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How to bend a spoon with just your mind
Michael Shermer
Reposted from:
http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/06/how-to-bend-a-spoon-with-just-your-mind/
Most skeptics know that self-proclaimed psychics such as Uri Geller, who claim to be able to bend cutlery with just their minds, are actually using magic and trickery to do so. Of course, if they could really bend metal with just their minds you have to wonder why at some point they always have to touch the spoon. The answer is obvious to skeptics: because the only way to bend a spoon is by physically bending it! But how?
In this video demonstration I bend spoons and forks and give you just enough information so that you can figure how how to do it yourself (without actually providing a full reveal of the trick). This video demonstration was inspired by James “the Amazing” Randi, whose miniature likeness supervises the entire process (you have to watch the video to see what I mean). As Randi likes to say, “if psychics are bending spoons with psychic power they’re doing it the hard way.”
This video demonstration was shot in the library of the Skeptics Society and was filmed, edited, and produced by Josh Timonen, the highly talented web designer and videographer for RichardDawkins.net. Josh has produced a number of excellent DVDs with Richard in conversation with a number of thinkers (e.g., “The Four Horsemen” with Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens, and Harris). Go to www.richarddawkins.net to check them out.
So watch this video and then go to a restaurant tonight where they use relatively cheap cutlery (i.e., easy to bend) and amaze your friends and family!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxSNuIx4m5k (HQ version at YouTube link)
Quicktime version
Comments 1 - 37 of 37 |
Reload Comments | Back to Top | Page Numbers2. Comment #314730 by milt on January 7, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Yup that's right for the bar, they are all quite clear - but am not entirely sure for the last spoon trick. Is he just bending it when saying "barely touching it" - or am I missing something really obvious?Other Comments by milt
3. Comment #314732 by Galapagos on January 7, 2009 at 1:26 pm
I love watching Michael Shermer talk. On top of being a brilliant debunker and skeptic, he is a very talented entertainer.Other Comments by Galapagos
4. Comment #314745 by Isaksson on January 7, 2009 at 1:38 pm
The last spoon trick you have to prepare ahead of time, the one that falls apart, for example when dining or some such. I wont say more, but I assure you its all basic physics. Other Comments by Isaksson
5. Comment #314755 by Brian English on January 7, 2009 at 1:48 pm
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/06/amazing-spoon-bending/Post 5, woo woo woo
Other Comments by Brian English
6. Comment #314756 by DoctorE on January 7, 2009 at 1:49 pm
How do I know this is not a camera trick, perhaps this is not even Shermer ;) Other Comments by DoctorE
7. Comment #314758 by Ygern on January 7, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I love the way he inserted the words 'atoms' and 'quantum mechanics' to show that telekinetic psychic power is Real Science ;-) Other Comments by Ygern
8. Comment #314763 by NewEnglandBob on January 7, 2009 at 1:58 pm
That Amazing Randi doll looks an awful lot like the Darwin doll on the first Stanford evolution video.Maybe Randi is Charles Darwin in handcuffs.
Other Comments by NewEnglandBob
9. Comment #314804 by cam9976 on January 7, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I have a theory: I believe that the steel bar was already bent, and he was just turning it in his fingers so that it was angled upwards (and therefore visable) instead of towards the camera, which would have made it appear flat. Ya think I'm right? Other Comments by cam9976
10. Comment #314821 by Styrer- on January 7, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Comment #314804 by cam9976 on January 7, 2009 at 2:42 pmWithout doubt. You can see the magnificent 'rising of the thumb' twisting it on its way!
Best,
Styrer
Other Comments by Styrer-
11. Comment #314840 by HourglassMemory on January 7, 2009 at 3:18 pm
This is a great video.There should be more of this kind, where some expert just takes the time to explain SOMETHING.
Other Comments by HourglassMemory
12. Comment #314864 by Pierre-Simon Laplace on January 7, 2009 at 3:44 pm
The bar was obviously already bent. While watching the video, cover up the left side of the bar and watch only his hand. You will see the thumb slowly starting to rise as the bar is rotated along its axis. It's the same illusion with the fork. While he has the fork pointing up, you can't see the bent thingy (what's that called??). As he rotates the fork downward, the bend becomes obvious.I wish I knew how he did the last spoon trick, though.
Other Comments by Pierre-Simon Laplace
13. Comment #314872 by Apathy personified on January 7, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Ha - magic.Can't wait for the other videos - Josh, can you tell us who the other hosts will be, or is it still being finalised and sorted out?
Other Comments by Apathy personified
14. Comment #314883 by Virgil on January 7, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Fairly good stuff.. how did the last spoon trick go? He must have weakened it before.. Other Comments by Virgil
15. Comment #314897 by ANTIcarrot on January 7, 2009 at 4:40 pm
I've seen this trick done with a 'solid lump of metal' too.Hold it up to the light, bang it on the desk to show it's real, but breath on it and it goes all floppy. The secret? Compressed hex-cell aluminium foil: the aerospace material they use in helicopter blades.
