0:00:00.881,0:00:02.102 Alright. 0:00:02.126,0:00:05.103 I'd like to start[br]with a small imagination exercise. 0:00:05.722,0:00:09.317 Imagine you're sitting at this table,[br]facing me right now. 0:00:09.341,0:00:13.325 Now, I'm going to ask you[br]to push one of these cards towards me. 0:00:13.349,0:00:17.388 So please imagine yourself[br]pushing one of these cards towards me. 0:00:19.032,0:00:21.799 OK, so take the number[br]matching the card you pushed 0:00:21.823,0:00:24.348 and remember it --[br]it's important for later. 0:00:25.315,0:00:28.291 Now, I'm going to flip[br]through this deck of cards 0:00:28.315,0:00:31.379 and ask you to choose a card[br]that you will see in the deck. 0:00:31.403,0:00:32.553 Are you ready? 0:00:36.014,0:00:39.299 Alright, now that you have[br]your card in mind, 0:00:39.323,0:00:41.909 add the value of your card[br]to your previous number. 0:00:42.695,0:00:46.045 For example, if you chose[br]the six of clubs, add six, 0:00:46.069,0:00:47.917 if it's an ace, add one, 0:00:47.941,0:00:50.496 and take 11 for any picture cards. 0:00:51.941,0:00:54.541 Have you got your final number in mind? 0:00:55.196,0:00:56.347 Perfect. 0:00:56.371,0:00:59.688 So please take the item[br]matching your final number. 0:01:01.228,0:01:03.180 Now, here's what's funny. 0:01:03.204,0:01:05.934 There are going to be[br]a lot of people watching this video, 0:01:05.958,0:01:10.101 and you all have different quirks[br]with different preferences. 0:01:10.680,0:01:12.434 And yet, 0:01:12.458,0:01:16.807 the vast majority of you right now[br]is thinking about a kiwi, 0:01:16.831,0:01:19.631 or, if you're left-handed,[br]probably a corn on the cob. 0:01:20.434,0:01:22.839 Yes, I just tricked you. 0:01:22.863,0:01:24.965 And I used your psychological biases 0:01:24.989,0:01:27.609 to influence both of your decisions. 0:01:28.649,0:01:29.974 I work in the MAGIC Lab 0:01:29.998,0:01:32.371 at Goldsmiths University of London, 0:01:32.395,0:01:36.351 which is not only a place[br]where we make assistants vanish, 0:01:36.375,0:01:40.614 but where we use magic tricks[br]to study psychological processes, 0:01:40.638,0:01:45.090 such as attention, perception,[br]deception and free will. 0:01:46.297,0:01:50.638 I am fascinated by the subtle factors[br]that influence our choices, 0:01:50.662,0:01:54.209 and how understanding our flaws[br]can give us back some power. 0:01:55.450,0:01:59.387 Magic tricks provide a powerful tool[br]to investigate this, 0:01:59.411,0:02:01.815 and our experiments have shown that. 0:02:02.934,0:02:09.196 First, we humans tend to go[br]for the easiest decisions. 0:02:10.061,0:02:11.652 With the card trick I did, 0:02:11.676,0:02:15.207 most people tend to choose[br]the card that I want them to choose, 0:02:15.231,0:02:18.302 because I'm presenting it[br]a bit longer than the others. 0:02:18.326,0:02:21.398 And it becomes the easiest[br]option for your brain. 0:02:21.755,0:02:22.906 In our case, 0:02:22.930,0:02:26.251 the majority of you probably chose[br]the ten of hearts, right? 0:02:26.609,0:02:29.212 And a lot of other tricks[br]are based on this principle 0:02:29.236,0:02:30.536 of easy decision. 0:02:31.124,0:02:33.425 Because magicians are very aware 0:02:33.449,0:02:38.560 that our brain, not to say "we,"[br]tends to be a bit lazy. 0:02:39.496,0:02:43.688 The exercise we did with the four cards[br]is also a good example of this. 0:02:43.998,0:02:46.379 It's based on another trick[br]I investigated, 0:02:46.403,0:02:48.539 where I ask participants[br]to physically push 0:02:48.563,0:02:50.323 one of the four cards towards me. 0:02:50.347,0:02:54.762 We found that around 60 percent of people[br]choose the third card from the left, 0:02:54.786,0:02:56.199 and if they were left-handed, 0:02:56.223,0:02:59.024 they