Is exposure a significant problem in magic?

@kingdamian1

http://bfy.tw/GRwy

 

Ok. Last post.

Once again @kingdamian1 you've ignored more than half of my points. I assume either you're literally ignoring my posts or you're just not wanting to engage in what I'm saying because it counters what you're trying to say.

Let's take a peek at that medical stuff you keep talking about - Did you know it's a significant problem for doctors because people DO Google medical information and self-diagnose? Just like with magic, people Google stuff and get a really inflated sense of how much knowledge they have and then the qualified professionals have to argue with them about the correct diagnosis and treatment. It's even a meme of sorts - https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.seroundtable.com/google-medical-degree-doc-sign-1455711655.jpg

Read back through this thread, try to pay attention to ALL the points we have brought up.

You notice how people keep asking how much experience you have? That's because someone who's read one or two books and performs mostly for friends and family has a wildly different view of the magic world than someone who, for example, has been performing regularly for real audiences for 8 years, and has earned his living exclusively through the magic world for 5 of those years. And you know what else? My level of experience is different to someone like my friend Danny who's done nothing but magic his entire adult life.

It's not a slight against you, but I just don't think you're experienced enough to have a qualified opinion here. Of course you can't see the problems inherent in the issues you're bringing up - it doesn't effect you, because you're not integrated into this world yet.

So. Final point - Is exposure a significant problem? Yes, it is, but not necessarily for the reasons that are often trotted out as examples.

 

Not to be mean, but @kingdamian1 it really does seem like you're ignoring most of the points brought up by @Lyle Borders @ChristopherT @RealityOne and everyone else who has replied to the thread. Either that, or you're totally misunderstanding what they're trying to say. I know some of us have written mini essays in response, but if you'd actually take the time to read them, they've all thoroughly answered your questions multiple times.

 

We've all answered these questions... multiple times...

 

Yes, Anthony is correct. These questions have been answered by a number of intelligent and experienced individuals. To add my 2 cents in reply to the original question of this thread, yet seems to keep getting repeated again and again: "How is exposure a significant problem?" It's a significant problem because each person that learns a secret is one less person who will experience the mystery and wonder that lies at the heart of magic. And one more person who may, or will, call out a magician who is performing, so they can show how smart they are or to gratify their ego or because they need to be the center of attention. They will reveal the secret even in front of other spectators who may not even want to know, but who just want to be amazed and entertained and experience that beautiful sense of wonder. These individuals are "live" exposers and they were around well before the internet. I know this for a fact because I have been a professional performer for a very long time. But they were and are exposers nonetheless. However, now, due to the internet, exposure has gotten totally out of control and the secrets are accessible to literally millions. So now we have a ton of "virtual" exposers online, in addition to the "live" exposers. And the more exposure that happens online, not only will there be fewer and fewer people who will be amazed and experience that sense of wonder of magic can bring (which will, in turn, diminish the population of people for whom magicians will be able to create that amazement and wonder), but the more egotistical live exposers or haters there will be - armed and ready, and empowered to expose secrets before, during and after the performances of amateur and professional magicians alike. Is this not a "significant problem"?

Undoubtedly, the exposure problem is compounded because the person who has learned the secret is, in fact, likely to expose it to someone else, or even multiple people, and sadly, is likely to do so even during the performance of a magician who makes his/her living doing magic, or during the performances of the many amateurs who love magic and performing for their friends or family. When people know the secret, it's not magic anymore. (If however, people learn how an appendectomy is done, it is still medicine btw- that is where your attempted analogy fails). And, over time, the number of people who have access to these time-honored secrets will grow exponentially, either because more and more people will directly learn them from YouTube or other internet sources, or they will learn the secrets indirectly, from people to whom the secrets were exposed on the internet, and who then turned around and exposed the secret to them. "Hey, I know how he does it, I saw it on YouTube! See, what he does is he..." Or, "OH I know how he does it, my friend saw it on YouTube, its simple..." The question is not whether it will occur or whether it's here to stay. It appears that it will, and that it is. But that begs the question because the actual question posed by the OP was: Is exposure a significant problem? And it certainly is.

I have literally had people who have seen me perform at my restaurant/bar gigs come back in a week or two weeks later and tell me that they were so blown away by this or that effect that they couldn't rest until they finally found the secret online. @king Damian 1, I hope for your sake (and your aunt's sake, as well) that when your Aunt tells someone that you made her believe in magic after a lifetime of hating magic and magicians, that the person doesn't tell her how it was done...