Full transcript
0:00Patrick Jane isn't psychic and he never
0:02was. Every skill he uses to read people,
0:04manipulate suspects, and solve crimes is
0:06based on real psychology and observation
0:08techniques that you can actually learn.
0:10Today I'm breaking down eight of his
0:12core abilities from The Mentalist with
0:13actual examples from the show and real
0:15advice on how you can start using them
0:17yourself.
0:21Patrick Jane's father called his
0:22observation skills x-ray eyes and it's
0:24the foundation of everything he does. In
0:26some flashbacks we see young Patrick
0:27working in a carnival already
0:29demonstrating these razor-sharp
0:30observation skills. His abilities are
0:32powers of observation, deduction, and
0:34induction. What Jane does is notice
0:36small details that others miss like a
0:38callus on someone's hand, dirt under
0:40their fingernails, the way they hold
0:41themselves. And while many people think
0:43these are some magical powers, they're
0:44just skills that you can learn yourself.
0:47Start by playing what I call the detail
0:49game. When you meet someone, force
0:50yourself to notice five specific things
0:52like their watch, their shoes, any
0:54jewelry, their posture, their eye
0:56contact. Then make educated guesses
0:58about what those details mean. A worn
1:00wedding ring suggests a long marriage.
1:02Calloused [music] hands indicate manual
1:03labor. Expensive shoes with a cheap
1:05watch might mean they value appearance
1:07over function. [music] The more you
1:08practice deliberate observation, the
1:10more automatic it becomes and suddenly
1:11you're noticing things that seem
1:13invisible to everyone else. Jane didn't
1:14develop this overnight though. He spent
1:16years in the carnival training these
1:18skills. Have in mind that these things
1:20take time, but you can literally start
1:21today by simply paying attention.
1:26Patrick uses cold reading abilities he
1:28learned as a fake psychic and reapplies
1:30them to corpses, suspects, and crime
1:32scenes. In Seeing Red, when Jane meets
1:35psychic Kristina Frye, we see two
1:37masters of cold reading face off each
1:39trying to read the other while
1:40protecting their own tells. In His Red
1:42Right Hand, Jane does his typical cold
1:44reading on Rebecca telling her about her
1:46past and feelings with stunning accuracy
1:48just by observing her reactions and
1:51building on each successful hit. Cold
1:53reading works through a combination of
1:54educated guesses, reading body language,
1:56and using the Barnum effect, which means
1:58making statements general enough that
2:00people fill in specifics themselves.
2:02Start with high probability statements.
2:04If someone's in their 30s, you can
2:06safely guess they've had relationship
2:07struggles or career doubts because
2:09statistically most people have. Watch
2:11their reaction closely. If they lean in
2:14or their eyes widen, you've hit
2:15something that's true. Then get more
2:17specific based on the response. The key
2:19is confidently stating observations as
2:21facts. Instead of saying, "You seem
2:23stressed." try "You're dealing with a
2:25lot of pressure right now." People
2:26naturally confirm accurate statements
2:28and often give up additional information
2:30to correct near misses, which gives you
2:33even more material to work with.
2:35Practice on some friends first, making
2:37educated guesses about their day or
2:39recent experiences based solely on their
2:41appearance and demeanor. You'll get the
2:43hang of it soon enough.
2:47Now, this one is quite tricky since it's
2:49obviously overblown for the sake of the
2:51show. We see Jane's hypnosis skills
2:52appear throughout the series. In Russet
2:54Potatoes, an entire case revolves around
2:56hypnosis, where someone was hypnotized
2:58to drag a body believing it was
3:00potatoes. In My Bloody Valentine, Jane
3:02works his hypnosis on a gang member
3:04using a card game as distraction,
3:06proving you don't need a swinging watch.
3:07Real hypnosis isn't mind control. It's
3:09more like a guided focused attention.
3:11Anyone can learn basic techniques, but
3:13the key is building rapport first. Match
3:15their breathing rhythm, use a calm
3:17monotone voice, and incorporate
3:19repetitive phrases. Start with
3:20relaxation suggestions like notice how
3:22your shoulders feel heavy or your
3:24eyelids are getting tired. Progressive
3:26relaxation works. It's when you guide
3:28attention from head to toes, suggesting
3:30each body part relax. For memory recall,
3:32guide them back to the specific time and
3:34place, engaging all five senses. What
3:36did they see or hear, smell, feel,
3:39taste, and so on. While you won't be
3:41able to hypnotize people to do things
3:42for you or [music] to manipulate them,
3:44what you can actually do is just help
3:46someone achieve a deeply focused state
3:48where their conscious mind stops
3:49filtering information.
3:53One of the skills that most fans
3:55remember is Patrick's memory palace,
3:56which means Patrick possesses an
3:58extraordinary memory. He remembered the
3:59names of over 2,000 people he shook
4:01hands with since his family's murder to
4:03find Red John. To remember things, Jane
4:05stores them in a part of his [music]
4:06brain he calls the memory palace. In
4:08Red, White, and Blue, Jane actually
4:10teaches a soldier with memory loss
4:12[music] how to build his own memory
4:13palace. And this isn't some made-up
4:15thing like insane hypnosis. This is a
4:17real technique called the method of
4:19loci, used since [music] ancient Rome by
4:20public speakers who needed to remember
4:23hour-long speeches without notes. Here's
4:25how it works. You visualize a familiar
4:27place, maybe your childhood home. Assign
4:29each room to a category of information.
4:31Want to remember a shopping list? Walk
4:33through your mental house placing items
4:34in specific locations. Milk goes in the
4:37[music] kitchen sink, bread sits on your
4:38bed, eggs balance on the bathroom
4:40mirror. The weirder and more vivid the
4:42image, the better you'll remember. When
4:43you need to recall the list, mentally
4:45walk through your house again. Your
4:47brain is incredible at spatial memory.
