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[[Image:Ray Hyman Spoon Bending CFI.jpg|thumb|200px|right|alt=Elderly man in black shirt and glasses holding up a bent spoon by the neck|[[Ray Hyman]] demonstrating Geller's spoon bending feats at a [[Center for Inquiry]] lecture in 2012]] |
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[[File:RandiFork.jpg|thumb|Fork bent by [[James Randi]].]] |
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Causing [[spoon]]s, [[key (lock)|key]]s, and other items to appear to bend without any [[Kinetic energy|physical force]] is a common stage magic trick that has many variants. Simply holding a spoon by its neck and rapidly tilting it back and forth can create the illusion that the spoon is bending, due to the way that the human eye perceives the rocking motion.<ref name="Carey">{{cite news |title=While a Magician Works, the Mind Does the Tricks |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Benedict |last=Carey |date=August 12, 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/science/12magic.html?em |author-link=Benedict Carey |page=F1 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=limited}}</ref> |
Causing [[spoon]]s, [[key (lock)|key]]s, and other items to appear to bend without any [[Kinetic energy|physical force]] is a common [[stage magic]] trick that has many variants. Simply holding a spoon by its neck and rapidly tilting it back and forth can create the illusion that the spoon is bending, due to the way that the human eye perceives the rocking motion.<ref name="Carey">{{cite news |title=While a Magician Works, the Mind Does the Tricks |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Benedict |last=Carey |date=August 12, 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/science/12magic.html?em |author-link=Benedict Carey |page=F1 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=limited}}</ref> |
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When a spoon is physically bent or broken, it is usually at the point where the object would be easiest to bend by hand. In many cases, the trick uses [[misdirection (magic)|misdirection]]: the performer draws the audience's attention away from the spoon for the brief moment during which the spoon is manually bent. The typical bend, where the bowl meets the handle, requires relatively little force. The magician then gradually reveals the bend.<ref name="Emery">{{cite news |
When a spoon is physically bent or broken, it is usually at the point where the object would be easiest to bend by hand. In many cases, the trick uses [[misdirection (magic)|misdirection]]: the performer draws the audience's attention away from the spoon for the brief moment during which the spoon is manually bent. The typical bend, where the bowl meets the handle, requires relatively little force. The magician then gradually reveals the bend.<ref name="Emery">{{cite news |
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⚫ | At a 1998 [[Skeptics Society]] conference, paranormal investigator [[James Randi]] showed clips of the stage magician and self-described psychic [[Uri Geller]] appearing on the Italian television channel [[Rai 3]] and the BBC programme ''[[Noel's House Party]]'', in which he apparently manually bent various metal objects before performing his [[psychokinesis]] routine.<ref name="Skeptics Society">{{cite AV media |title=James Randi's Solved Mysteries Workshop |year=1998 |publisher=The Skeptics Society |location=Altadena, Calif. |oclc=71299799 |type=DVD video}}</ref>{{Time needed|date=July 2021}} |
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[[Image:Ray Hyman Spoon Bending CFI.jpg|thumb|200px|left|[[Ray Hyman]] demonstrates [[Uri Geller]]'s spoon bending feats at CFI lecture. June 17, 2012 [[Costa Mesa, California]]]] |
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Other methods use a metal spoon that has been prepared so that a simple flick will cause it to bend or break. This can be done, for instance, by repeatedly bending the spoon at the desired spot, until the metal [[Fatigue (material)|cracks and weakens]]. If the spoon breaks, the magician holds together the two halves of the spoon as if it were unbroken, then slowly relaxes the grip, making the spoon appear to bend before splitting in two.<ref>{{cite episode |
Other methods use a metal spoon that has been prepared so that a simple flick will cause it to bend or break. This can be done, for instance, by repeatedly bending the spoon at the desired spot, until the metal [[Fatigue (material)|cracks and weakens]]. If the spoon breaks, the magician holds together the two halves of the spoon as if it were unbroken, then slowly relaxes the grip, making the spoon appear to bend before splitting in two.<ref>{{cite episode |
Revision as of 01:19, 1 August 2021
Spoon bending is the apparent deformation of objects, especially metal cutlery, either without physical force, or with less force than would normally seem necessary. It is a common theme for magic tricks, which use a variety of methods to produce the effect.
