Chapter 628 Magic is not pseudoscience
After a while, my phone rang. I glanced at it, opened the door, and welcomed Mr. Kong and Qi Yi into the study. I made some tea and poured water, then pointed to the fruit on the table and said, "Try it."
They each took an orange.
After a few small talk, I got to the point.
"Qi Yi, we had a meeting a few days ago. Your matter has been finalized. You will be hired as a full-time employee."
Qi Yi said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Wan."
"There are some things we need to discuss tonight. First, let's talk about your job. It's going to be just like your old street performances. You'll approach tourists at scenic spots and perform close-up magic.
The company provides food and accommodation, and pays a basic salary. Secondly, the bonus is calculated based on the number of times you perform. What is different from ordinary street performances is that
After the performance, you ask the tourists to sign your name. Of course, if you perform for one person, you sign the name, and if you perform for ten people, you only sign one name.
He nodded and said, "I understand. It's just a matter of frequency."
"Yes. If you have any ideas, you can talk about them now."
Kong Haoran said: "Tell everything you have, first the villain and then the gentleman."
Qi Yi thought for a moment and said:
"Mr. Wan, I have some ideas on how to attract tourists."
"Okay, tell me."
"First, I won't perform for a single tourist. It's best to target groups of three to five tourists.
A team with too many people is also not good, as it is often difficult to stop at the same time. Once I stabilize three or five people, the others will gather around to watch.
Again, I would choose young people or beautiful girls, because beautiful girls are attractive in themselves."
I smiled and said, "You're worthy of your extensive street performance experience. This is the effect I was looking for. Secondly, try to save time and don't use too many props for one trick."
Qi Yi became interested and said, "I use visual illusions and physical fatigue, and sometimes I barely need any props at all."
Kong Haoran immediately said, "Perform one."
Qi Yi pulled a pencil out of my pen holder and said:
"Hold the pencil one-third with your left hand, pull it out with your right hand, and hold it one-third as well. Pull the pencil out again with your right hand. Do this every four seconds."
After saying that, he kept pulling the red and white pencil back and forth.
Kong Haoran suddenly exclaimed: "The pencil has become longer."
Qi Yi said: "This is an optical illusion."
After performing this. Qi Yi said:
"Now, please cross your left and right hands and hold them together. Only extend your two index fingers. Then, forcefully pull them apart."
Suddenly I heard him say, "I'm hypnotized, close it."
Our index fingers did close together.
Qi Yi said, "This is called physical fatigue. Even if I don't hypnotize you, your body will close up."
Kong Haoran tried again, and sure enough, within a few seconds, his two index fingers automatically closed like moths to a flame. Then he asked:
"What if they go back and try and can't close it even without your help?"
Qi Yi smiled and said, "He felt a sense of accomplishment and went to fool others. He felt that going to Daughter Island was worth it and he even learned a magic trick."
I nodded and said, "Anyway, it's just to entertain people. Qi Yi is right, just give people a little treat out of the blue."
Qi Yi smiled when he heard me praising him.
I said, "Can you turn water into liquor and liquor into water?"
He shook his head.
I said, "I'll teach you. I'll write down the recipe for you before we leave. I'll make one for you now."
Qi Yi's eyes widened and he asked, "You'll teach me?"
I went to the bookcase, took out a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed it, and poured it into two small teacups. They took a sip and confirmed that it was indeed mineral water.
I poured another glass and asked them to drink it.
Kong Haoran exclaimed in surprise: "It's really wine."
Qi Yi looked at me gratefully.
I said, "I've learned some tricks myself. They're no longer very useful to me, so I can teach them to you."
Qi Yi immediately left the table and said, "According to Daoist etiquette, I must kowtow to you."
After saying that, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
Kong Haoran asked: "Is there such a rule?"
I nodded. "Without rules, there's no order. Among colleagues, if you really want to teach, you have to kowtow. But among friends, I'll tell you what's going on. Those are some useless magic tricks. Basically, I've deciphered them."
Kong Haoran said: "Can you pass this to me?"
I laughed out loud: "Just be a good general manager. You are not a professional magician, it's cheap to do this.
I don’t even play anymore, let alone you. Only Qi Yi can play, he’s a professional in this field.”
Kong Haoran didn't ask any more questions.
