Online ESP test-scary!

Azrael 5 · 6th June 2009, 09:33 AM

Actual video not a flash player thingy! Freaked me out twice,and everyone who has seen it! I changed my mind on some of the tests too before the reveal!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/videohub/esptest.shtml

Please no revealing method if you somehow figure it, I'm happy to be fooled occasionally!

Denver · 6th June 2009, 10:40 AM

I got the entire test wrong.

But, I didn't know a video could pause itself automatically like it did.
That was the coolest part for me.

Unlike a Bull · 6th June 2009, 10:54 AM

Well, I got all three wrong. Apparently I don't possess natural psychic ability. But, I had a .512 probability of getting them all wrong so ... yea.

Also, you say that you got freaked out twice. Does this mean you got the right shape twice? If I did my binomial right (I'm not all that good at probabilities) you had a .096 probability of getting two out of three. Almost one in ten.

thaiboxerken · 6th June 2009, 11:04 AM

Blah blah..boring. Bad thing is, this kind of thing actually does fool people into believing the woo.

Leftus · 6th June 2009, 11:10 AM

From the video - "Only 20% of people are successful on this first attempt."

As a transmitter, Ivan sucks.

Azrael 5 · 6th June 2009, 11:19 AM

Im beginning to get an inkling of part of the method. It requires an assistant to operate the test, so working it solo won't get results!

How/where the assistant learns the method I dunno.

Big Les · 7th June 2009, 06:14 AM

I too didn't get a single one right. Where's the scary?

Horatius · 7th June 2009, 06:54 AM

Originally Posted by Leftus

From the video - "Only 20% of people are successful on this first attempt."

As a transmitter, Ivan sucks.

But, amazingly, his success rate is exactly 1/5! And there were 5 shapes! What are the odds??!?!

JFrankA · 7th June 2009, 07:09 AM

Originally Posted by Denver

I got the entire test wrong.

But, I didn't know a video could pause itself automatically like it did.
That was the coolest part for me.

I'm in complete agreement with you on this:

how'd they get the video to pause? I wanna learn how to do that.

(That was the most amazing bit to me. I knew they were going to choose the star because every mentalist knows that the star is the one people will pick most of the time).

Safe-Keeper · 7th June 2009, 09:52 AM

I was 100% sure it'd be that old trick of making you concentrate on one card, which you wanted replaced by another card, for then to replace all the cards without you noticing because you focused so much on one of them.

Instead it's that tired old trick in which they know most people pick certain objects over others, and then use those statistics to pretend they're reading minds.

thatguywhojuggles · 7th June 2009, 10:37 AM

I kept picking the square... I kept picking wrong. No million dollars for me!

I did notice if you play the video again, it picks a different one.

zooterkin · 7th June 2009, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by JFrankA

I'm in complete agreement with you on this:

how'd they get the video to pause? I wanna learn how to do that.

(That was the most amazing bit to me. I knew they were going to choose the star because every mentalist knows that the star is the one people will pick most of the time).

Hmm, that's interesting; I chose the star, but it was never the one chosen on the video. Are you saying it was chosen when you watched it?

Patricio Elicer · 7th June 2009, 11:19 AM

I got all wrong....

Darat · 7th June 2009, 11:33 AM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/videoh...lanation.shtml

zooterkin · 7th June 2009, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Darat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/videoh...lanation.shtml

Ah, that explains it. And I'm not at all surprised that this isn't really old footage.

blobru · 7th June 2009, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by Patricio Elicer

I got all wrong....

Me too.

Blame it on Ivan Leonov's fashion sense. If one of the cards had been "teh black turtleneck", I would have scored 100%.

JFrankA · 7th June 2009, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by zooterkin

Hmm, that's interesting; I chose the star, but it was never the one chosen on the video. Are you saying it was chosen when you watched it?

Interesting. Reading the thread now, I'm presuming it's a different answer every time you access it.

All three of my "tests" were the star.

Now I know how/why the video is paused. It redirects you to another video as part of the script. Very sneaky....

Metullus · 7th June 2009, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by Darat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/videoh...lanation.shtml

I got 100% - weird.

Evidently I am not permitted to view the video to which Darat linked...

