Everyone Loves You When You're Dead. Neil Strauss
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shape? Lustrous in parts?
TARG : Good. Take a breath.
I’m probably thinking too hard, right?
TARG : I just want you to get back into that mood. If you go back to that object that you saw, what else comes to view?
Um, parts are gray or black. And maybe it’s rough on the outside.
TARG : You can write all that down. You are in contact with the object. Now you just want to draw the object that I’m about to show you.
Should I try to put my mind inside your pocket or just let it come to me?
TARG : Just let it come to you. You can look into your immediate future, because I’m about to lay this in front of you. (I put the pen to the paper and let my hand relax. I start to sketch a circle, but at the bottom left, for some reason, I draw a small shape jutting out of its side.) What did you just draw here?
I felt there was something protruding on one side of it.
TARG : Did you look at the thing in your hand? What did it look like?
Shiny.
TARG : You can write that down.
You probably have, like, a wallet or a pencil in your pocket.
TARG : Now tell me, without naming the object, what is the overriding property? Without naming the object, what are the recurring things you’re experiencing?
Well, I feel like there’s a circle with something poking out of one side. And I still feel like it’s lustrous in parts but not all of it.
TARG : Well, that’s all entirely correct. Would you like to see the object?
There’s one more thing I want to write down. I feel like maybe it’s a tool. I don’t know. Maybe I’m going too far.
TARG : What made you think that? What did you experience?
Because when I thought it had a protrusion on it, I made an inference that it would be a handle for an object that has some sort of practical use.
TARG : You can write that down if you want to. I think that’s excellent. Not ideal conditions here. Are you ready to see it?
He pulls a round black object out of his pocket, with something jutting out of the side, and places it next to my sketch. It matches perfectly. The object is a magnifying glass in a black, round, rough-surfaced case with a small protruding handle used to pull the shiny magnifying lens out.
How did you do that?
TARG : I have a background of thirty years in physics. So I wouldn’t be doing something that didn’t actually work.
So what’s the secret?
TARG : The secret is that there isn’t really any secret. It’s an ability we all have.
A friend of mine was videotaping the interview, and we later showed it to a professional illusionist named Franz Harary to see if there was any magic trick involved.
FRANZ HARARY: With the experience you just showed me, there is no way magic could be involved.
Maybe Harary was protecting trade secrets. Maybe he didn’t know this particular trick. Maybe I just got lucky. Or maybe . . .
[Continued . . .]
Shortly after my experience with Russell Targ, I was interviewing Britney Spears. As recounted in The Game, the interview was going nowhere. Each question received a short, indifferent response. So I decided to do something I still feel bad about: trick her.
I told her about remote viewing, then asked her to think of someone she knew. I explained that I would guess the initials, and then proceeded to do a mind-reading illusion I learned while researching The Game. Of course, I messed it up. The following is a more complete transcript of the scene summarized in the book.
BRITNEY SPEARS: If you get this, I’m going to shit.
What was the person’s initials?
SPEARS: G. C.
Okay, turn over the paper.
SPEARS: C. C.! That’s weird. That’s really close. I can’t believe you did that!
Eighty percent of the time I can nail it if someone’s open.
SPEARS: I probably have so many walls in front, so that’s why you didn’t get them both. Let’s try it one more time.
This time, why don’t you try it?
SPEARS: I’m scared. I can’t do that.
I tell her I’m going to write down a number between one and ten, and she has to psychically guess what it is. On a piece of paper, I write “7,” which is the number people guess most of the time, and hand it to her face down.
Now tell me the first number that you feel.
SPEARS: What if it’s wrong? It’s probably wrong.
What do you think it is?
SPEARS: Seven.
Seven? Okay, now turn over the paper.
SPEARS: Maybe I chose too fast. (She slowly turns over the paper, then screams when she sees that the number is seven.) How did I do that? (She jumps off the couch, runs to the hotel mirror, and looks at herself in it.) Oh my God, I did that!
That’s amazing.
SPEARS: Whoa, I did that! (Returns to the couch, still excited.) I just knew that it was seven! Oh my God, I can’t believe I just did that. That’s weird.
See, you already know all the answers inside. It’s just that society trains you to think too much.
SPEARS: You already know the . . . Oh my God. Cool interview! I like this interview! This has been the best interview of my life. This is cool. (Fans herself to calm down.) Can we stop the tape recorder?
I turn off the tape recorder, and she talks about psychology, spirituality, writing, and escaping her family. When I turn it on again, a much better interview ensues.
SPEARS: I’m writing a book right now.
What’s it about?
SPEARS: I don’t want to say because I want to come out and whatever . . . But it’s like I’m going inside myself like I’ve never gone before. It’s really kind of cool. And I never thought that I would just pick up a pen and start writing. I didn’t think I would do that. But something is happening and I can’t stop.
It’s hard to write about yourself.
SPEARS: It is weird writing about yourself. But I’m not writing about