The art of misdirection | Apollo Robbins | TED

Translator: Alisa Xholi Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

Do you think it's possible to control someone's attention?

Mendoni se eshte e mundshme te kontrolloni vemendjen e dikujt?

Even more than that, what about predicting human behavior?

Edhe me shume,

po sikur te parashikoni sjelljen njerezore?

Mendoj se keto jane ide interesante, apo jo?

I think those are interesting ideas.

For me, that would be the perfect superpower,

E kam fjalen se per mua kjo do ishte nje superfuqi perfekte,

actually kind of an evil way of approaching it.

ne fakt do ishte nje menyre keqdashese.

But for myself, in the past, I've spent the last 20 years

Por per veten time, ne te kaluaren, kam shpenzuar 20 vitet fundit

studying human behavior from a rather unorthodox way:

duke studiuar sjelljen njerezore ne nje menyre jo ortodokse:

picking pockets.

si hajdut xhepash.

When we think of misdirection,

Kur mendojme per gabimin,

we think of something as looking off to the side,

na vjen ne mendje dicka qe shohim rrotull,

when actually the things right in front of us

nderkohe qe shpesh gjerat qe jane perpara nesh

are often the hardest to see,

jane me te veshtirat per te pare,

the things that you look at every day that you're blinded to.

gjerat qe shikoni perdite por jeni i verber ndaj tyre.

For example, how many of you still have your cell phones on you right now?

Per shembull, sa prej jush i keni celularet

me vete tani?

Great. Double-check.

Shume mire. Kontrolloni.

Make sure you still have them.

Sigurohuni qe i keni akoma me vete.

I was doing some shopping before.

Po vija rrotull pak me pare.

(Laughter)

You've looked at them a few times today,

Mund ti keni pare disa here sot,

por do t'ju bej nje pyetje per ato.

but I'll ask you a question.

Without looking at it directly yet,

Pa kontrolluar telefonin tuaj direkt,

can you remember the icon in the bottom right corner?

mund te kujtoni ikonen ne fund te cepit te djathte?

Bring them out, check and see how accurate you were.

Nxirrini ato, kontrollojini, dhe shikoni se sa te kujdesshem keni qene.

Si dolet? Tregoni duart? E kuptuam?

How'd you do?

Show of hands. Did we get it?

Tani qe mbaruat duke i pare ato, ulini,

Now that you're done, close them down.

Every phone has something in common.

sepse cdo telefon ka dicka te zakonshme.

No matter how you organize the icons,

Nuk ka rendesi se si i sistemon ikonat,

you still have a clock on the front.

ti sido qe te jete e ke nje ore perpara.

So, without looking at your phone, what time was it?

Pra, pa i kontrolluar telefonat, sa ishte ora?

You just looked at your clock, right?

Sapo kontrolluat oren tuaj, sakte?

Interesting idea.

Eshte nje ide interesante. Tani do ju kerkoj te shkojme pak me para me nje loje besimi.

Let's take that a step further with a game of trust.

Mbyllini syte.

Close your eyes.

I realize I'm asking you to do that while you just heard

E kuptoj qe po ja u kerkoj kete edhe pse sapo degjuat qe

there's a pickpocket in the room, but close your eyes.

ka nje xhepist ne salle, por mbyllini syte.

Now, you've been watching me for about 30 seconds.

Ju me keni pare per rreth 30 sekonda.

Me syte mbyllur, cfare kam veshur?

With your eyes closed, what am I wearing?

Make your best guess.

Beni hamendesimin tuaj me te mire.

What color is my shirt? What color is my tie?

Cfare ngjyre ka kemisha ime? Cfare ngjyre eshte kollarja ime?

Now open your eyes.

Tani hapini syte.

Show of hands, were you right?

Ngrini duart kush kishte te drejte?

Interesting, isn't it?

Eshte interesante apo jo? Disa nga ne jane pak

Some of us are a little bit more perceptive than others, it seems.

me te mprehte se te tjeret. Keshtu duket.

Por une kam nje teori tjeter per kete, per modelin e vemendjes.

But I have a different theory about that model of attention.

