TEDMED 2009
Eric Mead: The magic of the placebo
Eric Mead: Magien ved placebo
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Sukkerpiller, indsprøjtninger med ingenting -- studier viser at, oftere end man skulle tro, virker placeboer virkelig. Ved TEDMED, viser tryllekunstner Eric Mead et trick for at bevise at, selvom man ved noget ikke er virkeligt, kan man stadig godt reagere lige så kraftfuldt som når det er.
(Advarsel: Dette foredrag er ikke egnet til seere der er bliver foruroliget af nåle eller blod.)
Eric Mead - Magician
Eric Mead is a prolific magician, mentalist and comedian who worked his way up from doing magic on the street to appearing at exclusive events around the world. Full bio
Eric Mead is a prolific magician, mentalist and comedian who worked his way up from doing magic on the street to appearing at exclusive events around the world. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:18
For some time I have been interested in
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Jeg har i noget tid været interesseret i
00:20
the placebo effect,
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placeboeffekten,
00:22
which might seem like an odd thing
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hvilket måske virker som en mærkelig ting
00:24
for a magician to be interested in,
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for en tryllekunstner at være intereseret i,
00:26
unless you think of it in the terms that I do,
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medmindre man tænker på det, på den måde som jeg tænker på det,
00:28
which is, "Something fake
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som er," Noget opdigtet
00:32
is believed in enough by somebody
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bliver troet nok på af nogen
00:34
that it becomes something real."
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til det bliver noget virkeligt."
00:36
In other words, sugar pills
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Med andre ord, har sukkerpiller
00:38
have a measurable effect in certain kinds of studies,
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en målbar effekt i en bestemt slags studier,
00:41
the placebo effect,
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placeboeffekten,
00:43
just because the person thinks
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bare fordi personen tror på
00:46
that what's happening to them is a pharmaceutical
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at det der sker med dem er farmaceutisk
00:48
or some sort of a --
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eller en form for --
00:51
for pain management, for example,
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for smerte behandling, for eksempel,
00:53
if they believe it enough there is a measurable effect in the body
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hvis de tror nok på det, er der en målbar effekt i deres krop
00:55
called the placebo effect.
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kaldet placeboeffekten.
00:57
Something fake becomes
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Noget opdigtet bliver
00:59
something real
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noget virkeligt
01:01
because of someone's perception of it.
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på grund af nogens opfattelse af det.
01:04
In order for us to understand each other,
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For at vi kan forstå hinanden,
01:06
I want to start by showing you a rudimentary,
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vil jeg begynde med at vise jer en elementær,
01:08
very simple magic trick.
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meget simpel tryllekunst.
01:10
And I'm going to show you how it works. This is a trick
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Og jeg vil vise jer hvordan den virker. Dette er et trick
01:12
that's been in every children's magic book since at least the 1950s.
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der har været i hver enkelt trylle børnebog i hvert fald siden 1950'erne.
01:16
I learned it myself from Cub Scout Magic in the 1970s.
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Jeg lærte den mig selv fra Cub Scout Magic i 1970'erne.
01:20
I'll do it for you, and then I'll explain it.
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Jeg viser det for jer, og så vil jeg forklare den.
01:22
And then I'll explain why I explained it.
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Og så vil jeg forklare hvorfor jeg forklarede den.
01:25
So, here's what happens.
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Så, her er hvad der sker.
01:27
The knife, which you can examine; my hand, which you could examine.
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Kniven, som man kan undersøge; min hånd, som man kan undersøge.
01:29
I'm just going to hold the knife in my fist like this.
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Jeg vil bare holde kniven i min knytnæve sådan her.
01:32
I'll get my sleeve back.
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Jeg ruller mit ærme op.
01:34
And to make sure nothing goes up or down my sleeve
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Og for at være sikker på at der ikke forsvinder noget op eller ned af mit ærme,
01:36
I'm just going to squeeze my wrist right here.
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vil jeg lige klemme mit håndled lige her.
