"Attention is a powerful thing." states professional pickpocket Apollo Robbins in his TED Talk "The Art of Misdirection". He not only explains it but also demonstrates it in a fun and entertaining way.
He starts by explaining his background, how he studied human behavior for 20 years from "a rather unorthodox way: picking pockets." Robbins says. Robbins then demonstrates his studies by interacting with his audience by asking them to do simple activities such as checking their phones and remembering what he was wearing. Then, he explains his theory on how the human brain is like a surveillance system, and uses personification to state that it is controlled by a security guard named Frank. His theory states that if he asks you a question, then Frank turns around to access a memory, and Frank focuses on the memory, and can't take in new data at the same time of remembering something. This is because while your brain is so high tech he states, attention is "what controls your reality. It's the gateway to the mind." Through studying this, Robbins has figured out ways to play with and control your attention. He doesn't just support his reasoning through talks, he backs up his reasoning with action by taking a random audience member and in less than two minutes, takes the man's watch, money, shrimp in his pocket, etc, without him even noticing, by playing with his attention.
After watching this talk, I found it extremely fascinating, funny and entertaining. His theories and explanations on his studies of human behavior itself was cool because he conveyed it in a way that even the common person could understand, comparing the brain and its memory to things that we see everyday. Robbins's theories were a little hard to believe at first, but after his demonstrations, I can safely say its sounds a lot more believable. After watching it, I wanted more because it was a perfect balance of speaking and action. He's persuaded me to believe it and I want to try it myself.
In conclusion, Apollo Robbins presented 20 years worth of his studies into a 9 minute TED Talk named "The Art of Misdirection" that I highly recommend you watch. It was a joy for me watching it, and I hope you feel the same way I did about it.
Link to Website: http://www.ted.com/talks/apollo_robbins_the_art_of_misdirection
He starts by explaining his background, how he studied human behavior for 20 years from "a rather unorthodox way: picking pockets." Robbins says. Robbins then demonstrates his studies by interacting with his audience by asking them to do simple activities such as checking their phones and remembering what he was wearing. Then, he explains his theory on how the human brain is like a surveillance system, and uses personification to state that it is controlled by a security guard named Frank. His theory states that if he asks you a question, then Frank turns around to access a memory, and Frank focuses on the memory, and can't take in new data at the same time of remembering something. This is because while your brain is so high tech he states, attention is "what controls your reality. It's the gateway to the mind." Through studying this, Robbins has figured out ways to play with and control your attention. He doesn't just support his reasoning through talks, he backs up his reasoning with action by taking a random audience member and in less than two minutes, takes the man's watch, money, shrimp in his pocket, etc, without him even noticing, by playing with his attention.
After watching this talk, I found it extremely fascinating, funny and entertaining. His theories and explanations on his studies of human behavior itself was cool because he conveyed it in a way that even the common person could understand, comparing the brain and its memory to things that we see everyday. Robbins's theories were a little hard to believe at first, but after his demonstrations, I can safely say its sounds a lot more believable. After watching it, I wanted more because it was a perfect balance of speaking and action. He's persuaded me to believe it and I want to try it myself.
In conclusion, Apollo Robbins presented 20 years worth of his studies into a 9 minute TED Talk named "The Art of Misdirection" that I highly recommend you watch. It was a joy for me watching it, and I hope you feel the same way I did about it.
Link to Website: http://www.ted.com/talks/apollo_robbins_the_art_of_misdirection