MIMING AND THE ILLUSION OF REALITY
“magic, miming, persuasion are all connected. reality is subjective.”
The Lesson
Studying magic tricks, miming, optical illusions, hypnosis, and persuasion reveals they're all connected. Connected to the idea that reality is subjective, at least how we process it. There's probably an underlying reality, but what we see is largely a subjective movie we create for ourselves. A mime can make you see glass that isn't there because your brain fills in expected patterns. Every new illusion you learn adds to your understanding of how fragile our interpretation of the world is. This isn't pessimism. It's power. Understanding subjective reality lets you choose better filters.
Real-World Example
A founder watches a magic trick and instead of just being entertained, adds it to their mental model: my customers' perception IS their reality. The product doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to hit the perception patterns that signal quality. The demo doesn't show everything. It shows what the brain will fill in favorably. Same principle as miming: work with how perception actually functions, not how you wish it did.
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