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00:00Do you believe that everything you see is real?
00:06Think again.
00:09People occasionally ask me,
00:11is it possible to take an object like a Rubik's cube,
00:14concentrate on it, and have it levitate?
00:17The answer is yes.
00:20All you need to do is focus your attention on the cube,
00:24and it will continue to levitate.
00:27It's absolutely incredible
00:28and just goes to show the power of the human mind.
00:32The Rubik's cube appears to be floating in midair, but how?
00:37Think you know how psychologist Richard Wiseman did this?
00:41We'll reveal the answer in just a minute,
00:44but here's a hint.
00:46The trick is in your brain.
00:49Believe it or not, your brain lies to you constantly.
00:53It's a little scary.
00:54You experience illusions all the time.
00:58You're experiencing an illusion right now.
01:00Your brain interprets me as a person.
01:02What I really am is a bunch of colored dots.
01:08We're exploring all the surprising ways illusions can fool the brain.
01:13There's something in that image that's deceiving my eye.
01:16What if I told you that this whole thing was made entirely out of straight lines?
01:20It does not look straight at all.
01:21And we'll see how those same illusions have changed the course of history.
01:25There's no question, illusions and history go hand in hand.
01:30In this episode, we'll explore five amazing cases,
01:35including why an American president believed the Earth was hollow,
01:39how an optical illusion made Nessie a household name,
01:43and why millions believe the moon landing was staged in a Hollywood studio.
01:48Each of these cases will reveal one astonishing truth.
01:53It's almost impossible to know what is fact and what is fiction.
01:59A good portion of what our brains try to do all day, every day,
02:03is separate truth from fiction, reality from illusion.
02:07But we don't always get it right.
02:09The monsters, please, the monsters, are you still?
02:11Will you fall for the same illusions as some of history's most iconic figures?
02:16Let's find out and discover what mysteries lie inside your bleeped-up brain.
02:23Have you figured out how Richard Wiseman floated this Rubik's Cube in mid-air?
02:42Let's watch it one last time.
02:45People occasionally ask me,
02:47Is it possible to take an object like a Rubik's Cube,
02:50concentrate on it, and have it levitate?
02:53The answer is yes.
02:56All you need to do is focus your attention on the cube,
03:00and it will continue to levitate.
03:03It's absolutely incredible,
03:05and just goes to show the power of the human mind.
03:09How can Dr. Wiseman simply stand there and make an object levitate?
03:12Here's the big secret behind the floating Rubik's Cube.
03:17I'm laying on my back.
03:19Now, as soon as you realize that, it's obvious how it's done.
03:22The cube is simply suspended from the ceiling.
03:24But if you assume I'm standing up, the whole thing becomes impossible.
03:28If Dr. Wiseman's floating Rubik's Cube fooled you,
03:31it's because he manipulated your full-picture perspective.
03:35Sometimes, in order to really work out what's going on,
03:38you need to get the full picture.
03:40But how can the brain tell fact from fiction
03:43when the full-picture perspective isn't available?
03:47To the brain, the truth is often relative.
03:55When people think of the Loch Ness Monster,
03:57typically the image they come up with
03:58is this weird black-and-white photograph,
04:01this intriguing black, dark, weird silhouette.
04:05It looks like a monster.
04:06This image launched the monster onto the world stage.
04:10But is this image really a picture of the Loch Ness Monster?
04:14Is it real?
04:15When it comes to fact or fiction,
04:18the truth is all in your brain.
04:20There's more to this photograph than meets the eye.
04:22And it all starts with the photographer,
04:27Colonel Robert Wilson.
04:31The story goes, Dr. Wilson took this photo
04:34when he and a friend of his were driving home at night.
04:38They stopped to take a leak,
04:40and they saw something unusual in the lake.
04:43And they're like, oh my God, there's something in the lake.
04:45Desperate to show this enormous shadowy creature to the world,
04:52Wilson snapped a few photographs.
04:55And one became legendary.
05:00To a lot of people,
05:01this was like final definitive proof of Loch Ness Monster,
05:04and it became known as the surgeon's photo.
05:07A number of scientists analyzed the surgeon's photo,
05:10and many of them confirmed
05:11this could be nothing other than Nessie herself.
05:14People came out of the woodwork
05:17to go to Loch Ness to look for the creature.
05:19But the most impressive aspect of the creature
05:22was its perceived size.
05:25A lot of people thought it was a dinosaur,
05:27or might be related to a dinosaur.
05:29It was imagined to be big.
05:32Between 30 and 60 feet.
05:35And size does matter.
05:38In the late 1980s,
05:40a new piece of evidence
05:41changed the public's perception of the photo.
05:43Buried deep in a Scottish archive,
05:46researchers uncovered the photo's original print,
05:48and a shocking fact came into view.
05:52It turned out that the photo had been cropped.
05:54The famous photo of Nessie
05:56isn't the full picture.
05:58This is the original.
06:00Well, a curious thing happened
06:02because the dinosaur shrunk.
06:03And this is because the uncropped photo
06:07reveals a different perspective of Nessie.
06:10If you look at the uncropped photo,
06:13different things appear.
06:14For example, you find out that
06:15those ripples in the water
06:17are little tiny ripples.
06:19They're not huge waves.
06:20So either we have a really, really small
06:22Loch Ness monster,
06:24or it's a fake.
