Apollo Robbins the art of distraction in Russian. The Pickpocket's Study of Human Nature: An Interview with Apollo Robbins. What did they call it

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Since 1984, a conference has been held in the United States, bringing together scientists, politicians, entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, engineers and many others on one stage. It is called TED - Technology, Entertainment, Design, which can be loosely translated into Russian as “Science, Art, Culture”.

The conference slogan, “Ideas Worth Spreading,” explains it main task- tell about interesting ideas as possible more of people.

website I have compiled for you a list of lectures that can inspire, motivate and even reveal the secrets of great success.

The Art of Distraction

The world's greatest pickpocket, Apollo Robbins, deftly snatches wallets while studying people's behavior. In his hilarious talk, Robbins uses the example of the TEDGlobal 2013 room to show how selective perception can help you snatch a wallet and put it on the shoulder of the owner, who doesn’t even know it.

Less stuff, more happiness

Writer and designer Graham Hill asks: Can having less stuff, living in a smaller room, make you happier? He encourages the use less space and gives three rules for “editing” your life.

Is it possible to give a person new feelings?

We humans can perceive less than one trillionth of all light waves. “Our perception of reality,” says neuroscientist David Eagleman, “is limited by our biology.” He wants to change that. Research into brain processes allowed him to create new interfaces for perceiving never-before-seen information about the world around him.

Every child needs a leader

Rita Pearson, a teacher with 40 years of experience, once heard a colleague say, “I don’t get paid to love children.” Her answer was: “Children don’t learn from people they don’t like.” You will hear an empowering call for educators to love their students and connect with them on a real, human, personal level.

How to speak so that others want to listen

Audio expert Julian Treasure demonstrates the tools of powerful speaking, from practical vocal exercises to tips for speaking with empathy. This is a performance that can help the world sound more beautiful.

The invisible role of social networks

Man is deeply involved in colossal networks social relations- with friends, family, colleagues and others. Nicholas Christakis studies the transmission of a range of individual qualities - his life satisfaction, his weight - from one person to another, showing how your structural place in the network can affect your life in ways unknown to you.

10 facts you didn't know about orgasm

Mary Roach analyzes little-known Scientific research orgasm, including those that are already several centuries old. They helped her come up with 10 unexpected, sometimes strange, and sometimes homely funny statements about the highest point of pleasure in sex. (+18)

History of the world in 18 minutes

In a fascinating 18-minute talk with stunning illustrations, David Christian recounts the entire history of the universe from Big Bang to the Internet. This Long story- a horizon-expanding view of ambiguity, complex systems, the origins of life and humanity, compared to our humble presence in the chronology of the universe.

What if 3D printing was 100 times faster?

3D printing now is nothing more than ordinary two-dimensional printing, and it’s also very slow. So says Joseph DeSimone, who demonstrates on stage at TED 2015 absolutely new technology 3D printing inspired by the movie "Terminator 2". With its help, printing becomes 25–100 times faster, and the elements of the created object become strong and even.

Why do we need researchers

During times of economic instability, our research programs, starting from space probes and ending with the Large Hadron Collider, first in line for budget cuts. Brian Cox explains how curiosity-driven science not only pays for itself, but also drives innovation and makes us more appreciative of our existence.

Caption on the image: “I don’t think the best pickpocket in the world would advertise himself, don’t you think?.. I’m more of an explorer human nature».

If you ever meet Apollo Robbins in person, hold on to your wallet tightly. The professional magician, who has been studying tricks for more than 25 years, gained fame in 2001 when he robbed members of Jimmy Carter's Secret Service, taking the officers' badges and even the keys to his motorcade. Since then, he has gained a reputation as the world's best pickpocket, stealing items from (and giving them back to) more than a quarter of a million people, at his Las Vegas show and at private events, where he has managed to obtain all sorts of valuables, from wedding ring Jennifer Garner to Charles Barkley's cash. His friend David Copperfield calls him "My Favorite Thief."

