Everyone has skeletons in their closet. There’s at least one in mine. A couple of years ago while on a cruise I pinched a spoon from the dining room. It wasn’t because of any lack of spoons at home, it was because no matter how hard I tried I could not bend this one. I tried with two hands, I tried by pushing against the table, I even tried placing the handle under my heel and tugging on the head. No give at all. I had to have that spoon!
I’ve been practicing magic as a hobby ever since I was a teenager. It has turned out to be a perfect fit with my career because of the numerous scientific principles involved in creating the illusion of contravening the laws of nature. And that is what magic is all about. Seeing someone levitate, or vanish inside a cabinet, or appear out of thin air, requires an apparent suspension of the laws of nature. The key word of course is “apparent,” because all such effects are accomplished by clever scientific means. A magician, however, attempts to ensure that the audience will not discover those means. Science can also appear magical, but in this case, we relish in scuttling the magic with down to earth explanations. Just think about it. Isn’t an airplane with hundreds of people aboard flying through the air magical? How about taking pictures with your smart phone and sending them around the world in seconds? Or a seed growing into a plant or a new life being created from the meeting of cells? But magic is converted into science with an appropriate explanation.
I have found performing magic to be an excellent springboard for a discussion of scientific methodology and for fostering the critical thinking needed to prevent being swept away by the tsunami of pseudoscience generated by a rapidly multiplying bevy of charlatans. When you can demonstrate how “psychic surgery,” a procedure by which diseased tissues are apparently removed without an incision, can actually be accomplished by sleight of hand, you have given believers something to think about. Similarly, a demonstration of “mental” effects with a clear declaration that these are done by clever chicanery can help convince at least some that trickery may be involved when psychics perform seemingly scientifically inexplicable feats.
One such feat is “psychokinesis,” or the ability to move objects using only the power of the mind. Psychokinetic effects were first popularized in the middle of the nineteenth century when Angelique Cottin in France claimed that electric emanations from her body allowed her to move objects without touching them. She convinced many observers of her power, but critics offered quite down to earth explanations about how such effects could be performed by natural means. Since that time numerous psychics have claimed psychokinetic powers, with Uri Geller being perhaps the most famous. In the 1970s he beguiled audiences and even some scientists with his apparent ability to bend metal with the power of his mind. He gets credit for introducing the phenomenon of mental spoon bending, an effect upon which he built quite a spectacular career.
Magicians were also astounded. Not by the effect, which can be accomplished by a number of established methods, but by how the public was so ready to swallow a “paranormal” explanation. Conjurers were quick to reproduce the spoon bending trick, pointing out that the only requirement was a modicum of sleight of hand. This brings us back to my pilfered spoon.
When I do the spoon bending trick, I first hand out the spoon to the audience with a challenge to bend it. Once it is established that it can withstand all efforts, I proceed to bend it “with the power of my mind.” But in rare cases, some strong men have managed to bend the spoon and destroy my performance, so I’m always on the lookout for super-strong spoons. I can tell you that Crystal Cruises have such. They absolutely cannot be bent, except in the hands of a magician who is equipped with a “special something.”
But why am I talking about tormenting cutlery? Because last week, thanks to colleague Tim Caulfield, a health law professor at the University of Alberta, I learned that “Integrative Pediatric Medicine Rounds” at his University were set to feature a talk on “Spoon Bending and the Power of the Mind.” The seminar would be given by an “energy healer” who has been described as being “a Reiki Master teacher, a certified Trilotherapy practitioner, a Yuen Method practitioner and a teacher of popular Spoon Bending and Tantric Sex workshops.” So this was not to be a workshop on critical thinking, which could have been appropriate. The prospective speaker actually claimed that 75% of attendees would be able to bend spoons with their mental energy!
The scientific community reacted with vigour to this assault on reason, and the resulting extensive media coverage caused the seminar to be cancelled with some weasel explanations being provided about the workshop “being withdrawn by the presenters.”
The “presenter” was to be Anastasia Kutt, who is not some wacky outsider, but is listed in the University’s Directory as “a research assistant in the “Complementary and Alternative Research and Education (CARE) Program” and is also involved in research activities and organizing events.” What sort of events? Given her interest in topics such as Tantric Sex and spoon bending one wonders.
Criticism of this spoon bending fiasco should not be construed as an attempt by the mainstream scientific community to curb free speech or to police academic research. Rather it is an appeal for reason and for vigilance against quackery sneaking into “integrative medicine” programs which are becoming increasingly popular.
I don’t know how Ms. Kutt bends spoons, but I’d be willing to fly to Edmonton at my expense to find out. If she can bend my Crystal Cruise spoon I’ll eat a University of Alberta Integrative Health Program hat.
