Spoon bending?
Un-Geller I choose you ...

go get 'em, James!

Penn & Teller, Michael Shermer, Richard Dawkins and the rest of the people in the world who are concerned with facts, truth and reason support you!

There is no spoon...

I got really confused when I was reading that headline as spoon-blenders.

spoon-blenders.

Will it blend?

/obligatory

I knew he was going to do that.

I already knew you were going to submit this.

There is no million dollar prize. You should have seen that coming.

Ah.
So here's a James Randi thread while Robert Anton Wilson's been dead for a day with no greenlit article.

I was caught completely off guard by all this.

HERO - James Randi exposes televangelist Peter Popoff

I can levitate my arm using thought alone. In addition, I can predict what I'm going to do days ahead of time.

I dare science to explain that!

Rev. Skarekroe

Maybe it just spontaneously popped into existence halfway down the page.

I have mixed feelings. Sure Sylvia Browne, John Edward et al are frauds, but people want to believe that kind of thing.

And I like to think that maybe there are things we don't yet know about, and that a "skeptic" should always be thinking, questioning, rather than have a condescending "we know everything" attitude.

SquirrelWithLargeNuts: Rev. Skarekroe

Maybe it just spontaneously popped into existence halfway down the page.

D'oh!
I think about 30 articles appeared since the last time I checked.

While I'm all for resolving fraudulent claims of supernatural powers, I am somewhat disturbed by the evangelical approach that some well-known 'rational' types appear to take with it.

It only exacerbates the problem--the more you persecute folks who claim supernatural ability/inspiration/etc., the more they feel legitimized--because "the man" is getting 'em down.

The more you persecute, the bigger the problem gets.

/c.f. the early Christian church--persecution breeds solidarity.

Rev. Skarekroe

Wilson is dead?
Wilson was still alive?

Im not sure which I should ask you.

Back in the days of yore (mid 90s?), I got into an argument with someone that Alec Guinness was dead. A few years later, when he finally died, I told him "See, I told you he was dead."

/Not good at the dead or alive game

From TFA:

Edward didn't respond to an e-mail query for this story; Browne didn't return a phone call, and neither responded to several minutes of intense concentration.

That's gold, Jerry!

Why the attention whoring charade? None of that shiat is real, most people who aren't cretins knows it's not real and no one's going to collect. If I up the pot to $100,000,000, can I be news too?

Real psychics can't come up with answers when asked. They only experience random visions.

FTFA: Edward didn't respond to an e-mail query for this story; Browne didn't return a phone call, and neither responded to several minutes of intense concentration.


/snicker

What buzzkill attention whore dork.

Stereolab:
I have mixed feelings. Sure Sylvia Browne, John Edward et al are frauds, but people want to believe that kind of thing.

Huh? Are you saying it's okay to defraud people because people wish something like this really existed?

And I like to think that maybe there are things we don't yet know about, and that a "skeptic" should always be thinking, questioning, rather than have a condescending "we know everything" attitude.

Actually, as far as I can tell, that's what they're doing. They seem to be more than willing to give the money to anybody that can demonstrate their skills in a controlled environment under scrutiny.

Stereolab

I have mixed feelings. Sure Sylvia Browne, John Edward et al are frauds, but people want to believe that kind of thing.

And I like to think that maybe there are things we don't yet know about, and that a "skeptic" should always be thinking, questioning, rather than have a condescending "we know everything" attitude.

It's not like that. Randi's goal is to expose frauds and keep them from taking advantage of people. His test is designed to be fair, and has nothing to do lording knowledge over someone else. I'm sure Randi would be just as excited as the rest of us if someone were found to have legitimate psychic powers, he just wants to stop people from faking it.

N. S. Radieaux: Real psychics can't come up with answers when asked. They only experience random visions.

Same with crackheads.

dogfather_jr: Huh? Are you saying it's okay to defraud people because people wish something like this really existed?

A fool and his money....

I have mixed feelings. Sure Sylvia Browne, John Edward et al are frauds, but people want to believe that kind of thing.

Should people who are grieving be lied to to make a quick $700?

And I like to think that maybe there are things we don't yet know about, and that a "skeptic" should always be thinking, questioning, rather than have a condescending "we know everything" attitude.

Isn't "ok, well then prove that you can do the things you claim to be able to do" the way you think and question? How is asking these people, who claim to be able to do things at will that defy reason to actually perform better than a coin-flip a condescending "we know everything" attitude. It's admitting that perhaps we don't know everything, but that we shouldn't just presume everything everyone says is the truth, and that if you're going to claim to be able to do something, it should be a snap to do it under controlled conditions.

Mugato
Why the attention whoring charade? None of that shiat is real, most people who aren't cretins knows it's not real and no one's going to collect. If I up the pot to $100,000,000, can I be news too?

