mentalist - The Skeptic's Dictionary

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<div class="logo"> <img src="_images/logo_01.png" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" width="270" height="60" border="0" />           <br /> by <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert Todd Carroll</a> * est. 1994 </div> <div class="slogan"> <img src="_images/slogan_01.gif" alt="A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions" width="362" height="30" /> </div> </div> <div class="menu"> <ul> <li></li><li><a href="http://skepdic.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/feedback.html">Feedback</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/faq.html">FAQ & Interviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tour.html">Site Map</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="middle"> <div class="left"> <h2>Topical Indexes</h2> <ul class="nav_1"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialtmed.html">Alternatives to Medicine</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticriticalthinking.html">Critical Thinking</a></li> 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href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Z">z</a></li> </ul> <webContent><h1>mentalist</h1> <blockquote> <p><span class="quote">"Brilliant scientists and interested laymen who cannot detect how a magician produces a dove from an empty silk handkerchief or conjures an orange under an inverted teacup are not likely to discover the subtle secrets of a mentalist without prolonged study." --Milbourne Christopher</span>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0690268157/roberttoddcarrolA/"> ESP, Seers & Psychics</a></p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">A mentalist is a performer who uses trickery and deception to create the illusion of having paranormal or supernatural powers. </font> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Mentalists and <a href="psychic.html">psychics</a> rely on their subjects' <a href="selectiv.html">selective thinking</a>. For example, James Randi tells the story of Peter Hurkos, who was astonishing people with his ability to recite intimate details about their homes and their lives. Two of the persons who had their minds read by Hurkos and who were amazed at his accuracy were invited by Randi to watch a tape of the mind readings. It was "discovered by <i>actual count</i> that this so-called psychic had, on the average, been correct in <i>one out of fourteen</i> of his statements.... Selective thinking had led them to dismiss all the apparent misses and the obviously wrong guesses and remember only the 'hits.' They were believers who <i>needed</i> this man to be the genuine article, and in spite of the results of this experiment they are still devoted fans of this charlatan" (<i>Flim-Flam!</i>, 7).</font> <p style="text-align: left"><strong>See also </strong><a href="sealedenvelope.html">sealed envelope tricks</a>. <p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3"><b>further reading</b> </font> <p style="text-align: left"> <b><font face="Arial" size="3">books</font></b><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0690268157/roberttoddcarrolA/"> Christopher,Milbourne. <i>ESP, Seers & Psychics </i>(Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 1970).</a></font><p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0374525706/roberttoddcarrolA/"> Jay, Ricky. <i>Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women </i>(Farrar Straus & Giroux 1998).</a></font><p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0312097719/roberttoddcarrolA/">Randi, James. 1993<i>. Conjuring.</i> St. Martin's Press.</a></font><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0879751983/roberttoddcarrolA/">Randi, James. <i>Flim-Flam!</i> (Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books,1982)</a></font><p style="text-align: left"> <b><font face="Arial" size="3">websites</font></b><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.banachek.com/">Banachek</a></font><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.marcsalem.com/">Marc Salem</a></font><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~rberteig/magic/diary/mental.html">A Mentalist Trick</a></font><p style="text-align: left"> </webContent>Last updated 06-Dec-2015 </p> <p> </div> </div> <div class="right"> <div class="right_it"> <div class="search"> <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" target="_top"> <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="skepdic.com" /> <input type="text" name="q" maxlength="255" value="" size="20" /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /> <br /> <div class="search_2"> <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="" /> Web     <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="skepdic.com" checked="checked" /> Skepdic.com <br /> <img src="_images/logo_google.gif" alt="Google" width="48" height="19" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-3542920166946725" /> <input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;" /> <input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en" /> </form> </div> <div class="adrt"> <p><a href="http://sd4kids.skepdic.com/mentalist.html">mentalist in Mysteries and Science for Kids </a></p> </div> <div class="center"> <p align="right"><a href="http://skepdic.com/authorpage.html"><strong>Books by R. 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mentalist - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com