06:27For decades,
06:28monster hunters looked at the cropped photo
06:30and believed they saw a massive creature.
06:34Why is it so easy for us to lose perspective?
06:44Jeff Wise has a simple test
06:46that might help you size up the situation.
06:49I'm going to show you a picture,
06:50and I just want you to tell me
06:52if you notice a difference
06:55between the two monsters.
06:58The one in the back looks larger
06:59than the one in the front.
07:02You got the smaller one there,
07:03and the other guy is hovering over
07:05and chasing him down a tunnel.
07:07How much bigger is the one in back
07:08than the one in front?
07:09At least twice as big.
07:11At least twice as big.
07:14What's your take?
07:16Do you see any difference?
07:17Let's see what Jeff's got up his sleeve.
07:22I'm going to ask you to take this
07:23and match it up with the one
07:25you think it matches.
07:26This is the big one,
07:27but it's going to match up with both.
07:33Wow.
07:33Let's compare it to the different monsters.
07:36So that is the big monster.
07:37Yeah.
07:37Okay.
07:38So that's going to be bigger
07:39than the smaller monster.
07:40Yeah.
07:41Okay, go ahead and put it
07:41on the smaller monster.
07:44Okay.
07:46Believe it or not,
07:47the monsters are exactly the same size.
07:51This is a classic optical illusion,
07:53but more accurately,
07:55it's a visual illusion
07:56because it's not your eyes
07:58that are making the mistake.
07:59It's your brain.
08:01Okay, so now you know
08:02that they're the same size.
08:03Yes.
08:04When you see it,
08:04does it still look bigger?
08:06Yeah.
08:08There's something in that image
08:10that's deceiving my eye.
08:12It just looks larger.
08:14Can I try that one more time?
08:16Sure.
08:17It still seems different.
08:20That's weird.
08:21It's just really weird.
08:22Makes me wonder,
08:23you know,
08:23what else did I get wrong,
08:24I guess, in size?
08:25When it comes to size,
08:27perspective is everything.
08:30This optical illusion
08:31takes advantage
08:32of the difference
08:33between the world
08:33that we create in our minds
08:35and the one that we perceive
08:36and the one that we perceive
08:36with our senses.
08:38How your brain sizes up an object
08:40depends entirely
08:41on the perspective
08:42you see it in.
08:44Because of the dimensions
08:45of the tunnel,
08:46the brain perceives
08:47the top monster as bigger,
08:49regardless of the reality.
08:51For your brain,
08:52truth is all relative.
08:54And that's because
08:55the brain interprets size
08:56based on the context
08:57in which it's presented.
08:58The experiment shows
09:00that seeing
09:01isn't necessarily believing.
09:03With the surgeon's photo,
09:05the ripples of the water
09:06also establish
09:07a certain perspective
09:08surrounding the creature,
09:10nudging the brain
09:11to believe it is larger
09:12than it actually is.
09:15And in the process,
09:17creating a legend
09:18of epic proportions.
09:23Determining how big
09:24and how close something is
09:25often confounds
09:27our bleeped up brain.
09:28Humans are not very good
09:29at judging size
09:30unless they have scale.
09:31It happens all the time.
09:32We see something in the sky,
09:34how big is it?
09:35Who knows?
09:35This is why people see lights
09:37in the sky like UFOs.
09:39It could be anything.
09:41Perspective is critical
09:42to uncovering the truth.
09:44But in the case
09:45of the surgeon's photo,
09:46all the relative facts
09:48were not presented up front.
09:50After seeing
09:51the uncropped picture,
09:53many people were convinced
09:54that the image
09:55and Nessie herself
09:56were a hoax.
09:58But even those
09:59that believe
10:00the legendary photo
10:01is a fake
10:02concede
10:03that it doesn't disprove
10:04Nessie's existence.
10:08This doesn't mean
10:10that the Loch Ness Monster
10:10doesn't exist.
10:11It doesn't mean
10:12that other photos
10:13may not be real.
10:14Whether the photo
10:15is genuine or not,
10:16one thing is clear.
10:17When it comes to knowing
10:18what's real
10:19and what's not,
10:21to our brains,
10:22it's all relative.
10:26The human brain
10:27sometimes perceives
10:28the world
10:29in narrow ways.
10:30Wow.
10:31We've seen
10:31how a simple
10:32perspective illusion
10:33launched the Loch Ness Monster
10:35onto the world stage.
10:37Now we are going
10:38a step further
10:39to see how the brain's
10:40fixation on details
10:41can blind us
10:42to the bigger picture
10:43and confuse
10:45what is real
10:46and what is fake.
10:49Okay, that looks good, Neil.
10:52More than anyone,
10:53magicians manipulate
10:54the line
10:55between fact and fiction.
10:57Their art plays
10:58upon the flaws
10:59that exist in our minds.
11:01A magician can get
11:02between reality
11:03and your perception
11:04of reality.
11:05From subtle sleight of hand
11:06to grand illusions,
11:08every magic trick
11:09takes advantage
11:10of simple deficiencies
11:11in how our brains work.
11:13The key to magic
11:14isn't in the hand,
11:16it's in our bleeped up brain.
11:19Pay close attention
11:20to Ekaterina's ring.
11:26How does she make
11:27the ring disappear
11:28from one hand
11:29and have it reappear
11:30on the other?
