The black magic trials of JK were a series of sensational legal proceedings that took place in the city of JK during the 20th century. These trials showcased the fear and paranoia surrounding the practice of black magic and its alleged effects on society. The trials began when a local woman accused her neighbor of being a practitioner of black magic, claiming that she had witnessed him performing rituals and casting spells. Word spread quickly, and soon more and more people came forward with similar accusations, leading to a wave of arrests. The accused individuals were subjected to lengthy interrogations and were often forced to confess to their alleged crimes under duress. The courts, driven by a prevailing sense of fear and prejudice, readily accepted these confessions as evidence of guilt, leading to swift convictions.
"The idea for this trick came straight from science," Teller says. "We thought it would be fun to show people how bad they are at noticing stuff." Called change blindness, the phenomenon is illustrated in a video (on YouTube) that inspired the duo. Shot in 2007 by British psychologist Richard Wiseman, it ostensibly documents a simple card trick—the backs of the cards in a deck are magically transformed from blue to red. But during the course of the video, Wiseman's shirt, his assistant's shirt, the tablecloth, and the backdrop all change color, too. Most viewers watch the card trick unspool and miss the other alterations. Attention, it turns out, is like a spotlight. When it's focused on something, we become oblivious to even obvious changes outside its narrow beam. What magicians do, essentially, is misdirect—pivot that spotlight toward the wrong place at the right time.
The Nature Reviews Neuroscience paper lists nine fundamental conjuring effects of modern magic, from the vanish and the restoration to telekinesis and ESP. Abbott s audiences were practically preindustrial all it took to fool them into thinking that spirits move among us was a radio receiver wired into a papier-màché teakettle.
The courts, driven by a prevailing sense of fear and prejudice, readily accepted these confessions as evidence of guilt, leading to swift convictions. Media coverage of the trials only fueled the hysteria. Newspapers published sensational stories of witches and warlocks casting spells and causing harm to innocent victims.
Now You See It: Neuroscientists Reveal Magicians’ Secrets
Magicians create illusions by taking advantage of how we perceive stimuli and process information. For example, a dove fluttering from a hat can be used to draw an audience's attention away from the actual trick. (Image credit: Dreamstime.)
NEW YORK — There is a place for magic in science. Five years ago, on a trip to Las Vegas, neuroscientists Stephen Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde realized that a partnership was in order with a profession that has an older and more intuitive understanding of how the human brain works. Magicians, it seems, have an advantage over neuroscientists.
"Scientists have only studied cognitive illusions for a few decades. Magicians have studied them for hundreds, if not thousands, of years," Martinez-Conde told the audience during a recent presentation here at the New York Academy of Sciences. [Video: Your Brain on Magic]
She and Macknik, her husband, use illusions as a tool to study how the brain works. Illusions are revealing, because they separate perception from reality. Magicians take advantage of how our nervous systems — our eyes, sense of touch, minds and so on — are wired to create seemingly impossible illusions.
After their epiphany in Las Vegas, where they were preparing for a conference on consciousness, the duo, who both direct laboratories at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona, teamed up with magicians to learn just how they harness the foibles of our brains. Their discoveries are detailed in their new book, "Sleight of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions" (Henry Holt and Company, 2010).
The psychological concepts behind illusions are generally better understood, but they treat the brain as something of a black box, without the insight into brain activity or anatomy that neuroscience can offer, they write.
Tricks from neuroscience
Individual tricks may take advantage of any number of neurological phenomena, like our neurons' energy-saving practice of adapting to a stimulus to create the illusion that something, which a magician may have furtively moved, is still in place. Magicians may exploit our visual system's dependence on contrast to make objects appear to disappear or appear out of nowhere. Or they may divert our attention. Magicians don't limit themselves to one method at a time, and often, play multiple techniques off one another, Martinez-Conde said.
"We are beginning to suspect the way this works in the brain is [that] the total is more than the sum of the parts," she said.
In particular, magicians are masterful manipulators of attention, which can be misdirected overtly, by directing the audience to look away from the location where the trick actually occurs, or covertly, by a more subtle manipulation. Cognitive scientists have also discovered means of sneaky misdirection. In a short video clip, a researcher, posing as a student on a college campus, asks a professor for directions. While the two are talking, others carrying a door walk between them, the first lost student is replaced by a second lost student, and the professor continues talking to the new person without realizing the switch.
This is the result of change blindness, Martinez-Conde explained. As long as the person who was replaced fit into the same category — both appeared to be students — it was unlikely the professor would have noticed the switch that took place during the brief interruption, she said.
Paying attention to one thing means the brain must shut out other information, also a phenomenon ripe for exploitation. In fact, a neuron activated by a stimulus will inhibit its neighbors, preventing them from sending signals related to other stimuli; this phenomenon is called lateral inhibition, Macknik said.
The Standing Wave
As a graduate student, Macknik took on the role of a magician, though he didn't think of it that way at the time, when he discovered an illusion called the Standing Wave. [See it here]
It is composed of a three flickering bars: A target bar is surrounded by two other bars, one on either side. As the three bars move closer together, the target bar becomes invisible, at least to the conscious brain.
