I love illusions. I think you’ll really love these. These are not the usual, run-of-the-mill illusions. Watch, you’ll see what i mean. Very creative stuff that must’ve taken him a very long time to setup. Enjoy! 
Brain Works
All posts tagged Brain Works
I call this kind of information “Brain Works.” All about how the brain works. I think (i HOPE) you’ll enjoy …
I’d like to take this moment to thank everybody for their continued support of iLLumiNuTTi.com. Since we first opened our doors in April we have had a fantastic growth in the number of visitors. Thank you! Keep telling your friends about us and don’t forget to “Like” us on FaceBook and we’ll continue to bring you the weird, wacky and fun stuff!
Have fun and feel free to comment your ideas and suggestions.
Mason I. Bilderberg
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- Chart Shows The Bilderberg Group’s Connection To Everything In The World (chasvoice.blogspot.com)
I’d like to take this moment to thank everybody for their continued support of iLLumiNuTTi.com. Since we first opened our doors in April we have had a fantastic growth in the number of visitors. Thank you! Keep telling your friends about us and don’t forget to “Like” us on FaceBook and we’ll continue to bring you the weird, wacky and fun stuff!
Have fun and feel free to comment your ideas and suggestions.
Mason I. Bilderberg
Related articles
Inattentional blindness is an inability to perceive something that is within one’s direct perceptual field because one is attending to something else. The term was coined by psychologists Arien Mack and Irvin Rock, who identified the phenomenon while studying the relationship of attention to perception. They were able to show that, under a number of different conditions, if subjects were not attending to a visual stimulus but were attending to something else in the visual field, a significant percentage of the subjects were “blind” to something that was right before their eyes.
Because this inability to perceive, this sighted blindness, seemed to be caused by the fact that subjects were not attending to the stimulus but instead were attending to something else … we labeled this phenomenon inattentional blindness (IB).*
Mack and Rock go on to argue that, in their view, “there is no conscious perception without attention.” We might add that visual perception does not work like a video or any other kind of recorder. Objects or movements may occur in the visual field that are not attended to and may not be consciously or unconsciously perceived. Things can change in the visual field without our being aware of the changes. Perception, like memory, is a constructive process, and it seems that the brain builds its representations from a few salient details, often determined by our purposes or desires. Thus, two people may witness the same events but see and remember quite different things, even if both are good observers paying close attention to what is going on.
Read More: Unnatural Acts that can improve your thinking: inattentional blindness.
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- Inattentional Blindness Saved My Walking Regimen (thetalesofawriter.wordpress.com)
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- Introducing “inattentional deafness” – the noisy gorilla that’s missed (bps-research-digest.blogspot.com)
Whether they are supernatural or not, curses can have powerful, devastating effects
ARE CURSES REAL? Or are they just the stuff of superstition? You might have heard stories and legends of Gypsy curses and witches’ curses (you’ll find more of those below), but do they have real supernatural power?
A curse is an expression of or wish for misfortune, harm, evil, or doom by a person for another. Curses are not taken seriously by most educated people in the western world, yet they might retain their power and influence over those who believe in them. Belief could be the key to a curse’s power. If a person believes – even on a subconscious or psychological level – that he or she has been cursed, then its effects can be just as powerful as if it is supernatural in nature.
Consider the following reports of curses and their sometimes devastating effects, and judge for yourself whether they are produced by dark, sinister, external forces, or are brought about from the minds of those who have been cursed.
Keep reading: Curses! 4 Tales of Sinister Forces.
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- Black Magic Revealed in Two Ancient Curses (livescience.com)
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I’ve wondered why do people still believe in certain conspiracy theories, even after they have been totally debunked, or proven to be logically improbable.
From my observations of conspiracy theorists, I believe that there are five main reasons why some people still believe in conspiracy theories, even after they have been debunked.
Here are those five reasons:
Keep Reading: The Soap Box: 5 Reasons why People keep Believing in Debunked Conspiracy Theories.