11:31Watch the ring, okay?
11:33It's very important
11:33that at all times
11:35you're watching the ring.
11:37Distraction.
11:38Magic can stupefy our brain
11:40into believing
11:41the impossible
11:41because when we focus
11:43on the details,
11:44we miss the bigger picture.
11:47Despite logic,
11:48seeing is believing.
11:50All of these illusions
11:51demonstrate
11:52how irrational we are.
11:54We don't test our ideas
11:55about the world,
11:56we just simply accept them.
11:58And so whether it's
11:59a magic trick
12:00or something paranormal
12:01or you're believing
12:02some kind of conspiracy theory,
12:03time and again,
12:04you're putting two
12:05and two together
12:06and you're getting five.
12:07On your finger.
12:10To our brains,
12:13truth is visual.
12:15We are wired
12:16to believe what we see.
12:18But when people observe things
12:20that defy visual truth,
12:22we begin to suspect
12:23something isn't right.
12:24And sometimes this includes
12:26the biggest stories
12:27in human history.
12:29In fact,
12:30a recent national poll
12:31indicated that
12:32over 16 million Americans
12:34believe the moon landing
12:36was staged.
12:38To find out
12:39what instigated this belief,
12:41we have to go back
12:41to the beginning.
12:43One,
12:44three,
12:45two,
12:46one,
12:47lift off.
12:48The moon landing
12:53was the best
12:54and the most
12:55technologically advanced
12:56achievement
12:56in human history.
12:58July 20th,
12:591969.
13:01People across the world
13:02turn on their TV sets
13:04to watch mankind's
13:05greatest achievement
13:06unfold live.
13:08That's one small step
13:10for man,
13:10one giant leap
13:11for mankind.
13:13Everybody was watching,
13:14everybody was enthusiastic,
13:15everyone was like,
13:16oh my God,
13:16we're actually doing this.
13:17The whole world erupted
13:18in just disbelief
13:20and amazement.
13:22But for some people,
13:24this achievement
13:24was too astonishing
13:26to believe.
13:28Skeptics believe
13:29the moon landing films
13:30had actually been shot
13:32in Hollywood.
13:36They had this idea
13:37that all the things
13:38we saw were actually
13:39staged in part of a film
13:40that was written
13:41by Arthur C. Clarke
13:42and directed
13:42by Stanley Kubrick.
13:43And one of the most
13:45iconic moon landing images
13:47is a key piece of evidence
13:49for skeptics.
13:52The American flag.
13:55It's in the photos,
13:56it's in the videos,
13:57you know,
13:57you have a flag
13:57and it's flapping in the wind
13:59or appears to be
13:59flapping in the wind
14:00and they're like,
14:01well, hold on,
14:01hold the phone.
14:02There's no wind.
14:05In this iconic image,
14:07does it look like
14:07the flag is flapping
14:08in the wind?
14:09Without an atmosphere,
14:12wind is non-existent
14:13on the moon
14:14and yet,
14:15the flag appears
14:16to wave.
14:19The question is,
14:19well, how is this possible?
14:21It shouldn't be possible.
14:24In the vacuum of space,
14:25the flag should simply droop.
14:29Another piece of evidence
14:30offered was that
14:31the astronauts
14:31didn't see stars
14:32when they were there
14:33and also in photographs
14:34you can't see stars.
14:35In these photographs
14:37taken on the moon,
14:39do you see any stars?
14:41And yet,
14:42they were taken in space.
14:44So this was meant
14:45to be taken as,
14:47oh, it must have been
14:48shot on a soundstage
14:49instead of at the moon.
14:50There is an endless list
14:52of discrepancies
14:53that conspiracy theorists
14:54cling to
14:55and it's easy
14:56to see their point.
14:58But in this case,
15:00seeing is not believing.
15:02The experiment
15:03we're about to do
15:04will show you
15:05how the inner workings
15:06of the brain
15:06can sometimes blind you
15:08to the full picture.
15:17I want to show you
15:18a classic of magic.
15:19It's called spoon bending.
15:21It's metal spoons.
15:21I want you to take a look
15:22at one of them
15:23and I want you to watch
15:24really closely
15:24because we're going
15:25to do this together
15:25using the power
15:27of our minds, okay?
15:29Watch closely.
15:30Just really concentrate
15:31with me, okay?
15:34Look at their eyes.
15:38You can feel them watching.
15:40What they're
15:41unconsciously doing
15:42is trying to visualize
15:43what's happening
15:44behind Ekaterina's hand.
15:47It's bending.
15:49Just the power
15:50of our minds, right?
15:51Let's poop.
15:52Seeing Ekaterina
15:53bend the spoon
15:54makes this trick
15:55of mind over matter
15:56seem possible.
15:58Even the logic
15:59might tell you otherwise.
16:00Can you make sure
16:01this is a bend?
16:02Take it and compare
16:04it to the other screen.
16:05Nothing to do though.
16:07The brain takes
16:08the pieces
16:09of visual information
16:10it has
16:10and stitches it
16:11into a full picture.
16:13An image
16:14of a single
16:15bending spoon.
16:17This visual stitching
16:18is called
16:18amodal perception.
16:20When we can't
16:21physically see
16:22everything that's
16:23going on
16:23our brains
16:24fill in the gaps
16:25with flawed assumptions.
16:27From the right
16:28perspective
16:28this looks amazing.