Wowbagger · 7th June 2009, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by JFrankA

how'd they get the video to pause? I wanna learn how to do that.

It's a Flash-based video. You can embed "pause" queues into it, using the Adobe Media Encoder (and the player would have to be written to pick up on them).

Alternatively, it could be done with JavaScript. I have seen Internet-based video clip editors that allow the user to pause a video between a range of the spots, that they wish to examine.

Lucky · 7th June 2009, 01:39 PM

It obviously couldn't be a real 'old VHS in my parent's attic', because of the self-pausing - I didn't even realise we were supposed to believe that part.

Interesting, isn't it, that on a skeptics' forum people would confidently post the wrong explanation without (apparently) subjecting their hypothesis to some simple tests. I have noticed before on this forum that, in their zeal to debunk 'woo', people will snatch at the first non-paranormal explanation that comes into their heads, however implausible, and insist it must be right (also happens in Conjuror's Corner).

I tried it once, and got all three - the star each time. That's likely to be a common result - see the real explanation. But I wasn't satisfied with the 'tired old' statistical explanation, so did some investigating. Obviously, the first thing to find out was whether the cards were the same every time.

I wasn't thinking in terms of a 'magic' trick - hadn't noticed the 'misdirection' to get you to use an assistant - so I just assumed there was something that increased the probability of correct guesses beyond chance. The question was then: it either is or isn't using feedback from me to 'guess' my choice. Seemed likely that it was, given that (i) the elaborate setup makes it possible, and (ii) it would give the best results. If so, it had to be something to do with the mouse-click, so I tried varying everything I could about it - in particular, the length of the pause.

I did indeed get different cards - ruling out the facile statistical 'explanation'. However, I didn't notice that I was clicking in different places, so missed the crucial connection (also, as I said, I was thinking in terms of a single player, and probabilities). The only thing I could think of was that it had to do with the length of the pause - some correlation with the position of each card in the row. I wasn't happy with this (that's why I didn't post it!), but gave up as I had no more ideas - anyway, I was indeed totally wrong!

Thank you, Azrael, for getting me to waste half an hour on the fruitless attempt

.

jasonpatterson · 7th June 2009, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by Darat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/videoh...lanation.shtml

Originally Posted by zooterkin

Ah, that explains it. And I'm not at all surprised that this isn't really old footage.

Is there any hope of sharing the trick with those who live outside the UK?

I assume that there is some sort of cue in the video that informs you which of the shapes will be chosen next...

My favorite feature of the video is that the volume can be turned up to 11.

This reminds me of Peter Answers, a goofy website prank that works in pairs. Here's how it works.

roger · 7th June 2009, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by jasonpatterson

Is there any hope of sharing the trick with those who live outside the UK?

Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C_iy7SyDJE

JFrankA · 7th June 2009, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by roger

Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C_iy7SyDJE

Okay. That is frewkin' BRILLIANT!!!!! I wish I thought of that.

You bet your a** I'm going to use that.

And I will admit it. I was completely fooled into thinking it was just the standard mentalist trick when using Zenner Cards.

Monketey Ghost · 7th June 2009, 03:38 PM

another here who got 'em all wrong.

Toke · 7th June 2009, 03:38 PM

Well, I started thinking of that david copperfield video where he get you thinking of one out of 6 picture cards.

Then removes the one you are concentrating on.!!!

The trick is that he removes all and replaces them with 5 others.
The one you were concentrating on is gone and hopefully you will not notice that the others are different.

JFrankA · 7th June 2009, 03:59 PM

Originally Posted by Magnifico2.0

another here who got 'em all wrong.

You are not clicking with the video....

Wowbagger · 7th June 2009, 04:03 PM

Well, having seen the explanation video, I can safely say that it was definately a JavaScript-based video pausing and playing system; and not "pause" queues embedded into the video.

Azrael 5 · 7th June 2009, 04:42 PM

I should have checked the video before linking it. Then I would have known it doesn't work one on one!
But to use on someone else it is brilliant!

Michael C · 8th June 2009, 03:25 AM

Hihi: very nicely done. Making it look like an old film is a clever touch.