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- Thrive, Zeitgeist and the Illusion of Conspiracy Activism. (illuminutti.com)
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You and your family are on holiday, driving round a mountainous part of Greece, when suddenly a tire bursts. You roll over and over down some 100 metres before a large olive tree blocks your fall. Amazingly, you all emerge from the battered heap. Some days later, at work, you recount the tale, struggling to capture for your colleagues one of the odder aspects of the experience. It was, you say, a bit like a dream – or maybe a slow-motion movie, it was like being outside yourself, unreal…
Keep Reading: Short Sharp Science: Out-of-body experience highlights clues to consciousness.
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- Out-of-body experience highlights clues to consciousness (newscientist.com)
- Lucid dreamers could offer an ‘insight into consciousness’ (time4sleep.co.uk)
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- Out-of-Body Experiences Highlight the Nature of Consciousness (bigthink.com)
Beloved of spiritualists and bored teenagers on a dare, the Ouija board has long been a source of entertainment, mystery and sometimes downright spookiness. Now it could shine a light on the secrets of the unconscious mind.
The Ouija, also known as a talking board, is a wooden plaque marked with the words, “yes”, “no” and the letters of the alphabet. Typically a group of users place their hands on a movable pointer , or “planchette”, and ask questions out loud. Sometimes the planchette signals an answer, even when no one admits to moving it deliberately.
Believers think the answer comes through from the spirit world. In fact, all the evidence points to the real cause being the ideomotor effect, small muscle movements we generate unconsciously.
That’s why the Ouija board has attracted the attention of psychologists at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Growing evidence suggests the unconscious plays a role in cognitive functions we usually consider the preserve of the conscious mind.
Keep Reading: Short Sharp Science: Ouija board helps psychologists probe the subconscious.
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For a while now I have been examining cults and certain practices on how they conduct themselves, and how the leadership in cults controls their members.
Here is a list of five traits that many cults tend to have: The Soap Box.
Do you spend a lot of time worrying about the future, living in the “good old days” or just “live the moment? How we subjectively perceive the past, present and future may play a role in how fulfilling our lives are and finally how happy we are at the end of the day.
According to a recent study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies (April 2012) … if you can look fondly at the past, enjoy yourself in the present, strive for future goals and hold these time perspectives simultaneously (and don’t go overboard on any one of them) you’re likely to be a happy person.
Keep Reading: Scientific study: Key to happiness is a balanced perspective of time – National Holistic Science & Spirit | Examiner.com.
The Skeptic’s Dictionary definition of the day …
Astral projection is a type of out-of-body experience (OBE) in which the astral body leaves its other six bodies and journeys far and wide to anywhere in the universe.
There is scant evidence to support the claim that anyone can project their mind, soul, psyche, spirit, astral body, etheric body, or any other entity to somewhere else on this or any other planet. The main evidence is in the form of testimonials.
via astral projection – The Skeptic’s Dictionary – Skepdic.com.
The Skeptic’s Dictionary definition of the day …
Self-deception is the process or fact of misleading ourselves to accept claims about ourselves as true or valid when they are false or invalid. Self-deception, in short, is a way we justify false beliefs about ourselves to ourselves.
Read more: self-deception – The Skeptic’s Dictionary – Skepdic.com.
Watch this EXCELLENT video - Michael Shermer: The pattern behind self-deception (19 minutes):
The Center for Inquiry-New York City and NYC Skeptics hosted noted skeptic and bestselling author Michael Shermer for a talk about his new book, The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies – How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths.
Read more: Michael Shermer: The Believing Brain (Lecture) | Watch Free Documentary Online.
This video is 80 minutes long but, for me, i enjoyed it. Grab a snack and watch it here:
Selection bias partly explains why there are reports of many satisfied customers who go to psychics, tarot card readers, palm readers, faith healers, acupuncturists, homeopaths, and others who provide bogus treatments such as mistletoe for cancer. The unsatisfied customers are either not asked for their opinion, they’re too embarrassed to give it, or they’re dead.
via Unnatural Acts that can improve your thinking: selection bias.
The human brain is a weird old thing. When confronted with a new, uncertain situation, it virtually always abandons careful analysis, and instead resorts to a host of mental shortcuts—that almost always lead to the wrong answer. Turns out, the smarter you are, the more likely you are to make such mistakes.
via Why Smart People Are Actually Dumb.
Do you ever think you understand something, but then when someone asks you “why?” you realize you can’t explain it? Do you launch nervously into a explanation, feeling as if you’re flying by the seat of your pants, only to have an internal “eureka!” moment that crystallizes the answer in your mind?
If so, you’re like most people. Verbally explaining a concept really does help you to better grasp it …
… continue: Why Explaining to Others Helps Us Understand | Teaching | LifesLittleMysteries.com.
A growing body of psychology research shows that incompetence deprives people of the ability to recognize their own incompetence. To put it bluntly, dumb people are too dumb to know it. Similarly, unfunny people don’t have a good enough sense of humor to tell.
This disconnect may be responsible for many of society’s problems.
More: Incompetent People Too Ignorant to Know It | LifesLittleMysteries.com.
Skeptic’s definition of the day …
Confirmation bias refers to a type of selective thinking whereby one tends to notice and to look for what confirms one’s beliefs, and to ignore, not look for, or undervalue the relevance of what contradicts one’s beliefs.
Read all about it: confirmation bias – The Skeptic’s Dictionary – Skepdic.com.
See also: Confirmation Bias
One of the tricks in the psychic trade.
Making vague statements that will fit most people if they want them to
Cold reading is a series of techniques employed by psychics, mediums and mentalists that are used to manipulate the customer (sitter) into believing that the psychic can read their mind, or that the medium is in contact with a dead relative or friend.
via The Tricks | Project Barnum.
Many of history’s most celebrated creative geniuses were mentally ill, from renowned artists Vincent van Gogh and Frida Kahlo to literary giants Virginia Woolf and Edgar Allan Poe. Today, the fabled connection between genius and madness is no longer merely anecdotal. Mounting research shows these two extremes of the human mind really are linked — and scientists are beginning to understand why.
via Why Are Genius and Madness Connected? | Creativity and Mental Illness | LiveScience.
Dozens of newly discovered optical illusions competed for the title of “Best Illusion of 2012″ last week at the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society in Florida. An illusion known as the “disappearing hand trick,” which causes people to feel as though their hand has vanished, earned the top prize at the eighth annual contest.
Just weird! Try this …
Shocking illusion – Pretty celebrities turn ugly! – YouTube.
Our brains balk at the thought of four-dimensional hypercubes, quantum mechanics or an infinite universe, and understandably so. But our gray matter is generally adept at processing sensory data from the mundane objects and experiences of daily life. However, there are a few glaring exceptions.
Here are five common things that unexpectedly throw our brains for a loop, revealing some of the bizarre quirks in their structure and function that usually manage to slip under the radar.
More: Top 5 Things that Cause Brain Farts | LifesLittleMysteries.com.
… most psychologists think abductions are lucid dreams or hallucinations, triggered by an awareness of other people’s similar experiences.
Read More: Alien Abductions – Facts and Origin | When Was the First Alleged Alien Encounter? | LiveScience.
Author Michael Shermer on “The Believing Brain: From Ghost and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies — How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths.”
Skip to 4:50 to go directly to the discussion.
Fun stuff.
Makers of supernatural claims have an inescapable burden of proof.
10 characteristics of conspiracy theorists
A useful guide by Donna Ferentes
1. Arrogance. They are always fact-seekers, questioners, people who are trying to discover the truth: sceptics are always “sheep”, patsies for Messrs Bush and Blair etc.
2. Relentlessness. They will always go on and on about a conspiracy no matter how little evidence they have to go on or …
Continue reading Ten characteristics of conspiracy theorists – a look into the mind of conspiraloons, nutjobs and tin foil hatters.
Paranoid schizophrenics are prone to delusions, tales in which random events become deeply meaningful. Some believe in complex conspiracies; others think they are Jesus Christ.
Read More: Conspiracy Theories Explained | Psychology Today.
Critical thinking explained in six kid-friendly animations
Michael Shermer says the human tendency to believe strange things — from alien abductions to dowsing rods — boils down to two of the brain’s most basic, hard-wired survival skills.
