This topic has 2 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 7 years, 5 months ago by 
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Hello gang. As we’re still all recovering from the events of last night I wanted to talk about something I’ve been a long time fan of.
Magic.
Yes, I know, it can be a bit hokey at times. But I wanted to talk about a few of my favorite magicians in particular because of what the BOS mentioned in their grand reveal. They appreciate skepticism. Their first cipher was Houdini, arguably the most famous magician of our time. Someone who used magic to expose the deceptions and manipulations of society, where mysticism was used to defraud innocent people.
There are a few who continue to do that to this day. Penn & Teller, James Randi (AKA The Amazing Randi), Derren Brown.
In particular lets hone in in that last name. He’s not very popular here in the states, but a fairly big name in the UK. Those who watch the BBC’s version of Sherlock may know the name from a reference in one of their season premieres.
The concept of the Midnight Commission sounded EXTREMELY familiar to me when it was released. He had a show called Trick or Treat. Essentially, each participant in the show would get either an amazing thing happen to them (Treat) or an awful experience happen to them (Trick). Making people think they died in a car crash, suddenly waking up in another country with no explanation, etc. He combined theatrics and psychology in a way that made people question the world around them, and hopefully appreciate life a bit more.
The great thing about his work is that he uses his methods to show people the psychology behind it. Shows us where we’re being manipulated in order to see it for what it is when others try to use those techniques to fool us, or worse, harm / steal from us. He repackages the “mysticism” by removing the package all-together. He shows the audience what it really us, a deception.
Take this, one of my favorite segments of his, showing how Astrology works:
Unfortunately, we’re an easy species to be fooled, to be misled, to be deceived. Some use that knowledge to scam others out of valuables (sometimes money; with the OSDM it seems to be data). Others who know the methods, like Derren Brown, use that to expose those others for what they truly are, a cheap parlor trick.
Don’t believe the lies, you’re better than what they’re selling you.
Fight the OSDM. Join the BOS.
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Hey @joycecarlberg. I do hope you enjoy my work.
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I know this thread never really took off but I want to bring up one more thing as a sort of “suggested viewing” to go along with this. Some people supporting the OSDM are having a VERY difficult time with how Morgan and the BOS are using manipulations while saying they are supporters of the truth. After one such discussion I remembered a documentary about one of the magicians I mentioned in my initial post here, James Randi.
“An Honest Liar” not only is a fantastic documentary, but highlights many of the points I think Morgan was trying to make on Sunday. Taking the manipulation tactics being used to scam people, and presenting them in a way that shows just how it’s a scam. Sure, it sucks to mislead people, to make them feel like a fool. But if done in a way that helps them learn, helps them prevent being fooled by those who do actually seek to cause damage to unsuspecting victims, then that is something to aspire to.
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