Spoon bending attracted considerable media attention in the 1970s when certain individuals claimed to have the ability to cause such events by paranormal psychic means. The most famous was Uri Geller, who performed by appearing to bend metal spoons as well as keys and several other objects and materials. Geller's performances were attributed to illusion by critics such as James Randi[1] and Martin Gardner.[2]
Methods
Causing spoons, keys, and other items to appear to bend without any physical force is a common stage magic trick that has many variants. Simply holding a spoon by its neck and rapidly tilting it back and forth can create the illusion that the spoon is bending, due to the way that the human eye perceives the rocking motion.[3]
When a spoon is physically bent or broken, it is usually at the point where the object would be easiest to bend by hand. In many cases, the trick uses misdirection: the performer draws the audience's attention away from the spoon for the brief moment during which the spoon is manually bent. The typical bend, where the bowl meets the handle, requires relatively little force. The magician then gradually reveals the bend.[4]
At a 1998 Skeptics Society conference, paranormal investigator James Randi showed clips of the stage magician and self-described psychic Uri Geller appearing on the Italian television channel Rai 3 and the BBC programme Noel's House Party, in which he apparently manually bent various metal objects before performing his psychokinesis routine.[5][time needed]
Other methods use a metal spoon that has been prepared so that a simple flick will cause it to bend or break. This can be done, for instance, by repeatedly bending the spoon at the desired spot, until the metal cracks and weakens. If the spoon breaks, the magician holds together the two halves of the spoon as if it were unbroken, then slowly relaxes the grip, making the spoon appear to bend before splitting in two.[6]
If a magician has control over the viewing angle, the trick can be done by using a spoon that is already bent at the start of the trick. The spoon is initially held with the bend along the viewing angle, making it invisible. The magician then turns the spoon slowly to reveal the bend. The magician Ben Harris published step-by-step photographs and text showing how to bend keys and cutlery by trick methods.[7][page needed]
Some novelty or magic shops sell self-bending spoons (utilizing the physical properties of a shape-memory alloy) which can be used by amateur and stage magicians to demonstrate "psychic" powers or as a practical joke. Such "self-bending" spoons will bend themselves when used to stir tea, coffee, or any other warm liquid, or even when warmed by body heat.
Paranormal claims
While many individuals have claimed the paranormal or psychokinetic ability to bend spoons or manipulate other objects, spoon bending by psychic powers has not been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the scientific community. Magician and skeptic James Randi offered a prize of one million dollars to any person who was able to demonstrate paranormal abilities such as spoon bending.[8]
Tests
Physicist John Hasted believed that children could paranormally bend paper clips inside a glass sphere, provided the sphere had a hole in it and they were allowed to take the sphere into a room unobserved. Martin Gardner wrote Hasted was incapable of devising simple controls such as videotaping the children secretly.[9] Stephen North, a British psychic, was tested by Hasted in the late 1970s. Hasted claimed North had the psychokinetic ability to bend spoons and teleport objects in and out of sealed containers.[10][page needed] North was tested in Grenoble on 19 December 1977 in scientific conditions and the results were negative.[11] According to James Randi, during a test at Birkbeck College, North was observed to have bent a metal sample with his bare hands. Randi wrote that "I find it unfortunate that [Hasted] never had an epiphany in which he was able to recognize just how thoughtless, cruel, and predatory were the acts perpetrated on him by fakers who took advantage of his naivety and trust."[12][verification needed]
Jean-Pierre Girard, a French psychic, has claimed he can bend metal bars by psychokinesis. Girard was tested in the 1970s but failed to produce any paranormal effects in scientifically controlled conditions.[11] He was tested on January 19, 1977 during a two-hour experiment in a Paris laboratory. The experiment was directed by physicist Yves Farge with a magician also present. All of the experiments were negative as Girard failed to make any of the objects move paranormally. He failed two tests in Grenoble in June 1977 with James Randi.[11] He was also tested on September 24, 1977 at a laboratory at the Nuclear Research Centre. Girard failed to bend any bars or change the structure of the metals. Other experiments into spoon bending were also negative and witnesses described his feats as fraudulent. Girard later admitted that he would sometimes cheat to avoid disappointing the public but insisted he still had genuine psychic power.[11] Magicians and scientists have written that he produced all his alleged psychokinetic feats through fraudulent means.<[13][page needed]
