Spoon bending
Spoon bending is the deformation of objects, especially metal
Spoon bending attracted considerable media attention in the 1970s when a number of individuals claimed to have the ability to cause such effects by
Despite hundreds of experiments by
History
Spoon bending was popularized in the 1970s by magician and self-described psychic
While many individuals have claimed the
Scientific testing
Jean-Pierre Girard, a French psychic, has claimed he can bend metal bars by psychokinesis. Girard was tested in the 1970s but failed to produce any paranormal effects in scientifically controlled conditions.[8] He was tested on January 19, 1977 during a two-hour experiment in a Paris laboratory. The experiment was directed by physicist Yves Farge with a magician also present. All of the experiments were negative as Girard failed to make any of the objects move paranormally. He failed two tests in Grenoble in June 1977 with Randi.[8] He was also tested on September 24, 1977 at a laboratory at the Nuclear Research Centre. Girard failed to bend any bars or change the structure of the metals. Other experiments into spoon bending were also negative and witnesses described his feats as fraudulent. Girard later admitted that he would sometimes cheat to avoid disappointing the public but insisted he still had genuine psychic power.[8] Magicians and scientists have written that he produced all his alleged psychokinetic feats through fraudulent means.[9][page needed]
Between 1979 and 1981, the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research at Washington University reported a series of experiments they named Project Alpha, in which two teenaged male subjects had demonstrated psychokinesis phenomena, including metal-bending and causing images to appear on film, under less than stringent laboratory conditions. Randi eventually revealed that the subjects were two of his associates, amateur conjurers Steve Shaw and Michael Edwards. The pair had created the effects by standard trickery, but the researchers, being unfamiliar with magic techniques, interpreted them as proof of psychokinesis.[10]
John Taylor had tested children in metal bending. According to Gardner, the controls were inadequate as the children would put paper clips in their pockets and later take one out twisted or be left with metal rods unobserved. Randi managed to bend an aluminum bar when Taylor was not looking and scratch on it "Bent by Randi". In other experiments, two scientists from the University of Bath examined metal bending with children in a room which was secretly being videotaped through a one-way mirror. The film revealed that the children bent the objects with their hands and feet. Due to the evidence of trickery, Taylor concluded metal bending had no paranormal basis.[11]
In an experimental study (Wiseman and Greening, 2005) two groups of participants were shown a
Methods
Stage magicians use several methods of creating the illusion of a spoon bending spontaneously. Most common is the practice of misdirection, an underlying principle of many stage magic tricks;[13] the performer draws the audience's attention away from the spoon for the brief moment during which the spoon is manually bent. The magician then gradually reveals the bend.[14] At a 1998
When a spoon is physically bent or broken, it is usually at the point where the object would be easiest to bend by hand. The typical bend, where the bowl meets the handle, requires relatively little force.[14] Another method uses a metal spoon that has been prepared by repeatedly bending the spoon back and forth, weakening the material. Applying light pressure will then cause it to bend or break.[2][13] The magician then holds together the two halves of the spoon as if it were unbroken, then slowly relaxes their grip, making the spoon appear to bend before splitting in two.[16]
If a magician has control over the viewing angle, the trick can be done by using a spoon that is already bent at the start of the trick. The spoon is initially held with the bend along the viewing angle, making it invisible. The magician then turns the spoon slowly to reveal the bend. The magician Ben Harris published step-by-step photographs and text showing how to bend keys and cutlery by trick methods.[17][page needed] Some novelty or magic shops sell self-bending spoons (utilizing the physical properties of a shape-memory alloy) which can be used by amateur and stage magicians to demonstrate "psychic" powers or as a practical joke. Such "self-bending" spoons will bend themselves when used to stir tea, coffee, or any other warm liquid, or even when warmed by body heat.[citation needed] Simply holding a spoon by its neck and rapidly whirling it back and forth can also create the illusion that the spoon is bending, due to the way that the human eye perceives the rocking motion.[18]
See also
- Bent Spoon Award
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-35508-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-285-19654-1.
- ^ "Skeptic Revamps $1M Psychic Prize". Wired. 12 January 2007.
- ^ "Metal Bending". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ISBN 0-87975-644-6.
- ISBN 0-7100-0597-0.
- ISBN 978-0-87975-198-2.
- ^ ISSN 0262-4079.
- ISBN 0-8058-0508-7.
- ISBN 978-0-09-173041-3.
- ISBN 0-1928-6037-2.
- ^ ISBN 1-57607-654-7.
- ^ a b Emery, C. Eugene Jr. (1987). "Catching Geller in the Act". The Providence Sunday Journal. Archived from the original (Reprint, hosted by permission) on 16 July 2011 – via Psychicinvestigator.com.
- OCLC 71299799.
- OCLC 965134014.
- ISBN 0-9192-3092-X.
- ISSN 0362-4331.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-7715-9539-5
- ISBN 0-8797-5419-2.
- ISBN 1-57392-798-8
- ISSN 0194-6730.
- Randi, James (1982). ISBN 0-87975-199-1.
External links
- Spoon-bending for beginners: Teaching anomalistic psychology to teenagers by Chris French.
- Uri Geller Caught Red-Handed by Massimo Polidoro.
- PK (spoon-bending) Party: format and materials by Jack Houck 1982