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Week 9 [10.12-16.12.18] What If I told you that you can read people’s minds?


I’m almost sure that you’ve heard about the art of illusion or seen a magician in a circus. Also, you must have been wondering “How is it possible?!” In this article, I’m going to tell you about something even more interesting. Have you ever heard about mentalism?!

Generally, we can’t say that mentalism is directly reading people’s  minds. It’s rather a combination of different stuff like hypnosis, telepathy etc. used to manipulate others and make them believe that you read their minds. As we’ve said, it’s not about reading in minds but rather about reading people’s  body language and making deductions from it. Of course, it’s not easy but the reality is that most people can learn to read minds with training, time, focus and a certain set of various  skills. 

Mentalism can be used as a kind of entertainment but also it can be used in different areas. Imagine how beautiful the world could be if guys would be able to read  girls’ minds. (Girls, I have a tip for you. Do remember that if you don’t tell your partner what you want, he won’t know what you want) What if your boss started to use mentalism at work? Of course, he may use it in a proper way and make your team more powerful but also he can use it to manipulate people and overwork them. It’s not the first time that we can see how powerful our brain can be. 
 


Shotgun Statements are one of many classic mentalist tricks. They allow you to seem psychic by making incredibly accurate statements about a person… but if those statements are broad enough, it’s highly likely that some of them will be correct.

Now:
To use this technique, just guess traits/events in a person’s life but be very broad in your guesses. So don’t say  ‘You have an aunt who died recently’… that’s too specific.

…But if you guess ‘you or someone close to you has an elderly relative who died’, you’re very likely to be correct, right?

And people almost always assume that you have a mental gift, instead of assuming that your statements are flawed. Cool, right?

Here I’ve shown you one of many tricks that you can find on  the web and make use of them when  you will have such an opportunity. 

Did you like this article? Please comment on it or simply answer the questions.

  • Have you ever heard about mentalism? Is it interesting for you? 
  • Can you find more proper or improper ways of using it? 
  • Do you think about your brain as a powerful tool? Or you have a different opinion?



Links:

Comments

There is a series called "Mentalist". Try it out, it is rather old but good. With a bit of shock content so beware.

As regards mind reading I consider this in the same group as other super abilities -- they will poison your life but you will be dependent on them. Imagine what would be if you could read someone s thoughts. The relationship between you and people will not be the same, you will build a wall that separates you. Knowing all the info, their sacred thoughts about you, and not be able to reveal it in order not to bust yourself, your attitude will still change and could not be unnoticed. You will push people away from you and you will be really lucky if you find strength within to abandon this strength and hopefully, return to your normal life. Same will go with infinite money, etc. etc.
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Thanks for commenting! I'll have to check this series ;) I'm ready for anything :D

Generally you don't have to build a wall in every relationship, maybe there are people that like you even in their minds.
Unknown said…
Unfortunatelly, I've only seen it in a movies, but I know that it exist in our world. When I was a child I've always dreamed about reading peoples mind - not only to manipulate them and get what I want but also to help them with their situation by understanding their needs. One day I realised that I can learn how to read people - by their body language - as you wrote. It's kind a obvious that mens are easier to understand, because we tend to make our decisions based on logic. I always wanted to improve my skills with reading girls, see theirs signs and know what they want for me - that's why I learned how to read from people body language and start to see indicators of interest. As for more proper ways of using mentalism I could say that it can help people with deep mental disorders by understanding what is in their mind. Another way of using mentalism could be interrogation but as for know I think that reading and understanding peoples behaviour on daily basis should be enough.
As far as brain power are concerned I belive that people don't realize how much they can gain by developing specific skills in their brain - there is so much knowlage around us.. We just have to where to look for ;)
Nataliya Tkach said…
1.Have you ever heard about mentalism? Is it interesting for you?
Yes, I've heard of mentalism. I think everyone knows the TV series the Mentalist) Very interesting topic.

2.Can you find more proper or improper ways of using it?
I think it can only be used for entertainment purposes. Mentalists generally don't mix "standard" magic tricks with their mental feats. Doing so associates mentalism too closely with the theatrical trickery employed by stage magicians. Seriously can only be perceived Neuro-linguistic programming.

3.Do you think about your brain as a powerful tool? Or you have a different opinion?
I think so. We very much underestimate the possibilities of our brain, and don't use its potential.
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Sounds great! I've also dreamed about reading pepoples mind. I think that you like girls Jakub ;) Do girls like you also? :D Maybe you can give me a lesson about reading body language? Especially this one used by girls.
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Thanks for commenting!
Not everyone ;) There are people that have more important things to do than watching TV series and waste time :)
Unknown said…
I have never heard about mentalism and never seen the series called “Mentalist” but to my mind it sounds really fascinating. I wouldn’t say that it’s super ability it’s rather the combination of so called “experience”, intuition, knowledge about some particular topic or person and luck.

So far only improper ways of using it comes to my mind 😄 but I do believe that there is a way to use it proper. There are a lots of things that people are afraid to say and I consider it as a good use case.

For sure, brain is the most powerful tool. All physical limits are in our heads. We still don’t know a lot about our brain(because of our brain)
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Thanks for commenting Andrew ;) I see that we are thinking in the same way. I can only think of improper ways of mentalism usage :D Good to hear that you also consider the brain as a powerful tool.
Unknown said…
I've heard a lot about mentality, but unfortunately only in films, there is a series Mentalist or such films as Illusion or Focus. This is great and I would very much like to learn it for entertainment purposes of course. Speaking of the brain as a powerful device is not enough. I once watched a film, I think Lucy and it was said in it that we use only a small part of the brain and I agree with this theory. In addition, I think we don't realize how little we use our brain, and looking at some of people as if they had almost no brain :D
Unknown said…
Did not hear before. I knew that there were hypnosis and people who read minds, but I didn’t know how it was exactly called.
I think that this technique can be used to instill any information, probably like hypnosis. And just guessing by the crumbs on the mouth that a person had breakfast today or by the fact that a person has dirty socks to understand that he did not sleep at home, and without special possibilities it is possible.
Yes, no doubt, the brain processes all the information that I have time to notice and analyzes it. I probably do not believe that someone can read my thoughts, only if I do not show him the emotions with my facial expressions and micro movements. I would not want someone to get into my thoughts.


Iman Masjedi said…
No, I have not heard anything about mentalism . This is a very interesting topic, and I made more research on the Internet on this topic.
Yes, reading human thoughts is, I think, an immoral subject, and if it is used incorrectly, it will cause great problems for humanity.
Our brain is a powerful tool, we decide with the help of the brain, and we make decisions by sending the command from the brain to the organs of the body. The ability and power of the human brain have not yet been completely discovered.
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Thanks for commenting. So you are another person that have mentioned Mentalist. Maybe I'll watch it. I can agree with this theory. Sometimes people are so stupid that they even don't use this small part :D
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Thanks for commenting! Good to hear your opinion.
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Thanks for commenting. I'm happy that it's interesting for you. I appreciate that ;)
Wojtek Protasik said…
I've heard something of mentalism and I think it's very interesting. Many people use it to manipulate others or like we read here for magic tricks, but i think it can go more wrong than right and can be used as a bad tool. Learning about humans and how our brain works is very useful but that knowledge can be used properly and improperly later on, and some people might want to use it to control others. In fact, science hasn't discovered all abilities of our brains yet and yes i think brain is a very powerful tool. One reason why is the only fact that we don't know everything about it.
1. Have you ever heard about mentalism? Is it interesting for you?
I haven't heard about mentalism before. If I understood well,
the predictors use this skill for fraud :)
2. Can you find more proper or improper ways of using it?
I don't like people who sell it for something special and something truthful. For fun is acceptable.
3. Do you think about your brain as a powerful tool? Or you have a different opinion?
Yes, our mind is a powerful thing that we won't understand for a long time.
1. Have you ever heard about mentalism? Is it interesting for you?
Yes, I've heard of mentalism. I watched a TV series with a similar name, this feature of the human brain is shown in great detail.

2. Can you find more proper or improper ways of using it?
I do not think that there are right and wrong ways to use mentalism. This is all relative. For someone to have a lot of money and live in comfort is right, and he will use any of his abilities for this. But all people are different. Many people want to help other people.

3. Do you think about your brain as a powerful tool? Or you have a different opinion?
I think our brain is the most powerful tool on the planet. But maybe not exactly mine. Its capabilities will be explored for centuries and it will surprise us for a long time.
Unknown said…
I've never heard about mentalism before, but it does seem interesting - finding about about different ways of manipulation is always intriguing.

As for how it can be used, I think that, like all forms of manipulation, mentalism can propably end being used to influence people both positively and negatively. As such, there are both proper and improper ways to use it.

Everyone's brain is a powerful tool - after all, it is responsible for quite a lot of rather important things like thinking. So yes, I do think that my brain is a powerful tool.
No, I have never heard of mentalism. This is a very interesting topic that you were interested in.

I believe that mentalism can be used in many ways. One of them may be police interrogation to manipulate witnesses and suggesting them that they know something.

Yes, I think that the brain is a powerful tool. For years, research in the field of artificial intelligence has been underway, and no one has ever managed to reproduce the thought, decision and emotional processes that are happening in people's minds.
Anna Moskalenko said…
I’ve never heard about mentalism, but this topic actually sounds interesting to me, because I can imagine how much possibilities this technique can give us. Dangerous ones as well.
Well, this technique can have a lot of ways to use, but this question is complicated. Let’s imagine, that a lot of people know this technique, how can we talk about freedom of thought then? But I’m for sure would love to have this ability anyway :D
Yeah, sure, brain IS a powerful tool, but as I know, people still cannot use 100% of it. Our memory space is giant and in most cases there’s no system errors :)
Aleksander Wiza said…
The show "the mentalist" familiarised me with the concept, yet I've never heard of such a person exist.

I doubt I could come up with other ways of using it.

The brain is an incredibly powerful organ which has a lot of untapped potential which we are yet to utilize.
Unknown said…
Yes I heard about it from “The Mentalist” series and its very interesting what we can read just from humans body, what they wear, how look etc. I think we can use it for interview people. Second option is using this skill in the police. I think about my brain as a powerful machine but sometimes it have some difficulties.
Piotr Ciesla said…
Yes I’ve heard of mentalism before. Many magicians practice it. This is how some of the tricks works. For example when you pick a right card. Like king of hearts or something.
Well I would love to try it on people who begs for money in City center or subway. Are they really need money. What will they do with it? I would give more money if I knew I’m not deluded or mislead.
My brain is powerful tool. I use it everyday. Sometimes I wish other would do it to ;)
s18716 said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
s18716 said…
Have you ever heard about mentalism? Is it interesting for you?
Yes, this is a very interesting topic. To own such techniques you need to know a lot of details from various fields, such as psychology, for example. If such people really exist, then he must be a comprehensively developed person. No tricks, I believe, only the handling of facts.
Can you find more proper or improper ways of using it?
In fact, attackers who possess such techniques can harm society. There are a lot of them without it, even if we take into account the various scammers who own hypnosis.
Do you think about your brain as a powerful tool? Or you have a different opinion?
I don't doubt it. The human brain is the most powerful technology that becomes more advanced with each generation. It is thanks to him that we have technological progress.
I have seen magicians and illusionists in my life before and I always thought that magic is cool thing to do. I have heard before about mentalism just didn’t know it is called that way. I think it is very interesting and I admire people who does it realistic because I can just imagine how hard would it be for me to be so perceptive and smart to deduct such things in real time. I think mentalism can be very profitable skill to acquire while working in marketing or sales sector, because it is basically same thing to read people and figure out what they want. I think that brain is one of the most powerful tool known to human race. No computer or any other human invention cannot compare to brain. We also use only part of our brain and I think if we could learn to access all of its power our world and reality would change drastically.
I have heard about it and even tried to use some of those tricks. It is interesting, it can help us understanding a little bit more people and communicate with them in a better way.
The are a lot of ways to use it. E.g. if you have a problem to understand what other person have on their mind, it can be simply use to understand him I little bit more. But, on the other hand, it can be used to blackmail other people.
Our brain is an amazing and extremely powerful tool, but unfortunately, we are not able to use 100% of it. Maybe in the future we will learn how to use out brain a way more efficient.
1. Have you ever heard about mentalism? Is it interesting for you?
I have heard about mentalism and this seems to be nothing more than being aware and communicate with people in a tricky way. For me it is quite interesting cause sometimes it happens that when you ask a question in a proper way you can actually get more information than you want.
2. Can you find more proper or improper ways of using it?
I think in general it is not good to manipulate people ;)
3. Do you think about your brain as a powerful tool? Or you have a different opinion?
Of course it is a powerful tool. On daily basis we usually do not think what we can do to develop it and how much knowledge we can adapt to make our lives better and easier.
Unknown said…
I have never heard about mentalism and I'm not sure that it can be interesting for me. But there is something pathetic in the text. "Imagine how beautiful the world could be if guys would be able to read girls’ minds". The world won't be wonderful. Nowadays guys so affected by their mothers so they can't understand women at all. And that is sad because they even won't to try to understand women's world. They don't want to think, don't want to be interesting for girls, don't want to do something for girls. So guys don't deserve this "weapon".
Unknown said…
I have heard about mentalism from TV series called "The Mentalist". It is very interesting for me.
If you are good enough you will be able to trick people and manipulate them.
I think of my brain as a powerful tool that I am using sometimes not as much as I should.
Artem Lipovatyi said…
1. Yes, I’ve heard about it a lot of times but I’m not interested in such a kind of things.

2. Of course it will be easier to get the truth from people’s mind but sometimes it’s better not to know it. And how can people protect themselves from illegal access to their minds?

3. Yes, I do. Scientists tell us that we use only 10% of our brain and it’s really hard to imagine what the other 90% can do.
Ahmed Elsawi said…
I haven't heard about "Mentalism" before, I think it's a good option if some have this ability to allow to challenge well at the different situations in life, I can't find more proper or improper ways of using it, because I didn't interesting with it before, Actually the brain is a powerful tool.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
1. yes I heard about mentalist, it's really interesting how they do that.
2. this kind of skills has the same a lot of proper, the same as a lot of improper. Proper is that we could know when somebody's has a good intention for us or if he is honest. But one of the improper is that mentalist don't need to meet with somebody, to knows better him. I prefer get to know people in normal way like spend time with that person. And get to know what he/ she likes or doesn't like.
3. I think that human brain is powerful tool. We can invent some incredible things. But we have to develop our brains to be more creativity.
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Thanks for commenting! Good to hear your opinon!
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Thanks for commenting! I'm happy that you found something new in this article!
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Thanks for commenting!

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