Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About Our Everyday Deceptions - Hardcover

Macknik, Stephen L.; Martinez-Conde, Susana

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805092811 ISBN 13: 9780805092813

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, 2010

Synopsis

"This book doesn't just promise to change the way you think about sleight of hand and David Copperfield—it will also change the way you think about the mind." —Jonah Lehrer, author of How We Decide and Proust Was A Neuroscientist

Stephen Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde, the founders of the exciting new discipline of neuromagic, have convinced some of the world's greatest magicians to allow scientists to study their techniques for tricking the brain. This book is the result of the authors' yearlong, world-wide exploration of magic and how its principles apply to our behavior. Magic tricks fool us because humans have hardwired processes of attention and awareness that are hackable—a good magician uses your mind's own intrinsic properties against you in a form of mental jujitsu.

Now magic can reveal how our brains work in everyday situations. For instance, if you've ever bought an expensive item you'd sworn you'd never buy, the salesperson was probably a master at creating the "illusion of choice," a core technique of magic. The implications of neuromagic go beyond illuminating our behavior; early research points to new approaches for everything from the diagnosis of autism to marketing techniques and education. Sleights of Mind makes neuroscience fun and accessible by unveiling the key connections between magic and the mind.

About this title

About the Authors

Stephen L. Macknik, Ph.D., is Director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Susana Martinez-Conde, Ph.D., is Director of the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience at BNI. Sandra Blakeslee is a regular contributor to "Science Times" at The New York Times who specializes in the brain sciences, and the author of several books.

Stephen L. Macknik, Ph.D., is the director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.
Susana Martinez-Conde, Ph.D., is the director of the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience at BNL

Drs. Madmik and Martinez-Conde are members of the Academy of Magical Arts (aka the Magic Castle in Hollywood), the Magic Circle (UK), the Society of American Magicians, and the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
Sandra Lakeslee, who specializes in the brain sciences, is a regular contributor to the Science Times section of The New York Times and the author of several books.

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805092811
• ISBN 13: 9780805092813
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 291