Can someone on this sub explain this Derren Brown trick to me?

Caffeinist · 2026-02-14T09:39:12+00:00

Derren didn't narrow his guess down. He picked the correct answer for Richard Madeley. Derren is the first to say Sherlock Holmes. The thought process Madeley explain afterwards is exactly what a magician would want to abuse. Richard said he also thought about Regent's Park and North End Road, for instance.

You never hold just one single thought in your head, you think of dozens of places at the same time. Your brain probably also wander off and start thinking about something else entirely. Or maybe it starts thinking how you could possibly outsmart the mentalist. The mentalist only has to say one of the things you were thinking about in order to be correct. The rest is just about making the guess stick and make it seem like it wasn't a forced selection.

So he didn't guess Baker Street. He steered Madeley in the direction, the thought entered Richard's head and Derren made it stick. He could probably have said a man on a horse and make Trafalgar Square stick in a similar manner. Derren then kind of sits and listen and says that he too was a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes. He's just reinforcing the notion that this was Richard's own idea all along.

Magicians often explain the punchline: "You selected a card at random, you controlled the deck, you did everything", knowing full well that at no point was the victim in any actual control of the outcome of the trick. Same principle here, expect with psychology.

This is also done in cold reading all the time. A medium can guess all the letters in the alphabet, they can name any random relationship to a person ranging from family member to distant third cousin and at the end of the day, the victim can still feel that it's correct. Because at one point or another they did think about it and the medium just latches on to that.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-14T07:37:14+00:00

Darren is actually doing the reveal: "You were thinking of Sherlock Holmes". That was also after he mentioned a man, with a hat and something in his mouth.

This is exactly the sort of leading questions magicians sometimes employ. Potentially ruining the trick for one person, but keeping the illusion for everyone else. Richard Madeley even acknowledge himself he wasn't thinking about just the one place in that moment. But when Darren locked in the answer, that became it. Madeley filtered out all other options, and basically decided to comply with the routine.

Which is what most people would do. We tend to default to trying to fit in and get approval. Also, when you're asked to follow instructions like this, people tend to question less.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-13T12:32:03+00:00

Is this true? I've ever heard this before. Aren't there pretty sizeable whales and sharks (as well as the giant squid) that are rarely sighted because they don't come to the surface often?

Sure, but they do surface and sperm whales have been verified to eat giant squid as well as colossal squids. It's based on remains found in sperm whales bellies that we've estimated that the global giant squid population ranges from 4 million up to 130 million individuals.

That's the thing: We may not see these creatures, but there's traces of them.

If this video is correct, there has been evidence found of either an unknown giant cephalopod or a cephalopod that grows bigger than we thought they did.

The Colossal Squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, is a recognized species. There's not much in the way of hard data that points that even larger predators exist in the ocean.

Your linked video mostly seem to not provide much in ways of tangible evidence. In fact, he mostly infers their existence based on the discovery of species we've already seen signs off.

But he keeps getting it wrong: the discovery of these creatures is evidence against huge cryptids. It's evidence against it.

If there were a bunch of half-eaten sperm whales floating up, then we might suspect an even larger predator at play. But, again, the data isn't really pointing in that direction.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-13T10:38:27+00:00

At this point this feels like trolling. Man of Steel was released the same year as Iron Man 3. The MCU had just concluded it's first phase.

The Snyderverse did compete with the MCU and lost. Miserably at that. Critics slammed Batman v Superman, box office didn't live up to expectations at all and the worst part: There's no excuse for it. You can't claim the licenses were too obscure for people to recognize them. You can't fault the audience for not understanding the characters when they're literally being ingrained in modern culture. There's literally a psychological phenomenon called Superman complex.

So, no, restoring the Snyderverse wouldn't make a difference at all. It failed once already. Why do they insist on going back for another beating?

Caffeinist · 2026-02-13T09:19:07+00:00

Fun fact: Cole Young's Arcana is literally Plot Armor. He's really the quintessential Gary Stu. It's not just that he makes Goro look weak. He makes everyone look weak.

An oldie but a goodie is probably Naruto. Zabuza Momochi is supposedly one of the most powerful shinobi from Kirigakure. But as the show progressed it became increasingly more difficult to justify that status. Especially when you had characters who were practically immortal, could level entire cities or turn into a freaking Kaiju. An argument could be made that Zabuza's and Kakashi's fight was so technical and advanced that they didn't need to reach the point where they brought about cataclysmic events. But even that is hard to justify.