Ka disa modele vemendjeje, modeli i vemendjes, triniteti i Posner.

They have fancy models of attention, Posner's trinity model of attention.

For me, I like to think of it very simple, like a surveillance system.

Per mua, me pelqen ta mendoj me thjesht, pak a shume si nje sistem mbikqyrjeje.

It's kind of like you have all these fancy sensors,

Eshte pak a shume sikur te kesh gjithe keto sensoret e bukur,

and inside your brain is a little security guard.

dhe brenda mendjes tende ndodhet nje roje sigurie.

For me, I like to call him Frank.

Mua me pelqen ta quaj Frank.

So Frank is sitting at a desk.

Pra Frank eshte ulur ne nje tavoline.

He's got lots of cool information in front of him,

Ka shume informacione te kendshme para tij,

high-tech equipment, he's got cameras,

aparatura te teknologjise se larte, ka kamera,

he's got a little phone that he can pick up, listen to the ears,

ka nje telefon te vogel qe mund te degjoje

all these senses, all these perceptions.

gjithe keto sensor, gjithe keto perceptime.

But attention is what steers your perceptions,

Por vemendja eshte ajo qe orienton perceptimet e tua,

it's what controls your reality.

eshte ajo qe kontrollon realitetin. Eshte rruga per ne mendje.

It's the gateway to the mind.

If you don't attend to something, you can't be aware of it.

Nese nuk i jep vemendje dickaje, nuk mund te jesh ne dijeni per te.

But ironically, you can attend to something without being aware of it.

Por ironikisht, mund ti japesh vemendje dickaje pa qene ne dijeni per te.

For example, the cocktail effect:

Prandaj ekzsiton efekti i koktejlit:

You're in a party, having conversations with someone,

Kur je ne nje feste, je duke biseduar me dike,

dhe perseri ti e njeh emrin tend

and yet you can recognize your name

without realizing you were listening to that.

dhe nuk e kupton se si je duke e degjuar ate.

Now, for my job, I have to play with techniques to exploit this,

Une, per shak te punes, duhet te loz me teknika per ta shfrytezuar ate,

te luaj me vemendjen tuaj si nje burim i limituar.

to play with your attention as a limited resource.

So if I could control how you spend your attention,

Pra nese do mundesha te kontrolloja se si e shpenzoni vemendjen tuaj

if I could maybe steal your attention through a distraction.

Nese do mund te vidhja vemendjen tuaj permes nje hutimi.

Now, instead of doing it like misdirection

Tani, ne vend qe ta bej si nje orientim te gabuar

and throwing it off to the side,

dhe duke e hedhur ate jashte ane,

instead, what I choose to focus on is Frank,

ne vend te kesaj, ajo cka zgjedh per perqendrim eshte Frank,

to be able to play with the Frank inside your head,

per te patur mundesi te luani me Frankun brenda mendjes tuaj,

your security guard,

me rojen e sigurise tuaj,

and get you, instead of focusing on your external senses,

dhe tju bej, ne vend qe te fokusoheni ne shqisat e jashtme,

just to go internal for a second.

thjesht te beheni te brendshem per nje sekond.

So if I ask you to access a memory, like, what is that?

Pra nese ju kerkoj te hyni ne nje memorie, si, cfare eshte kjo?

What just happened? Do you have a wallet?

Cfare ndodhi? Ju ndodhet nje portofol?

Do you have an American Express in your wallet?

Ju ndodhet nje karte krediti ne portofolin tuaj?

And when I do that, your Frank turns around.

Dhe kur e bej kete, Franku i juaj kthehet pas.

He accesses the file. He has to rewind the tape.

Ai hyn ne dosje. I duhet ta riktheje kaseten.

What's interesting is, he can't rewind the tape

Dhe ajo cka eshte interesante eshte se ai nuk mund ta rikthej kaseten

at the same time that he's trying to process new data.

ne te njejten kohe qe po perpiqet te perpunoje te dhena te reja.

This sounds like a good theory,

Dua te them qe kjo duket si nje teori e mire,

but I could talk for a long time, tell you lots of things,

por mund t'ju flisja per nje kohe te gjate e t'ju thoja shume gjera,

and a portion of them may be true,

dhe ato mund te jene te verteta, nje pjese e tyre,

but I think it's better if I tried to show that to you here live.

por do ishte me mire t'ju tregoja juve ketu drejt per se drejti.

