Why do brains so easily fall for magic tricks?

Did magicians discover tricks of the mind centuries before neuroscientists? Why can’t you see what they’re doing right in front of you? How do magicians steer your attention or appear to read your mind? Dive into the trapdoors of the human brain which allow the mind to get fooled. Join Eagleman with several guests: magician Robert Strong and cognitive neuroscientists Stephen Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde.

Episode Audio

Episode Video

More Information:

Stories by Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen L. Macknik in Scientific American.

Robert Strong Website

Martinez-Conde S, Macknik SL. Magic and the brain. Scientific American. 2008 Dec 1;299(6):72-9.

Macknik SL, Martinez-Conde S, Blakeslee S. Sleights of mind: What the neuroscience of magic reveals about our everyday deceptions. Macmillan+ ORM; 2010 Nov 9.

Strong R, Martinez D. Amaze & Delight: Secrets to Creating Magic in Business. Self-Published; 2023 Jan 28.

Rieiro H, Martinez-Conde S, Macknik SL. Perceptual elements in Penn & Teller’s “Cups and Balls” magic trick. PeerJ. 2013 Feb 12;1:e19.

The “color-changing card trick” by psychologist and magician Richard Wiseman.

Listen to Episode 27 about the possibility of mind reading by reading brain signals

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