A kind of Magic

Hullo Again Everyone

Scientists, researchers and the like have been investigating what effect magic has on our muggle brains. It can show how people see things, how they remember and react. Study on the brain is very difficult and equally as important. Reading into this has been intriguing. Articles like this one give one an idea of why such things need to be researched.

Magic has been in our culture as humans from the start. From ancient Greece to today, from voodoo to the ‘Wizard of Oz’. We even have college courses involving magic and how it affects us. It’s in our songs, from The Police to Queen to Glen Miller and it’s in our books and movies too. Look at Matilda, at the Harry Potter series. Sabrina, Buffy the Vampire slayer and others have a cult following. We all know a 30-something man, probably living in his mother’s basement, who is still obsessed with Buffy.

That there is a link between science and magic should surprise nobody. Reading up on this, is an awakening. Of course it should come as no surprise the two are linked and magic affects us mentally. Magic is about altering our perception and perception is very ‘science-y’ indeed.

Of course they cannot reveal all their secrets, but being told that they can affect what should be our free choice seems to be more than a little spooky. Magic is about people and how they do things. The quote that best sums up the point magicians are trying to get across is this.

“A lot of the demonstrations that I do, when I get inside people’s minds, is understanding human behaviour and understanding how people think and getting their patterns down,” famed illusionist Criss Angel told Parade magazine in 2007. “Many people say I’m really a student of humanity.”

When neurologists began to make these connections, it soon became obvious they were more than just mere connections. The brain, magic and the choices we make were inexorably linked. Which card we choose from a deck can be influenced. A study of consciousness team did a research paper, collaborating with Las Vegas magicians and it was a very successful one.

It would go a long way to explaining human vulnerabilities. We are easily trackable as a species and finding out why could help with animal research too. I personally think this could be another angle with which to study autism. It certainly opens doors and options to many other fields of research and study. 

Well thank you all for reading, Galileo