Pra nese zbres poshte, do bej pak pazar.

If I come down, I'm going to do a bit of shopping.

Just hold still where you are.

Qendroni ne vend aty ku jeni.

Hello, how are you? It's lovely to see you.

Pershendetje, si jeni? Eshte kenaqesi qe ju shoh.

Wonderful job onstage.

Kryet nje pune te mire ne skene.

Lovely watch, it doesn't come off very well.

Keni nje ore te bukur e cila nuk hiqet lehte.

Do you have a ring as well?

E keni dhe unazen tuaj gjithashtu?

Good. Just taking inventory. You're like a buffet.

Mire. Thjesht po kryej nje inventar. ju jeni si nje bufe.

Eshte e veshtire t'ja nisesh, ka kaq gjera te bukura.

Hard to tell where to start, so many great things.

Hi, how are you? Good to see you.

Pershendetje, si jeni? Kenaqesi qe ju shoh.

Hi, sir, could you stand up, please? Just right where you are.

Si jeni zoteri, a mund te ngriheni per mua ju lutem? Aty ku jeni.

You're married, you follow directions well.

Oh, jeni i martuar. Ju i ndiqni udhezimet mire.

Nice to meet you, sir.

Eshte kenaqesi t'ju takosh, zoteri.

You don't have a lot in your pockets. Anything down here?

Nuk keni shume gjera neper xhepa. Dicka ketu ne kete xhep?

Hopefully so. Have a seat. There you go. You're doing well.

Fatmiresisht po. Mund te uleni. Po ja dilni mire.

Pershendetje zoteri, si jeni?

Hi, sir, how are you?

Good to see you, sir. You have a ring, a watch.

Kenaqesi qe ju shoh. Ju keni nje unaze, nje ore.

Do you have a wallet on you? Joe: I don't.

A keni nje portofol me vete? Joe: Jo nuk kam.

AR: Well, we'll find one for you. Come on up this way, Joe.

Apollo Robbins: Mire, do e gjejme nje per ju.

Mund te vini ketej, Joe.

Give Joe a round of applause. Come on up, Joe. Let's play a game.

Jepini Joes nje duartrokitje.

Eja lart Joe. Le te luajme nje loje.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

AR: Pardon me.

Me falni.

I don't think I need this clicker anymore.

Nuk me duhet kjo telekomande me. Mund ta merni.

Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

Faleminderit shume. E vleresoj.

Come on up to the stage, Joe. Let's play a little game now.

Eja ne skene Joe. Te nisim nje loje te vogel tani.

Ke dicka ne xhepat perpara? Joe: Para.

Anything in your front pockets?

J: Money.

AR: Money! All right, let's try that.

AR: Para. Ne rregull, le ta provojme ate.

Can you stand right over this way for me?

A mund te qendrosh ne kete menyre per mua?

Turn around and, let's see,

Kthehu para, le te shohim,

if I give you something that belongs to me,

nese te jap dicka qe me perket,

this is just something I have,

kjo eshte dicka qe kam, nje monedhe pokeri.

a poker chip.

Hold out your hand for me.

Zgjate doren per mua. Shikoje pak me kujdes.

Watch it closely.

Tani kjo eshte nje detyre per ju qe te perqendroheni.

This is a task for you to focus on.

You have your money in your front pocket?

I ke parate ne kete xhepin perpara? Joe: Po.

J: Yup. AR: Good.

I won't put my hand in your pocket. I'm not ready for that kind of commitment.

AR: Mire. Realisht nuk do e fus doren time ne xhepin tend.

Nuk jam i gatshem per ate lloj angazhimi.

Once a guy had a hole in his pocket,

Nje here nje djale kishte nje vrime ne xhepin e tij,

dhe ajo ishte pak tramatizuese per mua.

and that was rather traumatizing for me.

Une po kerkoja per portofolin e tij dhe ai me dha numrin e telefonit.

I wanted his wallet, he gave me his number.

