Page 119 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book
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Consider    one   of   the   more   interesting   and   psychologi cally   subt le   card   tricks
                performed    by   highly   evolved   illus ioni sts.   A   magician   is   ons tage   and   asks    an

                audience    member     to   join   him.   When    the   volunt eer   (a   genui nel y   unpl ant ed
                middle-aged      man    who   seems    to   be   enj oying   the   sho w)   appr oache s,   the
                performer  holds  his  attention  for  a  few  moments  whi le  he  handl es  the   cards .
                Then the illusionist lays the fifty-two cards  (a real deck)  on  a table and  asks  the

                man  to  think  about  a  card.  Visualize  it.  The  magician  then   shuf fl  s  the   cards ,
                lays  the  deck  on  the  table,  and  asks   the  volunt eer  to  flip  the  top  card.  It  is  the
                envisioned  card.  What  happened  here?  Did  the  magician  really  read  the   man’s
                mind    and   then   miraculously   separate   that    card   from   the   other    fifty-one ?   Of

                course not.
                    This   particular   illusion   is   very   much    in   line   with   the   cont rolling   of
                intention    that   a   martial   artist   might    empl oy.   The   key    is   the    subt le
                manipulation      of   the   volunteer’s   cons cious    and   unco ns cious    minds .   It   all

                happens  before  the  “magic”  begins.  As  the  two  men  stand  before  one   ano the r,
                in   conversation,   the   illusionist   engag es   the   volunt eer.   Thi s   interaction   is
                dictated   by   the   magician.   The   volunt eer   is   answering   ques tions ,   following,
                trying  to  look  good  onstage.  In  the  mids t  of  all  thi s,  and  in  a  blur   tha t  no   one

                in the audience notices, the illusioni st fl     hes  a card.  Thi s is the  sleight  of ha nd.
                The   critical   point   is   that   the   volunt eer   mus t   unco ns cious ly   notice   the    card
                without  the  observation  registering     in  his  cons cious   mind.   He  is  enga ge d   in
                the  banter  of  the  illusionist,  and  then   sudden ly  has  a  seed  planted  in  hi s  mind.

                When     asked   to   envision   a   card,   that    choice   has    already    been   made    for   hi m.
                Manipulating  the  card  throughout  the       shuffle  so  it  remains  at  the  top  of  the
                deck  is  child’s  play  for  a  halfway-decen t  sleight   of  hand  artist.  The   subt lety  of
                this  deception  is  that  if  the  performer  fails  to  fully  engag e  the  man’s  cons cious

                mind,  then  the  clever  volunteer  will  realize  he’s  being  progr ammed  and  de cide
                to choose another card—the trick won’t work.


                                                          *      

                If   a   pattern   of   interaction   is   recogni zabl e   to   the   adv ersary,   the n   ment al
                conditioning will not be terribly effective.  In  the  Push  Hands  scene  I de scribe d
                above,   had  my  opponent  recognized      that   his  ego   was  being   manipul ated,   he

                could  have  thwarted  my  plan.  My  feigned   unhap pi nes s  and  backi ng     up   made
                him  feel  powerful,  confident,  so  he    was  not  on   the   looko ut   for  being   set  up.
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