Why do we like magic when we know it's a trick?

[kestrell]

Teller, of Penn and Teller, has been involved in studying the cognition of magic for decades, and my favorite academic on the subject is Barton Whaley, an MIT alum who became the father of "deception studies"
https://www.bbc.com/news/education-47827346

Comments

[capri0mni]

I think some of the reasons were touched on in that article (that it's fun to be disoriented, as long as we know we're safe, enjoying seeing the expression of a skill artfully done, etc.).

But I also think we like magic for the same reason we enjoy fantasy stories. It's fun to imagine what the world would be like if the rules of reality were different than they are.

It's fun to make-believe that a gentleman's top hat could be a magic portal to a world where rabbits (or at least, that particular rabbit) live.

[kestrell]

And certainly there are many spec fic stories where the hook is that stage magic is real magic after all--I don't remember the title, but Clive Barker wrote a great noir story like this, which became the movie "Lord of Illusions" starring Scott Bakula.

Personally, I enjoy observing the sighted ppl get their superior sense hacked:
"Misdirection" is a key part of magic - getting people to not look at what's important, but to distract them, change the subject, use a dramatic prop and push their attention elsewhere, so they do not see what is happening in front of their eyes.

[capri0mni]

Personally, I enjoy observing the sighted ppl get their superior sense hacked:

Bwa-ha-ha!