Feb 03 2009
The Magician’s Force
The magician’s force is the art of giving someone a choice without really giving them any choices at all. In essence it is a way of controlling the outcome of an apparently random situation. A simple example would be to present two relatively similar choices. “Pick a card,” for example, from two face down cards. The magician in this case knows which is which by their location, but they appear to be random. When the person chooses a card the magician will either say “excellent choice” and reveal the chosen card or say “excellent choice, that one will be spared” and then use the other card.
In either case the card that the magician wishes to use is chosen and used. The person feels like they made the choice. They feel like they have the power when in reality they do not.
This same type of mental force can be used by con artists. If you feel like no matter what decision you make the outcome is the same then you may have already been caught.
