Mind games and magic with Professor Richard Wiseman

A disappearing coin. A handkerchief pulled out of thin air. An impossible ghostly face in the background of a family photograph. These are not signs of magic or paranormal activity, Professor Richard Wiseman tells us, but pure psychology.

As part of the new Monday lecture series offered to Year 12s, Professor Wiseman delivered a mind-bending presentation on illusion. At first startling his audience with a series of magic tricks, he then did the magician’s unthinkable by revealing his secret: an understanding of how the human mind works. Through visual and auditory illusions (including a particularly amusing rendition of a Celine Dion classic with an American political twist), Professor Wiseman demonstrated how easy it is for the human mind to convince itself it is hearing and seeing things that differ from reality. ‘Illusions tell us something profound about the way the human mind works’, Professor Wiseman says, ‘you can’t possibly be seeing everything, but you think you are’.

Both acts of magic and illusions are predicated on patterns of human attention. As social animals, humans are programmed to seek out faces even in places they aren’t there – the cause of many ‘paranormal’ images found throughout history. Magic tricks often rely on the magician diverting their audience’s attention away from the sleight of hand, either by using movement or turning their own eyes towards the intended spot. By breaking down these common illusions, Professor Wiseman proved the significance of attention, assumption and surroundings in directing what we perceive.

With this in mind, Professor Wiseman turned his attention to his own career. He spoke about his passion for magic and how that fed into his decision to pursue a psychology degree. Now Britain’s only Professor in the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, Professor Wiseman is a celebrated academic, writer, and founder of highly successful YouTube channel Quirkology.

By understanding that much of what we perceive is an illusion, Professor Wiseman revealed that often our intuition is wrong. He attributes his success to his willingness to innovate – to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. Many of our ‘beliefs’ about how our lives are supposed to look are ‘myths’ lifted from illusory self-help books. Instead, Professor Wiseman says, focus on your passion, and never be afraid to do something you think is right for you.

Professor Wiseman’s engaging presentation is part of the year-long programme of lectures from internal and external speakers, designed to stimulate intellectual curiosity and debate among our Year 12 students. As universities and employers are increasingly looking for more than simply good grades in applicants, we encourage students to be open and inspired to discover material beyond the syllabus.

We extend our gratitude to Professor Wiseman for delivering such an intriguing presentation! If you would like to discover more about the opportunities we offer at Berkhamsted Sixth, please come along to our upcoming Open Event – booking is essential.