16:30But here is my angle.
16:32I have here
16:32a little extra stem
16:34that I kind of
16:35hold together
16:36with an already
16:37pre-bent spoon
16:38that I use
16:39my other fingers
16:40as cover-up.
16:41With the right perspective
16:43you can make people
16:44believe in anything.
16:47That's because
16:48our brain
16:49tends to take
16:49as fact
16:50the visual evidence
16:51offered by our senses
16:52before our more
16:54rational intellect
16:55can kick in.
16:57We believe
16:58that what we see
16:58is an accurate
16:59representation
17:00of the world
17:01because to our brains
17:02truth is visual.
17:05So when confronted
17:06with compelling
17:07visual signs
17:08that the moon landing
17:09was faked
17:09it's easy to see
17:11why skeptics feel
17:12the wool has been
17:13pulled over their eyes.
17:15But just like magic
17:17we shouldn't always
17:18accept what we see
17:19so literally.
17:22For all the pieces
17:23of evidence
17:24that the conspiracy
17:25theorists present
17:25there's a scientific
17:27explanation.
17:28There's actually a stick
17:29that's holding up
17:30the flag
17:30and so even though
17:32it looks like
17:33it's being carried
17:33in the wind
17:34it's being held up
17:35by an internal structure.
17:37This internal structure
17:38is a horizontal rod
17:40fastened to the top
17:41of the flag
17:41which holds it upright
17:42like a curtain
17:43to give it the visual
17:45appearance of
17:45flapping in the wind.
17:47Think about it.
17:47If you're NASA
17:48and you want to do
17:49something as symbolic
17:50as planting an American flag
17:52on the moon
17:52do you want it
17:53to sit there
17:53and hang limply
17:54like just dripping down
17:56so you can't see it
17:56or do you want it
17:57to actually be patriotic
17:59and look like something?
18:01There's also
18:02a logical reason
18:03why we don't see
18:04any stars
18:05in the moon landing photos.
18:07There's good reasons
18:08why the astronauts
18:09wouldn't see stars
18:10in the photographs
18:11and that's because
18:11they were basically
18:12looking during the daytime
18:13they weren't looking
18:14at night.
18:15It's the same reason
18:16we can't see stars
18:16in the daytime
18:17here on earth.
18:19We landed on the moon
18:20it was not a hoax.
18:22Fixating on the details
18:25can blind us
18:25to the full picture
18:26perspective
18:27especially when we
18:28get those details wrong.
18:31But we continue
18:32to fall victim
18:33to these illusions
18:33because once your brain
18:35visually determines
18:36something to be fact
18:37or fiction
18:38it's incredibly difficult
18:39to change your thinking.
18:41Because of the way
18:43our brains are engineered
18:44we can be blind
18:46to any evidence
18:47that goes against
18:48what we already believe.
18:49So when you are trying
18:50to determine fact
18:52from fiction
18:52it's best to go in
18:54with an open mind.
18:57Watch closely
18:58just really concentrate
18:59with me okay.
19:00When seeing is believing
19:01we can be led to believe
19:04the impossible.
19:06But sometimes your brain
19:07does something
19:08even more dramatic.
19:10It sees things
19:12that aren't even there.
19:14And believe it or not
19:15one instance
19:16of seeing the imagined
19:17resulted in some people
19:19thinking there were
19:20little green men
19:21on Mars.
19:22The little illusions
19:23in our brains
19:24can lead to some
19:25very bizarre explanations.
19:32For centuries
19:33aliens and sci-fi novels
19:35and films
19:36always seem to come
19:37from the planet Mars.
19:39But why?
19:40It all dates back
19:42to an Italian astronomer
19:43named Giovanni Schiaparelli
19:44from the 1800s.
19:47Giovanni Schiaparelli
19:48was one of the most
19:49noted astronomers
19:50in the Kingdom of Italy.
19:51But what he was most
19:52famous for
19:52were his observations
19:53of Mars.
19:58In 1877
19:59Schiaparelli
20:01turned a state-of-the-art
20:02telescope on Mars.
20:04He saw an incredible planet
20:05with Earth-like features.
20:09Schiaparelli saw
20:09that part of Mars
20:10was darker than the rest
20:11and Schiaparelli
20:12deduced that
20:13that dark area
20:14must be an ocean.
20:16Finding bodies of water
20:17on another planet
20:18was incredible enough
20:19but Schiaparelli
20:21found evidence
20:22for something
20:22even more astonishing.
20:25When he looked
20:25through the eyepiece
20:26of his telescope
20:26what Schiaparelli saw
20:28were little dark lines
20:29that seemed to
20:31connect these
20:32other dark areas.
20:33What were they?
20:37But he concluded
20:38that they must be
20:39canals carrying water.
20:42Other astronomers
20:43across the world
20:44confirmed Schiaparelli's
20:45claims that the surface
20:46of Mars was dotted
20:47with canals
20:48transporting water.
20:50This led people
20:51to come to
20:51one significant conclusion.
20:54Some advanced
20:55civilization
20:56must have made them.
20:59This proposition
21:00fundamentally changed
21:01our view of the universe.
21:03has created
21:04this common perception
21:05that there must be
21:06little green men
21:07on Mars.
21:11The public
21:12ate it up.
