You think youre invisible?

Neil Welcome to 6 Minute English, the programme where we explore an interesting topic and bring you six items of useful vocabulary. I’m Neil.

Dan And I’m Dan.

Neil Now, Dan, have you ever wanted to become invisible?

Dan Invisible - impossible to see. Of course! Who hasn’t?

Neil Well how about this: most of us think we are in fact invisible, at least some of the time … We’ll be looking at the ‘ invisibility cloak illusion ‘ in this programme.

Dan Fascinating. And in that phrase we heard our first three words. Invisibility - the state of being invisible. A cloak is a long piece of material worn like a coat around the shoulders.

Neil And the third word in that phrase - an illusion - is something that seems real but isn’t.

Dan OK, question time. Which of these stories features an invisibility cloak? Is it …

a) The Hobbit

b) Harry Potter

Or c) The Invisible Man

Neil I know they are all connected to invisibility, but I’m gonna say…a) The Hobbit.

Dan Ok - we’ll reveal the answer later on. Now, let’s hear more about this invisibility cloak illusion. What’s the theory, Neil?

Neil Right - imagine you’re sitting in a crowded train. People are busy looking at phones and books, but they’re also looking at each other.

Dan They’re ‘people-watching’, as we call it. Yes. Yes, I do that. I do it a lot, if I’m honest!

Neil So - where does the invisibility part come in?

Dan A team of scientists from Yale University did some experiments on this. Commenting on the research here is neuroscientist Dr Catherine Loveday from Westminster University. What did the Yale team find?

INSERT Dr Catherine Loveday, Neuroscientist, Westminster University

So this study, they asked people that, first they did a survey and they asked people sat in a canteen how much they were watching somebody, and how much they thought those people were observing them. And there was always a mismatch. People always thought they were more observational than the people who were watching them.

Dan So, people think they observe others more than others watch them. Everyone thinks they aren’t observed very much - it’s almost as if they’re invisible to others - or wearing an invisibility cloak!

Neil And the difference between how much they are actually being watched and think they’re being watched is what she called a mismatch. It’s the difference between two things - they’re two things which don’t ‘match’.

Dan In other words - it’s not true that people aren’t watching us - which is why the idea of having an invisibility cloak is just an illusion. This next bit is interesting. Two people were asked to wait in a room. Then they were each asked to make two lists: one, what they noticed about the other person; and two, what they thought the other person noticed about them.

Neil So list one was always longer than list two. Not only that - but there was also an important difference in the content of the lists.

Dan Let’s hear again from neuroscientist Dr Catherine Loveday. What was the difference?

INSERT Dr Catherine Loveday, Neuroscientist, Westminster University When people are observing you they’re doing it in a non- judgemental , fairly empathic way - and not actually noticing the things that you’re self-conscious about. So if for example you feel self-conscious about a spot on your nose, or something that you’re wearing, that won’t be what they’re noticing. It’s a much less judgemental form of observation.

Neil Right, so even if we’re feeling self-conscious about something - that means feeling extra aware of an aspect of ourselves - maybe our appearance or our clothes - we needn’t be.

Dan Yes, you don’t need to feel self-conscious. People aren’t being judgemental.

Neil And being judgemental means being critical.

Dan That’s good news. So even though all I’m thinking about is how badly I need a haircut, the other person is probably noticing something completely different. Back to the question about the invisibility cloak. Which story is it in?

Neil I said The Hobbit.

Dan And it was in fact - Harry Potter. Not only does the garment make you impossible to see, it also protects you against magic spells.

Neil Wow - I need one of those!

Dan In The Hobbit, it’s a ring that makes you invisible , and in The Invisible Man, the main character uses chemicals to achieve the same effect.

Neil Now, before we become invisible ourselves, how about we go through today’s words?

Dan Marvellous. First we had invisible - which meansimpossible to see. You could say that stars are invisible during the day.

Neil They’re only visible at night.

Dan We also had cloak - who would wear a cloak? Maybe a king or a monk? Or maybe you, Neil?

Neil I’m sure I could look good in a cloak - that’s a long piece of material worn over the shoulders. What about illusion?

Dan Illusions appear to be true, but they’re not. It can describe an idea: you could say a politician has the illusion that everything he says is true. Then we had mismatch - which can refer to the difference between two things which perhaps should be similar: there’s a mismatch between what Michael says and what he does.

Neil Who’s Michael?

Dan Just an example! You could also say that Michael and Simone are an unlikely couple - they seem very different - they’re a bit of a mismatch.

Neil What is it with you and Michael?! One, he doesn’t exist, and two, I think you’re being judgemental.

Dan Well, I’m criticising him so, yeah, you’re right - I’m being judgemental. Perhaps I should stop. It’s just that … it’s just that I’m in love with Simone myself, and I get all nervous and self-conscious when I see her.

Neil You mean you become embarrassed about what she might think of you - you become self-conscious?

Dan I do.

Neil Even though she doesn’t exist either?

Dan Well, only in my examples. Sometimes I wish I really did have an invisibility cloak.

Neil Hey, hang on, Dan - where have you gone?

Dan Haha - very funny, I’m still perfectly visible. Time to go - but do visit our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages, and of course our website!

Neil Goodbye for now.

Both Bye!