Secrets of the mind and free will -- revealed by magic tricks | Alice Pailhès

譯者: Grant Hou 審譯者: Amanda Zhu

Alright.

好的

I'd like to start with a small imagination exercise.

我想從一個小小的想像力練習開始

Imagine you're sitting at this table, facing me right now.

想像你現在面對著我 坐在這張桌子前面

Now, I'm going to ask you to push one of these cards towards me.

現在，我需要你 把其中一張撲克牌推給我

So please imagine yourself pushing one of these cards towards me.

所以，請想像你正在把 其中一張撲克牌推給我

OK, so take the number matching the card you pushed

OK，然後看看你選的撲克牌的號碼

and remember it -- it's important for later.

要記住它，這個很重要

Now, I'm going to flip through this deck of cards

現在，我要把這疊撲克牌很快地翻一遍

and ask you to choose a card that you will see in the deck.

然後請你在其中選擇一張牌

Are you ready?

準備好了嗎？

Alright, now that you have your card in mind,

好的，現在你腦中有一張牌

add the value of your card to your previous number.

把這張牌的號碼 加上你原本選擇的數字

For example, if you chose the six of clubs, add six,

例如，如果你選擇梅花六，那就加上六

if it's an ace, add one,

如果你選擇 A，就加上一

and take 11 for any picture cards.

如果是 J、Q、K 的話，就加上十一

Have you got your final number in mind?

你有得到一個最終數字了嗎？

Perfect.

很好

So please take the item matching your final number.

現在，請選擇與你的數字 相對應的物品

Now, here's what's funny.

好了，有趣的事情來了

There are going to be a lot of people watching this video,

會有很多人看這部影片

and you all have different quirks with different preferences.

而每個人會有不同的傾向與偏好

And yet,

然而

the vast majority of you right now is thinking about a kiwi,

現在，大多數人想的要不是奇異果

or, if you're left-handed, probably a corn on the cob.

或者，如果你是左撇子的話 大概就是玉米

Yes, I just tricked you.

是的，你被我耍了

And I used your psychological biases

我利用你的認知偏誤

to influence both of your decisions.

去影響你的兩個決定

I work in the MAGIC Lab

我在倫敦大學金匠學院裡的 魔術實驗室裡工作

at Goldsmiths University of London,

which is not only a place where we make assistants vanish,

在這裡，我們除了會把助理變不見

but where we use magic tricks to study psychological processes,

還會透過魔術手法 來研究人們的心理流程

such as attention, perception, deception and free will.

像是注意力、知覺、欺騙與自由意志

I am fascinated by the subtle factors that influence our choices,

我著迷於這些 能影響我們決定的小小因子

and how understanding our flaws can give us back some power.

以及理解自身的缺點 所帶給我們的力量

Magic tricks provide a powerful tool to investigate this,

魔術手法則提供了一個 很強大的研究工具

and our experiments have shown that.

而我們的實驗有了以下結果：

First, we humans tend to go for the easiest decisions.

首先，我們人類傾向做最簡單的選擇

With the card trick I did,

在這個撲克牌手法中

most people tend to choose the card that I want them to choose,

多數人傾向去選擇 我想要他們選的那張牌

because I'm presenting it a bit longer than the others.

因為我展示那張牌的時間 相對比較久一些

And it becomes the easiest option for your brain.

而這張牌就成為你腦裡最簡單的選項

In our case,

在這個例子中

the majority of you probably chose the ten of hearts, right?

你們多數人大概會選擇紅心十，對吧？

And a lot of other tricks are based on this principle

而有很多的手法都是

基於這個「簡單選項」的原則

of easy decision.

Because magicians are very aware

因為魔術師們很清楚

that our brain, not to say "we," tends to be a bit lazy.

我們的腦袋，更不用說是我們自己

通常會有點懶惰

The exercise we did with the four cards is also a good example of this.

這個四張撲克牌的手法 也是一個很棒的例子

It's based on another trick I investigated,

這是基於我研究中的另一個手法

where I ask participants to physically push

我會要求參與者

將四張牌的其中一張推給我

one of the four cards towards me.