21:13Of course
21:14these days
21:15we know
21:15there are no
21:16tiny green men
21:17on Mars.
21:19Why did Schiaparelli
21:20see canals of water
21:22lining this planet
21:23when there were none?
21:24And why did
21:25his misperceptions
21:26cause such
21:27a dramatic stir?
21:29Jeff Wise
21:30has an illusion
21:31that just might
21:32answer that.
21:33You see
21:34Schiaparelli
21:35isn't the only person
21:36who sees things
21:37that aren't there.
21:38We all do.
21:46So I'm going to
21:46turn this around
21:47and I just want you
21:47to tell me
21:48what you see.
21:51Describe what you see
21:52in this image.
21:54Let's see what
21:55others perceive.
21:55The lines look
21:57like they're warped in.
21:58I feel like
21:59your eye is drawn
22:01to the center.
22:02Uh-huh.
22:02Yeah.
22:02Looks like it's
22:03becoming very concave
22:04like sucking me in.
22:05Does it look like
22:06it's made out of
22:06straight lines
22:07or warped lines?
22:08Warped lines
22:09like especially
22:10the ones in the center
22:10seem to be going
22:11this way.
22:12But appearances
22:13can be deceiving.
22:15What if I told you
22:15that this whole thing
22:16was made entirely
22:17out of straight lines?
22:18It does not look
22:19straight at all.
22:20Okay, well check this out.
22:21Now what does it look like?
22:28It's perfectly
22:29straight lines.
22:30That's obviously
22:31straight.
22:32But there's yet
22:32another twist.
22:34Okay, now that you
22:35know these are
22:35perfectly straight lines
22:36I'm going to put this
22:37back.
22:38The lines still look
22:39straight?
22:39It still looks warped.
22:41I still don't know
22:41how it's doing that
22:42because the lines
22:43are straight
22:44but it's still warped.
22:45It's amazing.
22:46So what this shows us
22:47is that patterns of
22:48shapes and lines
22:49can powerfully warp
22:50our perceptions.
22:51That's pretty crazy.
22:54And it's the same
22:55visual illusion
22:56that Schiaparelli
22:57encountered
22:58and why he thought
23:00there were canals
23:00built by a Martian
23:01civilization
23:02where none
23:03actually existed.
23:06When processed
23:07in our brains
23:08simple lines and
23:09patterns can create
23:10illusions.
23:11And when we see
23:12these illusions
23:13in a specific context
23:14like on the surface
23:15of Mars
23:16we can create
23:17some truly
23:18out of this world
23:19explanations.
23:20This shows some
23:25of the flaws
23:26in our brains
23:26processing
23:27but the idea
23:29of advanced
23:30Martian civilization
23:31is still with us
23:33today.
23:33You still see it
23:34in books and movies
23:35and other kinds
23:36of entertainment.
23:36It's very attractive
23:37to us.
23:38Next time you think
23:39what you're seeing
23:40is fact
23:41you'd better double check.
23:43The world surrounding us
23:45is merely a creation
23:46of our bleeped up brain.
23:48But if we can't trust
23:49what we see
23:50how do we determine
23:51fact from fiction?
23:55Take a look at this
23:56television monitor.
23:57Do you see a shape
23:58behind these four
23:59post-it notes?
24:00A square perhaps?
24:03There's actually
24:04no square on the monitor
24:05just four disconnected lines.
24:08And as for that square
24:09you think you saw
24:10your brain fabricated it.
24:12It's part of human
24:13experience to find lines
24:15and patterns
24:16and order
24:16in places
24:18where it may not
24:19actually exist
24:19on its own.
24:21Illusions like this
24:22make one fact clear
24:23we can't always trust
24:25our own senses
24:26or our own common sense.
24:28And knowing what
24:30and who to trust
24:31can be difficult.
24:33Trust me.
24:34We are about to show you
24:35how any of us
24:36can fall for
24:37complete fiction.
24:38But first
24:39to prove our point
24:41we'll show you
24:42how it happened
24:42to an American president.
24:50Today
24:51we all know
24:52the earth is filled
24:53from pole to pole
24:54with rock and magma.
24:56But some powerful
24:58historical figures
24:59including a U.S. president
25:01were convinced
25:02that this solid fact
25:03was full of hot air.
25:08President John Quincy Adams
25:09one of our
25:10best diplomats
25:12one of the shrewdest
25:13politicians we've ever seen
25:14believed that the earth
25:15was hollow.
25:16It was crazy because
25:17everyone knew
25:18that the earth
25:18was solid.
25:19John Quincy Adams
25:21was elected president
25:22in 1825
25:23a full century
25:24after the scientific revolution
25:26and Adams didn't just believe
25:28the earth was hollow
25:30he thought the inner earth
25:31was inhabited.
25:33John Quincy Adams
25:34was so convinced
25:36that he greenlit
25:37and funded
25:38with taxpayer money
25:39an expedition
25:40for someone to go
25:41to the center of the earth
25:41and meet the mole people.
25:45And what's astounding
25:46is that's actually true.
25:47John Quincy Adams
25:48believed that they were mole people
25:49wanted to trade with them.
25:50But as compelling
25:51as the mole people
25:52might be
25:53how could a standing president
25:54hold such a bizarre belief?
25:59President Adams
25:59believed the earth
26:00was hollow
26:01because of one man
26:02John Cleaves
26:03Simms Jr.