01:39
That way you can see that at no time
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På den måde kan man se, at der på intet tidspunkt
01:41
can anything travel, as long as I'm squeezing there
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kan forsvinde noget, så længe jeg klemmer her
01:43
nothing can go up or down my sleeve.
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er der ikke noget der kan forsvinde op eller ned af mit ærme.
01:46
And the object of this is quite simple.
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Og målet med dette er ret simpel.
01:48
I'm going to open my hand,
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Jeg åbner min hånd,
01:51
and hopefully, if all is well,
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og forhåbentlig, hvis alt går vel,
01:54
my pure animal magnetism will hold the knife.
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vil min rene, dyriske magnetiske holde kniven.
01:57
In fact it's held so tightly in place
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Faktisk, bliver den holdt så kraftigt på plads
01:59
that I can shake it,
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at jeg kan ryste den,
02:01
and the knife does not come off.
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og kniven falder ikke af.
02:04
Nothing goes up or down my sleeve,
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Ikke noget der forsvinder op eller ned af mit ærme,
02:06
no trickery. And you can examine everything.
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ingen tricks. Og man kan undersøge alt.
02:09
Ta-da!
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Ta-da!
02:11
(Applause)
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(Bifald)
02:13
So, this is a trick that I often teach to young children
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Så, dette er et trick jeg ofte lærer unge børn
02:16
that are interested in magic, because you can learn
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der er interesserede i magi, fordi man kan lære
02:18
a great deal about deception by studying
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en hel masse om vildledelse ved at studere
02:20
this very -- even though it's a very simple trick methodologically.
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denne meget -- selvom det er et meget simpelt trick metodisk set.
02:23
Probably many of you in the room know this trick.
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Der er formentlig mange af jer i lokalet der kender dette trick.
02:25
What happens is this.
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Det der sker er dette.
02:27
I hold the knife in my hand.
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Jeg holder kniven i min hånd.
02:29
I say I'm going to grab hold of my wrist
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Jeg siger at jeg griber fast i mit håndled
02:31
to make sure nothing goes up or down my sleeve,
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for at være sikker på at der ikke er noget der forsvinder op eller ned af mit ærme,
02:33
that is a lie.
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det er løgn.
02:35
The reason I'm holding onto my wrist
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Grunden til at jeg holder om mit håndled
02:37
is because that's actually the secret
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er fordi det faktisk er hemmeligheden
02:39
of the illusion.
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bag illusionen.
02:41
In a moment when my hand moves from facing you
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Om et øjeblik når min hånd flytter sig fra at vende mod jer
02:43
to being away from you,
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til at være væk fra jer,
02:45
this finger right here, my index finger is just going to shift
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vil den finger lige her, min pegefinger vil bare flytte sig
02:47
from where it is, to a position
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fra hvor den er, til en position
02:50
pointing out like this.
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og peger ud på denne måde.
02:52
Nice one.
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Fedt nok.
02:54
Someone who didn't have a childhood is out there.
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Nogen der ikke havde en barndom sidder derude.
02:57
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
02:59
So, it goes like this, from here, right.
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Så, det ser sådan ud, herfra, ikke.
03:01
And as I move around my finger shifts.
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Og som jeg flytter mig rundt flytter min finger sig.
03:03
And we could talk about why this is deceptive,
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Og vi kunne tale om hvorfor dette er vildledende,
03:05
why you don't notice there are only three fingers down here,
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hvorfor man ikke lægger mærke til at der kun er tre fingre hernede,
03:08
because the mind, and the way it processes information,
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fordi hjernen, og måden hvorpå den behandler information,
03:10
it doesn't count, one, two, three. It groups them.
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den tæller ikke, en, to, tre. Den grupperer dem.
03:13
But that's not really what this is about. Right? And then I open my hand up.
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Men det er ikke hvad det virkelig handler om. Vel? Og så åbner jeg hånden.
03:15
Obviously it's clinging there, not by animal magnetism,
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Den klistrer selvfølgelig her, ikke på grund af dyrisk magnetisme,
03:19
but by chicanery,
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men på grund af kneb,
03:21
my index finger being there.
