Influence Month: Summary

There was a trick I used to do growing up. I’m not sure where it comes from. I’ve googled around for it but haven’t come up with anything. And now that Max Maven is dead, I don’t know who to go to for this kind of thing.

The way it worked was this. You’d write down this random code on a piece of paper.

23b692708

Then you’d have someone pick a card, for example, the 8 of Spades.

Then you’d show them the mirror reflection of the number you wrote down.

I guess I shouldn’t say, “for example, the 8 of Spades,” because obviously, that’s the only card it works with.

Let’s take a look at this trick through the lens of some of this month’s posts.

The Bombardment Principle - Tells us that if we’re doing a straightforward influence premise, then we’d want this reversed writing cue to just be one of many that have been put there to “guide” the spectator.

The Fleeting Reframe - I ask you to stare in a mirror for two minutes while I repeat a “special code” for your subconscious. I read the code off a piece of paper while you look in the mirror. After the two minutes is up, I say, “Quick, let’s try something.” I have you look at the faces of a deck of cards and then select one blindly. You picked the 8 of Spades. I reveal my prediction to show that I knew you’d pick the 8 of Spades.

I then explain to you how it really worked. “Staring into our own face in a mirror is known to lower our psychological defenses for a moment because we’re looking at someone who presents no danger. Because of this, it makes us especially susceptible to influence in those moments because our guard is down.

“Now, me reading the code actually had nothing to do with the influence I was trying to use on you. It was actually those couple of times when I adjusted your head and the post-it in my hands was briefly visible in the mirror. Look….”

I hold the post-it up to the mirror to show the reflection looks like the 8 of Spades.

The Holmesian Reframe - After asking you to drink some tea I request your help with a little experiment I want to try.

I’ve written down some notes on a sheet of paper from a private website my friend let me access.

My notes say:

Username: TennisStar19
Password: 23b692708

Step 1: Spread a deck of cards toward the participant.

Step 2: Ask them to stare at the cards as you pass them from hand to hand. As they do this, they should count backward from 100 by threes.

Step 3: Spread the cards face down and allow them to touch either one.

I go through this process with you and before you touch the card, I say, “Just understand there is a particular card I want you to take. Consider everything that’s happened and touch the one you think I want you to touch.”

You touch one. It turns out to be the 8 of Spades.

“This is fascinating. If I was doing this as a magic trick I’d pull out a prediction that says ‘The Eight of Spades,’ but I didn’t bother with that. That tea that you had earlier was Lapsang Souchong tea. It’s an exotic black tea that’s smoked over a pinewood fire. It was actually Sherlock Holmes’ favorite tea. But here’s the crazy thing… The Sherlock Holmes stories were written in the late 1800s. Then 80 years later at some university in Texas, they were studying the effects of different drinks on different cognitive abilities. And they found out this one particular type of tea just happened to have a strong effect on people’s perception and deduction skills. It works more on a subconscious level. So it was, like, the perfect choice to make as Sherlock Holmes’ favorite tea. But it was just by chance.”

I point out the light behind me, and how when I was reading the instructions, their mind picked up a clue I planted for them: the image of the “password” reversed.

(And, ideally, there would be some other “clues” you picked up on as well.)

The Simulation Reframe - After having you touch a card from a spread of cards (let’s say…hmmm…the 8 of Spades), I explain how some believe our choices are reflected in the world around us as we “author” the simulation we’re stuck in. I start looking around for evidence of this. Look… the cord to my iron is looped around on itself forming a black eight on the floor. There’s got to be more… I move some stuff around on shelving behind me as I look. A book falls to the floor. David Spade’s autobiography. I flip through it but nothing jumps out. “Wait… David Spade. Day-vid Spade. Eight of Spades. It’s so obvious.” I continue to look, with your help.

I check out the receipt on the table.

Then I look at the doodle on the back.

“Is there an 8 in there maybe? I don’t see it. Wait… look at the batch number from the opposite side.”

The nice thing about the simulation reframe is that you can have the tiniest little things be “reveals” of the simulation premise. Things that never would be fathomable as being part of any “influence.”

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This is the final post for the month. I will return on Monday, April 3rd.

Supporters will receive the next newsletter on Saturday, April 1st.

And, of course, I’ll be celebrating National Peanut Butter and Jelly day with you in spirit on April 2nd.

Later. ✌️