Magic Revealed: Is It Lost Or Not?

Everyone loves watching David Copperfield. Traditionally, a magician never reveals how they did it. Supposedly, that ruins the trick. I disagree.

I love to figure out how a trick works. I love to see how a trick works. For me, the magic isn't lost. It's still there in being able to come up with the idea in the first place, and pulling off the illusion the first time around. The really good magicians then come up with a twist at the end that defies what they showed you, like dessert after a fine dinner. I usually get inspired to practice a new trick and/or design a new trick. It's fun and it exercises parts of your brain.

I thought of this topic based on Sean D'Souza's comment to my Genius blog post, that there is no such thing as genius. Well, I doubt anyone will stop calling it genius or stop being marveled by it, but I also see his point. There isn't any magic associated with genius, it's all explainable and potentially replicable. The same applies to (most) magic tricks. All explainable and potentially replicable.

Agree? Disagree? Share.

On your mark, get set, go.