It's harmful to think: what cognitive processes work in favor of magicians

Spanish neuroscientists Jordi Cami and Luis Martinez decided to look at the work of the human brain from a non-trivial perspective, taking the ancient art of the magician as the basis for their research. The authors of the book assume that the techniques of manipulating audience attention developed by illusionists over several centuries have not only entertainment and applied value, but also scientific value. Critic Lidia Maslova presents the book of the week specifically for Izvestia.

Jordi Cami, Luis Martinez

"Tricks of the brain: How neuroscience explains perceptual illusions"

Moscow: Alpina non-fiction, 2026. 320 p.

According to Cami and Martinez, the sociological and neurological underpinnings of magic tricks that have not become as popular as theater and cinema have not yet been sufficiently studied, but the authors of the book have no doubt that in the future the techniques of magicians can become an important tool for sociologists and researchers of the human mind. And as positive examples of the scientific use of magic tricks, Spaniards often turn to Alfred Binet, a psychologist from the Sorbonne, who studied outstanding magicians of his time (including Melies, who later became famous as a cinematographer), and in 1894 published the monograph "Psychology of Prestidigitation" - it made the first attempt to analyze exactly how magicians control the audience. vision and attention. Spanish scientists draw from Binet many key concepts of their research, for example, "amodal perception" (the ability to mentally automatically "complete" the holistic appearance of an object, part of which is hidden by other objects).

Following Binet, Cami and Martinez look at the work of prestidigitators, various kinds of illusionists and mentalists with all possible respect, in no way associating it with quackery and fooling the naive public. Rather, on the contrary, they tend to slightly romanticize the art of the magician, whose goal is not to deceive the viewer, but to create a "magical impression of the impossible," something paradoxical that defies the laws of nature. Another thing is that this nature has created the human brain in such a way that he himself is constantly happy to be deceived in one way or another. It would be a sin not to take advantage of this in order to give its owner a small innocent pleasure, which brings an unexpected ending to an ingeniously contrived and smoothly executed trick.

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"Real pop magic achieves the "illusion of impossibility" — a mystery that <...> can range from the unknown to the "psychic shock" that occurs when what is happening seems truly impossible," Cami and Martinez explain the attraction of magic tricks, referring to their famous compatriot, illusionist Juan Tamaris, who defined his The mission statement is very sublime: "The art of a magician should increase the amount of happiness — in the world, in other people and in ourselves." No less often than the practicing masters of enchantment, the authors of the book turn to philosophers for arguments confirming their theories, for example, to the American Jason Leddington, who believes that "experiencing a focus is aesthetically pleasing, even though it can sometimes cause strong negative emotions of various kinds, such as feelings of vulnerability, anxiety loss of control, fear, confusion, or bewilderment."

Photo: Global Look Press/Dmitry Chasovitin

Why human life is, in fact, one continuous illusion, for which it is not necessary to go to the circus specifically, is discussed in the second chapter — "Life in illusion: the human brain and the visual path" — with an epigraph from Calderon, lamenting that life is a dream: "What is our life? This is madness! / She is only an illusion, / She is only a shadow, a creature of dreams, / And in her the great is insignificant." Unlike the classic Spanish Baroque, modern scientists do not dramatize the situation and analyze in detail the process of the brain's perception of a huge amount of information coming from outside — even such a powerful neurocomputer, which is built into the human head, cannot fully process it. This biological device has a number of limitations, including speed: "... information is transmitted between neurons relatively slowly and on its way through the brain must overcome several bottlenecks — points where some part of the system limits the bandwidth and information processing capabilities."

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However, the cunning brain has invented several ways to overcome these limitations: first of all, to create the illusion of continuity of external experience where there is none, and to draw conclusions based on fragmentary data, that is, to complete reality based on previously accumulated information. Fortunately, a person is probably practically unaware of what exactly the brain presents to him instead of the so-called objective reality, adding missing details and filling in the gaps at his discretion.: "It's hard to accept that we just imagine everything we see and rely on limited information to systematically anticipate what will happen next." Of course, the brain's guesses can often turn out to be wrong, and then "illusions (optical, visual, and cognitive), false memories, bias, and cognitive distortions arise." But on the other hand, magicians build their art precisely on these unconscious information processing mechanisms fraught with errors, wedging themselves into the viewer's brain processes and turning them in the right direction.

Photo: Global Look Press/Cover Images/Keystone Press Agency

In conclusion, Cami and Martinez reflect on the current status of the art of magicians, which is now, of course, in less favorable conditions than in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With modern technological capabilities, advanced viewers have at their disposal tools that allow them to unravel the secret of any trick, if desired, although magicians keep up with the times and respond to viewer insight by creating new tricks using smartphones, drones and other equipment. But the most amazing thing, Kami and Martinez note, is that many classic magic tricks performed for 200 years still look quite impressive, which speaks to the uniqueness of this art form, which can evoke unique human experiences and break the patterns of world perception: "... magic tricks interfere with the automatic functioning of our brain, generating effects that successfully counteract the passage of time and the evolution of society."