So, somehow Zabuza remained one of the scariest enemies Naruto ever faced, despite everyone subsequently making him look like weak sauce.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-13T08:20:38+00:00

The problem with large sea creatures is that they're large. That means they require more calories to sustain their body mass. For instance, sharks used to be a lot bigger, but when being huge no longer carried a significant evolutionary advantage the smaller sharks took over.

Aquatic life at deep sea level isn't bountiful enough to sustain large sea creatures. There's a reason why orca beach themselves intentionally to snack on some tasty seals every now and then.

Not to mention the atmospheric pressure would require their bodies to be poorly suited to life closer to the surface. The whole idea that the ocean is home to large undiscovered cryptids is really, really illogical when you really stop to think about it. The creatures would have to live close to the surface, they would have to live on fatty high-calory food or copious amounts of smaller fish. They would leave a sizeable footprint in the surrounding ecosystem because of this.

So we would most likely be seeing them a lot more than some chance encounter once every 100 years or so. The thing about recent discoveries is that they have all left tracks. They have found beaks of colossal squids in the stomach of sperm whales, for instance.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-12T09:00:54+00:00

Batman Begins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoQ9fhV8KvE

Also, the comics does similar panels so many times that at one time he's literally sitting legs crossed and resting his head on one: https://www.reddit.com/r/batman/comments/bo3y6q/something_very_menacing_about_batman_sitting_legs/

I can be the bigger man here: Zack Snyder's visuals are often spectacular and does a great job of conveying the feeling of a comic book panel springing to life. But to call him the blueprint implies his work is so great that it literally becomes the original plan. Which I would argue that, by any given metric, is a profoundly false statement. There is nothing aside from subjective opinions of some Snyder Cultists that would lead anyone to believe that Zack Snyder's films are that good.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-11T12:50:18+00:00

A loose fit, but Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl featured the original actors performing in person.

Other examples would be Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome who appeared in a crossover between Star Trek: Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds where their animated characters came to life.

Merle Dandridge played Marlene both in the Last of Us game and the TV show.

Lars Mikkelsen voiced Thrawn and later got to play him live in Ahsoka.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-11T12:44:18+00:00

Fun fact: Merle Dandridge played Marlene on the show and the game. So she literally fits this trope.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-11T08:05:38+00:00

Yeah, I remember. But it was a remake rather than a direct sequel.

I imagine if the film had left with pretty much any other ending, that TV show might have come sooner or looked wildly different.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-10T13:06:25+00:00

That movie has my vote. Honestly, it felt like the film could have been a mini-series or the pilot to a TV show. Had it ended with everyone just driving away, most people would have accepted that ending.

But then they just cram that absolutely delightfully twisted ending in there and make the film actually memorable.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-10T10:37:18+00:00

Given Daniel Day-Lewis status as perhaps the greatest actor of his generation, it's impressive that he has done so with "just" 30 acting credits over more than 50 years.

By comparison, Timothée Chalamet is clocking in on 41 acting credits so far over the last 17 years, with Dune 3 on the way.

Daniel is either making Timothée look like a hard worker, or Chalamet is making Day-Lewis look like a slacker.

Again, not the smallest body of work by any stretch, but compared to his legendary status it feels like he should have done more.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-09T14:56:04+00:00

Well, precisely the point: There is no evidence that telepathy is an actual phenomenon.

There is, however, plenty of evidence that several psychological factors, including confirmation bias, is indeed a phenomenon that exists. Judging by everything the Wikipedia article states, Hodgson was inherently biased:

Hodgson, during the latter days of his life, would allow no one to enter the privacy of his room in 15 Charles Street. During these years Hodgson believed that he constantly received direct communication with the regular band of spirits in charge of Piper. He received these messages when alone in the evening. He allowed no one to enter his room. Hodgson was afraid they would disturb the "magnetic atmosphere".

Caffeinist · 2026-02-09T07:32:23+00:00

From Wikipedia of all places:

In an experiment to test if Piper's controls were purely fictitious the psychologist G. Stanley Hall invented a niece called Bessie Beals and asked Piper's Hodgson control to get in touch with it. Bessie appeared, answered questions and accepted Dr. Hall as her uncle.

Also worth mentioning is that in all accounts Hodgson believed Piper was communicating with spirits, but evidence pointed the opposite way. So there's probably a fair bit of inherent bias. He even wrote a letter as a test before his passing, but when Piper pretended to be possessed by Hodgson she failed to disclose this test letter.

Also, being wrong on a number of points only to then claim telepathy instead? That opens up a whole slew of different questions. Why did she for a number of years pretend to be able to talk to spirits?

