People that know me best, make fun of my level of interest in movies featuring con jobs and heists. I also have had, since I was a kid, an interest in magic and optical (and once I found out about them, auditory) illusions. Basically I have a huge interest in demonstrations of how our mind and senses are mislead. I don't perform magic myself (at least not for a long time), instead I like to watch, and tear apart tricks. The same with sensory illusions. I'm not saying I'm not misdirected initially, even with the level of exposure I've had throughout my entire life, with expectations of being mislead, I still fall for these tricks, and I love it.
People make the human body out to be the pinnacle of perfection. And then there are some who believe their sensory abilities lie far beyond that of the average person (either innately, or via training). I see our senses as a bunch of shortcuts that are optimized for the usual case, because 99% of the world falls into that usual case. Expectations about what you're seeing, hearing, even touching, tasting, and smelling, can easily override the actual fact of the situation. There really is a lot going on around us, so our brains cheat to sort it all out. If a line looks straight, even if it's passing behind another object, the safe assumption is that it continues unbroken. If you buy a shiny new piece of equipment, the safe assumption is that it sounds better.
Even though I know how the trick works, doesn't mean I don't enjoy the show immensely. I just try not to spend more for cost of admission, than my level of entertainment is worth.
