SoMA Newsletter Jan 2023
Happy New Year from SoMA!
Thanks to everyone that has made this another great year for SoMA- it was particularly excellent be able to hold our conference in London this past summer, but also thanks generally to everyone who's been conducting amazing work in the SoM field!
I'm very much looking forward to 2023, and we'll be sharing more details on upcoming SoMA events soon! We're already in the process of developing plans for our next conference in 2024, and we're also hoping to hold a smaller symposium on magic and the philosophy of aesthetics that should hopefully be taking place this coming summer (stay tuned for more details). In the meantime, here's a quick recap of some recent SoM-related news, including some upcoming events, new papers, talks, and podcasts.
Stay safe & sane,
Matt Tompkins
On Behalf of the SoMA Committee
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Upcoming Event:
Meet the MagicLab at The Session in London
Vanishing Inc's The Session convention will be taking place next month in London from January 13th - 15th 2023. Throughout the convention, the MagicLab will be in the room across the hallway from the main room for a series of activities designed to bring together science and magic. The 'lab' will remain open from 1pm - 7pm. If you're at the convention, do drop by and say Hi to Gustav, Steve, Alice, Brian, and me.
You can check out the schedule of events HERE
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Upcoming Virtual Event:
Magic and Misinformation Panel Discussion
On January 13 at 12PM EST, The Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School will be hosting a virtual panel discussion on magic, medicine, misinformation, and ethics. The panel will include some familiar SoMA faces including Jay Olson and Jeanette Andrews. The event is free, but you will need to register in advance to attend.
You can find the full details HERE
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Magicians Needed
for MagicLab Survey
Speaking of the MagicLab, they are currently running an online survey on how magicians think about magic. If you consider yourself a magician- either a pro or a hobbyist- please do consider participating (you don't need to be attending the Session in order to participate in the survey). The survey takes no more than 10-15 minutes to complete, and by participating you can enter into a raffle to win Gustav and Alices upcoming book: The Psychology of Magic: From Lab to Stage.
You can find the survey HERE:
https://www.magicresearchlab.com/the-session
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New Essay Discussing Magic and Exposure
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New Paper: Surveying Attendees' Feelings about a Science of Magic Exhibition
On the topic of 'exposure' a new paper, authored by Gabriel Medeiros, myself, Steve, and Gustav, reports on a survey of attendees of the Wellcome's (2019) Smoke & Mirrors Exhibition (I'm pleased to have managed to get the Arrested Development ref into the final title). We asked attendees how they felt that learning about the science and psychology of magic affected their feelings about magic. Overall, respondents reported that learning about the psychological mechanisms that underpin some magic illusions increased their appreciation of magic (and made them feel more inclined to pay to see professional magic). So good news for art/science collaborations!
You can read the paper HERE
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New Paper: Magic, Design, & Creativity
A new paper by Tong Li and colleagues explores the relationship between magic and divergent thinking. The authors present a qualitative study of how watching magic tricks can influence design students to think creatively.
You can read the paper HERE
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New Paper: Fake Mind Reading Machines
A new paper has been published describing a collaboration between McGill University and Lund's Choice Blindness Lab that was spear-headed by SoMA's Jay Olson. We describe how mentalism magic methods can be used to convincingly simulate science fictional technologies. My personal favorite highlight from the results: You when outputs from our fake machine contradicts participant's introspections about their own opinions many of them will actually defer to the machine's (entirely fake) 'output!'
You can read the paper HERE
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