I was talking to someone at a party the other day, and they came out with this. I was a bit floored. My first reaction was to call them an idiot, but that didn’t seem socially acceptable. I tried to explain that it was all just showmanship, but they weren’t convinced, and I had to back away from the topic before it became a pointless argument.
The person in question acknowledged that most magicians are just doing tricks, but that this one was so good, he must have had super natural powers.
(NB The magician in question was Dynamo, and even though I haven’t seem him in action, but I can categorically say he doesn’t have powers.)
When I think about it, someone once told me this about Derren Brown too, even though he is quite open that he doesn’t even claim to be a magician.
Had a similar situation when a very respected colleague, quite out of the blue, started telling me of the benefits of homoeopathy.
Just smiled, nodded politely and walked away thinking just a little bit less of her.
Imho there are very few situations where it’s socially acceptable to point out someones ignorance/stupidity, I will only do so for very close family and a couple of friends who I would expect to do the same for me.
I know what you mean, but it really grates on me to allow such a nonsense to be allowed to pass unchallenged.
Alternative medicine is almost as bad, although at least the practioners of this claim it is real (I don’t think any magician actually claims they can do real magic). I was enjoying a conversation with someone at a dinner party once, when they got onto Reiki. I managed to nod in agreement, up until the point they claimed that their Reiki person (practioner? distributor? Reikirier?) was so good, they could deliver reiki over a phone call. Again, I had to bite my tongue.
I also know another woman (and it seems to almost always be women) who is really, really nice, but believes in crystals and other such rubbish. She believes she can harness ‘Dolphin energy’, as well as communing with the Archangels. :smack:
Houdini actually did have magic powers. [Hear me out]
Houdini was able to do what he did due to a combination of supreme muscle control, supreme flexibility, the patience of Job, years of study, and a flair for showmanship. Those five things in combination are far beyond the skill of all but a handful of people on the earth at any given time.
So were his powers supernatural in origin? No. But did he have “magic”? Absolutely.
Well, if it was someone whose intelligence I really did respect, I’d ask “What the heck makes you think that?”, pointing out the flaws in reasoning until I hit clear irrationallity. At which point, of course, rational discourse can’t get them out of a position they didn’t arrive at through reason, so it’s time to give up.
For someone I didn’t know that well, I think my response would be along the lines of “Well, he certainly has the ability to convince you; I guess that’s something.” And then immediately change the subject.
This is actually what came to mind when I read the OP. Bakhesh, is it possible that this was a misunderstanding? I’m not familiar with Dynamo, but there are, for example, some mentalists who have developed such acute means of perception that they are able to do astonishing things without any physical gimmicks or preparation of the area. There is nothing paranormal about this, but these might qualify as “real powers” in some people’s mental shorthand.
To give a personal example: when I get careless, I sometimes refer to “real vampires,” meaning people like Arnold Paole or Mercy Brown whose bodies were mutilated post-mortem, ostensibly to stop a plague. I don’t believe that these folks actually clambered out of their graves or otherwise brought doom and destruction unto their people from beyond the grave, but that’s what it might sound like if you didn’t know what I was talking about.
Otherwise intelligent people I know believe all sorts of crazy things. One guy told me he knew of a guy who died, I mean really really died, and then popped back up 3 days later! And made rabbits lay eggs or something. I just stay away from those subjects.
In the interests of fighting ignorance, this is wrong. Houdini was a magician. He performed conjuring tricks. No amount of muscle control or flexibility or lock picking will allow him to do this.
The tricks, that he invented, are now easily purchasable at any magic shop. Inventing the tricks took skill. Performing them doesn’t. Anyone can do it.
I was remembering that he started believing in spiritism after his son died and checked wiki to be sure. Because I can give the grief-stricken some slack in that area.
Per wiki:
Yeah. That’s heavy. I wouldn’t want to listen to him going on, but I would probably put no effort into shutting it down.
Regarding the fairies, apparently there was a lot of fairy belief going around, at least in a metaphoric sort of way. You remember the famous editorial that ended in “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus?” I read the whole thing once and was surprised to see, “Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies.”
My massage therapist uses reiki. She only used it on me once, and I didn’t say anything, because everything else she does actually works. If she tries to waste my time with more of it, I’ll have to have a little talk with her.
Although I should say, it worked exactly as she said it would. But I think that muscle was about to heal anyway.
