Harry Houdini, one of the world’s most famous magicians and escape artists was certainly an expert in the art of deception.  This expertise gave him very valuable perspective, including the following words:  

“What the eye sees, the ear hears, the mind believes.”
-Harry Houdini

I wish it weren’t true, but unfortunately, Houdini was spot on.

Back in 2001, I was part of a tour in Southeast Asia. In Sri Lanka, an illusion was featured in the show where a table levitated. Turns out, the people there had seen that “trick” performed before, just down the street.  But not by a magician or illusionist, but by a Buddhist Extremist “Spiritual Leader.”  He made the exact same looking table levitate, using the exact same method and months of practice we did as “magicians.”  Only he claimed the table was able to levitate because of “spirits manifesting their presence.”

He was lying.

And the people in Sri Lanka believed him.

Why?

They saw it with their own eyes.  They heard about it with their own ears.  They couldn’t explain it.  Therefore, it must be real…RIGHT?

Unfortunately, it’s easy to be deceived. What you see and hear and feel is not always real.  Your senses get tricked, and end up telling your mind what do believe.  If we began to understand this principle, oh the truth we could discover, and more importantly, live out.

If only Houdini had been wrong…

Question: What kind of decisions have you made, just because you saw something, or heard something, and therefore just assumed it to be real or true?

Tags: Christian Illusionist, christian magician, deception, harris iii, harry houdini, illusionist, Master Illusionist

• 2 Comments
• Filed under: deception
• RSS