[simonw]

If I want to know how a classic trick is done I'll look at the Wikipedia page. It often won't reveal the secret directly, but if you check the page history you'll find an edit war between magicians which exposes exactly how it works.

[nyolfen]

now this is interesting! what exactly is the rationale used by those who would prefer it remain secret? i assume it's for the preservation of their job or hobby, but i doubt that would fly on its own.

[imron]

A culture of a magician never reveals his secrets.

With the secret unknown it's 'magic'. With the secret known it becomes just a simple trick.

[Tempest1981]

These are essentially trade secrets -- like the recipe for KFC or Coca Cola. Except with the latter, there is plausible denial.