We found that around 60 percent of people choose the third card from the left,

我們發現，大約有 60% 的人 會選擇左邊數來的第三張牌

and if they were left-handed,

要是他們是左撇子的話

they typically chose the second card from the left.

他們通常會選擇左邊數來第二張牌

This is based on the easy-option principle again,

這也是基於簡單選項的原則

because the card that most people choose

因為多數人選擇的牌

is the most easy to reach by the dominant hand.

是最靠近他們慣用手的一張牌

So, I knew that most of you

所以，我知道你們之中多數人

would end up with one of these two numbers,

最終會選擇這兩張牌的其中一張

and this allowed me to estimate

而這讓我得以預測

the two most probable things you would end up with.

你最終猜到的物品中最有可能的兩個

But this is not just about magic.

但，這並不僅僅關乎魔術

It's also about how we are influenced in our day-to-day lives.

這還跟外界如何 在日常生活中影響我們有關

You know, stories and politicians

你知道的，媒體的報導還有政客

play with your mind as well, all the time,

也是時時刻刻在玩弄著你的大腦

because they also know that we tend to choose and like

因為他們也知道我們傾向會選擇、喜歡

what's easily grabbed or seen.

最容易得到跟看到的東西

For instance, when you are in a store,

舉例來說，當你去到一間商店

choosing a bottle of wine or a bag of rice

要買一瓶酒或是一包米時

among many lined up on vertical shelves,

在直立的袈子上陳列的眾多貨品裡

your first instinct is to look

你的第一直覺是只會去看

only at the ones that are on the shelves in front of your eyes, right?

袈上差不多在你眼睛高度的東西

對吧？

It's easier and requires less effort.

這樣選擇比較簡單，而且不費力

Did you know that many brands actually negotiate

你知道嗎？

實際上有很多品牌在合約中要求

to be at eye-level on grocery store shelves

將他們的商品放在眼睛高度的架上

because of that easy-option principle?

他們就是基於這個「簡單選項」的原則

And this is a tactic that many politicians use.

而這，也是很多政客會用的伎倆

When information is right in front of our eyes on social media,

當社交媒體上的資訊 出現在我們眼睛正前方時

it's easily accessible,

它會更容易被接觸到

and it absolutely affects our voting behaviors.

而它也絕對會影響我們的投票行為

Political outcomes, such as the Brexit referendum

有些政治上的結果，像是英國脫歐公投

or the American election in 2016,

或是 2016 年的美國總統選舉

were heavily influenced by targeted advertising,

都是被這些有針對性的廣告 嚴重影響的後果

making some information,

這讓某些不見得是正確的資訊

which was not necessarily truthful,

disproportionately easily accessible and visible to specific audiences

過份容易讓某些族群接觸到、看到

to influence their votes.

以影響他們的投票選擇

But here is the good news.

但，我也有好消息

Some simple factors have an impact on how influencible we are.

一些簡單的因素 能決定我們有多容易被影響

In an experiment using the trick with the four cards,

在同一個使用四張牌手法的實驗中

we found that explicitly informing participants

我們發現，只要明確地告知參與者

that they have a choice

他們能有自己的選擇

can actually lead them to make more deliberate decisions,

就能引導他們做出更深思熟慮的決定

as opposed to behaving in the way we are trying to make them behave.

這個決定會跟我們想要 引誘他們去做的選擇相反

In other words,

換句話說

I either simply asked participants to push one of the cards,

我要嘛就單純地要求參與者 推一張牌給我

or I said,

或者，我說：

"Choose a card, and then push it."

「先選擇一張牌，然後再推給我」

And when asked to choose a card,

而當被要求選擇一張牌時

the percentage of people who impulsively chose the most reachable one

會直覺性地選擇最容易拿到的牌的人

dropped from 60 to 35 percent.

從 60% 降到了 35%

So, it seems that when we are reminded that we have control over our choices,

因此，看來當我們事先被提醒

我們能有自己的選擇

and know that our actions matter,

並清楚這個選擇很重要時

as opposed to acting without thinking,

比起做出直覺性的選擇

we can actually make more personal decisions

我們更能真正地做出自主的選擇

and are less easily influenced.

且更難被外界影響

Let me show you another trick,

讓我展示另一個手法給你看

invented by a British mentalist Derren Brown,

這是由英國的讀心術專家 達倫・布朗所發明

to make my point.

