Experiencing the Impossible - The Science of Magic (Reference Books (MIT Press))

Gustav Kuhn

ISBN 10: 026203946X / ISBN 13: 9780262039468

Verlag: MIT Press, 1999

Beschreibung

MIT Press Reference Books (MIT Press) Experiencing the Impossible - The Science of Magic (EX/NM)Manufacturer: MIT PressProduct Line: Reference Books (MIT Press)Type: HardcoverCopyright Date: 2019Author: Gustav KuhnPage Count: 296Please review the condition and any condition notes for the exact condition of this item. All pictures are stock photos. The condition of the item you will receive is EX/NM. Our grading system is explained in the terms of sale section of our bookseller page. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. Product Description:This thought-provoking tour through the science of magic will make you question what you know about your brain and your reality.A psychologist and magician shows how the scientific study of magic reveals intriguing, and often unsettling, insights into the mysteries of the human mind. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 2149432054

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Experiencing the Impossible - The Science of...

Verlag: MIT Press

Erscheinungsdatum: 1999

Einband: Hardcover

Zustand: As New

Über diesen Titel

Inhaltsangabe:

This thought-provoking tour through the science of magic will make you question what you know about your brain and your reality.

A psychologist and magician shows how the scientific study of magic reveals intriguing—and often unsettling—insights into the mysteries of the human mind.

What do we see when we watch a magician pull a rabbit out of a hat or read a person’s mind? We are captivated by an illusion; we applaud the fact that we have been fooled. Why do we enjoy experiencing what seems clearly impossible, or at least beyond our powers of explanation? In Experiencing the Impossible, Gustav Kuhn examines the psychological processes that underpin our experience of magic.
 
Kuhn, a psychologist and a magician, reveals the intriguing—and often unsettling—insights into the human mind that the scientific study of magic provides. Magic, Kuhn explains, creates a cognitive conflict between what we believe to be true (for example, a rabbit could not be in that hat) and what we experience (a rabbit has just come out of that hat!). Drawing on the latest psychological, neurological, and philosophical research, he suggests that misdirection is at the heart of all magic tricks, and he offers a scientific theory of misdirection. He explores, among other topics, our propensity for magical thinking, the malleability of our perceptual experiences, forgetting and misremembering, free will and mind control, and how magic is applied outside entertainment—the use of illusion in human-computer interaction, politics, warfare, and elsewhere.


We may be surprised to learn how little of the world we actually perceive, how little we can trust what we see and remember, and how little we are in charge of our thoughts and actions. Exploring magic, Kuhn illuminates the complex—and almost magical—mechanisms underlying our daily activities.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor:

Gustav Kuhn is Reader in Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a member of the Magic Circle.