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fordi min pegefinger er der.
03:24
And then when I close my finger, same thing,
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Og så når jeg lukker min finger, samme ting,
03:26
as I move back, this motion
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som jeg flytter mig tilbage, denne bevægelse
03:28
kind of covers the moving back of my finger.
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skjuler på en måde det at fingeren bevæger sig tilbage.
03:30
I take this hand away. You give the knife out.
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Jeg fjerner denne hånd. Man giver kniven ud.
03:32
There is a trick you can do for your friends and neighbors. Thanks.
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Det er et trick man kan vise for ens venner og naboer. Tak.
03:36
Now, (Laughter)
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Nu, (Latter)
03:38
what does that have to do with the placebo effect?
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hvad har det med placeboeffekten at gøre?
03:41
I read a study a year or so ago
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Jeg læste et studie for et års tid siden
03:44
that really blew my mind wide open.
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der virkelig slog benene væk under mig.
03:47
I'm not a doctor or a researcher, so this, to me,
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Jeg er ikke en læge eller en forsker, så dette, for mig,
03:49
was an astonishing thing.
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var en forbløffende ting.
03:51
It turns out that if you administer
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Det viser sig at hvis man giver
03:53
a placebo in the form of a white pill,
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et placebo i form af en hvid pille,
03:55
that's like aspirin shaped --
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der er formet som en hovedpinspille --
03:58
it's just a round white pill -- it has some certain measurable effect.
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det er bare en lille rund, hvid pille -- det har en vis målbar effekt.
04:01
But if you change the form that you give the placebo in,
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Men hvis man ændrer den form som man giver placeboet i,
04:04
like you make a smaller pill,
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som hvis man laver pillen mindre,
04:06
and color it blue, and stamp a letter into it,
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og farver den blå, og stempler et bogstav i den,
04:09
it is actually measurably more effective.
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er det faktisk målbart mere effektivt.
04:12
Even though neither one of these things
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Selv om ingen af disse ting
04:14
has any pharmaceutical -- they're sugar pills.
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har nogen farmaceutisk -- det er sukkerpiller.
04:17
But a white pill is not as good as a blue pill.
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Men en hvid pille er ikke lige så god som en blå pille.
04:21
What? (Laughter) That really flipped me out.
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Hvad? (Latter) Det flippede jeg noget ud over.
04:24
Turns out though, that that's not even where it stops.
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Det viser sig dog, at det ikke engang stopper ved det.
04:26
If you have capsules,
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Hvis man har kapsler,
04:29
they're more effective than tablets in any form.
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er de mere effektive end nogen form for pille.
04:31
A colored capsule, that's yellow on one end and red on the other
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En farvet kapsel, der er gul i den ene ende og rød i den anden
04:34
is better than a white capsule.
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er bedre end en hvid kapsel.
04:36
Dosage has something to do with this.
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Dosering har noget at gøre med det.
04:38
One pill twice a day
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En pille to gange om dagen
04:40
is not as good at three pills --
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er ikke så godt som tre piller --
04:43
I don't remember the statistic now. Sorry.
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jeg kan ikke huske statistikken nu. Undskyld.
04:45
But the point is ...
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Men pointen er ...
04:47
(Laughter) ... these dosages have something to do with it.
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(Latter) ...disse doseringer har noget med det at gøre.
04:49
And the form has something to do with it.
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Og formen har noget med det at gøre.
04:51
And if you want the ultimate in placebo,
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Og hvis man vil have det ultimative placebo,
04:54
you've go to the needle.
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skal man bruge en nål.
04:57
Right? A syringe with some inert --
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Ikke? En kanyle med en virkningsløs --
04:59
a couple CCs of some inert something,
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et par cc af et eller andet virkningsløst,
05:01
and you inject this into a patient ...
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og man injicerer det i en patient ...
05:03
Well this is such a powerful image in their mind,
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Jamen dette er sådan et kraftigt billede i deres sind,
05:05
it's so much stronger than the white pill.
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det er så meget stærkere end den hvide pille.
