TED Talk Tuesday #239 – Do you believe in magic?

TED continues to spread ideas and help us all be better critical thinkers. Watching, listening and talking about TED Talks is a popular pastime for many in the CN&CO community. We visit TED.com regularly to clear our heads, have a laugh, learn or get inspired. TED Talks open our minds, spark new ways of thinking and can lead to some very interesting conversations and business opportunities. Each week we pick a favourite and publish it on a Tuesday, because we like how “TED Talk Tuesday” sounds. It’s also a way that the CN&CO team play their part in spreading ideas and helping to make the world a better place.

This week’s TED Talk was chosen by Colin Ford.

I’ve always been a fan of mentalism. That “OMG” moment when the mentalist reveals the numbers or the keys or the watch – or whatever the subject of the trick is – is pure magic. We may wonder how they did it, but that first moment always make me gasp a little.

Derren Brown is a world-renowned mentalist (or, as he calls himself, a psychological illusionist) who has been wowing audiences for years. I remember recording his show “Something Wicked This Way Comes” on VHS back in the mid-2000s and watching religiously every week. I love how creative he is with his acts – he never seemed to do the same thing twice! So when I saw his TED Talk “Mentalism, mind reading and the art of getting inside your head”, I watched it with relish.

“Magic is a great analogy for how we edit reality and form a story — and then mistake that story for the truth,” says Brown.

Check out the magic below and form your own truth: