A little magic can improve your critical thinking

Guest Post by Heather Ishikawa- author of Now You’re Thinking.

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending a magic show by the magician Alex Ramon (www.alexramonmagic.com).  During the entertaining show, he joked about how most people expect to be tricked by magicians. Therefore, they don’t naturally trust everything that the magician says or does.  I know that I’m quick to hold onto my watch when I’m watching a street performer but I really hadn’t given it much consideration until Alex pointed it out. 

It wasn’t until the intermission that I realized that throughout the show I paid careful attention to every aspect of each trick. I was looking for anything that would point out how he created the illusion.  I was questioning everything that I was seeing.  This is the essence of critical thinking.  Alex summed it up beautifully by stating that magic makes you, “reevaluate what you know and doubt what you see.” Isn’t that the essence of critical thinking?

Perhaps improving your critical thinking, just requires a little magic?