mattx Posted September 11, 2009 Posted September 11, 2009 I'm watching this show as I write this - what a pile of horse dung. Complete nonsense. Discuss.
Little-Miss Posted September 11, 2009 Posted September 11, 2009 cant be arsed to watch it....watchin QI instead....so, whats his amazing explanation then?
rad Posted September 11, 2009 Posted September 11, 2009 cant be arsed to watch it....watchin QI instead....so, whats his amazing explanation then? Would also like to know the answer, I reckon it wont be properly explained.
teddybear Posted September 11, 2009 Posted September 11, 2009 After watching it, it shows that he didn't actually do much to get the numbers..... It was 24 random people closing their eyes and writing down random numbers. Their supposed collective thoughts gave them the numbers to write. The numbers were then added up to get an average. So, technically, Derren Brown didn't get the numbers, the 24 other folk did. One final thought, if I was one of the 24 people I'd be meeting up with the others each week to get more numbers!
localzuk Posted September 11, 2009 Posted September 11, 2009 He's not gonna give away the real way he tricked people... That would be shooting himself in the foot.
flashsnaps Posted September 11, 2009 Posted September 11, 2009 After watching it, it shows that he didn't actually do much to get the numbers..... It was 24 random people closing their eyes and writing down random numbers. Their supposed collective thoughts gave them the numbers to write. The numbers were then added up to get an average. So, technically, Derren Brown didn't get the numbers, the 24 other folk did. One final thought, if I was one of the 24 people I'd be meeting up with the others each week to get more numbers! Thats rubbish as well. He had some camera effect which shined the numbers on to the balls....
mattx Posted September 11, 2009 Author Posted September 11, 2009 This is how I think: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/jokes-interweb-things/41139-how-derren-browns-lottery-trick-might-have-been-done.html And this shows a close up of the balls. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFDWHUPF_s8]YouTube - Derren Brown - Lottery prediction explained ... + *Proof* HD lotto scam and trick Events[/ame]
Michael Posted September 11, 2009 Posted September 11, 2009 Derren Brown summed it up at the end for me saying it was a 'trick'. Nothing mathematical or clever about it at all. I also think the room full of people closing their eyes and writing numbers on paper was simply a distraction. The real method of producing the correct numbers looks like a camera trick. Derren Brown in some respects reminds me of the masked magician. They perform a demonstration and the methods used to produce an illusion are always very simple when revealed. If the room of people wanted to prove a point, lets see if they can guess the lottery numbers for next week Somehow I don't think it's going to happen.
sparkeh Posted September 11, 2009 Posted September 11, 2009 I only watched the bit about coin tossing. When his explanation was simply deep maths I switched over.
mattx Posted September 11, 2009 Author Posted September 11, 2009 It's a shame because I generally like his stuff, I think he is running out of ideas. This was just a load of tosh. His horse racing one was excellent, but this and deep maths ? What an idiot.
mattx Posted September 11, 2009 Author Posted September 11, 2009 As for the coin toss: Penney's game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Has a better explanation of it.
superfletch Posted September 11, 2009 Posted September 11, 2009 He's not gonna give away the real way he tricked people... That would be shooting himself in the foot. Agreed - they were all buying it as well, given that none of them will remember what the numbers were one week to the next it leads the viewer to assume a lot of what Derrin Brown tells you about his TV show is True. To be honest he tells everyone a pile of what amounts to just junk. I only watched the bit about coin tossing. When his explanation was simply deep maths I switched over. I know - such Horse crap isn't it, even if I thought the filming of the coins being tossed was real I'd still think "Deep Maths - he is a liar, what a load of b0110cks". We had a conversation about this in the office today - Some foolish chimp reckons her dad can regularly earn money by predicting the lottery week in week out, but needs to scrape together £200 first to set the wheels of this "lottery winning extravaganza" in motion. ITS CALLED A LOTTERY FOR A DAMN GOOD REASON /rant
superfletch Posted September 11, 2009 Posted September 11, 2009 As for the coin toss: Penney's game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Has a better explanation of it. Just read that matt. It explains it to some degree - and concisely, but (I guess case no one has explained it), it doesn't say why. The closest there is to an explanation on that page is this... WIKIPEDIA - "Intuitive understanding may be aided by considering the extreme case of HHH: If player 2 picks THH, and any coin flip lands tails, player 1 cannot win." Quite plain to me that sentence = odds are the coin wont land the same three times on the trot. It is called an extreme for a reason. I bet Derrin Brown has an MA in "Mumbo Jumbo".
Mistyhart Posted September 12, 2009 Posted September 12, 2009 I think you misunderstood the coin trick....he wasn't using that as an explanation as to how he predicted the lotto numbers, he was using it to demonstrate that people can be influenced to believe their collective consciousness has an effect on apparent randomness (which the participants appeared to believe). He picked Penney's game because it appears random to most but actually is not; it is a nontransitive game in which the odds are in favour of the second player given they know what to pick (as he explained). The proof of this is complicated, but exists and is as he stated. A lot of stunts in the show had nothing to do with the lotto numbers - I think he was simply demonstrating that people are predictable and susceptible to suggestion given the correct conditions - including those that he put the 24 volunteers in. We all know the lotto is necessarily random, the whole point of his show was to create discussion and speculation, acting as misdirection to the fact that on camera and with no witnesses, it is simple to fake anything. I agree that this trick was feeble in comparison to previous ones, but it certainly got us talking
russdev Posted September 12, 2009 Posted September 12, 2009 To be honest through most people when they found out how magic tricks are done are always disappointed.. If you know nothing about magic you would be amazed how simple some of world most famous magic tricks are. Art of magic is not the trick that is the easy part art of magic is the performance around it.
