Trick of the mind

Discussion in 'The Lounge - Off Topic' started by zxspectrum, Sep 16, 2009.

  1. zxspectrum

    zxspectrum Terabyte Poster Forum Leader Gold Member

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    Did anyone see the derren brown thing last week, i have just caught up with it on 4OD. Basically he predicts the lottery numbers, then the fridays show he tells you how he works it out. Near the end of the show he has 23 subjects who write while they arent looking, its a technique that i cant remember, but it involves you relaxing to a sleep like state while your hand moves, which then gives you numbers and symbols etc.

    From that you add the numbers up and divide by 24 and this gives you the relevant numbers. There were a few attempts at this, first attempt he got one, then the second he got three, the third he got 4 and then on the 4th he got the whole six, the only thing he did was a bit of team bonding . Basically what hes doing is still pure maths, but in more depth. The heads and tail bit was interesting.

    When he finished he went about his 3rd option which was to fix the machine, by placing rubber balls in that were 100g and corresponded to the relevant number, now sod all the security checks and lets say the numbers were in the machine, surely there would be no sure fire way of doing this. Even with weighted balls surely one or maybe 2 of the unweighted balls would be randomly picked thus making the numbers he placed in there only come out 4 or 5 time, reducing his chances of the big win???

    Anyway im waffling and im tired but thought some of you lot would of started a thread on this one

    Ed
     
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  2. Mr.Cheeks

    Mr.Cheeks 1st ever Gold Member! Gold Member

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    Got better things to do than to watch silly tricks!
    Sorry, but have no idea.
     
  3. UKDarkstar
    Honorary Member

    UKDarkstar Terabyte Poster

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    Yeh I saw it. I find his stuff fascinating but also recognise (as he admits) that he's a showman.

    Lots of stuff on the BBC news site about it with mathematicians refuting his calculations and methods !

    As a bit of entertainment it was very enjoyable but I don't think I'll be trying to get 24 people together to have a go :rolleyes:
     
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  4. Gingerdave

    Gingerdave Megabyte Poster

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    I have missed so far, and I keep saying to myself - I should watch that. Maybe I will give it a look when i am back of holiday.
     
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  5. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    I'm the same. Big fan of Derren Brown. Sometimes I think hes an arrogant twit, but I love a lot of the stuff he does.

    If you havent already, I highly recommend reading his book. Sure I posted a review of it on the site, but cant for the life of me find it.
     
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  6. Raffaz

    Raffaz Kebab Lover Gold Member

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    I think he is class! Mathematicians might be saying his calculations are incorrect but they cant say how he done it, and i reckon we probably wont either.
     
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  7. ericrollo

    ericrollo Megabyte Poster

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    I did not bother to see it, the only ways i can see how it would work is co-operation with the BBC by either giving them the numbers or giving them a feed 5 secconds or so ahead of the live broadcast. Or its a trick of sight. Either way he did not predict the lottery numbers.
     
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  8. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Not really, how can maths help predict something which is completely random?

    Still a good show to watch though.
     
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  9. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    So why didn't he win it?

    8)
     
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  10. zebulebu

    zebulebu Terabyte Poster

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    I have no opinion on the bloke's abilities in showmanship, illusionism or any other form of charlatanry. It simply doesn't interest me, therefore I have no comment to make. However, attempting to compare a load of people guessing the weight of an Ox and taking the mean of those guesses with a load of people guessing what numbers will be drawn and taking the mean of those numbers is absolute, total, utter bollocks. The Ox is a visible quantity. It stands to reason that a few people will guess under the weight, a few people will guess over it and taking the mean average of their guesses gives you a better chance of getting closer to guessing the actual weight. Quite how anyone with even one millionth the IQ of a toadstool can believe any shoite about applying the same process to an entirely random sequence of numbers is beyond me.
     
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  11. xrchris

    xrchris Bit Poster

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    Come now zebulebu dont sit on the fence - tell us what you really think. :twisted:

    I happen to agree with you - stuff like this is all about misdirection and trickery rather than any scientific fact.

    Was interesting to see Small Daniels wade into the argument saying there were 99 possible ways to do this trick. I am not sure envy was one of them though.
     
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  12. dazza786

    dazza786 Megabyte Poster

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    Exactly what I've been telling every Derren Brown bumboy around here.. but they still don't get it :/
     
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  13. skulkerboyo

    skulkerboyo Megabyte Poster

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    Well, I love a good show and it does get people talking
     
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  14. Josiahb

    Josiahb Gigabyte Poster

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    Exactly, I treat it as a magic trick rather than worrying too much about the maths.

    I'm definitely going to be watching this weeks, its going to be interesting to see what he has in store for 'control the nation'
     
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