可以證明我的論點

This one uses what's called "priming" in psychology.

這會用到心理學裡「促發」的概念

Priming happens when exposure to something

「促發」是當你接觸到某種東西時

influences your thoughts and behavior later on,

這東西進而影響你其後的思維與行為

without you being aware

而你並不會察覺到 它在其中起了引導作用

that the first thing is guiding you to a certain extent.

The trick is usually done in a more intimate context,

這個手法通常會在 彼此更靠近的情況下進行

where I would be directly facing you,

我會直接跟你面對面

but we'll give it a try together.

但我們一起來試試看

Just focus on me as best as you can,

請盡可能的關注在我身上

but do not let me influence your choice.

但不要讓我影響你的選擇

I'm going to try and mentally transmit the identity of a playing card

我會試著用念力傳送

我腦中想的那張牌給你

I'm thinking of.

Are you ready?

準備好了嗎？

OK, so first make the color bright and vivid.

OK，首先請想像一張顏色鮮豔的牌

Imagine a screen in your mind,

想像你腦中有一個螢幕

and on the screen, the little numbers, low down in the corners of the cards,

在那個螢幕上 卡牌的邊緣有小小的數字

and then in the top of the cards.

卡牌的上方也有數字

And then the things in the middle,

接著，中間有些東西

in the center of the cards,

它們在卡片的正中央

the boom, boom, boom, the suits.

接著嘣嘣嘣，就這麼排列

Did you get it?

你有畫面了嗎？

OK, so I'm going to bet that the majority of you

OK，我打賭你們多數人

thought about the three of diamonds,

剛開始想到的是方塊三

but chose another card, right?

但最後選擇了另一張牌，對吧？

As you might have noticed,

你可能已經注意到

I heavily tried to influence your choice with my gestures

在下指示給你時

我非常努力地試著想要 用我的手勢去影響你的選擇

while giving you the instructions.

By studying this trick,

在研究這個手法後

we found that around 18 percent of people choose the three of diamonds,

我們發現大概有 18% 的人 會選擇方塊三

and nearly 40 percent choose the three of any suit,

然後有接近 40% 的人會選擇數字三

while being completely oblivious of the fact I was manipulating them.

完全不知道我正在操弄他們

So what happened here?

所以，發生什麼事了？

Because you were aware

因為你事先知道我試著要影響你的選擇

that I was trying to influence your choice,

你大概會更注意我的行為

you probably paid more attention to what I was doing.

And this led the majority of you to choose more consciously

而這讓你們之中的多數人 更有意識的做出抉擇

than our participants who have no information

相較於另一群沒有背景資訊

about who I am, what I'm studying

不知道我是誰，我在研究什麼

or what I'm trying to do with their minds.

或是我想對他們的大腦 做些什麼的人

So the thing is,

所以，結果是

in all of our experiments,

在我們所有的實驗中

we managed to heavily influence people's card choices,

我們設法對人們的選擇產生很大的影響

while they report feeling completely free and in control of their choice.

他們卻認為這完全是 出自於他們自身的意志

And this lack of self-awareness

而像這樣子的缺乏自我意識

makes politicians, companies

就會讓一些政客、企業與其他的人

and other people's influence all the more powerful,

更具有影響力

because we might think we are in control of our choice and beliefs

因為我們可能以為 我們的選擇與信仰掌握在自己手中

when we are not.

但有時候事實卻不然

Politically or in our consumer behaviors,

在我們做出政治或消費行為時

if we don't pay attention,

如果我們不能更加謹慎

misleading content or showy ads can just trick our mind.

誤導性的內容，或誇大不實的廣告 就能騙過我們的大腦

What if, in our day-to-day lives,

在日常生活中

we would stop more often and consciously choose

要是我們能更常停下來

不受心裡這頭衝動的野獸所控制 而做出更有意識的抉擇呢？

before acting on this impulsive, reactive beast inside of us?

We can actually act more consciously

我們能真正地做出更有意識的選擇

if we keep in mind

但要謹記

that we have the capacity to be influenced.

我們是很容易會被外界影響的

Thank you.

謝謝你