No doubt in another fifty years they'll be doing the same trick with body-temperature memory-plastic and nano-technology. And it'll still be a trick.
Other Comments by ANTIcarrot
16. Comment #314903 by Icipher on January 7, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Michael Shermer is also a good writer. I recommend especially his "Why people believe weird things". Regarding the last spoon trick, I'm pretty sure that the spoon had already been weakened. If I remember correctly, there was a video with Randi where he talks about how he was consulted by... the name of the old late night show escapes me, when Uri Geller was going to be on. They asked him how they could reveal that it was fake and Randi suggested that they supply the spoons instead of letting him use his own. During the show they brought in a cart full of cutlery and Geller didn't feel "the force" that night so he never attempted any bending.Other Comments by Icipher
17. Comment #314909 by Quine on January 7, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Comment #314804 by cam9976:I have a theory: I believe that the steel bar was already bent, and he was just turning it in his fingers so that it was angled upwards (and therefore visable) instead of towards the camera, which would have made it appear flat. Ya think I'm right?
Yes, you just watch the thumb and first finger of the hand holding the rod, and you can see him rotate it. The trick would have been better if he had trained himself to do the rotation with the fingers hidden in the closed hand.
P.S. I think I would have locked the bar in a vise and only used the tip of one finger to "bend" it (rotation device hidden in vise).
Other Comments by Quine
18. Comment #314915 by DWLehning on January 7, 2009 at 5:19 pm
This was a fun video to watch. As someone already said, Shermer is a great debunker and is quite entertaining. I also liked the quantum mechanics part. That is good poke at the New Agers and psychics who invoke quantum physics as the "science" behind their various woo woo beliefs. Other Comments by DWLehning
19. Comment #314954 by BeyondBelief on January 7, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I hate to be a critic of a skeptic, but the amazing Randi is here "in absTentia" ??
That doll is refusing to vote? Bastard!
Other Comments by BeyondBelief
20. Comment #314963 by chuckgoecke on January 7, 2009 at 9:09 pm
On the last spoon trick, yes he did pre-weaken it, and the trick sort of failed, as it wasn't really supposed to completely break, but he over weakened it, via fatigue from stress reversals, so that it actually broke. A better trickster than Shermer(Randi, or Uri) would be an expert at pre-weakening his spoons. Other Comments by chuckgoecke
21. Comment #314970 by Bernstein on January 7, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Library of the Skeptics Society? For a moment I thought the video was shot in Shermer's house.Other Comments by Bernstein
22. Comment #314991 by beebhack on January 7, 2009 at 11:35 pm
My favourite bit of Shermer is his demonstration of why people hear (and, implicitly, see) just what they want to hear, or in this case what's been suggested to them that they hear, using *Stairway to Heaven:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nypTBLLu18Q
*My grandfather tells me that this is was a song for young people, back in the day.
Other Comments by beebhack
23. Comment #315000 by DKPetersen on January 7, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Comment #314903 by Icipher"Regarding the last spoon trick, I'm pretty sure that the spoon had already been weakened. If I remember correctly, there was a video with Randi where he talks about how he was consulted by... the name of the old late night show escapes me, when Uri Geller was going to be on."
That was done on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. On a separate appearance on the same show, Randi exposed the faith healer Peter Popoff (Randi had intercepted radio transmissions from Popoff's wife... she was providing him specific information on audience members she had collected previously. Popoff claimed to be getting the information from god, and was conning money from loads of people.)
There are several videos on Youtube and Google video featuring James Randi, I have to say they are some of my favorite skeptical videos online.
Other Comments by DKPetersen
24. Comment #315007 by Bernstein on January 8, 2009 at 12:22 am
Anyone with a genuine telekinetic ability to bend metal objects probably doesn't want to be found.Other Comments by Bernstein
25. Comment #315008 by MMAtheist on January 8, 2009 at 12:23 am
DKPetersen:"There are several videos on Youtube and Google video featuring James Randi, I have to say they are some of my favorite skeptical videos online."
Same here.
Geller and Popoff are classics, but my favorite is probably Randi exposing James Hydrick. That clip is just too funny.
Other Comments by MMAtheist
26. Comment #315208 by squinky on January 8, 2009 at 6:00 am
Love Shermer and I've seen several of his lecture series at CalTech. The best were on Consciousness and the debate over global warming (I believe available on skeptic.com and youtube).
He's good friends with Randi and Penn & Teller. I highly recommend their "Bullshit" series. Very entertaining public display of science and better than Mythbusters in my opinion.