Robbins was born in Plainview, Texas in 1974. His older half-brothers taught him to steal from passers-by. And as he explains in today's fascinating talk from TEDGlobal 2013, stealing success is more about "manipulating someone's attention" and "predicting human behavior"than other factors.

In 2006, Robbins founded WhizmobInc., a collection of criminals and ex-convicts (Ocean's Eleven in real life) who teach military and law enforcement agencies, how to identify skillful fraud, introduce new trends in fraud, and also teach the peculiarities of human attention. When he's not hosting shows (Tru TV's The Real Hustle and National Geographic's Brain Games), he trains movie and TV stars to think like a street criminal.

In his stunning talk, Robbins recounts a career dedicated to studying human behavior in a rather "unusual way" and then practices his craft on unsuspecting viewers.

TED Blog caught up with Robbins, a self-described “hands-on artist,” to talk about his unusual childhood, the book that changed his life, and his almost “supernatural” skills.

We were stunned by your final stunt. How did you make it?

IN in this case I had to figure out how to distract the audience and the cameras at the right moment.

I noticed that you avoided answering my question though...

Ha! Well, the methodology goes against the theme and message of the report. Usually when people see magic tricks, there are two types: people who come away accepting that there are things they don't know, and people who want to know “How does it work? How did this happen? They want to solve the mystery. People tend to be surprised that their attentiveness is lower than they think, which is what I was trying to convey.

You said that your older half-brothers stole from people at the zoo. What exactly happened there?

They were 14 and 17 years old, I was about 4 years old. They earned their living by running scams and thefts. At the zoo people gathered around railway, to see how the snakes were fed, and during this time my brothers walked around in the crowd, stealing from wallets and purses, or cutting pockets with blades to take out wallets.

Did you understand what was happening?

At the time I thought they were just playing with people. Although I have one vivid memory: my 14-year-old brother lived in the attic, and one day I went up there and saw all these IDs and wallets there, and he said, “Just be quiet!”, as if it was a secret. I didn't understand what that meant until a few years later when I asked, "What are you guys doing?" They never used the word pickpocketing, which is surprising.

What did they call it?

They simply said that they stole wallets and documents. My mother's brother was in prison for several years before these events, and as I understand it, he taught them.

Were you an understanding child?

I had physical disabilities as a child. I had big problems with a musculoskeletal system, so I did not have innate dexterity in my hands. I also wore leg braces like Forrest Gump. This limited my interaction with the world in many ways, so I was more of an observer. I was surrounded mostly by animals. At age 12, I was on the Humane Society's immediate adoption list, so when an animal was left without an owner, it was brought to me. I had two raccoons, a possum, all kinds of animals. I even had a teddy bear for a week.

Can't be.

This is true. I spent a lot of time with these animals and I learned things like nonverbal communication. I think in some ways that led me to what I do now. I have been very aggressive in learning new skills throughout my life.

Did you steal as a teenager?

Yes, and I was kind of arrogant. I stole from grocery stores, or stole cigarettes for my friends. I almost got caught doing this one time.

What happened then?

A grocery store worker was searching me and I really didn't want to get caught, so I thought, "Where would I look if I were him?" I didn't want to put the pack in my pocket, so I put it under my arm, and when he examined me, I could move it freely right hand. With this hand I took the pack out from under his left arm and put it in the apron he was wearing. It was very similar to what I do now.

What else did you steal?

I stole food because at that time, I used to run away for a few weeks to a small place in the forest, behind a grocery store, where homeless people and nomads slept. I stole and brought them food.

Not an easy life for a child.

Yes, people don't think I lived like that. But these events really shaped my thinking. You have a choice when you come from a life like that - either you use it to hold yourself back and make excuses, or you learn from it. This was a big part of the process of gaining independent thinking.

How did you start learning magic tricks?

When I went to a magic shop for the first time, I didn't know anything about them. I had a little gizmo that I found and I wanted to know what it was for. I asked the old man and he started doing tricks with his hands and I thought, “If he can do it, I can do it too.” Then he did some card tricks and told me: “You have a choice: here is a deck of cards, with it you can do 50 tricks. Or, this book: “ Coin tricks", by J.B. Bobo. It will cost more, but you can learn it for a long time, and you can start practicing manual dexterity.” I didn't have any money with me, so I went home, pawned some items, and bought a book. It became my Bible for the next few years. I still have it.