Ishte nje komunikim i gabuar.

Big miscommunication.

Pra le ta bejme kete thjesht. Shtrengoji duart.

(Laughter)

Let's do this simply. Squeeze your hand tight.

Do you feel the poker chip in your hand?

Shtrengoji fort. E ndjen monedhen e pokerit ne doren tende? Joe: Po.

J: I do.

AR: Would you be surprised if I took it? Say yes.

AR: Do ishe i suprizuar nese do ta largoja nga dora jote? Thuaj po.

Joe: Shume. AR: Mire.

J: Very. AR: Good.

Hape doren. Faleminderit shume.

Open your hand. Thank you very much.

I'll cheat if you give me a chance.

Do bej hile nese ti me jep nje mundesi.

Make it harder for me. Just use your hand.

Ma bej me te veshtire. Thjesht perdor doren tende.

Grab my wrist, but squeeze, squeeze firm.

Me kap kycin, por shtrengoje fort.

Did you see it go? Joe: No.

E pe tek tu largua?

Joe: Jo. AR: Jo nuk eshte ketu. Hape doren.

AR: No, it's not here. Open your hand.

While we're focused on the hand, it's sitting on your shoulder.

E shikon, teksa jemi te fokusuar tek dora,

eshte duke qendruar ne supin tend ketu.

Jepi, mund ta marresh.

Go ahead and take it off.

Now, let's try that again.

Tani, ta provojme perseri.

Hold your hand out flat. Open it up.

Mbaje doren te hapur. Hape komplet.

Put your hand up a little bit higher, but watch it close.

Ngrije pak doren me lart, por shikoje me kujdes Joe.

If I did it slowly, it'd be on your shoulder.

Shikon po ta bej pak me ngadale, do ishte perseri ne supin tend.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

Joe, we're going to keep doing this till you catch it.

Joe, do ta bejme kete derisa ti ta kapesh ate.

Do ta kuptosh perfundimisht. Kam besim tek ty.

You'll get it eventually. I have faith in you.

Shtrengoje fort. Ti je njeri, nuk je i avashte.

Squeeze firm. You're human, you're not slow.

It's back on your shoulder.

Eshte perseri ne supin tend.

You were focused on your hand, distracted.

Ishe i perqendruar ne doren tende. Prandaj ishe i hutuar.

While you were watching, I couldn't get your watch off.

Ndersa ti po e shikoje kete, nuk mund ta hiqja lehte oren tende. Ishte e veshtire.

Yet you had something inside your pocket.

Sidoqofte kishe dicka brenda xhepin tend te pare.

Do you remember what it was?

E mban mend cfare ishte?

J: Money.

Joe: Para.

AR: Check your pocket. Is it still there?

AR: Kontrollo xhepin tend. Shiko nese i ke ende aty. Jane aty? (Te qeshura)

(Laughter)

Oh, there it was. Put it away.

Oh, aty ishin. Vazhdo nxirri.

We're just shopping.

Ne thjesht po bejme pazar. Kjo loje eshte me shume per kohen. E vertet.

This trick's more about the timing.

I'm going to try to push it inside your hand.

Do perpiqem ti shty brenda dores tende.

Vere doren tjeter perpara, te lutem?

Put your other hand on top, would you?

It's amazingly obvious now, isn't it?

Eshte mrekullueshem qarte tashme, apo jo?

Looks a lot like the watch I was wearing, doesn't it?

Ngjason pak me oren qe kisha vene, apo jo?

(Te qeshura) (Duartrokitje)

(Laughter) (Applause)

J: That's pretty good. AR: Oh, thanks.

Joe: Kjo eshte shume e bukur. Shume e bukur. AR: Oh, faleminderit.

(Applause)

But it's only a start. Let's try it a little bit differently.

Por eshte thjesht nje fillim. Le te perpiqemi ta ribejme, pak me ndryshe.

Hold your hands together. Your other hand on top.

Mbaji duart bashke. Ngrije doren tjeter lart.

If you're watching this little token,

Nese e shikon kete fishen e vogel,

this obviously has become a little target, like a red herring.

kjo qartesisht eshte kthyer ne nje objektiv te vogel. Eshte si nje harenge e kuqe.

