitten. He tells her she must not kill the kitten, and that she will win 500 pounds if she doesn’t kill the kitten. There’s a timer countdown of two minutes. So what happens? The pull of negative suggestion is SO STRONG that she kills the kitten. Well, not really, but she seems to think so. Right on the dot of one second on the clock. I think this whole scenario is rigged, just because she waits until just as the timer is running out to hit the killing button. That just smacks of those _Hell’s Kitchen_’s cooking contests ALWAYS coming out even down to the last point. Anyway, what the hell? If someone tells me not to kill a kitten for two minutes and I’ll get big cash payoff, I would have no problem not killing a kitten for two minutes. This whole thing seems like bullshit to me. Or possibly cat shit. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-suggestion-derren-brown-kill-a-kitten/767562/2 "2016-10-03T14:08:19Z")
Brown is mentalist, a type if magician that pretends to use psychology to do feats. This is just one of those things he does to build up his myth. He’s not above using camera and editing tricks in these. I don’t know if he uses stooges, but he wouldn’t have to for this. He could just not record telling her to push the button, and add the 0:01 in later. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-suggestion-derren-brown-kill-a-kitten/767562/3 "2016-10-03T14:10:22Z")
So you would probably doubt [Derren Brown: Pushed to the Edge](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jan/13/derren-brown-pushed-to-the-edge-review) where he convinces, using social compliance, 3 out of 4 participants to push an innocent man off a roof to his supposed death? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-suggestion-derren-brown-kill-a-kitten/767562/4 "2016-10-03T14:30:51Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > So you would probably doubt [Derren Brown: Pushed to the Edge](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jan/13/derren-brown-pushed-to-the-edge-review) where he convinces, using social compliance, 3 out of 4 participants to push an innocent man off a roof to his supposed death? I don’t know about the OP, but I do. I mean, i don’t doubt _something_ happened, just not what he purports it to be. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-suggestion-derren-brown-kill-a-kitten/767562/5 "2016-10-03T14:40:37Z")
Um. What? Don’t push the button, the kitten lives and you win 500 pounds. How is that negative? Now, put a child in the room with no incentives and tell them not to push the button and you’ll have a kid pounding on the thing the second the adult leaves the room. Every time. But a supposed not mentally challenged adult, with two rewards due for not doing a thing? I’m not following. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-suggestion-derren-brown-kill-a-kitten/767562/6 "2016-10-03T14:49:42Z")
When I saw the thread I thought it would be something like [this](http://www.rrrrthats5rs.com/games/dont-shoot-the-puppy/). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-suggestion-derren-brown-kill-a-kitten/767562/7 "2016-10-03T15:34:49Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > When I saw the thread I thought it would be something like [this](http://www.rrrrthats5rs.com/games/dont-shoot-the-puppy/). I thought it would be something like [this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHy8kW632dE)