The Jedi Mind Trick

Several people have asked me "Who is that guy on the trip with you?"

I met Bobby about a year ago in Austin. Bobby is one of those people that can span the full range from debauchery to enlightened compassion, depending on the mood and needs of the situation. He has had many lifetimes of experiences in his life and has many interesting stories to tell, but those are his stories, and I won't tell them for him. This is one story that involved me.

Bobby and I went to Buzios for two days. Buzios is a beach town a few hours drive from Rio. Buzios has a nice beach, a small compact downtown, and a lot of Brazilian tourists. We spent the day enjoying the beach and the evening in the town center, then went to a popular bar that was a short walk away. Around midnight we walked over to the popular disco in the town called Priviledge. A long line snaked from the front door around the side, and Bobby and I had the same thought: It's not worthwhile to wait in line for an hour to get inside. Maybe we should just go back to the hotel and drift into sleep?

But Bobby asks: Should we try to get in without waiting in that long line? Sure, I answer, if you can.

Bobby walks up to the door man at the front of the line and says "Bobby Costello, writer for Rolling Stone Magazine. We're on the VIP guest list." I don't think the door man speaks English, but he points to a woman with a clipboard and list, and motions for her to go talk to Bobby.

Bobby waits for her to approach, flashes a big smile, and says "Hi, I'm Bobby Costello, I'm a writer for Rolling Stone Magazine. We're on the guest list." He says it slowly, calmly, enunciating each word. She smiles back and starts leafing through the sheets of paper on her clipboard. Bobby continues: "I'm here to do an article for Rolling Stone. You know Rolling Stone?" She says "Costello?", slightly mispronouncing it. He answers "Caw-stell-low. It might be under Bobby." She starts leafing through the papers again, but she's mostly looking at him, not at the papers. He's still smiling at her, eyes big & wide. He says something else, mentioning Rolling Stone again, and gestures with his hands, and she follows his gestures and movements.

She looks down at the clipboard and says "Yes, OK." Then she waves to the door man at the exit to allow us through and motions for us to go in that way, to avoid the line. She hands us entry cards and VIP passes, so we can avoid the line and also don't pay the cover charge. Bobby thanks her, smile still large, as we walk in.

This is called the Jedi Mind Trick because of the Jedi's mythical ability to convince people of things that are patently false. Remember in the first Star Wars movies when Obi-wan says "These are not the droids you are looking for. We can move along." And the stormtrooper lets them move along because, well, he's Obi-wan Kenobi.

The same thing can work many times in real life, if you're confident enough about it. If you are sufficiently convincing then other people will want to believe what you believe, even if there is factual evidence to the contrary. The key to convincing others is to believe it yourself, and project that outward. Bobby's name was not on the guest list, and he doesn't work for Rolling Stone Magazine. But he believed it while it was talking to her, and he manifested that externally. Since he clearly knew he was on the guest list and he knew he wasn't lying, it must be OK to let him in.

Bobby was also using a cultural touchstone. Rolling Stone Magazine is a cross-language meme. I'm not even sure how well she spoke English, and she had probably never read Rolling Stone Magazine, but she knew the name. That name is a meme that carries a whole array of connotations and is the same in any language, and that makes it stronger than an explanation in any one language.

We stayed about 30 minutes, enjoyed ourself, then went back to the hotel and went to sleep.