The retina, however, continues to perceive all three. This happens because of lateral inhibtion: Neurons responding to the two outer bars suppress the signal for the target bar, effectively erasing the image of the target from the brain of the spectator.
"You don't see it because the information doesn't make it to the parts of your brain that are conscious," he said in an earlier interview. "This is very similar in many ways to what magicians do with misdirection."
Only 0.1 percent of the human retina offers high-resolution vision — with about half the primate brain dedicated to processing visual information anything more would create a cumbersomely large brain — and we turn this spotlight on whatever we're focused on at the moment, according to Macknik. As the Standing Wave demonstrates, our attention spotlight allows us to be deceived.
Attention is crucial
Magicians' eyes can also be deceitful. Since humans are social individuals, and our eyes are drawn to follow others' gazes, a phenomenon known as joint attention. A magician can use joint attention to his or her advantage by looking up from a trick to meet a spectator's gaze, and so taking the spectators attention off the trick itself temporarily, Macknik said. (Macknik notes we can separate the focus of our attention from our gaze, an ability that allows us to deceive others into misinterpreting the focus of our attention.)
There are many ways magicians misdirect attention. A dove released from a hat is a distraction we can't ignore, or magicians can deceive our sense of time by separating the method from the magical effect, or they can use social cues and even comedy.
"One of the things magicians discovered before neuroscientists did is that humor suppresses attention," he told the audience. "None of you will be surprised by this… but try to find something in the neuroscience literature that says humor suppresses attention."
A magician has three basic techniques: optical, mechanical and psychological, according to David Kaye, a children's magician who performs as "Silly Billy," and who attended the presentation.
"I think that a lot of the joy of being a magician is understanding what's going on in the brain, at least for me," he said. But Kaye noted that magicians usually stop at the psychological level, while Martinez-Conde and Macknik went deeper, into the wiring of the brain.
"It's always interesting to learn more about why this works," he said.
- Magician to Scientists: Don't Assume Infallibility
- 10 Things You Didn't Know About the Brain
- Top 10 Mysteries of the Mind
You can follow LiveScience writer Wynne Parry on Twitter @Wynne_Parry.
The public became increasingly obsessed with the trials, attending court sessions in large numbers and eagerly discussing the latest developments. However, as the trials progressed, doubts began to arise. Some individuals questioned the reliability of the accusers' testimonies, pointing out inconsistencies and discrepancies. Others argued that the confessions had been coerced and were therefore unreliable. The defense lawyers also played a significant role in undermining the credibility of the prosecution's case. They argued that the accused individuals were victims of mass hysteria and scapegoating. They presented evidence showing that many of the accused had no knowledge or involvement in black magic and were being wrongly accused based on rumors and hearsay. Eventually, public opinion began to shift, and doubts about the guilt of the accused became more widespread. The media started questioning the fairness of the trials and the role they played in stoking fear and paranoia. People started to demand a more rational examination of the evidence and a fairer judicial process. As a result, some of the convictions were overturned, and many of the accused were released from prison. However, the damage had already been done. Lives and reputations had been ruined, and the scars of the black magic trials would linger for years. The black magic trials of JK serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of mass hysteria and the need for a fair and impartial judicial process. They highlight the devastating consequences that can occur when fear and prejudice drive legal proceedings. The trials also underscore the importance of critical thinking and skepticism in evaluating evidence and accusations. They serve as a reminder that justice should not be swayed by public opinion but should instead be based on concrete evidence and due process..
Reviews for "The Sorcerer's Secrets: Revealing JK's Black Magic Trials"
1. Samantha - 2 stars - I was really disappointed with "The black magic trials of jk". The writing was slow-paced and lacked excitement. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked depth, making it difficult to connect with and care about them. The plot itself seemed to drag on and I found myself losing interest halfway through the book. Overall, I expected more from this novel and it didn't live up to my expectations.
2. Michael - 1 star - "The black magic trials of jk" was a complete waste of time. The story was dull and predictable, with no originality or surprises. The dialogue between the characters felt forced and unnatural, making it difficult to engage with the narrative. Additionally, the writing style was uninspiring, and the descriptions lacked vividness and imagination. I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a thrilling or captivating read.
3. Laura - 2 stars - I found "The black magic trials of jk" to be quite underwhelming. The pacing was off, with the story dragging in some parts and rushing through others. The world-building was minimal, leaving me with a lack of understanding of the magical elements that were introduced. The character development was also weak, as I didn't feel a connection or investment in any of the individuals. Overall, I was left unsatisfied with this book and wouldn't recommend it to others.
4. Robert - 2.5 stars - "The black magic trials of jk" had an intriguing premise, but it fell short in execution. The writing style was lacking, with repetitive phrases and descriptions that hindered the flow of the story. The plot had potential, but it became convoluted and confusing as the book progressed. The resolution of the conflicts felt rushed and unsatisfying. While there were some interesting ideas, the overall execution left much to be desired.