A very nice magic mindreading trick

[Dardedar]

Interactive. Try it here:

http://www.flashlightcreative.net/swf/mindreader/

[kwlyon]

It's a pretty stupid trick:) I mean just do the math and the only options are 9*x (where x is a number between 1 and 9). Thus your number MUST be either 9,18,27,36,45,54,63,72, or 81....all of which has the same symbol ascribed to them....wow...what mental powers the programmers must have possessed!

**Little Detail for any who may care**

We need a two digit number. So, let x represent the number in the tens place and y represent the number in the 1's place--i.e. if the number were 27 then x=2 and y=7.

We can represent the number as 10x+y (i.e. 10*2+7=27)

Adding the digits together yields x+y (i.e. 2+7)

Subtracting from the original number: 10x+y-(x+y)=9x

Thus it doesn't matter what the second digit is and there are only 9 possible values regardless of the two digit number chosen. Look them up and you will see they ALL have the same symbol. I saw this on a tv show when I was a kid...it kinda killed a part of my soul when I learned how stupid simple it is....the only thing that hurt worse was finding out how a nuclear power plant produces electricity.

[Savonarola]

It's a pretty stupid trick .... Look them up and you will see they ALL have the same symbol.

The clever bit is that the symbols shuffle every cycle (and that the "correct" symbol isn't on only the 9s).

[Dardedar]

.it kinda killed a part of my soul when I learned how stupid simple it is

Kevin, all (nearly) magic tricks are "stupid simple" once you know how they work. I've had at least half a dozen people write me asking how this one works (of course I don't tell them). It's a simple but sneaky "force" and the part that gets people (and gives goose bumps) is that you can do it over and over.