DrMatt
Graduate Poster
- Joined
- May 10, 2002
- Messages
- 1,414
A while ago--maybe a couple of years ago--I posted something to the effect that other artists reveal all their secrets but we love their art all the same, so why should magic be special.
I just caught Banacek's segment at TAM 2 where he gave a really good reason to keep the secrets secret. What he said was rather terse, but it went approximately like this:
1. Magic is a specialty with a large number of secrets. Anybody sufficiently serious about becoming a conjurer can do the homework.
2. It's not practical to reveal all the secrets at once.
3. When an inexperienced scientist tries to investigate paranormal claims without expert advice from a conjurer, knowledge of one or two tricks is a recipe for investigator failure: many illusions can be accomplished several different ways, and there is such a large number of illusions that without a specialist's input, a researcher is likely to suppose that they'd eliminated trickery.
Revealing a secret here and there hinders investigation. By keeping most of the secrets secret, conjurers reinforce the notion that their professional expertise is needed. This may seem condescending, but it's really just another case of specialization and the need for collaborative efforts.
Okay, I buy that--it's empirically supported by several experiences, not just the Alpha Kids hoax. I've changed my mind about this issue--not because magic is any better or more fun when the secrets are secret but because a little bit of knowledge is dangerous.
I just caught Banacek's segment at TAM 2 where he gave a really good reason to keep the secrets secret. What he said was rather terse, but it went approximately like this:
1. Magic is a specialty with a large number of secrets. Anybody sufficiently serious about becoming a conjurer can do the homework.
2. It's not practical to reveal all the secrets at once.
3. When an inexperienced scientist tries to investigate paranormal claims without expert advice from a conjurer, knowledge of one or two tricks is a recipe for investigator failure: many illusions can be accomplished several different ways, and there is such a large number of illusions that without a specialist's input, a researcher is likely to suppose that they'd eliminated trickery.
Revealing a secret here and there hinders investigation. By keeping most of the secrets secret, conjurers reinforce the notion that their professional expertise is needed. This may seem condescending, but it's really just another case of specialization and the need for collaborative efforts.
Okay, I buy that--it's empirically supported by several experiences, not just the Alpha Kids hoax. I've changed my mind about this issue--not because magic is any better or more fun when the secrets are secret but because a little bit of knowledge is dangerous.