How Being a Magician Taught Me About Being Wrong

My story is the same as every magician's story.

I discovered magic when I was a scrawny, socially-awkward, unpopular middle school student (I've since graduated middle school). During one rainy day indoor recess, I pulled a few magic tricks out of my backpack and before I knew it, I was holding court in the back of Mrs. Watson's classroom. A mob of preteens were binge-watching my tricks years before Netflix even existed.

It didn't matter if they were shouting "How'd you do that?" or "It's up your sleeve," or "Do it again, magic boy!" All I knew was that for the first time, I had been noticed.

Apparently, people think it's pretty special when you do impossible things.

As for me, my mission became clear. Practice every new trick I could get my hands on and then pray for rain.

Years later when I relied on performing magic full-time to pay the rent, praying for rain took on a whole new meaning. My next mission was get the gigs so I could get the food. That's what thrust me into the more modern deceptive arts, marketing and selling, then ultimately, psychology.

I learned a lot about illusion and here's my confession:

Illusions force us to realize that perception is reality. That perspective matters. That our own senses can't always be trusted. That sometimes...we're wrong.

A magic trick PROVES that our perceptions are flawed. It PROVES that we can be betrayed by the workings of our own brains. It PROVES that we don't know what we think we know.

Magic humbles us. It shows us we can be wrong. It forces us to face the fact that our own perspective is not the ultimate authority. That we need each other.

In a way, magicians are the only ones who get this.

In order to trick you, we must first understand you.

We obsessively practice in front of mirrors. We record our performances and watch them back again and again. We test and experiment with new material in front of other magicians, who constantly remind us, "Watch your angles."

In other words, "Think about the audience's perspective. Consider their point of view. See the world through their eyes."

I think that's pretty solid advice right now for a generation for which perspective-taking is fast becoming a lost art.

As for you, take an opportunity today to really and truly see things from the perspective of another human being. They are just as flawed as you are, but on your journey to understand them, you'll find that the truth lies somewhere between you.

This is why I wrote "Magic Words". To help people to see how certain words influence the perspectives of others.