typically chose[br]the second card from the left. 0:02:59.048,0:03:02.183 This is based on the easy-option[br]principle again, 0:03:02.207,0:03:04.490 because the card that most people choose 0:03:04.514,0:03:07.522 is the most easy to reach[br]by the dominant hand. 0:03:09.053,0:03:11.681 So, I knew that most of you 0:03:11.705,0:03:14.434 would end up with one[br]of these two numbers, 0:03:14.458,0:03:16.299 and this allowed me to estimate 0:03:16.323,0:03:19.029 the two most probable things[br]you would end up with. 0:03:20.289,0:03:24.599 But this is not just about magic. 0:03:25.067,0:03:29.360 It's also about how we are influenced[br]in our day-to-day lives. 0:03:30.553,0:03:33.807 You know, stories and politicians 0:03:33.831,0:03:37.133 play with your mind as well, all the time, 0:03:37.157,0:03:40.569 because they also know[br]that we tend to choose and like 0:03:40.593,0:03:42.567 what's easily grabbed or seen. 0:03:43.577,0:03:46.022 For instance, when you are in a store, 0:03:46.046,0:03:48.444 choosing a bottle of wine or a bag of rice 0:03:48.468,0:03:51.288 among many lined up on vertical shelves, 0:03:51.312,0:03:53.231 your first instinct is to look 0:03:53.255,0:03:57.673 only at the ones that are on the shelves[br]in front of your eyes, right? 0:03:58.117,0:04:00.584 It's easier and requires less effort. 0:04:01.704,0:04:04.239 Did you know that many brands[br]actually negotiate 0:04:04.263,0:04:06.410 to be at eye-level[br]on grocery store shelves 0:04:06.434,0:04:08.968 because of that easy-option principle? 0:04:10.063,0:04:14.388 And this is a tactic[br]that many politicians use. 0:04:15.055,0:04:18.793 When information is right in front[br]of our eyes on social media, 0:04:18.817,0:04:20.342 it's easily accessible, 0:04:20.366,0:04:23.310 and it absolutely affects[br]our voting behaviors. 0:04:24.157,0:04:26.887 Political outcomes,[br]such as the Brexit referendum 0:04:26.911,0:04:29.453 or the American election in 2016, 0:04:29.477,0:04:32.648 were heavily influenced[br]by targeted advertising, 0:04:32.672,0:04:34.482 making some information, 0:04:34.506,0:04:37.167 which was not necessarily truthful, 0:04:37.191,0:04:41.871 disproportionately easily accessible[br]and visible to specific audiences 0:04:41.895,0:04:43.239 to influence their votes. 0:04:44.374,0:04:47.609 But here is the good news. 0:04:48.030,0:04:52.133 Some simple factors have an impact[br]on how influencible we are. 0:04:53.149,0:04:56.165 In an experiment using the trick[br]with the four cards, 0:04:56.189,0:04:58.850 we found that explicitly[br]informing participants 0:04:58.874,0:05:00.406 that they have a choice 0:05:00.430,0:05:03.811 can actually lead them to make[br]more deliberate decisions, 0:05:03.835,0:05:07.382 as opposed to behaving in the way[br]we are trying to make them behave. 0:05:08.478,0:05:09.947 In other words, 0:05:09.971,0:05:13.950 I either simply asked participants[br]to push one of the cards, 0:05:13.974,0:05:15.815 or I said, 0:05:15.839,0:05:18.220 "Choose a card, and then push it." 0:05:18.641,0:05:20.689 And when asked to choose a card, 0:05:20.713,0:05:24.498 the percentage of people who impulsively[br]chose the most reachable one 0:05:24.522,0:05:28.139 dropped from 60 to 35 percent. 0:05:28.796,0:05:34.597 So, it seems that when we are reminded[br]that we have control over our choices, 0:05:34.621,0:05:37.100 and know that our actions matter, 0:05:37.124,0:05:39.323 as opposed to acting without thinking, 0:05:39.347,0:05:41.784 we can actually make[br]more personal decisions 0:05:41.808,0:05:43.875 and are less easily influenced. 0:05:44.395,0:05:45.879 Let me show you another trick, 0:05:45.903,0:05:48.728 invented by a British[br]mentalist Derren Brown, 0:05:48.752,0:05:50.112 to make my point. 