There's more of that sort of stuff here: http://www.krazydad.com/oracle/help.php

Monketey Ghost · 8th June 2009, 03:01 PM

the oracle of Andalyn

Big Les · 8th June 2009, 03:19 PM

Finally it makes sense. Very clever. As for the video being old yet having a pause button in it, I just assumed that whoever had uploaded it had recreated whatever pause/play breaks/cues had been incorporated in the original VHS/Beta tape. I was too busy thinking about the content to query that. And if you've ever watched the Open University, this was a damn good approximation.

MnJohnF · 12th June 2009, 08:28 AM

It's pure math, and nothing more.

The probability of getting all three correct is 1/125. They say "If you get all three right, you may have some special talent." Or something like that.

If 1000 people look at it, 8 of them will think they have a special talent. But they only made three lucky guesses that happened to be correct.

For the record, I got them all wrong. But I know that I don't have a psychic "gift" of any kind.

Cavemonster · 12th June 2009, 08:56 AM

Originally Posted by MnJohnF

It's pure math, and nothing more.

The probability of getting all three correct is 1/125. They say "If you get all three right, you may have some special talent." Or something like that.

If 1000 people look at it, 8 of them will think they have a special talent. But they only made three lucky guesses that happened to be correct.

For the record, I got them all wrong. But I know that I don't have a psychic "gift" of any kind.

You've missed the explanation video, here's how it works for those that can't watch it.

Olowkow · 12th June 2009, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by MnJohnF

......
For the record, I got them all wrong. But I know that I don't have a psychic "gift" of any kind.

Alas, no one does, no one.

Hokulele · 12th June 2009, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by Cavemonster

You've missed the explanation video, here's how it works for those that can't watch it.

Heh, my husband and I have a "psychic" bar trick based on the same principle, but using pennies instead of Zener cards (used to be matchsticks until everything went non-smoking), and a cocktail napkin and a drink for the cues. It worked every time, and we would get free drinks for being psychic!

And yes, we would do a reveal at the end. After the free drink.

FramerDave · 12th June 2009, 03:22 PM

Anyone notice the faux cryllic font on the scientific institute's name? I really hope nobody takes this seriously.

Molinaro · 12th June 2009, 05:29 PM

I picked wavy-wavy-wavy
The video picked star-square-square*

*correction, I clicked star-square-square

Typicallucas · 12th June 2009, 06:36 PM

I guessed square, wavy lines, & cross... all wrong.

Big Les · 14th June 2009, 10:31 AM

Yes, because you need to look at the explanation video.

Azrael 5 · 14th June 2009, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by Big Les

Yes, because you need to look at the explanation video.

Maybe draw them a diagram.

6th June 2009, 09:33 AM	#1
Azrael 5 Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Yorkshire,Uk Posts: 5,029	Online ESP test-scary! Actual video not a flash player thingy! Freaked me out twice,and everyone who has seen it! I changed my mind on some of the tests too before the reveal! http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/videohub/esptest.shtml Please no revealing method if you somehow figure it, I'm happy to be fooled occasionally!
	__________________ "I achieve these results through a mixture of magic,misdirection,suggestion and showmanship"-Derren Brown

6th June 2009, 10:54 AM	#3
Unlike a Bull Thinker Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 188	Well, I got all three wrong. Apparently I don't possess natural psychic ability. But, I had a .512 probability of getting them all wrong so ... yea. Also, you say that you got freaked out twice. Does this mean you got the right shape twice? If I did my binomial right (I'm not all that good at probabilities) you had a .096 probability of getting two out of three. Almost one in ten.
Unlike a Bull Thinker Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 188

6th June 2009, 11:04 AM	#4
thaiboxerken Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 20,947	Blah blah..boring. Bad thing is, this kind of thing actually does fool people into believing the woo.
	__________________ All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power & profit - Thomas Paine

6th June 2009, 11:10 AM	#5
Leftus Thinker Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 156	From the video - "Only 20% of people are successful on this first attempt." As a transmitter, Ivan sucks.
Leftus Thinker Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 156

6th June 2009, 11:19 AM	#6
Azrael 5 Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Yorkshire,Uk Posts: 5,029	Im beginning to get an inkling of part of the method. It requires an assistant to operate the test, so working it solo won't get results! How/where the assistant learns the method I dunno.
	__________________ "I achieve these results through a mixture of magic,misdirection,suggestion and showmanship"-Derren Brown

6th June 2009, 10:40 AM	#2
Denver Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 6,596	I got the entire test wrong. But, I didn't know a video could pause itself automatically like it did. That was the coolest part for me.

