My favourite of his shows is his Channel 4 special “Messiah”. It’s an extraordinary piece on confirmation bias, but worth watching purely for the entertainment value as well. Unfortunately, Brown declines to share his actual methods, although many can be inferred.
[edit] Adding to this, Brown himself is a rare phenomenon: an entertainment celebrity who promotes overcoming bias. Since he appeals to a large audience, not just those who are interested in ‘magic’ or psychology, I wouldn’t be surprised if his shows have caused a measurable increase of critical thinking among his viewers.
I didn’t get around to watching this until today, but having just finished part 3⁄8, I want to urge everyone to watch it and the end of part 2 as well; it was extremely moving and horrifying for me.
It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know about what must necessarily be true about irrational believers, but it gave me a more detailed and authentic set of examples than I’d imagined.
Of course, it does occur to me that some of his amazing feats may have involved a few less successful attempts that didn’t make the cut—i.e. I feel like his success must be in some way exceptional or unusual (but probably it isn’t).
ETA: I’ll be sharing that video with family members that I’ve had fruitless discussions with in the past on psychics, alien abduction, etc.. It’s too bad that his programs aren’t shown in the USA and his DVDs aren’t available here for purchase. I wonder why that is? Surely not lack of interest, given that there are 5 times as many people in the USA than the UK. And the greater number (proportion?) of proudly irrational people in the USA would only ensure that any such program would be that much more controversial and thus that much more lucrative.
I’d love to see a detailed text on Derren Brown because the Wikipedia article about him is so intriguing.
My favourite of his shows is his Channel 4 special “Messiah”. It’s an extraordinary piece on confirmation bias, but worth watching purely for the entertainment value as well. Unfortunately, Brown declines to share his actual methods, although many can be inferred.
[edit] Adding to this, Brown himself is a rare phenomenon: an entertainment celebrity who promotes overcoming bias. Since he appeals to a large audience, not just those who are interested in ‘magic’ or psychology, I wouldn’t be surprised if his shows have caused a measurable increase of critical thinking among his viewers.
I didn’t get around to watching this until today, but having just finished part 3⁄8, I want to urge everyone to watch it and the end of part 2 as well; it was extremely moving and horrifying for me.
It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know about what must necessarily be true about irrational believers, but it gave me a more detailed and authentic set of examples than I’d imagined.
Of course, it does occur to me that some of his amazing feats may have involved a few less successful attempts that didn’t make the cut—i.e. I feel like his success must be in some way exceptional or unusual (but probably it isn’t).
Great recommendation. Just watched it on youtube.
ETA: I’ll be sharing that video with family members that I’ve had fruitless discussions with in the past on psychics, alien abduction, etc.. It’s too bad that his programs aren’t shown in the USA and his DVDs aren’t available here for purchase. I wonder why that is? Surely not lack of interest, given that there are 5 times as many people in the USA than the UK. And the greater number (proportion?) of proudly irrational people in the USA would only ensure that any such program would be that much more controversial and thus that much more lucrative.