0:05:50.831,0:05:54.077 This one uses what's called[br]"priming" in psychology. 0:05:55.006,0:05:57.957 Priming happens when exposure to something 0:05:57.981,0:06:00.728 influences your thoughts[br]and behavior later on, 0:06:00.752,0:06:01.919 without you being aware 0:06:01.943,0:06:04.935 that the first thing[br]is guiding you to a certain extent. 0:06:05.315,0:06:07.822 The trick is usually done[br]in a more intimate context, 0:06:07.846,0:06:09.655 where I would be directly facing you, 0:06:09.679,0:06:12.059 but we'll give it a try together. 0:06:12.083,0:06:14.766 Just focus on me as best as you can, 0:06:14.790,0:06:18.823 but do not let me influence your choice. 0:06:19.554,0:06:22.824 I'm going to try and mentally transmit[br]the identity of a playing card 0:06:22.848,0:06:24.054 I'm thinking of. 0:06:24.078,0:06:25.228 Are you ready? 0:06:26.165,0:06:29.006 OK, so first make the color[br]bright and vivid. 0:06:29.030,0:06:30.728 Imagine a screen in your mind, 0:06:30.752,0:06:34.364 and on the screen, the little numbers,[br]low down in the corners of the cards, 0:06:34.388,0:06:35.998 and then in the top of the cards. 0:06:36.022,0:06:37.649 And then the things in the middle, 0:06:37.673,0:06:39.165 in the center of the cards, 0:06:39.189,0:06:41.061 the boom, boom, boom, the suits. 0:06:41.855,0:06:43.055 Did you get it? 0:06:44.548,0:06:47.858 OK, so I'm going to bet[br]that the majority of you 0:06:47.882,0:06:50.429 thought about the three of diamonds, 0:06:50.453,0:06:53.516 but chose another card, right? 0:06:54.395,0:06:55.816 As you might have noticed, 0:06:55.840,0:06:59.537 I heavily tried to influence[br]your choice with my gestures 0:06:59.561,0:07:01.810 while giving you the instructions. 0:07:01.834,0:07:03.319 By studying this trick, 0:07:03.343,0:07:07.048 we found that around 18 percent of people[br]choose the three of diamonds, 0:07:07.072,0:07:10.509 and nearly 40 percent choose[br]the three of any suit, 0:07:10.533,0:07:14.833 while being completely oblivious[br]of the fact I was manipulating them. 0:07:15.301,0:07:17.919 So what happened here? 0:07:18.793,0:07:19.975 Because you were aware 0:07:19.999,0:07:22.024 that I was trying[br]to influence your choice, 0:07:22.048,0:07:24.844 you probably paid more attention[br]to what I was doing. 0:07:24.868,0:07:28.542 And this led the majority of you[br]to choose more consciously 0:07:28.566,0:07:30.702 than our participants[br]who have no information 0:07:30.726,0:07:33.368 about who I am, what I'm studying 0:07:33.392,0:07:35.661 or what I'm trying to do with their minds. 0:07:37.420,0:07:40.293 So the thing is, 0:07:40.317,0:07:41.928 in all of our experiments, 0:07:41.952,0:07:45.666 we managed to heavily influence[br]people's card choices, 0:07:45.690,0:07:49.510 while they report feeling completely free[br]and in control of their choice. 0:07:50.011,0:07:51.907 And this lack of self-awareness 0:07:51.931,0:07:54.217 makes politicians, companies 0:07:54.241,0:07:57.760 and other people's influence[br]all the more powerful, 0:07:57.784,0:08:01.085 because we might think we are in control[br]of our choice and beliefs 0:08:01.109,0:08:02.389 when we are not. 0:08:03.561,0:08:06.761 Politically or in our consumer behaviors, 0:08:06.785,0:08:08.434 if we don't pay attention, 0:08:08.458,0:08:12.497 misleading content or showy ads[br]can just trick our mind. 0:08:13.022,0:08:16.553 What if, in our day-to-day lives, 0:08:16.577,0:08:20.875 we would stop more often[br]and consciously choose 0:08:20.899,0:08:24.383 before acting on this impulsive,[br]reactive beast inside of us? 0:08:25.105,0:08:27.731 We can actually act more consciously 0:08:27.755,0:08:29.627 if we keep in mind 0:08:29.651,0:08:32.484 that we have the capacity[br]to be influenced. 0:08:32.508,0:08:33.658 Thank you.