26:06Simms Jr.
26:07was a very decorated
26:09captain
26:09from the war of 1812.
26:11He's a war hero.
26:13But his valor in war
26:15wasn't his only contribution
26:17to society.
26:20After the war
26:21Simms traveled the country
26:23promoting the idea
26:24that the earth was hollow.
26:26And because of his accomplishments
26:28charm and good looks
26:29Simms was able to establish
26:31a loyal band of followers.
26:33He had no science
26:34to back himself up
26:35but he had a lot of passion.
26:37President Adams
26:38absolutely should have
26:39known better.
26:40There's no excuse
26:41for his foolishness.
26:46What made John Cleaves
26:47Simms so convincing
26:48that he could make
26:49an American president
26:50believe absolute nonsense?
26:53The answer is locked
26:54in your bleeped up brain
26:56and just how it decides
26:57who and what to trust.
27:03Pay attention.
27:08Richard Wiseman
27:09has another experiment
27:10for you
27:11that might shed
27:12some light
27:12on this story.
27:14He's asking participants
27:15and you
27:16to judge
27:17who's the most trustworthy
27:18between two male subjects
27:20both speaking
27:21in a monotone voice.
27:23Each of them
27:23are going to say
27:24one sentence to you.
27:25Okay, so we start
27:26with the first name.
27:27I'm offering you
27:27a very good deal.
27:29I wouldn't offer this deal
27:30to just anyone.
27:31Trust me.
27:34And person B?
27:35I'm offering you
27:36a very good deal.
27:37I wouldn't offer this deal
27:38to just anyone.
27:40Trust me.
27:42Take a moment to think.
27:43Who did you find
27:44to be more trustworthy?
27:46A or B?
27:48Let's see what
27:49other people think.
27:50If you're going to trust
27:51one of those two guys,
27:52which would you go with?
27:57I'd say the one on the right.
27:58Okay, person B?
27:59Yeah, he just looks...
28:00I don't know.
28:01He looks like I can trust him
28:02and he just...
28:03He looked honest.
28:04You would go with person...
28:07B.
28:08B.
28:08Person B.
28:10I'd go with A.
28:11Can I say neither?
28:12I would definitely go with B.
28:14Excellent.
28:15In this test,
28:16an overwhelming 70%
28:18of participants
28:18chose person B.
28:21But why do so many people
28:22trust person B
28:24without any evidence at all
28:25of his actual trustworthiness?
28:27He just seemed more confident
28:30in what he was saying
28:31because he seemed
28:33more personable.
28:34You know,
28:34tan Australian,
28:35like, hey.
28:36It was something in the eyes,
28:38more welcoming,
28:39more open.
28:40Some kind of connection.
28:41Okay.
28:42Honestly?
28:43Be honest.
28:45He's attractive.
28:46It just came to me naturally.
28:48It was my first instinct.
28:50Definitely intuitive.
28:51I didn't feel like
28:52I had to think
28:52very much about it.
28:53I just knew.
28:54And is that
28:54a reasonable thing to do?
28:56No.
28:56So in everyday life,
28:57do you think
28:58you tend to trust people
28:59that are better looking?
29:00Probably, yes.
29:02Strangely and illogically,
29:04people connect attractiveness
29:06with trustworthiness.
29:08This irrational phenomenon
29:09is known as
29:10the halo effect.
29:12The halo effect
29:13is the notion
29:14that positive traits
29:16cluster together.
29:17What does that mean?
29:18It means that
29:19if we see somebody
29:19who's very good looking,
29:21we also assume
29:22they're a fairly nice person.
29:23they're a giving person,
29:24they're a trustworthy person.
29:26There's no evidence for this,
29:27but we simply use it
29:28as a kind of shorthand.
29:30And so if you're a con man
29:31or you're out to tell the world
29:33something that simply isn't true,
29:34being attractive
29:35is a real advantage.
29:38Since the dawn of time,
29:40our brains have put us
29:41under the spell
29:42of attractive, confident people.
29:45The problem with the halo effect
29:46is that it allows you
29:48to be exploited.
29:49The halo effect
29:50is why celebrity endorsements work.
29:52A good-looking actor
29:54can inspire our sense of trust.
29:57It also bleeds over
29:58to the rest of us.
30:00Good-looking people
30:01earn 3 to 4% more
30:03than less attractive workers.
30:05That's an average
30:06of $230,000
30:08across a lifetime.
30:10Likewise,
30:11perhaps John Cleve Sims
30:12seemed believable
30:13to President Adams,
30:15not because his theories
30:16made sense,
30:17but because he was a respected
30:18and attractive war hero.
30:20Adams believing Sims
30:23was absolutely a case
30:25of someone judging a book
30:25by its cover
30:26instead of its content.
30:28Adams saw a man
30:29who was confident
30:30and passionate
30:31and energetic
30:31and a man that he wanted
30:32to believe in.
30:34But mercifully
30:35for American taxpayers,
30:37Sims' insane journey
30:38to the center of the earth
30:39never happened,
30:41but not because
30:41common sense prevailed.
30:43The next president,
30:45Andrew Jackson,
30:45shut the project down.
30:48And he says,
30:49this is crazy.
30:50I'm not going to fund
30:51this expedition.
30:52The earth isn't hollow.
30:53It's flat.
30:56Which is also crazy.