Other Comments by squinky
27. Comment #315306 by FatherNature on January 8, 2009 at 8:52 am
Many years ago, I worked at an NPR radio station (KCRW) where Uri Geller was interviewed for a talk show. After the show Geller did his shtick for some of the staff. Whatever else he may be, he's a very talented magician.
He bent a spoon that we gave him (no chance to pre-bend) and had one of us hold it while he lightly stroked it. Even more impressive, he bent a solid brass key (that we supplied and held). Afterwards, I couldn't bend the key, even slightly, using both hands. I was standing right next to him, watching very closely, and still couldn't figure out how he did it.
What was unique about Geller was that he didn't present himself as someone doing tricks or illusions. He claimed, in apparent sincerity, to have a "special gift" that began one day when he saw a UFO (cue Theremin). He seemed like such a "nice" guy that it was hard to believe that it was fraud.
Other Comments by FatherNature
28. Comment #315458 by soarwing on January 8, 2009 at 12:44 pm
The falling apart spoon is easy. The spoon is bent back and forth numerous times ....ahead of time.... it's already nearly broken. The quick taps he give the spoon to show you how "solid" it still is, makes the trick seem even better. But these taps don't BEND the spoon any more. When he starts wiggling the spoon back and forth, the spoon "magically" falls apart in his hand.Other Comments by soarwing
29. Comment #315465 by soarwing on January 8, 2009 at 12:53 pm
If Geller could make watches start and compasses move without touching them, why does he need to touch keys/spoons to make them bend? Why doesn't he bend the little metal rods contained in the plastic cylinders and collect the $1,000,000 U.S.? Are we to believe that magic forces come shooting out of his fingertips, but yet these magic forces are thwarted by pieces of plastic? Personally, I don't think Uri Geller is that great of a magician, but I do know that MANY people do... especially when the tricks are done right in front of them.Other Comments by soarwing
30. Comment #315531 by Roy_H on January 8, 2009 at 2:51 pm
How does Uri Geller make a compass needle move?http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTxf9XP36M&feature=related
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BJSxsbToLeE&feature=related
Other Comments by Roy_H
31. Comment #315686 by glenister_m on January 8, 2009 at 8:19 pm
I've always thought spoon bending was a ridiculous display of "psychic power". It's like "I'm Spoon Man! I can bend cutlery with my mind to fight crime!"Other Comments by glenister_m
32. Comment #316000 by MatthewRobson on January 9, 2009 at 6:42 am
I remember watching Geller as a feted celebrity when i was a child in the 70's. One bit of film stuck in my mind and that was the metalurgical analysis of the broken ends of the spoon he had just been rubbing. Apparently it showed none of the signs of stress that would have been expected as a result of being forcibly broken or weakened beforehand. Guess that was also part of the deception. Other Comments by MatthewRobson
33. Comment #316466 by Liam Lord on January 10, 2009 at 4:25 am
Another entertaining presentation by Shermer. I hadn't noticed before, but does he sound like Kermit to anyone else?Other Comments by Liam Lord
34. Comment #316512 by Isaksson on January 10, 2009 at 8:16 am
>Liam LordHa! Yes, he actually does remind me of Kermit. Nicely spotted!
Other Comments by Isaksson
35. Comment #316579 by Icipher on January 10, 2009 at 11:59 am
Comment #316466 by Liam LordComment #316512 by Isaksson
I think you guys are being mean. Shermer may not have the most suitable voice but his personality and presentation style more than makes up for it. I wish he had a TV-series based on skepticism on the science channel or similar.
Other Comments by Icipher
36. Comment #318183 by Big T on January 12, 2009 at 11:23 pm
I never realized the truth until now! If you take any book in the Bible, and start at the beginning of the book, and pick out the letters that spell out "Big T" as they appear in order in the text, you will find that exact combination of letters, in that exact order, occurs a total of 666 times in the Bible! I am the Antichrist! I am evil! I will burn in hell forever, alongside of Michael Shermer, Richard Dawkins, James Randi, Carl Sagan, Voltaire, Mark Twain, and Christopher Hitchen (and Sam Harris). Woe is me! The rest of you - repent and save yourselves!Other Comments by Big T
37. Comment #322953 by sean salvador on January 17, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Even a complete amateur found this easy.By the way, the one that snapped, the one he specifically says hasn't been prepped...
Of course the trick is in the lie. It has been prepped. Thats the whole trick (see the spoons before hand and bend one or two back and fourth a few times.
Of course, if you have been 'educated' in a certain schools in Texas you wouldn't be expected to know about anything nearly as scientific as metal fatigue! ha ha.
Other Comments by sean salvador
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1. Comment #314724 by rodviking on January 7, 2009 at 1:21 pm
So let me give a shot at the last one, with the bar: it was already bent, but Shermer showed it horizontally at first, so we wouldn't notice the angle..then he slowly rotated it. IS that right?
Other Comments by rodviking