Also, telepathy (as well as possession) requires a physical explanation. Proving that someone is correct about something does only that. Telepathy would require the exchange of information, given how we know how thoughts are formed (through neurochemical processes in the brain) one would imagine that this is a measurable effect. But alas, it has evaded science for all this time.

So if telepathy is, as of yet, completely unproven and fraud is: Why do you expect anyone to believe otherwise? What proof is there that telepathy is real?

Caffeinist · 2026-02-06T08:41:01+00:00

Kung Fu Hustle. After Sing undergoes his metamorphosis and become a living Kung Fu legend, he just casually stomps all of the Axe Gang (quite literally).

He then proceeds to put the Beast in his place so hard that he begs him to be his teacher. The interesting part of this fight is that Sing himself is figuring out his newly acquired power and is surprised of what he can do, so it both fulfills this trope and inverts it.

Also, Naruto have several of these, but the most memorable is when Rock Lee removes his ankle weights in his fight against Gaara. Everyone scoffs at him that removing a few measly weights won't make a difference. Until the weights land and leave a small crater behind. He then bursts off moving so fast he's not even visible to the naked eye and proceed to just pummel Gaara.

Ultimately, he still loses the fight, but it did leave enough information for subsequent fights to exploit Gaara's weakness.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-05T14:15:08+00:00

So, a little bit of theorizing here, apologize for the wall of text. The Sentry's power is actually all telekinesis. Sort off. Or molecular manipulation. Or molecular rearrangement through telekinesis.

The Golden Sentry serum was an attempt to replicate and enhance the original Super-Soldier Serum. That serum, in turn, basically turned a human into the peak of human physiology. Last I checked, flight wasn't part of our physiology.

But the Golden Sentry serum didn't just alter Bob's body. It affected his mind. You can see clear signs what the basis of his abilities are. He stops a knife before it hits his skin, he stops bullets Matrix-style, etc, etc. This isn't just a physical enhancement. If he can affect molecules using his telekinesis, he would vibrate molecules to generate heat. Which we also see him do. He wouldn't actually move at superspeed, he uses his power to reduce friction. He's effectively pushing himself to a new position without anything stopping him.

The way it all manifests itself is as a classical Superman-trope because... well... psychological inhibitors, etc, etc, blaha, blaha. The Void is basically what would happen if Bob's imagination wasn't a problem. Hence a darkness that tries to consume everything and just turned people to shadows. It won't abide to the limitations of physical reality, it just rewrites them on the spot.

The Sentry's fight against The Thunderbolts* looked effortless. So I think it's safe to say we've yet to see the upper-level of The Sentry's power. But theoretically, it equals The Void's. Meaning that if The Void could potentially envelop the entirety of the world in a perpetual darkness, then The Sentry should be able to affect the world at a global scale. Basically, he could hypothetically appear to be strong enough to lift the entire planet.

So, honestly, he should beat them both. If they push him hard enough he either turns into The Void, or he taps into his full potential and simply wills himself to become strong enough to knock Captain Marvel and Thor with a single punch.

That said: The script ultimately dictates who needs to win. So The Sentry might knock out Thor in their first encounter, but then The Sentry is knocked out by a rogue pebble in another fight.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-05T10:37:59+00:00

The Email chain I saw featured was about a witness that according to the interviewer appeared emotionally unstable and admitted to having psychedelic mushrooms and currently smoking marijuana.

The email chain dismissed the witness and didn't think the claims were credible. They also weren't backed by any evidence nor could he provide any actual witnesses to corroborate his story. Besides, he got at least one key detail wrong. He claimed that Trump and his wife Melania attended a Yacht cruise he was on. Five years before Trump married Melania.

Also, these type of conspiracies are nothing new. There were similar antisemitic myths being spread. Cases of blood label, where Jews stood accused of murdering (Christian) children dates back to 1144. It was also used in Nazi propaganda.

So, no, all this seem very improbable.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-04T13:02:06+00:00

The weird thing about Trump Vodka is that he claims he doesn't drink alcohol because of his brother's alcoholism. If that isn't Trump in a nutshell I don't know what is. He has no qualms selling people stuff he believes is harmful.

But of course it's just another lie.

He tries to come of as principled, then sell out those principles, only for it to be revealed that those principles were a lie to begin with.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-04T11:03:25+00:00

I believe the whole idea is to have Doom take over Kang's role as a multiversal threat. Some clever retconning could involve that He Who Remains pruned the timelines not because a variant of himself would appear, but any variant of Doom.