05:07
It's a really, this graph, well I'll show it to you
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Det er en virkelig, denne graf, jamen jeg viser det til jer
05:10
some other time when we have slides.
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på et andet tidspunkt når vi har slides.
05:12
The point is
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Pointen er,
05:14
the white pill is not as good as the blue pill
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at den hvide pille ikke er lige så god som den blå pille
05:17
is not as good as the capsule is not as good as the needle.
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er ikke så god som kapslen som ikke er så god som nålen.
05:20
And none of it has any real pharmaceutical quality,
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Og intet af dette har nogen virkelig farmaceutisk kvalitet,
05:23
it's only your belief that makes it real
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det er kun ens tro der gør det virkeligt
05:27
in your body and makes a stronger effect.
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i ens krop og laver en stærkere effekt.
05:30
I wanted to see if I could take that idea
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Jeg ville se om man kunne tage den ide
05:32
and apply it to a magic trick.
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og bruge det til en tryllekunst.
05:34
And take something that is obviously a fake trick
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Og tage noget der tydeligvis er et opdigtet trick
05:38
and make it seem real.
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og få det til at se virkeligt ud.
05:43
And we know from that study
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Og vi ved fra den undersøgelse
05:46
that when you want reality, you go to the needle.
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at når man vil have virkelighed, bruger man nålen.
05:50
This is a seven-inch hatpin. It's very, very sharp,
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Dette er en 18 centimeters nål. Den er meget, meget skarp,
05:54
and I'm going to just sterilize it a tiny bit.
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og jeg vil sterilisere den en lille smule.
06:01
This is really my flesh. This is not
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Dette er virkelig mit kød. Dette er ikke
06:03
Damian's special-grown flesh.
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Damians specielt dyrkede kød.
06:05
That's my skin right there. This is not a Hollywood special effect.
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Det er min hud lige der. Dette er ikke en Hollywood special effect.
06:10
I'm going to pierce my skin
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Jeg vil gennembore min hud
06:12
and run this needle through to the other side.
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og køre denne nål gennem til den anden side.
06:14
If you're queasy -- (Laughs)
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Hvis man er lidt sart -- (Latter)
06:17
if you faint easily -- I was doing this for some friends
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hvis man har let ved at besvime -- jeg gjorde dette for nogle venner
06:19
in the hotel room last night, and some people that I didn't know,
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på hotelværelset i går nat, og nogle mennesker jeg ikke kendte,
06:22
and one woman almost passed out.
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og en kvinde besvimede næsten.
06:24
So, I suggest if you get queasy easy
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Så, jeg foreslår at hvis man er lidt sart
06:27
that you look away for about the next 30 --
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at man kigger væk de næste 30 --
06:29
in fact, you know what, I'll do the first bad part behind it.
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faktisk, ved I hvad, jeg gør den første slemme del bag ved det.
06:31
You'll get to see, you can look away too if you'd like to.
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I kommer til at se, I kan også kigge væk hvis I vil det.
06:35
So, here is what happens, right here,
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Så, her er hvad der sker, lige her,
06:37
the beginning of my flesh
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begyndelsen på mit kød
06:39
at the lower part of my arm I just make
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i min underarm laver jeg lige
06:41
a little pierce.
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et lille hul.
06:43
I'm sorry, man. Am I freaking you out?
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Jeg er ked af det mand. Skræmmer jeg dig?
06:45
OK, and then just through my skin a tiny bit,
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Ok, og så gennem min hud en lille smule,
06:49
and then out the other side like this.
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og så ud på den anden side sådan her.
06:52
Now, essentially we're in the same position we were in
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Nu er vi i bund og grund i den samme position som vi var
06:56
with the knife trick.
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med kniv tricket.
06:58
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
07:02
Sort of.
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På en måde.
07:04
But you can't count my fingers right now can you?
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Men man kan ikke tælle mine fingre lige nu, kan man?
07:07
So, let me show them to you. That's one, two
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Så, lad mig vise dem for jer. Det er en, to
07:09
three, four, five.