Did you choose interactive stunts because it was a way to interact with people?

Yes. I had a tendency to be cunning because that was the way it was in my family, and I thought it was honest way use these skills to your advantage. It was also a tool for me to communicate with people. This allowed me to get inside their heads.

How did you get to Vegas?

I moved there when I was 21 years old. I was an animator at a game studio and worked part-time doing stunts. There was a rumor that my style was different from most magicians because it focused on entanglement. I performed at Caesar's Palace for five years. My performances were watched by more than 250,000 people. It was almost like being on an assembly line - 24 people every 10 minutes. Right before the end of the show, Jimmy Carter came in. I robbed his bodyguards, which made me famous. Soon I began speaking at law enforcement conferences and meetings with special forces.

Do you agree with people who call your skills supernatural?

I've heard this many times. They say, "It's like time stood still, you did a lot of things and then you moved on, and it was like we were somewhere else for a little while." In fact, I ask them questions and eat up time in their minds. I'm working on multiple levels at the same time, and that's what creates the feeling of the uncanny.

One last question: are you the world's greatest pickpocket?

No. I don't think the best pickpocket in the world would advertise himself, don't you think? There are thousands of people who steal. I'm a student of human nature, and I've probably realized that it requires more skill than most people have. But as long as my skill set is stable, my life will not go down the drain. If I stop succeeding, I can stop doing it. But if the people who do this every day start making mistakes, they will go to jail or have their hands cut off. They must develop their skills to be more accurate. I'm sure there are people better than me at this.

Gentleman Apollo was nicknamed because he eventually returns everything stolen; For him, theft has already become a sport in which he is undoubtedly the best. “If you can open any lock,” he reasons, “you’ll soon get tired of it, and you won’t steal every day. So you shouldn’t be afraid of me.’ Instead of selfish goals, he chose science as his path, studying human memory and the ability to perceive. Thus, in his numerous television appearances, he tries to prove that anyone can become a victim of a thief, and this requires very little: a pair of deft hands, an unlimited supply of jokes, the ability to quickly turn to various types perception and, of course, charisma.

American magician, security specialist and scientist, today known as 'The World's Greatest Pickpocket' or 'The Gentleman Thief'.

Apollo Robbins was born in 1974 in Plainview, Texas. As he admitted in an interview, he first discovered his abilities as a child, when he and his brothers went to the store for ‘shopping’. More than once he was caught by adults, but at the last moment he managed to cover his tracks, usually slipping stolen goods

This is a thing for adults' clothing. According to him, the most the best place to hide something, is under the very nose of the bloodhound.

The Art of Distraction

As he grew older, he began to learn new tricks by playing with cards and chips, but gradually the very idea of ​​stealing became so disgusting to him that he decided to study human thinking and ways to outsmart him. It is no secret that most of the time a person does not think about his actions, but when serious problems arise in front of him

How his brain begins to work hard, trying to process the information received as quickly as possible. This is precisely what Apollo’s technique is based on, which deliberately overloads a person with information through a variety of channels of perception, and then, having achieved complete disorder in the head, shamelessly cleans out all his pockets.

From the outside it may seem that this is just a prank: smiling people stand on stage, and Robbins performs tricks over and over again and puts them in his pocket.

I would like to say, but in fact there is not a drop of magic in the whole performance, but only cold calculation and complete control of the ‘victim’, who would be glad to leave, but has become a hostage not only of decency, but also of her own consciousness.

Apollo gained his greatest fame after he stole all the documents from the pocket of a security agent. former president USA Jimmy Carter. Of course, after the documents were returned, the authorities became seriously interested in the young man who

He soon received the position of security agent, but he did not work as a security guard for high-ranking officials, but in a prison, where he studied the behavior and tricks of real thieves.

