Derren Brown is probably the most celebrated mind-reader alive today. He has had multiple touring theatre shows and TV specials in the UK and a recent run off Broadway. He spends a great deal of time thinking about how people think which has offered him some insights into how the mind works. That insight can be used to amaze, but also be applied to our everyday psychology.
Space is Big
As the saying goes:
“Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space.”
[A note for North American readers, the "chemist" is a pharmacy.]
This clip from BigThink by NASA Scientist Michelle Thaller tries to put that bigness in perspective:
These numbers are hard to imagine. VERY hard to imagine. That's one of the reasons I'm such a strong proponent of math education for everyone of all ages (beyond my own personal bias as a math major shining through.) The only way to learn to cope with these kinds of numbers is through training. Otherwise you'll be caught in the paradigm of JBS Haldane:
“My own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.”
Math becomes the key that allows you to do all that hitherto impossible supposing. Or, if you'd rather think of the world in terms of awe and wonder, it gives you access to entirely different domains in which to be astonished.
Business Advice from Poker Players
Nowhere in the world does the human mind run up against cold hard statistics quite like games of chance. Serious card players understand that it's possible to feel that we're evaluating evidence and thinking rationally and responsibly even when we're not. Here are four pieces of advice to help prevent that:
Reasons for Pessimism
Author and theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss thinks their are reasons to be pessimistic, but that's no reason to be gloomy. Here in a short little insight on BigThink, he explains why the universe doesn't care about you... and that's a good thing.
I love the part at the end where he emphasizes the importance of knowing how the world actually is. After all, I'm a magician. Some people say I spend my time trying to convince people of things which aren't true. Rather, it's better to say I spend my time trying to get people to to question and doubt what they see and realize that not everything around them is the way it appears intuitively.
Anyways... off to go create some meaning and purpose... and magic.
Tips for Poker
From BigThink and Champion poker player Liv Boeree
Messages of Hope from a Juggler and a Magician
Magician Penn Jillette explains in this video how he converted to Christianity:
And then after a suitable awkward pause and the gotcha moment, he goes on to share a very sincere message of hope explaining what's wrong with the term islamophobia and how to go about helping people you disagree with.
Maybe we're doing this all wrong, trying to listen to politicians and academics. Maybe the way to a better tomorrow is by listening to magicians and jugglers.