7th June 2009, 06:14 AM	#7
Big Les Not so much a medium as a large Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 5,004	I too didn't get a single one right. Where's the scary?
	__________________ "Feeling you’ve done something is not quite the same as the empirical scientific proof." -Stephen Fry The BS Historian

7th June 2009, 06:54 AM	#8
Horatius NWO Kitty Wrangler Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada Posts: 21,883	Originally Posted by Leftus From the video - "Only 20% of people are successful on this first attempt." As a transmitter, Ivan sucks. But, amazingly, his success rate is exactly 1/5! And there were 5 shapes! What are the odds??!?!
	__________________ Obviously, that means cats are indeed evil and that ownership or display of a feline is an overt declaration of one's affiliation with dark forces. - Cl1mh4224rd

7th June 2009, 07:09 AM	#9
JFrankA Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 4,054	Originally Posted by Denver I got the entire test wrong. But, I didn't know a video could pause itself automatically like it did. That was the coolest part for me. I'm in complete agreement with you on this: how'd they get the video to pause? I wanna learn how to do that. (That was the most amazing bit to me. I knew they were going to choose the star because every mentalist knows that the star is the one people will pick most of the time).
	__________________ "How perverted you are.", "I will bite you like a serpent. The poison will slowly kill your sophism..." - SnakeTongue "More truth is in a single issue of Mad than a year of Time." - Gord in Toronto "Oh, and one more thing: For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the sheltered will never know." - Wise man in Sucker Punch

7th June 2009, 09:52 AM	#10
Safe-Keeper Philosopher Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Sogndal, Norway Posts: 7,120	I was 100% sure it'd be that old trick of making you concentrate on one card, which you wanted replaced by another card, for then to replace all the cards without you noticing because you focused so much on one of them. Instead it's that tired old trick in which they know most people pick certain objects over others, and then use those statistics to pretend they're reading minds.

7th June 2009, 10:37 AM	#11
thatguywhojuggles Resident Juggler Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 1,338	I kept picking the square... I kept picking wrong. No million dollars for me! I did notice if you play the video again, it picks a different one.
	__________________ \/\/ALTER Juggler-Artist-Atheist My Portfolio/ResumÃ© "Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful." -- Seneca the Younger (4? B.C. - 65 A.D.) "A lie goes half way around the world before the truth has a chance to get his pants on." - Winston Churchill. Last edited by thatguywhojuggles; 7th June 2009 at 10:39 AM.

7th June 2009, 11:04 AM	#12
zooterkin Nitpicking dilettante Moderator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Berkshire, mostly Posts: 24,536	Originally Posted by JFrankA I'm in complete agreement with you on this: how'd they get the video to pause? I wanna learn how to do that. (That was the most amazing bit to me. I knew they were going to choose the star because every mentalist knows that the star is the one people will pick most of the time). Hmm, that's interesting; I chose the star, but it was never the one chosen on the video. Are you saying it was chosen when you watched it?
	__________________ The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.Bertrand Russell Zooterkin is correct Darat Nerd! Hokulele Join the JREF Folders ! Team 13232

7th June 2009, 11:19 AM	#13
Patricio Elicer Obsessed with Reality Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 4,350	I got all wrong....
	__________________ "Well, I've never discussed it before on the forum, but, Patricio, you're the real reason I didn't show up at TAM I. Once I found out you were going, I cancelled all my plans, knowing that you would likely hunt me down and ask me questions about English language usage. I finally decided that I wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of your questions ..." - Mr. Skinny on 5th April 2007.

