Psychology: Preception and Congition - Essay Example

The article Towards a Science of Magic argues that we can learn a lot about the way the human mind perceives and understands things by studying how magician’s tricks affect people. It shows how magicians, all along, have learned much about how the mind of people work, and these magicians are using the knowledge to perform their trade. I believe that the arguments are sound and that research into this area should be given more attention, however it can be greatly improved by emphasizing the greater impact and practical applications of pursuing such research.

Reading the first few paragraphs, I thought that it would be better if they stressed more on the implications and benefits that can be obtained if this area of study is pursued. I understand the significance of learning more about how the human mind works, but I believe that they would benefit much and get more attention if they elaborated on the impact of this research earlier on. For example, other than for the sake of expanding our knowledge and understanding of the human mind, a more practical benefit would be for that knowledge to be used by leaders in managing people, salesmen in convincing purchasers, business owners in convincing clients, public speakers in holding the attention of the audience, and so on and so forth.

The applications are endless, and the impact is great. If this was only emphasized, then I think they wouldn’t be having the problem of lack of interest on further research in this area. It seems to me ironic that they are studying how the mind works, and yet they neglect how their article can affect the mind of their readers. This article is supposed to persuade, so it should be written to answer why people should be interested. This, as it is now, would only be of interest to a small group of people, particularly other psychologists, but what of the real decision makers behind the research companies who are not so keen on giving attention to this area of research? As Dale