30:59Everyone on earth
31:00is susceptible
31:01to the halo effect.
31:03This story just proves
31:05that if you have
31:06enough confidence,
31:07you can convince anyone
31:08of just about anything,
31:09even the president.
31:10The important lesson
31:12to take away
31:13is not to believe
31:15everything you hear.
31:16Trust me.
31:19Without the full picture
31:20perspective,
31:21the facts about
31:22the Loch Ness Monster
31:23were hidden.
31:25And during extraordinary
31:26events like the moon landing,
31:28our brains can create
31:29conspiracies even when
31:30the facts are clear.
31:33The way the brain
31:34interprets fact from fiction
31:36is inherently flawed.
31:38We don't live
31:39in the real world.
31:41What we actually live in
31:42is a representation
31:43of the world.
31:44It's created for us
31:45effortlessly and automatically
31:47by our subconscious brains.
31:49Like many efficient machines,
31:51your brain is designed
31:52to take the path
31:53of least resistance.
31:55Our brains are programmed
31:56to quickly evaluate,
31:58check, and confirm
31:59the source of incoming information.
32:01And if we decide
32:03the source is credible,
32:04we will believe
32:05almost anything we hear.
32:07This predisposition
32:08to believe what we hear
32:10led suspected witches
32:11to their violent deaths
32:12in Salem
32:13and con the world
32:14with fake footage
32:15of an alien autopsy.
32:18Sometimes all you need
32:19to con the brain
32:20is just a good
32:21old-fashioned story.
32:22And if the trick
32:23is done right,
32:24you can literally unleash
32:26mass hysteria.
32:27long before we could watch TV,
32:37download videos on the Internet,
32:39or even Google,
32:41radio was the sole medium
32:44for broadcasting news
32:45to the public.
32:46And in 1938,
32:49one piece of news
32:50famously caused
32:51widespread panic.
32:53There were live news reports
32:56coming in
32:57from all over the area.
32:58Report three Martian machines
32:59visible above treetops.
33:02The Martians invade Earth,
33:04they have these big alien craft,
33:05they come down,
33:06they're terrorizing people.
33:08You know, panic ensues.
33:10The monsters,
33:11the monsters are going to kill us!
33:12The radio!
33:15This mass hysteria
33:16was unleashed by none other
33:17than the iconic
33:18War of the Worlds,
33:20orchestrated by
33:21storytelling master,
33:22Orson Welles.
33:23By mythical monsters.
33:25Many listeners
33:26who heard the radio broadcast
33:27mistook it for an actual
33:29real news bulletin.
33:30Initial reports claim
33:31killing at least 49 civilians.
33:33It's a powerful device
33:34to use fiction as fact.
33:38People in the United States
33:40were outraged
33:40by this mockumentary
33:42of a Martian invasion.
33:44Some even sued the broadcasters
33:45for mental anguish
33:47and personal injury.
33:49But did you know
33:50this infamous radio play
33:52duped people
33:52not just once
33:53but multiple times.
33:56Incredibly,
33:57elsewhere in the world
33:58this story galvanized
33:59a nation's military
34:01to defend
34:02against alien invasion.
34:05In 1949
34:06in Quito, Ecuador
34:07there was a radio play
34:08that basically
34:09was a version
34:09of the War of the Worlds story.
34:11And once again
34:12the same techniques
34:12were used.
34:13It was framed
34:13as a live news event.
34:16And the public
34:20could not ignore
34:21the frightening
34:21and realistic details
34:23of this broadcast.
34:27People in Quito
34:27really thought
34:28that they were being
34:29under attack.
34:31A fake news reporter
34:32said that the Martians
34:33were advancing
34:34in the form
34:34of a large cloud.
34:37A scary, evil,
34:39dark cloud.
34:41You can imagine
34:42why this would scare people
34:43because there are
34:44clouds in the sky.
34:46Many people genuinely
34:47thought this was
34:47the end of the world.
34:49Panic citizens
34:50poured out onto the streets
34:51in their nightgowns.
34:53Some even ran to church
34:54to make their peace
34:55with God.
34:58The church opened up
34:59its doors
34:59and let people in
35:00saying, you know,
35:01if you want to repent
35:02this is your last chance.
35:06After producers
35:07of the broadcast
35:08realized the countrywide
35:09panic they'd instigated
35:11they interrupted
35:12the radio play
35:13and admitted the truth
35:14to the panicked citizens.
35:17They really thought
35:18that they were
35:18being under attack
35:19and when they found out
35:20that they weren't
35:21when they found out
35:22that it was a hoax
35:23they got upset.
35:24They got pissed off
35:25and understandably so.
35:28They actually attacked
35:29and burned down
35:30the radio station
35:31and several people
35:31were killed.
35:34How could we be
35:35so gullible?
35:36By mythical monsters.
35:37How could we fall
35:38for the same work
35:39of fiction
35:40not just once
35:41but twice?
35:43To investigate
35:44this intriguing phenomenon
35:45actor Dan Hodap
35:46is going to portray
35:47a news anchor
35:48and fool people
35:49on the street
35:50with false news
35:51just to see
35:52what people believe.
35:54Remember how
35:55we told you earlier
35:56that some people
35:57thought the moon landing
35:58was fake
35:59because there appeared
36:00to be anomalies
36:01in the photos.
