and made up stories about his encounters with Master Wu. Had he put on a top hat, announced himself as ‘Magic Jimbo’ and spoken about spending time with David Copperfield, it would all have been very different.
It was also about the type of abilities that he appeared to possess. Early in his career Hydrick experimented with different types of demonstrations. At one point he would apparently cut a piece of string in half, place the ends inside his mouth, claim to be rearranging the atoms and then show that the two pieces had magically joined back together. When he performed the demonstration people (quite correctly) thought that it looked like a magic trick and so it was quickly dropped from Hydrick’s repertoire. Cutting and restoring a piece of string set off mental ‘this is a magic trick’ sirens and encouraged people to go in search of the rabbit. In contrast, moving pencils with mind power matches people’s preconceptions about the paranormal and so encourages them to see the duck.
Hydrick also acted as if his powers were genuine. Most of the people who believe in the reality of psychokinesis think that such abilities are both energy sapping and elusive. Hydrick exploited these ideas by often acting as if the demonstrations were a drain on his mental resources, taking a long time before making a page turn or a pencil move, and sometimes even failing completely. He could have easily moved the objects without the slightest strain whenever he wanted but that would have looked like a magic trick.
Finally, he often appeared to bring out people’s latent psychic ability by having them believe that their mental powers were responsible for moving the pencil. This is a common ploy used by fake psychics because it has enormous emotional appeal. Many people want to believe that they do indeed have incredible powers and so when they appear to encounter proof of this ego-enhancing concept they become especially reluctant to look behind the curtain and find out what is really going on.
Hydrick walked like a duck and sounded like a duck. Because of this, lots of people assumed that he was the real deal and didn’t even consider the possibility of quackery.
Although some of the people watching him didn’t even think about fakery, many others would have been far more sceptical. Perhaps they didn’t believe in psychic ability, or did believe but were sceptical about Hydrick’s particular claim. Whatever their point of view, Hydrick fooled some of these people using a second principle.
Take the Road Less Travelled
Time for two quick puzzles. Here is the first one. Can you add just one line to the following statement in order to make it correct?
10 10 11 = 10.50
Now for the second puzzle. The illustration below shows the number nine represented as a Roman numeral. Can you convert this into the number six by just adding a single line?
IX
You probably assumed that the answer to the first puzzle required some clever mathematical thinking, and that the solution to the second involved Roman numerals. The puzzles are specifically designed to make you think like that. In fact, the solution to the first puzzle involves time, not mathematics. To make the statement correct, all you have to do is add a short line over the second ‘I’, thus converting the number ‘I0’ into the word ‘TO’:
10 T0 11 = 10.50
Now the equation reads ‘ten to eleven is the same as ten fifty’. To solve the second puzzle you draw an ‘S’ in front of the IX to transform it into the word ‘SIX’.
Many people struggle with these types of puzzles because they require lateral thinking. The same principle prevents them from figuring out how Hydrick performed his miracles. Ask people how they would go about making a pencil mysteriously move and they will come up with various ideas. They might, for example, suggest tying a thin thread to it. Or they might think of putting a metal bar inside it and moving
It was also about the type of abilities that he appeared to possess. Early in his career Hydrick experimented with different types of demonstrations. At one point he would apparently cut a piece of string in half, place the ends inside his mouth, claim to be rearranging the atoms and then show that the two pieces had magically joined back together. When he performed the demonstration people (quite correctly) thought that it looked like a magic trick and so it was quickly dropped from Hydrick’s repertoire. Cutting and restoring a piece of string set off mental ‘this is a magic trick’ sirens and encouraged people to go in search of the rabbit. In contrast, moving pencils with mind power matches people’s preconceptions about the paranormal and so encourages them to see the duck.
Hydrick also acted as if his powers were genuine. Most of the people who believe in the reality of psychokinesis think that such abilities are both energy sapping and elusive. Hydrick exploited these ideas by often acting as if the demonstrations were a drain on his mental resources, taking a long time before making a page turn or a pencil move, and sometimes even failing completely. He could have easily moved the objects without the slightest strain whenever he wanted but that would have looked like a magic trick.
Finally, he often appeared to bring out people’s latent psychic ability by having them believe that their mental powers were responsible for moving the pencil. This is a common ploy used by fake psychics because it has enormous emotional appeal. Many people want to believe that they do indeed have incredible powers and so when they appear to encounter proof of this ego-enhancing concept they become especially reluctant to look behind the curtain and find out what is really going on.
Hydrick walked like a duck and sounded like a duck. Because of this, lots of people assumed that he was the real deal and didn’t even consider the possibility of quackery.
Although some of the people watching him didn’t even think about fakery, many others would have been far more sceptical. Perhaps they didn’t believe in psychic ability, or did believe but were sceptical about Hydrick’s particular claim. Whatever their point of view, Hydrick fooled some of these people using a second principle.
Take the Road Less Travelled
Time for two quick puzzles. Here is the first one. Can you add just one line to the following statement in order to make it correct?
10 10 11 = 10.50
Now for the second puzzle. The illustration below shows the number nine represented as a Roman numeral. Can you convert this into the number six by just adding a single line?
IX
You probably assumed that the answer to the first puzzle required some clever mathematical thinking, and that the solution to the second involved Roman numerals. The puzzles are specifically designed to make you think like that. In fact, the solution to the first puzzle involves time, not mathematics. To make the statement correct, all you have to do is add a short line over the second ‘I’, thus converting the number ‘I0’ into the word ‘TO’:
10 T0 11 = 10.50
Now the equation reads ‘ten to eleven is the same as ten fifty’. To solve the second puzzle you draw an ‘S’ in front of the IX to transform it into the word ‘SIX’.
Many people struggle with these types of puzzles because they require lateral thinking. The same principle prevents them from figuring out how Hydrick performed his miracles. Ask people how they would go about making a pencil mysteriously move and they will come up with various ideas. They might, for example, suggest tying a thin thread to it. Or they might think of putting a metal bar inside it and moving
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