Having learned about Apollo's talent, the newspapers made him a national sensation. Soon he began appearing on various shows, including live‘working’ with the audience and presenters, then, at the end of the program, thanks to the cameras, everyone was able to look at the magician’s tricks. It is interesting that, despite the awareness of what is standing nearby

or who will try to rob you, none of the victims managed to catch Apollo’s hand and only shrugged when their rings, wallets, watches and money appeared from his jacket.

In 2006, Robbins founded Whizmob Inc, a company dedicated to preventing scams and training security agents in precautionary techniques.

In 2013, Robbins appeared in 8 episodes of the program 'Brain Games' from the National Geographic channel, in which he showed on camera how to

It is easy to deceive a person and his consciousness. The episodes of the program became quite popular, in which Robbins explained the algorithm of the brain, which clearly shows that when concentrating on something, a person loses control over other senses. So, the hardest thing to find is glasses if they are on your nose.

Today, Apollo Robbins lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he continues his research, this time concentrating on casino players.

Apollo Robbins: The Art of Distraction

The world's greatest pickpocket, Apollo Robbins, deftly snatches wallets while studying people's behavior. In his hilarious talk, Robbins uses the TEDGlobal 2013 room to show how, while distracting people, you can snatch a wallet and put it on the owner's shoulder without even realizing it.

Translated by Vera Kalbach
Reviewed by Natalia Pavlyutkina

Do you think it’s possible to control people’s attention? Or even more than that, guess their behavior? That would be funny. One can only dream of such superpower; the villains would be simply happy! I have spent the last 20 years studying the behavior of people in extreme in an unusual way- cleaning pockets. Usually by distraction we mean something that is happening away from us. But it is what is happening under our noses that is most difficult to notice. What we see every day, we stop noticing.

Who has mobile phone with you right now? Great! Check again. Make sure you have it with you. I borrowed some in advance. You look at them daily, so I want to ask a question. Without looking at your phone now, can you remember the icon in the bottom right corner of the screen? Pull it out and check whether you guessed right or not. Who guessed it? Hands up. Who guessed it?

When you're done looking, turn it off. All phones have something in common. No matter how the icons are arranged, there will still be a clock on the screen. Without peeking, tell me what time it is? You just looked at your watch, right? Interesting. Let's play further. Close your eyes. Yes, I ask - even though you have heard that there is a pickpocket - close your eyes.

You looked at me for about 30 seconds. Without opening your eyes, tell me what am I wearing? Try your best. What color is my shirt? And the tie? Now open your eyes. Raise your hands if you guessed right.

It's funny, isn't it? Some of us are more observant. It seems so. I have a theory about this - the attention model. Exist different models attention, one of them was suggested by Posner. My model is very simple: attention is like a remote control. It's like you have these fancy sensors and there's a little guard sitting inside your skull. I call him Frank. So, Frank is sitting at the table, in front of him is a lot of cool technology: newfangled equipment, cameras. Using the phone, he hears what we hear. He controls all feelings, all sensations. Attention is what controls sensations, what controls reality. This is the gateway to the mind. Without attention it is impossible to realize anything. However, you may not realize that you noticed something. The Cocktail Party Effect: When you're talking to someone at a party, you'll immediately hear your name called without even realizing you were listening.

At work I use various techniques to use attention as a limited resource. If I controlled what you paid attention to, I could easily distract you. Instead of creating a distraction somewhere else, I prefer to focus on Frank. I want to play with Frank, who sits inside your head, your little guard. I will force you to focus not on external sensations, but on internal ones, at least for a second. If I ask you to remember, what would I ask? What's happened? Is your wallet there? And the American Express card in your wallet? When I do this, your Frank turns away to find the answer. He needs to rewind the film. But he will not be able to rewind it if he receives new data.

Sounds good in theory. I can talk endlessly and tell a lot that will sound true, at least partially, but it is better to show it in practice. I'll go down to the hall to conduct an experiment. Just stay where you are.