I said to Qi Yi:
"The scenic area is quite large, and there will be a lot of tourists in the future. Can you help me find two more close-up magicians?"
He answered loudly, "No problem."
I said, "Then there will be three of us, including you. Bring them to me within ten days."
Qi Yi said, "Okay. However, regarding the salary package, Mr. Wan, please introduce it to me so I can discuss it with them."
From the moment he left the table to become a disciple, he started using "you" instead.
I said, "This is the core issue I want to discuss. While the final amount hasn't been determined yet, I can guarantee that my salary, which is above average for white-collar workers in Upstate, will satisfy you."
Kong Haoran interjected, "General Wan never mistreats those who are capable. You can rest assured about that."
"I won't treat you unfairly, but I also have requirements."
Qi Yi said, "You go ahead."
"Because some of the current self-media bloggers used to perform magic tricks. In recent years, the economic situation has been bad, so they have been making money by deciphering magic tricks online.
If you don't have your own developed programs and always rely on a few old programs to make a living, your idea is that I work very hard and I deserve a higher salary.
My thought is, you haven't even made a name for yourself yet, and you're still asking for a raise. That's wishful thinking. I'll be fired next month."
Qi Yi pursed her lips and smiled.
I said word for word, "I'm telling the truth. If you're playing and a tourist says, 'I don't want to play anymore,' I get it. Once is fine, twice is forgivable, because there's always someone who knows magic, but more than that is not okay."
Kong Haoran said, "Mr. Wan's point is that the company doesn't want to keep idle people. If you want to develop programs and don't have unique skills, the company will have to replace people."
Qi Yi said, "Okay, Mr. Wan, I will definitely live up to your expectations."
I said, "This isn't just your problem. You should also tell the other two applicants that it won't work if they just rest on their laurels."
"OK."
"Then you can go back now. I'll give you the recipe."
I got up and wrote the prescription on the desk, folded it and handed it to him.
He bowed to me as he left.
Returning to his seat, Kong Haoran said, "Boss Wan, you have your own way of doing things. If your performance is not good, you can fire him at any time." This created competition among the three of them.
It's like putting a catfish in a pond. Without an oxygen pump, they chase each other and produce some oxygen."
"In fact, the real competition between people, families, and countries is the competition of ideas and technology."
Kong Haoran laughed and said, "Magic can't be considered technology, it's a kind of pseudo-technology."
I laughed heartily and said, "Don't underestimate magic. Magic is a kind of technology. When you designed this magic trick, you must use logic, right?
You can’t design something that defies logic. However, the effect presented must be defying logic.
For example, there's an empty chair, and the magician covers it with a cloth, shakes it a few times, and then moves the cloth away. A beautiful woman is sitting on the chair, blowing kisses to the audience. Doesn't that defy logic?"
Kong Haoran nodded.
I continued:
"But when you design this magic trick, you can't violate logic. Wherever the person hides, it must be able to hide. And the place where the person emerges must have a movable panel that can be opened quickly.
This design process must follow scientific principles.”
Kong Haoran raised his thumbs up: "Actually, I want to come and sit here more often, but I'm afraid of disturbing you."
I laughed and said, "That's another false proposition. If you want to be logical, just call and ask first. If I'm free, you can come over. If not, we can make an appointment another time."
He laughed heartily: "Whatever comes into your hands, it makes sense anyway."
I said, "The truth is in our daily lives. We don't need to study it specifically. In our daily lives, using common sense to understand everything is the truth. It's not that profound or complicated."
He said, “Give me an example.”
"Okay, let's take yesterday's news as an example. Over thirty people in Upstate were scammed out of over eight million dollars. The scammers' method is simple: they tell you to fake orders and make money.
After letting you make money for a while, they will tell you a way to make more money, but there is only one requirement: you pay tuition first.
If you think about it in a normal way, you won't be fooled. If the scammer has a trick, why would he tell you? Is he afraid that he has too much money to spend?
Kong Haoran kept laughing.
I said, "Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching, which is full of simple principles that couldn't be simpler. Yet, people of his time praised it as profound philosophy. Therefore, all principles are just common sense."
After chatting with Kong Haoran for another half an hour, he joked when he left: "Then I will also abide by the Tao. Call me first in the future and don't bother me."
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