7th June 2009, 11:33 AM	#14
Darat Lackey Administrator / JREF Forum Liaison Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: South East, UK Posts: 64,732	http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/videoh...lanation.shtml
	__________________ If it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1918-2008

7th June 2009, 12:03 PM	#15
zooterkin Nitpicking dilettante Moderator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Berkshire, mostly Posts: 24,536	Originally Posted by Darat http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/videoh...lanation.shtml Ah, that explains it. And I'm not at all surprised that this isn't really old footage.
	__________________ The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.Bertrand Russell Zooterkin is correct Darat Nerd! Hokulele Join the JREF Folders ! Team 13232

7th June 2009, 12:13 PM	#16
blobru Philosopher Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 6,587	Originally Posted by Patricio Elicer I got all wrong.... Me too. Blame it on Ivan Leonov's fashion sense. If one of the cards had been "teh black turtleneck", I would have scored 100%.
blobru Philosopher Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 6,587	__________________ "Say to them, 'I am Nobody!'" -- Ulysses to the Cyclops "Never mind. I can't read." -- Hokulele to the Easter Bunny

7th June 2009, 12:36 PM	#17
JFrankA Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 4,054	Originally Posted by zooterkin Hmm, that's interesting; I chose the star, but it was never the one chosen on the video. Are you saying it was chosen when you watched it? Interesting. Reading the thread now, I'm presuming it's a different answer every time you access it. All three of my "tests" were the star. Now I know how/why the video is paused. It redirects you to another video as part of the script. Very sneaky....
	__________________ "How perverted you are.", "I will bite you like a serpent. The poison will slowly kill your sophism..." - SnakeTongue "More truth is in a single issue of Mad than a year of Time." - Gord in Toronto "Oh, and one more thing: For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the sheltered will never know." - Wise man in Sucker Punch

7th June 2009, 12:47 PM	#18
Metullus Forum ¾-Wit Pro Tem Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Waldo's Pond Posts: 3,959	Originally Posted by Darat http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/videoh...lanation.shtml I got 100% - weird. Evidently I am not permitted to view the video to which Darat linked...
	__________________ I have met Tim at TAM. He is of sufficient height to piss on your leg. - Doubt 10/7/2005 Aristotle taught that the brain exists merely to cool the blood and is not involved in the process of thinking. This is true only of certain persons. - Will Cuppy

7th June 2009, 12:56 PM	#19
Wowbagger The Infinitely Prolonged Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Westchester County, NY (when not in space) Posts: 13,504	Originally Posted by JFrankA how'd they get the video to pause? I wanna learn how to do that. It's a Flash-based video. You can embed "pause" queues into it, using the Adobe Media Encoder (and the player would have to be written to pick up on them). Alternatively, it could be done with JavaScript. I have seen Internet-based video clip editors that allow the user to pause a video between a range of the spots, that they wish to examine.
	__________________ WARNING: Phrases in this post may sound meaner than they were intended to be. SkeptiCamp NYC: http://www.skepticampnyc.org/ An open conference on science and skepticism, where *you* could be a presenter! By the way, my first name is NOT Bowerick!!!! Last edited by Wowbagger; 7th June 2009 at 12:57 PM.

7th June 2009, 01:39 PM	#20
Lucky Graduate Poster Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 1,196	It obviously couldn't be a real 'old VHS in my parent's attic', because of the self-pausing - I didn't even realise we were supposed to believe that part. Interesting, isn't it, that on a skeptics' forum people would confidently post the wrong explanation without (apparently) subjecting their hypothesis to some simple tests. I have noticed before on this forum that, in their zeal to debunk 'woo', people will snatch at the first non-paranormal explanation that comes into their heads, however implausible, and insist it must be right (also happens in Conjuror's Corner). I tried it once, and got all three - the star each time. That's likely to be a common result - see the real explanation. But I wasn't satisfied with the 'tired old' statistical explanation, so did some investigating. Obviously, the first thing to find out was whether the cards were the same every time. I wasn't thinking in terms of a 'magic' trick - hadn't noticed the 'misdirection' to get you to use an assistant - so I just assumed there was something that increased the probability of correct guesses beyond chance. The question was then: it either is or isn't using feedback from me to 'guess' my choice. Seemed likely that it was, given that (i) the elaborate setup makes it possible, and (ii) it would give the best results. If so, it had to be something to do with the mouse-click, so I tried varying everything I could about it - in particular, the length of the pause. I did indeed get different cards - ruling out the facile statistical 'explanation'. However, I didn't notice that I was clicking in different places, so missed the crucial connection (also, as I said, I was thinking in terms of a single player, and probabilities). The only thing I could think of was that it had to do with the length of the pause - some correlation with the position of each card in the row. I wasn't happy with this (that's why I didn't post it!), but gave up as I had no more ideas - anyway, I was indeed totally wrong! Thank you, Azrael, for getting me to waste half an hour on the fruitless attempt .
	__________________ I believe that economic advances merely provide the opportunity for a step forward which, as yet, hasn't happened. All we have done is to advance to a point at which we could make a real improvement in human life, but we shan't do it without the recognition that common decency is necessary. George Orwell