Hi, how are you? Glad to see you. You performed great. You have a wonderful watch - it’s difficult to remove. Do you have a ring too? Great! I'm just checking. You're exactly like Buffet. It's hard to decide where to start. So many wonderful things.

Hi, how are you? Glad you came.

Sir, could you please stand up? Are you married. You are moving in the right direction. Nice to meet you, sir. Your pockets are almost empty. Is there anything here? There is something. Sit down. Best wishes!

Hello, sir! How are you doing? Nice to meet you! You have a watch, a ring. Do you have your wallet with you? Joe: No. Apollo Robbins: We'll find him for you. Come with me, Joe. Let's clap for Joe. Here. Let's play a little.

(Applause)

I'm sorry!

I won't need the remote anymore. Take it. Thank you, I really appreciate your help.

Get on stage, Joe. The game begins. What's in your front pockets? Joe: Money. AR: Money. Great, let's get started. Can you stand here next to me? Turn to the hall. I'll give you something of mine. I have a poker chip here. Hold it like this. And watch carefully. Your job is to focus on it. So, do you have money in your front pocket? Joe: Yeah. AR: I won't pick your pocket. I'm not ready for the consequences. One guy had a hole there and I wasn't ready for it. Instead of a wallet, I received his phone number. Incredible misunderstanding.

Let's do it simpler. Make a fist. Squeeze harder. Do you feel the chip in your hand? Joe: Yes. AR: If I pull it out, will you be surprised? Joe: Very much. AR: Great! Unclench your fist. Thanks a lot. If you don't mind me, I'll cheat. Let's complicate the task. With the help of your hand. Hold my hand, squeeze me tighter. Do you understand where she went? Joe: No. AR: No, there is no trick. Unclench your fist. While we were focusing on the hand, the chip was already on the shoulder. Let's continue. Take it. Let's try first. Hold your hand like this - unclenched. Raise it higher, watch closely, Joe. Even if I do it slowly, the chip will be on my shoulder. (Laughter) Joe, we'll keep going until you catch it. You can do it, I'm sure. Make a fist.

10 inspiring TED lectures with Russian voiceover

You are human, you can do it. And she is on your shoulder again. This is because you were concentrating on your fist. While you were watching your hand, it was difficult for me to remove your watch. It seems you had something in your pocket. Do you remember what exactly? Joe: Money. AR: Check your pocket - are they still there? (Laughter) Here they are. Go ahead, set them aside. We're just having fun.

It's all about speed. I'll try to put a chip in your hand. Cover my hand with yours, please. It's incredibly simple, isn't it? Does this watch remind you of anything?

(Laughter) (Applause)

Joe: It was great. Very good. AR: Thank you. This is just the beginning. Let's try it a little differently. Place your hands together. Turn them like this. So, look at this chip, it's like a target. This is a red herring. Look - she has disappeared. This time it won't be on your shoulder. It will fall from above directly into your hand. Have you seen it? Yes, we have a guy - my partner - he's up there all day long. If I did it slowly, the chip would fall straight into your pocket. I hope she's here, sir? No, she's not there. It would be a different show. So, (Strange noise) how strange. What is happening there? Can I show them what's there? So strange! Is this yours, sir? I can't imagine how this happened. It just happened to be there.

Amazing.

I need your help. Stand here. Just don't run away. You have something in your trouser pocket. I checked mine, but didn’t find anything, but I noticed something on yours. Can I feel the outside of your pocket? I noticed something down here. Is this yours, sir? Yours? I have no idea. It's a shrimp!

Joe: Yes, I wear it in case I'm hungry.

AR: You had a lot of fun with these people, without even knowing how. Therefore, we are pleased to give you this watch. (Laughter) I hope you like them. And also a few other things: some cash and this. It all belongs to you, as does the applause of your friends. (Applause)

Joe, thank you very much!

(Applause)

Now the question I asked you at the very beginning, but this time don't close your eyes. What am I wearing?

(Applause)

Attention - great power. As I said, it shapes reality. I would like to ask a question to you all. If you could control someone else's attention, how would you use it?