Translator: Tomás Guarna Reviewer: Gisela Giardino
(Applause)
Daniel West: Observe that in seconds, with only images,
You got to learn - your brain learned -
and not only that, it also behaved
according to the small changes we made.
My name is Daniel West, and today we'll show you something quite peculiar.
For around 10 years we have devoted ourselves to neuroscience and hypnosis.
Gonzalo LeBlanc: My name is Gonzalo LeBlanc
and our idea for today is not to give our talk,
but to have a mental recess, to play with some secrets of the brain.
The idea is to experience and enjoy.
We'll start by doing something.
I want everybody to put your hands behind your heads.
Just like Daniel is doing.
Your hands behind your heads, you feel comfortable, relaxed, happy.
I want you to stretch your legs as if you were in a beach chair,
get comfortable, look up, look to the screen.
We take a deep breathe and we say:
"I'm having such a bad time!"
GL: How interesting! It sounds funny. But, why?
Because it's impossible to contradict our brain with the images.
One feels comfortable and automatically behaves in a comfortable way.
A typical example is - a lot of you stayed like that, that's great! -
It's not the same to face life in different ways.
For example, it's not the same to say, "Today I have to go to work again,"
than to say, "Today, I have to go to work again!"
We face life differently.
The same thing that happened with the image.
On the count of three, we all repeat the same message.
Audience: (Incomprehensible)
GL: We all read it once again.
[I'M HAVING SUCH A A BAD TIME] Audience: "I'm having such a bad time!"
GL: It's strange. Our brain filters information from outside,
the relevant information, and adapts it according
to our previous knowledge.
But our brain can also fail.
In this phrase, there were two "a" [I'M HAVING SUCH A A BAD TIME]
Lots of people didn't see it. Most of them. Why?
You read it, but your brain read A A,
there's no A A, so I erase it, it doesn't reach me.
And I erased it; I didn't see that part of reality.
DW: And that's why we will live these experiences through that perspective.
We need everyone to do this:
Do this (gesture) with your hands forward.
(Claps)
Upwards.
(Claps)
DW: Excellent.
With your hands do this gesture, which a bit rude,
but it's allowed here.
And on the count of three, put them on your cheek.
And if that's the cheek...
what's the chin, right? (Laughter)
What's going on here?
DW: How's that? It's complicated!
GL: Like we said, the image comes in first,
you see our image, and you imitate it.
But then you listen to us, and you say, "He said cheek!"
When you find your hand on your cheek, it's funny.
You see 1,200 people doing the same thing, and you find it even funnier. (Laughter)
DW: That's about it, there are conflicts
happening inside our own brains.
Those conflicts can happen with our surroundings or inside our own minds.
So we're going to show you...
GL: These image, a very well-known image,
of a dancer that's dancing, she's doing a spin.
I want everyone to look where she is spinning to.
Raise your hands those who see her spinning clockwise.
And now raise your hands those who see her spinning counterclockwise.
DW: It's worrying!
GL: There's only one reality, and there are two parts
seeing the same but differently, how is this possible?
DW: Many people know that we have two hemispheres:
a left and a right one.
The right one is more creative; the majority of us here.
And a more rational, scientific brain, which is the left one.
A lot of people thought that what happened here
was due to a dominance of either the right or the left side.
Now we know it has nothing to do with this.
What happens is that you are focusing at some part,
either the top or the bottom of the dancer.
Depending on where you focus, different things happen.
You see it spinning to one side or the other.
GL: We will do one more experience.
I want everyone to draw a circle with your right foot in clockwise motion,
constantly.
Point forward with your right index finger
and draw a six.
DW: It's great! Fantastic! (Laughter)
GL: What's going on? (Laughter)
DW: It's worrying!
(Applause)
What's going on here? It's very clear.
A conflict arises because we manage half of the left side of brain.
In this case our left brain governs the right side of our body.
Sometimes they compete. They say, "Let's take the easiest option."
So we synchronize.
I know this turns addictive.
It's normal!
GL: Last experience. We need two people.
DW: We will use two balloons to pick them.
So you don't say we chose beforehand and we're playing you.
GL: Very randomly. We'll throw the balloons
and count to five:
One, two, three, four...
We greet them with a round of applause.
Come here, lady.
GL: Your name? Man: Martín.
DW: We welcome him with a big round of applause too. (Applause)
How are you doing? I'm Daniel, a pleasure.
GL: How are you doing? Your name? Woman: Helena.
GL: Have you ever been hypnotized before? Helena: No.
GL: It won't happen now either.
I want you to breathe deeply; It's going to be an experience.
I want you to look at the center of my hand.
On the count I will close my hand and you will close your eyes.
One, two, three. Excellent.
I want you to stretch your two arms forward.
You have two premises: you will reply in a loud and clear voice
what we'll be asking you
and you can't open your eyes, okay?
You might hear laughter, applause.
But you will not open your eyes.
DW: As the saying says, "out of sight..." Audience: "out of mind."
DW: But what if it's out of sight but not out of mind?
Let's see what this is about.
Helena, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
From now I will snap my fingers in this side (left),
and I will let you focus in the process normally.
I want you to say loud and clear which hand I touched you.
H: The left one. DW: Great, excellent.
DW: You're going to hear in this side (right) a small snap
and I want you to say which hand I touched.
H: The right one.
DW: Now, which hand did I touch? H: Left one.
DW: Breathe in deeply through your nose and out through your mouth.
(Touches Martín, right) Which hand did I touch?
H: Right one. DW: Point to where I touched you, please.
H: With the other hand? DW: Yes, sure you felt it, no?
H: Yes. DW: Sure?
H: Yes. DW: Great. Stay with your eyes closed.
(Touches Martín, right wrist) Point to the exact part.
(Helena points to right wrist) DW: Good.
DW: Am I touching you now? H: No.
Take off your hand, then. (Laughter)
(GL touches Martín, right shoulder) DW: Where did I touch you?
H: In the back. DW: In which part?
H: In the scapula. DW: Are you sure?
H: Well, yes. DW: On the count of three, Helena will open her eyes...
and receive an ovation from the audience,
but observe this: one, two, three..
(Applause)
DW: Excellent, Helena. Helena has no idea of what happened.
Ask her what she felt.
We like to say goodbye with a message:
-He wasn't touching you, they say there. He wasn't, Helena, it's true.-
We always like to close
with a little story we want to leave to you all.
GL: They say that in a town there lived only blind men.
And one day an elephant arrived. Nobody knew what an elephant was
Elephants were just unknown.
They called the elders to determine what that was.
The first one touch its trunk and said:
"Clearly, gentlemen, an elephant is a giant cord."
The second elder touched its ears and said:
"This gentleman is very wrong, an elephant are like two big fans."
The third elder touched its foot and said:
"You are all so confused, an elephant is a big column."
They got into a heated discussion,
it became hotter and hotter, they had critics, supporters,
until a person that could see arrived, and asked what the chaos was about.
And one by one started telling him "An elephant is this way or the other."
He listened to them all and said,
"You're only perceiving reality in a partial way,"
and explained to them what an elephant really was.
The blind men stared at him and said, "This man is crazy."
And they expelled him from the town, staying in eternal discussion
of what they really considered to be an elephant.
DW: The day we realize
that we only perceive partially this reality,
we'll be ready to create ideas that can transform,
break with the norm and move forward.
DW: It was a pleasure for us to be with you.
GL: My pleasure.
(Applause)