7th June 2009, 01:47 PM	#21
jasonpatterson Philanthropic Misanthrope Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Space, The Final Frontier Posts: 2,180	Originally Posted by Darat http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/videoh...lanation.shtml Originally Posted by zooterkin Ah, that explains it. And I'm not at all surprised that this isn't really old footage. Is there any hope of sharing the trick with those who live outside the UK? I assume that there is some sort of cue in the video that informs you which of the shapes will be chosen next... My favorite feature of the video is that the volume can be turned up to 11. This reminds me of Peter Answers, a goofy website prank that works in pairs. Here's how it works.
	__________________ Sandra's seen a leprechaun, Eddie touched a troll, Laurie danced with witches once, Charlie found some goblins' gold. Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susie spied an elf, But all the magic I have known I've had to make myself. - Shel Silverstein

7th June 2009, 02:01 PM	#22
roger Penultimate Amazing Join Date: May 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 11,021	Originally Posted by jasonpatterson Is there any hope of sharing the trick with those who live outside the UK? Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C_iy7SyDJE
	__________________ May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. - John Muir

7th June 2009, 03:26 PM	#23
JFrankA Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 4,054	Originally Posted by roger Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C_iy7SyDJE Okay. That is frewkin' BRILLIANT!!!!! I wish I thought of that. You bet your a** I'm going to use that. And I will admit it. I was completely fooled into thinking it was just the standard mentalist trick when using Zenner Cards.
	__________________ "How perverted you are.", "I will bite you like a serpent. The poison will slowly kill your sophism..." - SnakeTongue "More truth is in a single issue of Mad than a year of Time." - Gord in Toronto "Oh, and one more thing: For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the sheltered will never know." - Wise man in Sucker Punch

7th June 2009, 03:38 PM	#24
Monketey Ghost Body of Work Join Date: May 2003 Location: I'm on your screen! Posts: 14,806	another here who got 'em all wrong.
	__________________ _{The membership of this forum is henceforth to refer to me as potato-headed Bobby} _{SSKCAS, member in long standing}

7th June 2009, 03:38 PM	#25
Toke Godless Socialist Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Denmark Posts: 7,600	Well, I started thinking of that david copperfield video where he get you thinking of one out of 6 picture cards. Then removes the one you are concentrating on.!!! The trick is that he removes all and replaces them with 5 others. The one you were concentrating on is gone and hopefully you will not notice that the others are different.
	__________________ From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. -K. Marx.

7th June 2009, 03:59 PM	#26
JFrankA Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 4,054	Originally Posted by Magnifico2.0 another here who got 'em all wrong. You are not clicking with the video....
	__________________ "How perverted you are.", "I will bite you like a serpent. The poison will slowly kill your sophism..." - SnakeTongue "More truth is in a single issue of Mad than a year of Time." - Gord in Toronto "Oh, and one more thing: For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the sheltered will never know." - Wise man in Sucker Punch

7th June 2009, 04:03 PM	#27
Wowbagger The Infinitely Prolonged Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Westchester County, NY (when not in space) Posts: 13,504	Well, having seen the explanation video, I can safely say that it was definately a JavaScript-based video pausing and playing system; and not "pause" queues embedded into the video.
	__________________ WARNING: Phrases in this post may sound meaner than they were intended to be. SkeptiCamp NYC: http://www.skepticampnyc.org/ An open conference on science and skepticism, where *you* could be a presenter! By the way, my first name is NOT Bowerick!!!!

