Magic Card Trick

Let me teach y'all a card trick my father taught me a long time ago. We will use a standard Poker deck of 52 cards and I'll shuffle them right in front of you. I'll then ask you a few questions to determine which card we will magically search for.

"Between the two colors, black or red, which is your favorite?"

Let's assume for the moment you say, "Red."

"That's good. Now of the two red suits, which do you like more?"

You answer, "Hearts."

I reply, "That leaves the Diamonds for us to work with. Between the face cards and the numbered cards, which do you dislike more?"

You answer, "The numbered cards."

"Good, good. Which do you like more, the even or the odd numbers?"

You answer, "The odd numbers."

"That leaves the even numbers for us to work with. The numbers greater than five or less than five, which do you dislike the most?"

You answer, "The numbers less than five."

"That leaves us the number 4 or the number 2. Which of these do you really hate?"

You answer, "The 4, most definitely."

"Okay, the four of diamonds is the card you have chosen, is that correct? (You nod your head in response) Good. I will now flick the bottom of the deck and the four of diamonds will now magically rise to the top of the deck. So that you will not accuse me of manipulating the deck in any way you may remove the top card yourself. Is that your card?"

You reply with some degree of astonishment, "Why yes it is!"

The only problem is that the four of diamonds was at the top of the deck the whole time. I quickly took note of it while I was shuffling the cards. I didn't manipulate the cards but instead I manipulated your choice. Watch your answers above. Anytime you chose the opposite direction I wanted you to go, I would slyly redirect your thoughts back in the direction I wanted you to go by discussing the other option only. You didn't make a choice; I did! Go ahead and try it on your friends. It's always good for a laugh when you explain how you did it.

Now the real reason I taught you this little trick is so that you will remember it next time you go into the voting booth. Ask yourself this question: Is this the choice I really want that I'm going to vote on or have I been manipulated and the appearance of my having a choice was just an illusion?