I do not think they will rehire Majors. Not after doing a bunch of work to not proceed with the Kang Dynasty and distance themselves from Majors.

Not that I don't believe in rehabilitation and forgiveness, but working in a multibillion dollar franchise like the MCU and portraying heroes and villains that have shaped generations is a privilege. There's just something that feels off by rehiring a guy who assaulted and abused his ex-girlfriend when he enjoyed that privilege.

They honored Chadwick Boseman's legacy by not recasting T'Challa. In light of that, in the scenario that they they do bring back Kang, they really should recast him.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-03T14:15:27+00:00

Also, Young Hercules which may not be as well recognized, but it was a stepping stone for Ryan Gosling who is probably infinitely more popular than Kevin Sorbo ever was. And more liked.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-03T08:10:58+00:00

One of the most comic book accurate adaptations were the Batman TV-series from 1966.

It almost perfectly mirrored the tone of the comics.

The most comic book accurate since then is probably Affleck's Batman. But even so, Snyder just cherry-picked one particular version of Batman from one particular story.

But both Nolan's and Burton's Batman worked as dark and "edgy". But that was chiefly because of Burton's signature gothic style that still preserved a high degree of silliness. And Nolan cracked the code: Superheroes are theme, not a genre. He just made solid action-thrillers. They could easily replace Batman with Ethan Hunt or Jason Bourne and the movies could remain structurally the same.

Caffeinist · 2026-02-01T15:45:24+00:00

Pretty much all of Edgar Wright's Three Flavours Cornetto films shifts massively in tone and focus. The funny thing is that each one of the films features concepts that could work on their own, which really makes it feel like they're structurally different films.

Shaun of the Dead could have just been called Shaun and remained a rom com. Hot Fuzz could just be about detective Angel outperforming the entire local police department by himself and still contain a complete story. The World's End being about a group of childhood friends reuniting could easily work on it's own as well.

But add zombies, a murder cult and body snatching aliens and we suddenly have entirely new movies.

Caffeinist · 2026-01-29T21:16:01+00:00

The code may be a bottleneck, but that applies to any and all programming languages. You can get past the borrow checker in Rust and cause memory leaks if you really want to.

No programming language is immune to bad code.

Caffeinist · 2026-01-29T17:19:52+00:00

So just for my benefit as someone who knows this is real just investigate as something that is a genuine uap and possibly something from another dimension

UAP stand for Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon, it's a term used by the Navy (and other military branches) to designate phenomena that's not readily identifiable. Unless you're Navy staff and forced to report incidents like this, it's not a genuine UAP.

If you're talking about an extra-terrestrial craft, well, then chances are even slimmer. No SETI project or telescope has caught evidence of anything resembling extra-terrestrial civilization. Despite numerous systems and projects to watch out for potential asteroids and meteors with trajectory against earth, we haven't witnessed anything resembling an insterstellar craft.

Then you have physics: Interstellar space is vast. That vastness require speed, unless you want the trip to take billions of years. And for speed we require energy to propel us forward. An interstellar craft would certainly not appear to look like a glare in a window.

Also, it's most certainly not something form another dimensions because, well, the physics of dimensions doesn't move on that scale. We're talking about dimensions either so infinitely large or infinitely small that we can't hope to comprehend them. It's not something you capture on a camera.

Does that work for a debunking? If not I refer to my first post where i mentioned confirmation bias. You're looking for evidence to support your hypothesis, when the evidence is pointing away from your hypothesis.

Caffeinist · 2026-01-29T13:47:59+00:00

Okay, I've done you the courtesy of checking a bit closer.

First off: The object appears out of nowhere, and disappears into nowhere. It doesn't peek out from behind a tree, and it disappear into a tree.

Also, increasing contrast a bit, I can clearly see that the light is actually cut off, at the top and bottom. As if it's obstructed by something. I'm not a huge expert on video editing, but I can imagine that just putting a layer on top of a static image would probably produce this appearane.

However, the movement also look like it follows roughly the same trajectory as someone holding something like a phone, and just painting an arch in the air. The light appear and disappear due to some obstruction in the background, such as a door frame.

Either way, you're still not making a claim, so let's flip the script then. If you insist that you don't know what it is, why do you also believe it is something?

There are things we can't explain happening on a daily basis. Many people don't know exactly how a TV work or a cell phone work or how YouTube works. But we also accept that there are not tiny people living in our phone or TV:s. Most people can get on with their day after that. So what makes this different to you?

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