4:49That's why you your home in the dark,
4:51but struggle to remember a [music]
4:52random string of words. This technique
4:54leverages that natural ability. Start
4:56small with five items, then expand to
4:5810, then 20. Eventually, you can store
5:00thousands of pieces of information by
5:02[music] creating multiple mental
5:03locations like your old school, your
5:05workplace, your favorite restaurant. The
5:07palace [music] can be as large as you
5:09need it to be.
5:13Jane couples his understanding of body
5:14language and facial expressions to
5:16predict people's next moves. Jane reads
5:18suspects by watching how they hold
5:20themselves, where their eyes go, how
5:21they breathe when asked certain
5:23questions. Body language reveals what
5:24words hide. When someone crosses their
5:26arms, they're creating a barrier, or
5:28they're defensive or uncomfortable about
5:30the current topic. Feet pointing away
5:32from you during conversation means they
5:34want to leave, even if they're smiling
5:35and nodding. Touching their face while
5:37answering questions often indicates
5:39stress or deception. Microexpressions
5:41are involuntary facial movements lasting
5:43less than a second that reveal true
5:45emotions before conscious control kicks
5:47in. When someone hears bad news, watch
5:49for that split-second [music]
5:50smile before they arrange their face
5:52into sadness. Here's a fun training
5:54method. Watch TV or The Mentalist for
5:56this matter with the sound off. Force
5:58yourself [music] to interpret emotions
5:59and intentions solely from body
6:01language. Then go back with sound to
6:03check accuracy. Notice inconsistencies
6:05between words and body language and
6:07you'll find that's where deception
6:08lives.
6:12Patrick uses neuro-linguistic
6:13programming to get confessions from
6:15people frequently. In one episode, the
6:17killer used her NLP and hypnosis skills
6:19to manipulate others, even hypnotizing
6:22Rigsby into assaulting [music] someone
6:23while believing he was acting on his own
6:26free will. She used specific triggers
6:28like a tap on the shoulder to activate
6:30programmed responses. Real NLP is about
6:33understanding how language patterns
6:34influence thought and behavior.
6:36Mirroring is one basic technique. Just
6:38subtly matching someone's body language,
6:40speaking pace, and even breathing
6:42rhythm. This creates unconscious
6:44rapport. They feel like you get them
6:46[music] without knowing why. Touch
6:47someone's shoulder while they're happy,
6:49repeat it consistently, and eventually
6:51that touch alone can trigger happiness.
6:54You can start practicing this on
6:55yourself first. Create your own
6:56confidence anchor by making a fist
6:58whenever you feel genuinely confident,
7:00then use that gesture before important
7:02moments. The programming is real and it
7:04works.
7:07Jane also shows skills in slight of hand
7:09where he often slips things into
7:10people's pocket or plants things that
7:12weren't there before. Not to mention his
7:14pickpocketing and reverse pickpocketing
7:16abilities throughout the series. The
7:17principle behind slight of hand is
7:19simple. Your attention can only be in
7:20one place at a time. Magicians control
7:22where you look. When Jane wants to steal
7:24something, he creates a bigger
7:25distraction like a sudden movement, a
7:27loud noise, or engaging conversation
7:29that captures all attention. Your eyes
7:31follow movement and sound automatically.
7:33That's when the actual theft happens in
7:35your blind spot. You can apply
7:37misdirection in everyday life without
7:38stealing anything. Want someone to agree
7:40to something? Make a larger request
7:41first. When they refuse, your actual
7:43request seems reasonable by comparison.
7:45In conversation, people reveal
7:47information while explaining why they
7:48can't reveal information. Ask about
7:50something unrelated to what you actually
7:52want to know, so their guard drops and
7:54they share more than intended because
7:56they think they're talking about
7:58something safe. Attention management is
8:00a superpower, and once you master it,
8:02you're going to have a lot of fun.
8:06Patrick has an almost preternatural
8:08ability for strategy. He almost always
8:10relies upon this skill to definitively
8:12catch the killer at the end of most
8:13episodes. It's described as his
8:15combination of psychology knowledge and
8:17understanding of human behavior. Jane
8:19engineers situations. [music] He plants
8:21seeds days in advance, manipulates
8:23multiple people simultaneously, and
8:24creates scenarios where suspects trap
8:26themselves by acting according to their
8:28nature. The key to strategic thinking is
8:31playing moves ahead like chess. Don't
8:33just think about your immediate goal,
8:34think about the opponent's response,
8:36then your counter response [music] three
8:37or four moves deep. Jane wins by
8:40understanding that people are
8:41predictable when you know their
8:43psychology. Scared people run. Guilty
8:45people over explain. Proud people can't
8:47resist showing off. Strategic thinking
8:49means setting traps based on these
8:50predictable responses. If want someone
8:52to confess, don't accuse them directly.
8:54Mention you have evidence you don't
8:56actually have, then watch them scramble
8:57[music] to explain away evidence they
8:59think you found. This is why Jane
9:01catches killers who think they're
9:02smarter than him. He's not playing the
9:04same game they think they're playing.
9:05Patrick Jane's abilities aren't
9:07supernatural at all. They're refined
9:08skills based on psychology, observation,
9:11and understanding human behavior. The
9:13same techniques he uses to solve crimes
9:15and read [music] suspects can help you
9:17better understand people in your
9:18everyday life, whether in business,
9:20relationships, or just [music]
9:21navigating social situations. If you
9:23want more breakdowns of The Mentalist
9:25and deep dives, hit that subscribe
9:26[music] button, and I'll catch you guys
9:27in the next one. Bye.