MAGIC AND SKEPTICISM

I love magicians! The have a deep understanding of the scientific method of inquiry and they are profoundly skeptical people. In this Michael Shermer podcast we meet the magician Jamy Ian Swiss and he talks about his new book The Conjuror’s Conundrum.

"Skeptics often think that believers and pseudo-scientists lack evidence but that's never true. Everybody believes they have evidence for what they believe. The question is: What qualifies as good evidence? How do you define good evidence? That's where the problem is. It's not a lack of evidence, it's a lack of good evidence and a misunderstanding of the difference."

"The most fundamental lesson that all magicians learn is that seeing is not believing. For many budding conjurors, this realization often comes to embrace rational inquiry, critical thinking, and a scientific worldview. It may seem odd that some magicians — who, after all, are professional deceivers — become activists who care passionately about trying to protect people from being deceived. But they do, and the result is what Jamy Ian Swiss calls The Conjuror’s Conundrum."

https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/jamy-ian-swiss-conjurors-conundrum/