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Perception and influence- the magician and the ant

A walk to where?

Which garden path, are you being led up? The path you are choosing? Or one you are conditioned to.

Starting with the ant as an example, - it can only have a few hundred thousand cells in the entire nervous system, compared to man’s multiple billions of cells in his brain alone. Some would say a woman has even more.

Each ant, like each person, is a living breathing identity with behavioral patternings- (learnt stuff) in its nerve cells. In the ant’s case, the behavioral patternings are few in number and almost entirely genetic in origin.

As opposed to a person whose learning is more influential on the way they approach things.

The ant learns a little behavior from experiences, but mostly it merely responds to stimuli with a few simple responses programmed into its nervous system by its genes.

Sometimes they walk around and around until they perish.

Naturally, the simple ant behavior system has limitations. For example, one type of ant when it smells a pheromone given off by a dead ant’s body in the nest, immediately responds by cooperating with other ants in carrying the dead body out of the hive.

And Harvard’s E.O. Wilson performed one of the best psychology experiments ever done when he put dead-ant pheromone on a live ant. Quite naturally; the other ants dragged this useful live ant out of the hive even though it kicked and otherwise protested throughout the entire process.

Such is the brain of the ant. It has a simple program of responses that generally work out alright; but which are imprudently used by rote.
Another type of ant demonstrates that the limited brain of ants can be misled by circumstances as well as by clever manipulation from other creatures. This ant, when walking, will follow the ant ahead, and when these ants stumble into an obstacle, they will begin walking in a circle. until someone works it out.

So that was the history, and the ant:- let's look how it applies to people.

The perception system of man clearly demonstrates just such an unfortunate outcome.
Man's thinking can be easily fooled, either by manipulation, by circumstances occurring by accident.
If the stimulus is kept below a certain level, the awareness doesn't get through.

A magician was able to make the Statue of Liberty disappear after a few magic words- (the political speech). The audience sitting in the dark was not aware that it was sitting on a platform that was rotating so slowly, below their sensory threshold, that no one could feel it moving. When a surrounding curtain was then opened in the place on the platform where the Statue had earlier appeared, it seemed to have disappeared.

Note the use of an established authority figure, some well recognized words, and who in fact has control of the environment, and timing.

And even when the realization does get through, it is often not seen for what it is.

Another magic trick is that he removes your wristwatch without your feeling it. As he does this, he applies the pressure of touch on your wrist that you think it was the only pressure of touch. But he has at the same time applied a separate intense pressure of touch on your body in another place.
This high contrast takes the wrist pressure below perception

Last one- you can try at home for yourself.

Put one hand in a bucket of warm - not hot water and one hand in a bucket of cold water, for a minute or two.Then suddenly remove both your hands and place them in a single bucket of room temperature water. Now, with both your hands in the same water, one hand feels as if it has just been put in cold water and the other hand feels as if it has just been placed in hot water. *(Get medical, and professional opinion or supervision, if required).

When you see perception so easily fooled by mere contrast, where a simple temperature gauge would make no error, and realize that you are being misled by that contrast, you are well on the way toward understanding, not only how magicians can fool people, but also how life can fool you.

This can occur, through deliberate human manipulation or otherwise, if you don’t take simple precautions.

Predominantly- you must think for yourself;- sometimes the influence and teachings of the group is not the most helpful for you, or humanity.

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