mattx Posted September 12, 2009 Author Posted September 12, 2009 To be honest through most people when they found out how magic tricks are done are always disappointed.. If you know nothing about magic you would be amazed how simple some of world most famous magic tricks are. Art of magic is not the trick that is the easy part art of magic is the performance around it. True, which is why I still don't show people how I make the silky disappear from my hands [ even with my sleeves rolled up ] - it's so simple yet many many adults still don't know how it's done. I prefer the léger de main, which is why I always practice with cards & coins, used to be quite good a few years ago but not anymore - the best one I enjoy is making my train / bus ticket appear out of no-where to the miserable conductors !! Mr Brown has gone right down in my estimation after the [ excuse the pun ] - 'balls' that was his explanation.
RabbieBurns Posted September 12, 2009 Posted September 12, 2009 is there a clip of part 2 on youtube or anything, ive only seen the first part, and while i have my own ideas how it was done (similar to the clip posted before actually), I know its just a good bit of TV. With the right person, derren brown can influence them and/or read them so well. (Like the russian roulette guy, he chose him out of 20,000 people, as he knew he was the one he could read when he was saying 1 - 6 out loud. ) If brown had shown a lottery ticket with the numbers printed on it, after the draw (VOIDED, so as to not annoy Camelot) I would believe he was something special.
mattx Posted September 12, 2009 Author Posted September 12, 2009 (edited) This will explain it...... And just before you play it I just hope his 'balls' explanation wont give false hope to desperate people in this recession. I fear an increase of syndicates & people spending alot of money on a complete con now thanks to this. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rHPh5Xanss]YouTube - Unseen Derren Brown Lottery secret revealed[/ame] Edited September 12, 2009 by mattx
Theblacksheep Posted September 12, 2009 Posted September 12, 2009 (edited) Dunno why you are all getting upset over mumbu jumbo and a con, thats what he does, which he explains at the start of every single show. Everything he says is misdirection, nlp and entertainment... did you expect anything else? Edited September 12, 2009 by Theblacksheep
mattx Posted September 12, 2009 Author Posted September 12, 2009 I'm not upset, just stating it was rubbish & that I was disappointed with him as normally his stuff is rather good.
Theblacksheep Posted September 12, 2009 Posted September 12, 2009 I'm not upset, just stating it was rubbish & that I was disappointed with him as normally his stuff is rather good. I quite liked it.... although i've literally only just seen trick or treat, couldnt stop laughing at the bloke that turned up in Marrakesh.
dwhyte85 Posted September 12, 2009 Posted September 12, 2009 (edited) With the Derren Brown lottery trick... He's just earned himself our time discussing him & I wonder how many watched the follow up Friday :-P I think Mattx has nailed it with his post and I, like Mattx I hope people don't think systems exist for working out lottery numbers, I've seen many poor students back when I was at uni trying to work off of 'systems' on things like roulette (although, legitimacy of casinos is another matter), mathematically they'd need an awful lot more 'runs' in terms of getting statistics to guesstimate if a number should appear or not and for his method... seriously... lol If it was the case he knew the numbers he'd have shown them before, it's not like anyone could have bought a ticket 2 minutes before the draw, furthermore I doubt Camelot would care if he bought a ticket! He's a very clever chap, at least he's financially secure in the future... the amount of money he will make from his next tour and TV... oh and of course, he can predict the lottery every week, haha. Edited September 12, 2009 by dwhyte85
daveofthetriffids Posted September 12, 2009 Posted September 12, 2009 Hi I think you're looking in the wrong place for an explanation. Derren is an atheist and skeptic, he knows (and knows that anyone with a skeptical and enquiring mind will also know) that the lottery can't be predicted. However he did it is beside the point, it was a trick. He attempted throughout his 'explanation' to convince us that we could influence chance events and I'm sure that a lot of people watching were fooled into believing that this is possible, bear in mind that he will have captured a whole new audience through the hype surrounding this show (lottery players/gamblers many of whom will need little convincing of this spurious power). This is the opening show of four and he has already told us that he is going to try and pull off the spectacular feat of sticking some (not all) of us to our seats. I think that he has already begun the process of influence and that the lottery stunt is a smokescreen for what he's really planning over these four shows. The only downside is that he may have lost some of his audience for the next few shows with his unconvincing explanantion of the lottery prediction but he'll have retained the more gullible watchers which would be the one's he's hoping to influence. I hope I'm correct in my analysis and Derren isn't going to leave us with the half baked reasoning we saw last night. What do you think? D
PiqueABoo Posted September 12, 2009 Posted September 12, 2009 Just watched it. Basically Derren spins a good, audacious, yarn - and once again I found myself sitting there waiting for each subsequent "chapter" in the story and mostly being delighted by the cheek of it. We know it's a crock (don't we?) and we know where we're going to end up, it's all about the journey. Take it seriously and you're doomed, to enjoy it I think you've got to have a cynical sense of humour.
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