Between 1979 and 1981, the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research at Washington University reported a series of experiments they named Project Alpha, in which two teenaged male subjects had demonstrated psychokinesis phenomena, including metal-bending and causing images to appear on film, under less than stringent laboratory conditions. James Randi eventually revealed that the subjects were two of his associates, amateur conjurers Steve Shaw and Michael Edwards. The pair had created the effects by standard trickery, but the researchers, being unfamiliar with magic techniques, interpreted them as proof of psychokinesis.[14]
John Taylor had tested children in metal bending. According to Martin Gardner, the controls were inadequate as the children would put paper clips in their pockets and later take one out twisted or be left with metal rods unobserved. James Randi managed to bend an aluminum bar when Taylor was not looking and scratch on it "Bent by Randi". In other experiments, two scientists from the University of Bath examined metal bending with children in a room which was secretly being videotaped through a one-way mirror. The film revealed that the children bent the objects with their hands and feet. Due to the evidence of trickery, Taylor concluded metal bending had no paranormal basis.[2]
In an experimental study (Wiseman and Greening, 2005) two groups of participants were shown a videotape in which a fake psychic placed a bent key on a table. Participants in the first group heard the fake psychic suggest that the key was continuing to bend when it had remained stationary, while those in the second group did not. The results revealed that participants from the first group reported significantly more movement of the key than the second group. The findings were replicated in another study. The experiments had demonstrated that "testimony for PKMB [psychokinetic metal bending] after effects can be created by verbal suggestion, and therefore the testimony from individuals who have observed allegedly genuine demonstrations of such effects should not be seen as strong evidence in support of the paranormal".[15]
See also
References
- ^ Randi, James (1982). The Truth About Uri Geller (Revised ed.). Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-199-1.
- ^ a b Gardner, Martin (1983). Science: Good, Bad and Bogus. Oxford University Press. pp. 179–184. ISBN 0-1928-6037-2.
- ^ Carey, Benedict (12 August 2008). "While a Magician Works, the Mind Does the Tricks". The New York Times. p. F1. ISSN 0362-4331.
- ^ Emery, C. Eugene, Jr. (1987). "Catching Geller in the Act". The Providence Sunday Journal. Archived from the original (Reprint, hosted by permission) on 16 July 2011 – via Psychicinvestigator.com.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ James Randi's Solved Mysteries Workshop (DVD video). Altadena, Calif.: The Skeptics Society. 1998. OCLC 71299799.
- ^ Randi, James (19 October 1993). "Secrets of the Psychics". NOVA (Documentary). Boston, Mass.: WGBH Educational Foundation. Event occurs at 5:15. OCLC 965134014.
- ^ Harris, Ben (1985). Gellerism Revealed: The Psychology and Methodology Behind the Geller Effect. Calgary: Mickey Hades International. ISBN 0-9192-3092-X.
- ^ "Skeptic Revamps $1M Psychic Prize". Wired. 12 January 2007.
- ^ Gardner, Martin (1991). The New Age: Notes of a Fringe-Watcher. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-87975-644-6.
- ^ Hasted, John Barrett (1981). The Metal-Benders. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-0597-0.
- ^ a b c d Blanc, Marcel (16 February 1978). "Fading Spoon Bender". New Scientist. Vol. 77, no. 1090. p. 431. ISSN 0262-4079.
- ^ Randi, James (1982). "Off the Deep End". Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-198-3.
- ^ Zusne, Leonard; Jones, Warren (1989). Anomalistic Psychology: A Study of Magical Thinking (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0-8058-0508-7.
- ^ Colman, Andrew (1987). Facts, Fallacies and Frauds in Psychology. London: Unwin Hyman. pp. 195–6. ISBN 978-0-09-173041-3.
- ^ Wiseman, Richard; Greening, Emma. (2005). It's still bending': verbal suggestion and alleged psychokinetic ability. British Journal of Psychology 96: 115–127. doi:10.1348/000712604X15428
Further reading
- Gordon, Henry. (1988). Extrasensory Deception: ESP, Psychics, Shirley MacLaine, Ghosts, UFOs. Macmillan of Canada. ISBN 0-7715-9539-5
- Hines, Terence (1988). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-8797-5419-2.
- Marks, David. (2000). The Psychology of the Psychic (2nd Edition). Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-798-8
- Nickell, Joe (2013). "Mind Over Metal". Skeptical Inquirer. Vol. 37, no. 4. ISSN 0194-6730.
External links
- Spoon-bending for beginners: Teaching anomalistic psychology to teenagers by Chris French.
- Uri Geller Caught Red-Handed by Massimo Polidoro.
- PK (spoon-bending) Party: format and materials by Jack Houck 1982