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A class on spoon-bending

JimTheBrit said:
I think you may find that the palm of a hand provides many places for an already sprouting seed to be hidden.
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This isn't what's happening in the case of the workshop in the OP. While I wouldn't put it past Uri Geller to do this, the students sprout seeds in their own hand - they're deluding themselves but they're not cheating.
 
firecoins said:
learn to bend spoons like Uri Geller does but not how he says.
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I presume this DVD teaches the "magic trick" version of metal bending.

I'm more interested here in the self-delusion aspects of psychic phenomena - people who genuinely believe they did something psychic. (I don't think Uri Geller has any illusions about his illusions.) The other night I bent a spoon into a tight loop quite easily after warming it for 3 minutes between my thumb and finger. Perhaps the bending motion itself creates friction at the molecular level, warming the metal even further so that more loops can be made (haven't tried that yet - we only have limited dessert spoons in the house) and so that it "feels like putty".

The properties of the metal combined with the exciting, supportive environment created by spoon-bending parties and workshops explain the phenomenon. I very much doubt keys can be bend this way and that you need trickery for that.
 
firecoins said:
That method does not exist.
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I find it far more likely that people at spoon-bending parties etc. are deluding themselves into thinking psychic power made the spoon soft enough to bend (when warming the spoon with the fingers and misperception about the strength being used is actually the mechanism) than that they are all cheats and liars and experts at sleight-of-hand.
 
Agreed - self-deception is a far more likely explanation in this instance. If they were already able to "magic trick" the bend, they wouldn't be flocking to daft sessions like this. And if illusion were being taught there, it would be a simple matter for a sceptic to go along and expose this.

Far easier to demonstrate the trick without revealing any "secrets", let the rubes try to "use their minds" on a load of cheap cutlery, and rake in the one-off fees from those who are disappointed, and the repeat fees from those who swear they "felt something" or made their bend with their minds and not their fingers.

Quids in.
 
firecoins said:
The DVD I posted has the actual sleight of hands method.
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Fair enough, but that's not the same thing as a "party", where communal reinforcement and a strong desire not to have wasted their money (amongst other things) would help people delude themselves. Any groups holding bending parties teaching illusive methods intended for use when posing as a psychic bender (!), are effectively "naughty amateur magicians" (and I'm not sure these exist) - not woos. I think the woo typically believes in what he/she is doing on some level at least.

I'm not saying people aren't out there learning how to cheat others with the sleight-of-hand methods - I'm just saying that the parties of the OP, at least from what I've read and seen on TV, don't seem to be of this nature.
 
Not having been to one of these parties, who provides the spoons?

Does the 'psychic tutor' bring a few of their own along? A few gallium doped spoons would make for an impressive demonstration, e.g. a spoon balanced on a finger bending under its own weight. Distribute one or two to the marks; suddenly they discover their top-drawer psychic abilities and you're one step closer to getting into their bank accounts, pants, whatever.

Even without special spoons, a few minutes working the some ordinary and quite sturdy spoons when no-one's around should weaken them sufficiently to get quite a few hits. Have one unadulterated spoon handy to pass around the group so everyone can see how solid it is. When it comes back to you, switch it for a prepared one (any number of ways to do this, consult a magic manual) and suddenly it's putty in your hands.
 
galla said:
I find it far more likely that people at spoon-bending parties etc. are deluding themselves into thinking psychic power made the spoon soft enough to bend (when warming the spoon with the fingers and misperception about the strength being used is actually the mechanism) than that they are all cheats and liars and experts at sleight-of-hand.
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Did you take a look at the thread I linked above? That idea is explored, as well as others, by people adamantly on one side and the other.
 
Mercutio said:
Did you take a look at the thread I linked above? That idea is explored, as well as others, by people adamantly on one side and the other.
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Yes, I've started reading through it, and the idea of subjective misperception, or whatever we might call it, seems to explain why attendees experience what they do.

DeviousB, from what I've read, people can bring their own spoons, but in such uncontrolled conditions there's no way to know if a few bent or pre-worked spoons are thrown into the mix. This might explain the old lady bending the bowl of the spoon, for example. I have read reports of children bending spoon bowls at parties, too, but never of someone bending their own spoon bowl at home, in a more controlled environment.

I did notice something interesting yesterday while triple-looping my dessert spoon with little effort: I held the spoon and wiggled it between thumb and finger for a couple of minutes while doing something else (this is enough to warm the metal sufficiently to make it quite easy to bend). As soon as I concentrated on the spoon again (the moment when I guess I should have shouted "BEND!" at it, although I don't believe my spoons are sentient so I skipped this step) I noticed that the sensation of the handle between my fingers had changed. I was no longer wiggling the spoon, and it did feel like "putty" in the sense that it was about to flop over at any moment.

The reason was that while wiggling the spoon, I was aware of the sensation. Once I stopped wiggling, I could no longer feel the spoon - it felt like my thumb and finger were pressed together with nothing in between. This is the same as how you can't feel steady, unmoving pressure on your body once you get used to it. So, while you can see a solid spoon there, you can't feel it, and the overall sensation is that the spoon's handle has become paper-thin and is about to flop over. Follow this with a twist of the warmed metal and I can see how it could be interpreted as the metal having "turned to putty".
 
Steel spoons lose half their strength when still below half their melting point...
...sorry, wrong forum.
 
Thanks for the link. This lady has three recent videos there - the long video linked above doesn't show her bending spoons but talks you through the process. In the video "Spoon Bending: The Power of Intention" she bends a spoon (with some obvious effort) after a short meditation. The spoon looks suspiciously cheap and thin - stamped out, not forged with a bevelled edge. She says she buys them second hand.

Then in the video "Responding to Questions about Spoon bending" she tells us that particular spoon she bent in the video was one she took with her to a retreat, and the reason it appeared to already have a slight "dip" in it was because she gave it to a new person to test out. She likes to give new people "light" spoons with "a lot of give", that are easy to bend.

In other words, she admits the spoon she bent in the video was light, had a lot of give, and was easy to bend. As well as looking thin and cheap.

If I'd fulfilled my 15-post newbie quota I'd post the image of the spoon I bend the other night - a high quality heavy dessert spoon that I put no "psychic" energy into at all, just a bit of human warmth. And it's much prettier than the pile of metal spaghetti she ended up with in her demonstration.
 
I made an interesting observation while I watched this woman's video last night. I'd earlier bent my spoon after warming the metal with body heat, but her method is to hold it between two hands, visualize energy flowing into it, and then bend it.

I watched her visualization process while holding my spoon like that, although I didn't attempt to bend it (we're not swimming in spoons here). I half-heartedly did the energy channeling exercise along with her, but had my eyes open (thinking she was going to bend a spoon - she doesn't do so in this video, for some reason). I gently put pressure on the spoon as I did so, as if preparing to bend it, just in case some psychic vibes did fly out of my hands and turn the metal to putty (wouldn't want to miss my chance!).

Here's the interesting thing, although I'm sure it's well-known to hypnotists and psychotherapists: in that relaxed state, I became entirely unaware of how much pressure I was exerting. I lost all sense of feedback from my muscles. Some kind of self-hypnosis, I guess.

Anyway, this helps explains the self-delusion of bending thinner cutlery, at least, without even the need for warming the metal first.
 
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