7th June 2009, 04:42 PM	#28
Azrael 5 Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Yorkshire,Uk Posts: 5,029	I should have checked the video before linking it. Then I would have known it doesn't work one on one! But to use on someone else it is brilliant!
	__________________ "I achieve these results through a mixture of magic,misdirection,suggestion and showmanship"-Derren Brown

8th June 2009, 03:25 AM	#29
Michael C Graduate Poster Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: N 49° 52' 3" E 8° 40' 21" Posts: 1,849	Hihi: very nicely done. Making it look like an old film is a clever touch. There's more of that sort of stuff here: http://www.krazydad.com/oracle/help.php

8th June 2009, 03:01 PM	#30
Monketey Ghost Body of Work Join Date: May 2003 Location: I'm on your screen! Posts: 14,806	the oracle of Andalyn
	__________________ _{The membership of this forum is henceforth to refer to me as potato-headed Bobby} _{SSKCAS, member in long standing}

8th June 2009, 03:19 PM	#31
Big Les Not so much a medium as a large Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 5,004	Finally it makes sense. Very clever. As for the video being old yet having a pause button in it, I just assumed that whoever had uploaded it had recreated whatever pause/play breaks/cues had been incorporated in the original VHS/Beta tape. I was too busy thinking about the content to query that. And if you've ever watched the Open University, this was a damn good approximation.
	__________________ "Feeling you’ve done something is not quite the same as the empirical scientific proof." -Stephen Fry The BS Historian

12th June 2009, 08:28 AM	#32
MnJohnF New Blood Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2	It's pure math, and nothing more. The probability of getting all three correct is 1/125. They say "If you get all three right, you may have some special talent." Or something like that. If 1000 people look at it, 8 of them will think they have a special talent. But they only made three lucky guesses that happened to be correct. For the record, I got them all wrong. But I know that I don't have a psychic "gift" of any kind.
MnJohnF New Blood Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2

12th June 2009, 08:56 AM	#33
Cavemonster Illuminator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3,916	Originally Posted by MnJohnF It's pure math, and nothing more. The probability of getting all three correct is 1/125. They say "If you get all three right, you may have some special talent." Or something like that. If 1000 people look at it, 8 of them will think they have a special talent. But they only made three lucky guesses that happened to be correct. For the record, I got them all wrong. But I know that I don't have a psychic "gift" of any kind. You've missed the explanation video, here's how it works for those that can't watch it. It is meant for one person who is in on it to test their friend who is the mark. The person being tested is supposed to sit several feet away from the screen, so their friend administering the test must push the play button after each pause. The play button is actually divided into five areas. The upper left quadrant is the circle The top right is the cross The bottom left is the wavy lines The bottom right is the square The center is the star. At each pause, the mark states their prediction out loud, and their friend pushes the part of the play button that corresponds to what the mark has already predicted. Then a segment of video plays where what the mark has picked is correct. The fake aged look of the video is meant to throw viewers off the trail that the trick is based on technology.
Cavemonster Illuminator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3,916	__________________ The weakness of all Utopias is this, ... They first assume that no man will want more than his share, and then are very ingenious in explaining whether his share will be delivered by motorcar or balloon. -G.K. CHESTERTON

12th June 2009, 11:42 AM	#34
Olowkow Illuminator Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 4,790	Originally Posted by MnJohnF ...... For the record, I got them all wrong. But I know that I don't have a psychic "gift" of any kind. Alas, no one does, no one.
Olowkow Illuminator Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 4,790	__________________ Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to heaven. --Shakespeare

12th June 2009, 12:59 PM	#35
Hokulele Official Nemesis Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Trying to decide whether to set defenses against an army, or against mole rats. Posts: 27,265	Originally Posted by Cavemonster You've missed the explanation video, here's how it works for those that can't watch it. Heh, my husband and I have a "psychic" bar trick based on the same principle, but using pennies instead of Zener cards (used to be matchsticks until everything went non-smoking), and a cocktail napkin and a drink for the cues. It worked every time, and we would get free drinks for being psychic! And yes, we would do a reveal at the end. After the free drink.
	__________________ Yvette: "Blasty! Blasty! Blasty!" Some person: "Why did you shoot that?" Yvette: "Blasty! Blasty! Blasty!" - Tragic Monkey