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tre, fire, fem.
07:12
Yes, well...
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Jamen, altså...
07:15
I know what people think when they see this.
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Jeg ved hvad folk tænker når de ser dette.
07:17
They go, "Well, he's certainly not dumb enough
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De siger, "Jamen, han er bestemt ikke dum nok
07:19
to stab himself through the skin to entertain us for a few minutes.
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til at stikke sig selv gennem huden for at underholde os et par minutter.
07:22
So, let me give you a little peek.
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Så, lad mig give jer et lille smugkig.
07:25
How's that look out there? Pretty good.
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Hvordan ser det ud derude? Ret godt.
07:27
(Laughs)
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(Latter)
07:30
Yeah, I know. (Laughs)
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Ja, jeg ved det. (Latter)
07:33
And the people in the back go, "OK, I didn't really see that."
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Og folkene om bagved siger, "Ok, det så jeg ikke helt."
07:35
People in the satellite room are starting to move in now.
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Mennesker i det lille rum begynder at komme tættere på nu.
07:38
Let me give you good close look at this.
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Lad mig give jer et ordentlig blik på dette.
07:40
That really is my skin. That is not a Hollywood special effect.
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Det er virkelig min hud. Det er ikke en Hollywood special effect.
07:43
That's my flesh, and I can twist that around.
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Det er mit kød, og jeg kan dreje det rundt.
07:46
I'm sorry. If you're getting queasy, look away,
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Undskyld. Hvis I får kvalme så kig væk,
07:48
don't look at the thing.
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lad være med at kigge på det.
07:50
People in the back or people on video years from now watching this
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Folkene omme bag ved eller folk på video der ser dette om flere år
07:52
will go, "Well yeah, that looks kind of neat
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vil sige, "Ja ok, det ser ret fedt ud
07:55
in some sort of effect there, but if it were real he would be --
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med en eller anden effekt der, men hvis det var virkeligt ville han --
07:58
see there's a hole there and a hole there, if it were real he would be bleeding.
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see der er et hul der og et hul der, hvis det var virkeligt ville han bløde.
08:01
Well let me work up some blood for you.
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Jamen, lad mig arbejde noget blod frem til jer.
08:04
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
08:09
Yes, there it is.
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Ja, der er det.
08:11
(Applause)
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(Bifald)
08:27
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
08:30
Normally now, I would take the needle out.
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Normalt ville jeg nu tage nålen ud.
08:33
I would clean off my arm, and I would show you that there are no wounds.
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Jeg ville rense min arm, og jeg ville vise jer at der ikke er nogen sår.
08:36
But I think in this context
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Men jeg tror i denne kontekst
08:39
and with the idea of taking something fake
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og med ideen om at tage noget falskt
08:41
and making it into something real,
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og lave det til noget rigtigt,
08:44
I'm just going to leave it there,
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vil jeg bare lade den sidde der,
08:46
and walk off the stage.
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og gå af scenen.
08:48
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
08:50
I will be seeing you several times over the next few days.
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Jeg kommer til at se jer adskillige gange i løbet af de næste dage.
08:53
I hope you're looking forward to that. Thank you very much.
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Jeg håber I ser frem til det. Mange tak.
08:56
(Laughter)
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08:58
(Applause)
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(Bifald)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Eric Mead - MagicianEric Mead is a prolific magician, mentalist and comedian who worked his way up from doing magic on the street to appearing at exclusive events around the world.
Why you should listen
As a child, Eric Mead says that he had a typical interest in magic. However, by the time he was a teenager, his interest had grown to a full-fledged obsession -- he was getting paid to do birthday parties and banquets in his hometown. He began street performing in 1985 and four years later was offered a job as “Magic Bartender” at the Tower Comedy/Magic Bar owned by John Denver. Working at the bar, as well as private parties and comedy clubs, he became well-known in the industry and went on to perform one of the most memorable pieces in The Aristocrats.
Mead is also known as the author of Tangled Web, a collection of magic and mentalism taken from his personal repertoire.
Eric Mead | Speaker | TED.com