36:02Let's see if we can
36:03convince people
36:04that the moon landing
36:05never actually happened.
36:09earlier today
36:15former NASA head
36:16John Shore
36:17said that in the 1960s
36:19we in fact
36:19did not land
36:20on the moon
36:21and that he is
36:21releasing a book
36:22to say as much.
36:23What do you think
36:24about that?
36:26I'm stunned.
36:27I mean I remember
36:27hearing any number
36:30of what I thought
36:31were conspiracy theories.
36:32This is crazy.
36:33It was staged
36:33by the president
36:34so that the US
36:35would appear to be
36:36winning the space race
36:37against the Soviets.
36:38It's kind of sad.
36:39I mean that was
36:39probably the greatest
36:40achievement in history
36:43of mankind.
36:43I like to think
36:44that we don't do that
36:44as a United States
36:45but the truth
36:47is coming out now.
36:48It's pretty sad.
36:49What if I told you
36:50that we actually
36:51did land on the moon
36:52and that what I just
36:53said was not real?
36:54That John Shore
36:55is not the head
36:56of NASA?
36:57I have no idea
36:58what you're talking about.
36:59Okay, cool.
36:59What if I told you
37:00we're working on a
37:01television show
37:01about perceptions?
37:04I don't know.
37:05I'd prefer that
37:05you're lying to me
37:06than that the federal
37:07government is.
37:08Why did so many people
37:09believe Dan's shocking news?
37:12Sure.
37:12Yeah, you've had me fooled.
37:13Yep.
37:14Why do people
37:15take information
37:16presented by news reporters
37:17as truth?
37:19Because you're presenting
37:20yourself as a newscaster
37:21and I assume that you're
37:22you would know.
37:24I mean if you think about it
37:25how would I know differently?
37:28I think the correct thing
37:29for me to believe
37:30is that you are.
37:32You've got the cameras
37:32you've got someone
37:33with headphones
37:33saying official
37:34sounding things
37:34into something.
37:35you've got the suit
37:36you've got the little
37:37box thing going on.
37:38So that sort of like
37:38conveys some sense
37:39of like you know
37:40authoritativeness
37:41or credibility.
37:42The default value
37:43that people assign
37:44to a new piece
37:45of information
37:45is to believe it.
37:47Even if that piece
37:47of information
37:48is given to us
37:49with no guarantees
37:50attached whatsoever
37:51our innate tendency
37:53is to believe it.
37:55Basically
37:56our brains assume
37:57everything we hear
37:58is true initially.
38:00Only later
38:00does the brain
38:01go back
38:02and discredit
38:02something it's heard.
38:03and if a statement
38:05comes from an authority
38:06figure
38:06the perceived truth
38:07becomes much more
38:09believable.
38:10It shows how
38:11irrational we are.
38:12Suddenly
38:13we start trusting
38:14complete strangers.
38:15We in fact
38:15did not land
38:17on the moon.
38:17It's kind of sad.
38:18I mean that was
38:18probably the greatest
38:19achievement
38:19in the history
38:22of mankind.
38:23Because we are prone
38:24to believe what we're told
38:25especially when it comes
38:26from a person
38:27of authority
38:28an incorrect belief
38:29can spread
38:30like a virus
38:31between people
38:32and this willingness
38:34to believe
38:34makes us susceptible
38:36to being fooled.
38:37We're going to kill us!
38:39In 1990
38:41over 30 countries
38:42aired footage
38:43of a notorious
38:44alien autopsy
38:45which sparked
38:46international intrigue.
38:48The material
38:49was later discovered
38:50to be a hoax
38:51and some false beliefs
38:54fueled by the masses
38:55have been deadly.
38:57In the late 1600s
38:59in Salem, Massachusetts
39:00three girls
39:01accused numerous people
39:03in the village
39:03of being witches.
39:06Salem authorities
39:06believed these accusations
39:08to be fact.
39:09Tragically
39:1020 people
39:11were executed
39:12because the residents
39:13of Salem
39:14believed they needed
39:15to ward off evil.
39:17Throughout history
39:18our brain
39:19has struggled
39:20to decipher
39:20fact from fiction
39:22in our everyday lives
39:23and on the world stage
39:25but compounding
39:27this difficult process
39:28is one fact.
39:29It's weird
39:30for people
39:31to try to get
39:31their head around this
39:32but the world
39:33that you perceive
39:34in your consciousness
39:35is not the world
39:36that's out there.
39:38What you perceive
39:39is a pre-digested
39:41version of the world
39:43that's been created
39:44for you
39:45by your subconscious mind.
39:48We live in a world
39:49of illusions.
39:50illusions that sometimes
39:53make it difficult
39:54to know what's true
39:55and every day
39:57scientists unearth
39:58another way
39:59our brains lie to us.
40:01After about
40:02a hundred years
40:03of psychology
40:03I would love to say
40:04that we have
40:05a very precise
40:06understanding
40:06of how the brain works.
40:08It's a little scary.
40:09We absolutely don't.
40:11We've just scratched
40:12the surface.
40:13We know
40:14some of the tricks
40:15our brains play on us.
40:16There's a huge amount
40:17more to discover.
40:19From history's
40:19greatest hoaxes
40:20to its most
40:22incredible achievements
40:23there are thousands
40:26of ways you can be
40:28duped into believing
40:29just about anything
40:30by your bleeped up brain.