Now You See It, Now You Don't...

Once, while living in Florida, I stumbled upon a dusty, Moroccan-style room. Intrigued by the faded sign out front that read "Come In and Be Amazed", as well as the enticing air conditioning that was an oasis in the humid air of Orlando. As a child, I always loved magic. My uncle would always pull a quarter out of my ear each time I saw him, and my mom could take a refrigerator full of ingredients and make an incredible meal in less than 30 minutes. My life was largely magical, because I viewed it as such. I grew up on Harry Potter and Disney, and Santa and flying reindeer (read: I'm still partially convinced my letter to Hogwarts was somehow lost in the mail).

But within the confines of this musky, claustrophobia-inducing room, entered an icon. The magician was slick. I had seen countless magic shows, but never anything like this. He made foam balls multiply before your eyes; playing cards changed their faces at the snap of his fingers. I was hooked. 

Often times, I think we forget about the action of persuasion. With no words, this magician made all of us believe in what he was doing he knew all the angles, all the flicks of the wrist to get us to buy into his tricks...

... and I did, quite literally. As it turns out, that small room was actually a magic shop (I somehow missed the signs) and the show was merely a sales pitch to persuade the audience to purchase their novice magic sets, and I walked away, 65 dollars in the hole. 

While I am still mesmerized by a good magician, this experience did make me stop and think. How much is our society using propaganda and techniques of persuasion to make us believe or behave a certain way? Not just in the words that are used but also in actions, videos, pictures, sounds - really anything can be used to persuade an audience - and the best persuaders know how to use multiple techniques seamlessly together. 

So the next time you find yourself in a small, hazy magic shop, just remember that everything is not what it seems...