I'm sorry, Mugato, without at least 10% up front, the psychic vibrations are not favorable.

Hero indeed! More reason, less quacks!

N. S. Radieaux

"Real psychics can't come up with answers when asked. They only experience random visions."

Can I get a quizzical dog here?

/hint, there ain't no such thing.

muninsfire
/c.f. the early Christian church--persecution breeds solidarity.


There's a difference. Christianity has a build in safety feature that's undefeatable. Not only do they say that nothing has to be proven, they prophecize that people will deny their truth. So the more skeptical people are, the more that prophecy is fullfilled and the more secure in their faith they become. It's a logical-horseshiat-mobius strip.

Now people who claim to have powers of telepathy or telekinesis, fark them. They're trying to pull a con or they're delusional. In either case, fark their hurt feelings when they're exposed.

We live in an age where everyone can record everything in digital detail. There is no supernatural. I wish there was but there isn't and the burden of proof is on the believers now with no more excuses.

Beautiful how they link John Edward's name to the Wikipedia entry for "The Biggest Douche in the Universe"...

Rev. Skarekroe: Ah.
So here's a James Randi thread while Robert Anton Wilson's been dead for a day with no greenlit article.

You mean like the one 12 threads below this one?

Just remember, everytime one of these conmen ream 700 bucks out of some welfare momma we all pay for it.

I know one of the people posting after me is going to say "goonie goo-goo".

/even if they don't type it.

I'm sure Randi would be just as excited as the rest of us if someone were found to have legitimate psychic powers

Yeah, right up until it came time to cut the check. Bet he'd be pretty pissed off about THAT!

"goonie goo-goo"

goonie goo-goo


/who says there's no psychics? ScreamingInDigital knew what I was going to do even before I did...

2007-01-12 02:03:24 PM N. S. Radieaux
Real psychics can't come up with answers when asked. They only experience random visions.

"Real" psychics? If you know a "real" psychic, get them on down to Randi's. I'm sure he can arrange a double-blind test that will account for the random nature of "true" psychic ability. You have until Feb. 1 before the new rules take effect.

/RenaissanceBiker on the JREF forums.

Wasn't discrediting psychics on of Johnny Carson's personal crusades?

I think I heard that somewhere.

Mugato: There's a difference. Christianity has a build in safety feature that's undefeatable. Not only do they say that nothing has to be proven, they prophecize that people will deny their truth. So the more skeptical people are, the more that prophecy is fullfilled and the more secure in their faith they become. It's a logical-horseshiat-mobius strip.

And the same circular logic is used around fraudulent psychics (and some of the ones who feel their abilities are genuine)--they claim that skeptics interfere with their abilities.

Now people who claim to have powers of telepathy or telekinesis, fark them. They're trying to pull a con or they're delusional. In either case, fark their hurt feelings when they're exposed.

I dunno. It'd be kinda nifty if, for instance, there were a verified case of TK, and the person involved could be studied in such a way as to give others the ability. I could think of a hundred uses for it...

We live in an age where everyone can record everything in digital detail. There is no supernatural.

Careful with that, lad. These sort of beliefs adapt with the times.

/Also, Clarke's law--the one about magic vs. technology.

What's his definition of "paranormal," anyway? If I can reproduce a phenomenon it caeses to be paranormal and becomes normal. If Randi had been around 100 years ago, would he have give the prize to the inventor of the radio?

I would imagine that the common answer for all these X-Men is the same one they use when people ask them why they don't win the lottery; that they can't use their powers for personal gain.

That's what they always say on the TV show Charmed with Rose McGowan.




Ah, there. Now this thread has some redeeming value.

Some personal experiences cannot be tested in a lab.
There will always be some things that don't fit our current understanding.

Randi is as much an attention whore as Edwards, Brown and all the other charlatans. Mind you, it's good that he's there to fight the other attention whores. Makes for some funny entertainment.

Riled by clips like Edward's Headline News appearance, Randi's made media skepticism the theme of the 5th annual The Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas, a four-day skepticism conference kicking off Jan. 18 at the Riviera

A four day skepticism conference? Yeah, right, like THAT will happen.

Tom_slick Wasn't discrediting psychics on of Johnny Carson's personal crusades?
I think I heard that somewhere.

nO, you probably just read his mind.

/i did hear that on Penn Gillet's (sp?) radio show.

Yeah, right up until it came time to cut the check. Bet he'd be pretty pissed off about THAT!

Nah, I bet if he needed money he could support himself as the person who discovered the person with the psychic powers.

Yeah, right up until it came time to cut the check. Bet he'd be pretty pissed off about THAT!

He wouldn't write the check. It isn't his money. He doesn't have access to it. It was donated, and is held in trust.

(Although I'm sure that if it ever did happen, he would probably have a hard time getting over the feeling the winner was a really, really good con)