What Magic & Mind Reading Reveal About the Brain | Asi Wind

In this episode, my guest is Asi Wind. He's one of the world’s top
magicians and mentalists.  We discuss what magic and mentalism
reveal about the human mind, including how memories are made, how
to erase them, and how and why we perceive things the way we do,
all in the context of how he performs his astonishing tricks. 
Asi explains that magic works because it involves storytelling,
which is key to how we organize memories. He also explains how
emotional connection allows people to co-create and believe a
common narrative, even one that did not actually occur.  We
also discuss how Asi's love of painting and photography and his
specific daily routine allow him to access creativity. We also
discuss fear, perfectionism, and how feeling emotions deeply serves
his craft.  Whether you are interested in magic or not, this
conversation with Asi will give you an incredible window into how
you perceive, learn, and remember the world around you and how what
you believe may or may not be based in reality.  For show
notes, including referenced articles and additional resources,
please visit hubermanlab.com. Use Ask Huberman Lab, our new
AI-powered platform, for a summary, clips, and insights from this
episode. Thank you to our sponsors AG1:
https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT:
https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab Waking Up:
https://wakingup.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Asi Wind
(00:03:05) Sponsors: LMNT & Waking Up (00:07:07) “Jazzy Magic”,
Tricks & Improvisation, Memory (00:14:57) Magic &
Imagination (00:24:06) Memory “Experiments” (00:25:19) Sponsor: AG1
(00:30:46) Reality Augmentation, Free Will (00:35:31) Audience
Interactions & Connection, Empathy, Tool: Breathing (00:41:20)
Audience, Empathetic Attunement & Connection; Skeptics
(00:49:10) Trick Explanation, Props (00:57:21) Exposing Magic,
Misdirection, Storytelling (01:08:36) Delight, Hypnosis, Behavior
Patterns (01:17:35) Hypnotists & Guiding Attention; Social
Media (01:23:01) “Power of Pauses” & Memory; Tool: Gap Effects
& Learning (01:30:14) Tension, Understanding Magic (01:36:16)
Storytelling (01:43:00) Painting & Composition (01:51:08)
Truths, Clean Slate, Art & Storytelling (01:59:03) Art &
Motivation, Honesty (02:05:17) Inspiration & Creativity,
“Sponge” (02:12:38) Morning Routine & Creativity (02:19:28)
Memory & Fear, Power of Story; Tool: Walking & Creativity
(02:29:53) Body Language (02:33:01) Perfectionism; Negative
Emotions, Photography (02:40:19) Sensitivity, Empathy, Family
(02:45:16) Incredibly Human Show (02:49:22) Zero-Cost Support,
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