Spoon bending
Encyclopedia
Cutlery
Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments. This is probably the...
, either without physical force, or with less force than normally necessary. It is a common form of stage magic, and a variety of methods are used to produce the illusion.
Spoon bending attracted considerable media attention in the 1970s when some people claimed to have the ability to cause such events by paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
means. The most notable was Uri Geller
Uri Geller
Uri Geller is a self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other supposed psychic effects. Throughout the years, Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy...
, who performed by bending metal spoons as well as metal key
Key (lock)
A key is an instrument that is used to operate a lock. A typical key consists of two parts: the blade, which slides into the keyway of the lock and distinguishes between different keys, and the bow, which is left protruding so that torque can be applied by the user. The blade is usually intended to...
s and several other objects and materials. Geller's performances were attributed to stage magic by critics such as James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
and Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion...
.
Stage magic
Causing spoonSpoon
A spoon is a utensil consisting of a small shallow bowl, oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery , especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for serving. Spoons are also used in food preparation to measure, mix, stir and toss ingredients...
s, key
Key
Key may refer to:* Key , device used to open a lock or door* Key , a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm...
s, and other items to appear to bend without any physical force
Kinetic energy
The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...
is a common stage magic trick that has many variants. An article in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
profiled the neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
connections of stage magic and perception. In the article, science reporter Benedict Carey
Benedict Carey
Benedict Carey is an American journalist and reporter on medical and science topics for The New York Times.-Biography:He was born in 1960 and graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in mathematics in 1983...
explained what experts who authored a paper in Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Nature Reviews Neuroscience is a review journal covering neuroscience. Its 2008 impact factor is 25.94. The journal covers the following areas:*Biochemical signalling in neurons*Cellular and molecular neuroscience*Neural development...
on the neuroscience of magic tricks had to say about spoon bending:
When the result is a single bend or break, it is usually at the point where the object would be easiest to bend by hand. In many cases, the trick uses misdirection, a basic tool of the stage magician. The performer draws the audience's attention away from the spoon during the brief moment while the spoon is being physically bent. The typical bend, where the bowl meets the handle, requires relatively little force. The magician then gradually reveals the bend.
Other methods use a metal spoon that has been prepared so that a simple flick will cause it to bend or break. This can be done, for instance, by repeatedly bending the spoon at the desired spot, until the metal cracks and weakens
Fatigue (material)
'In materials science, fatigue is the progressive and localized structural damage that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loading. The nominal maximum stress values are less than the ultimate tensile stress limit, and may be below the yield stress limit of the material.Fatigue occurs...
. If the spoon breaks, the magician holds together the two halves of the spoon as if it were unbroken, then slowly relaxes the grip, making the spoon appear to bend before splitting in two.
If a magician has control over the viewing angle, the trick can be done by using a spoon that is already bent at the start of the trick. The spoon is initially held with the bend along the viewing angle, making it invisible. The magician then turns the spoon slowly to reveal the bend.
Some novelty or magic shops sell self-bending spoons (utilizing the physical properties of a nickel titanium
Nickel titanium
Nickel titanium, also known as nitinol, is a metal alloy of nickel and titanium, where the two elements are present in roughly equal atomic percentages....
alloy) which can be used by amateur and stage magicians to demonstrate "psychic" powers or as a practical joke. Such "self-bending" spoons will bend themselves when used to stir tea, coffee, or any other warm liquid, or even when warmed by body heat.
Spoon bending and the paranormal
Due partly to the publicity surrounding Uri GellerUri Geller
Uri Geller is a self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other supposed psychic effects. Throughout the years, Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy...
in the 1970s, bent spoons have become a common visual symbol of the paranormal. It is shown, for example, in The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
, when a young boy bends a spoon to demonstrate the unreality of a computer simulation.
While many individuals have claimed the paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
or psychokinetic
Psychokinesis
The term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
ability to bend spoons or manipulate other objects, spoon bending by mental powers alone has not been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the scientific community
Scientific community
The scientific community consists of the total body of scientists, its relationships and interactions. It is normally divided into "sub-communities" each working on a particular field within science. Objectivity is expected to be achieved by the scientific method...
. Magician and skeptic James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
has offered a prize of one million dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
to academic-backed media figures who are able to demonstrate paranormal abilities such as spoon bending.
Published claims
Author Michael CrichtonMichael Crichton
John Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
described his successful experience with spoon bending in his 1988 book Travels
Travels (book)
Travels is a nonfiction book by Michael Crichton that details Crichton's attempts to leave his medical education at Harvard Medical School, followed by his subsequent travel to Los Angeles and adventures continuing his professional writing career, beginning with The Great Train Robbery...
:
Parapsychologist and author Dean Radin
Dean Radin
Dean Radin is a researcher and author in the field of parapsychology. He has been Senior Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences , in Petaluma, California, USA, since 2001, and is on the Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Sonoma State University, on the Distinguished...
has reported that he was able to bend the bowl of a spoon over with unexplained ease of force with witnesses present at an informal PK experiment gathering in 2000.
Maureen Caudill, a trainer associated with the Monroe Institute, claims this is significantly easier to achieve when performed in groups rather than alone.
See also
- Anomalous operationAnomalous operationAnomalous operation, also known as anomalous perturbation, is a term used to describe any paranormal phenomena in which it is said that an individual uses Psi to influence a physical event, or to effect a physical change, in object...
- Nickel titaniumNickel titaniumNickel titanium, also known as nitinol, is a metal alloy of nickel and titanium, where the two elements are present in roughly equal atomic percentages....
- Pigasus AwardPigasus AwardThe Pigasus Award is the name of an annual tongue-in-cheek honor recognized by noted skeptic James Randi. The awards seek to expose parapsychological, paranormal or psychic frauds that Randi has noted over the previous year...
- Bent Spoon AwardBent Spoon AwardThe Bent Spoon Award is an award given by Australian Skeptics, "presented to the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle". The name of the award is a reference to the spoon bending of Uri Geller...
- Abra, Kadabra, and AlakazamAbra, Kadabra, and AlakazamAbra, Kadabra, and Alakazam, known in Japan as , , and , are three Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise that are linked through evolution. Abra evolves into Kadabra after gaining enough experience in battle, and Kadabra evolves into Alakazam after being traded to another...
External links
- Photos of spoon bent by Dean Radin
- Follow-up comment from Michael Crichton: Crichton comments on the controversy over spoon bending
- Michael Shermer Spoonbending. Michael Shermer bends back the bowl of his spoon. Shermer believes he was able to do this because of excitement and adrenaline.
- Mass Spoon Bending in Australia: Video from Sydney Skeptics in the Pub where everyone is bending spoons.
- http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-69GMr3RlpgU/real_matrix_spoon_bending_telekinesis/ Magician Svein Rygh bending spoon on Norwegian news channel with skillful technique