If we watch this kind of close, it looks like it goes away.

Nese do e shohim me nga afer, duket sikur eshte duke u larguar.

Nuk eshte me ne supin tend.

It's not back on your shoulder.

It falls out of the air, lands right back in the hand.

Bie dhe ulet perseri ne dore.

Did you see it go?

E pe te zhdukej?

Yeah, funny. We've got a little guy. He's union, works up there all day.

Po, eshte e kendshme. Kemi nje djale te vogel. Ai eshte nje sindikate. Punon gjithe diten aty.

If I do it slowly it goes straight away, it lands by your pocket.

Nese do e beja me ngadale, nese do ikte drejtperdrejt,

ulet ne xhepin tend. Besoj se ndodhet ne kete xhep, zoteri?

Is it in this pocket, sir?

Don't reach in your pocket. That's a different show.

Jo, mos u drejto ne xhepin tend. Kjo eshte nje tjeter shfaqje.

(Squeaking)

Pra --(duke shfryre) -- kjo eshte disi e cuditshme. Kane te shtena per ate.

That's rather strange. They have shots for that.

A mund t'ja u tregoj atyre cfare eshte? Eshte pak e cuditshme. Eshte e juaja kjo zoteri?

Can I show them? Rather bizarre. Is this yours, sir?

I have no idea how that works. We'll send that over there.

Nuk e kam idene si funksionon kjo. Thjesht do ta veme kete aty.

Mrekulli. Me duhet ndihme me kete.

I need help with this one.

Qendro ketu per mua.

Step over this way for me.

Don't run away. You had something down by your pants pocket.

Tani, mos u largo. Kishe dicka ne xhepin e pantallonave.

I was checking mine. I couldn't find everything,

Po kontrolloja timin. Nuk mund te gjeja gjithcka,

but I noticed you had something here.

por vura re qe ti kishe dicka aty.

A mund ta prek per nje moment xhepin nga jashte?

Can I feel the outside for a moment?

Down here I noticed this. Is this something of yours, sir?

Ketu poshte vura re kete. Eshte kjo e juaja, zoteri?

Eshte? Nuk e kam idene. Eshte nje karkalec.

I have no idea. That's a shrimp.

J: Yeah. I'm saving it for later.

Joe: Po. Po e ruaj ate per me vone.

AR: You've entertained all of these people in a wonderful way,

AR: I ke zbavitur gjithe keta njerez ne nje dite te bukur,

better than you know.

me shume sec ti mund te dish.

So we'd love to give you this lovely watch as a gift.

Pra do na pelqente te te dhuronim kete oren e bukur. (Te qeshura)

(Laughter)

Hopefully it matches his taste.

Fatmiresisht shkon me shijet e tij.

We have a couple of other things,

Por gjithashtu, kemi dhe disa gjera te tjera,

a little bit of cash.

disa para, dhe disa te tjera.

And we have a few other things,

these all belong to you,

Keto ju perkasin juve,

bashke me nje duartrokitje te madhe nga te gjithe ju miq. (Duartrokitje)

along with a big round of applause from all your friends.

(Applause)

Joe, te falenderoj shume.

Joe, thank you very much.

(Duartrokitje)

(Applause)

(Applause ends)

So, same question I asked you before,

Pra, e njejta pyetje qe ju bera me pare,

but this time you don't have to close your eyes.

por kete here nuk duhet te mbyllni syte.

What am I wearing?

Cfare kam veshur?

Audience: Oh!

(Te qeshura)

(Laughter)

(Hesitant applause)

(Duartrokitje)

(Applause ends)

Attention is a powerful thing.

Vemendja eshte dicka e fuqishme.

Like I said, it shapes your reality.

Sic ju thashe, i jep forme realitetit tuaj.

So, I guess I'd like to pose that question to you.

Pra, ma merr mendja me duhet t'ju parashtroj ate pyetjen juve.

If you could control somebody's attention,

Nese do kishit mundesi te kontrollonit vemendjen e dikujt,

what would you do with it?

cfare do benit me te?

Thank you.

Falemnderit.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)