James Randi -a charlatan, a liar, a thief and a fake altogether.'

[Guest guest]

, "prashanthnair999" <prashanthnair999 wrote:James Randi - His Amazing Role in the Great Psi Media Circusby Sam Nicholls (1991)Of all the powerful establishment mechanisms opposing paranormalphenomena the scientists' case would seem to have the most credence, andit is interesting to study the tactics used in some detail. With theadvent of innovative theories from disciplines such as physics, biologyand information science, the feasibility of forming a framework for Psiis increasing and thus the main attack has been redirected to 'exposing'sensitives as mere charlatans who use standard conjuring tricks tohoodwink researchers. Thus academic sceptics rely increasingly onprofessional magicians to do their 'dirty work'. The most prominent ofthese is the American illusionist, James 'The Amazing' Randi, whosebooks, articles and TV appearances have earned him much kudos within thescientific community, as well as, presumably, considerable wealth.A Young Pseudo-PsychicBorn Randall Zwinge in Toronto in 1928, 'Randi' was a child prodigy whodevoted his teenage years exclusively to the art of deception. In hisearly twenties he achieved local celebrity status by posing briefly as apsychic, imitating telepathic, clairvoyant and precognitive abilities;whether he was exposed or not is uncertain, but it is clear that hebecame a regular magician and within ten years was renowned as one ofthe best escapologists in the world, following in the footsteps of hisidol, Houdini. Like the latter, he developed an unquenchable distrusttowards mediums - he has since expended a large part of his energiesendeavouring to expose them all as fraudulent.A Compilation of Con TricksWhereas earlier magicians such as Houdini, Maskelyne and Goldstone hadreluctantly admitted that some mediumship was indeed genuine, Randi hasexhibited an almost fanatical dislike and used unprecedented tactics todeny the existence of any paranormal occurrences. His first bookcontained an appalling catalogue of misrepresentations, bogus mediaarticles, deceptive accounts of sham duplications and outrightfabrications: comparing his accounts with those of the researchers andpsychics he maligns, it seems he either quotes fabricated stories fromother sources (very often his own friends) or makes them up himself.Psi-Cops on the BeatIn the 1970's scientists became alarmed at the growth of belief in theoccult, particularly with the emergence of TV personalities such as UriGeller and Doris Stokes. Gradually their colleagues were confirming inlaboratory trials that psychic feats were absolutely genuine. In JamesRandi they found a superb 'hatchet man', capable and eager to destroyperformers and their scientific investigators alike. In an interviewRandi confessed that he had lost $15,000 in one year alone becausecolleges openly backed out of contracts when their students preferred towatch Geller. Soon a bizarre organisation had been formed with theunusual mixture of scientists and magicians - it was called the CSICOP(Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal)and Randi, as one of the ultra hard-liners, was given a place on theInner Council.In spite of a whole series of suppressions, distortions and outrightcover-ups the organisation remains a real factor to be reckoned with,both in the scientific literature and in media coverage. One of thestated aims was to pressurise producers into allowing at least one oftheir members to take part in any televised discussion programmes on theparanormal, with the aim of using scientific knowledge to bombard theguest psychic and thus obscure the issues in the public mind - in thisthey have been outstandingly successful.According to Keith 'Blue' Harary, who is both a proven psychic and ascientist, their aim is to'control your access to information and interpretation, to walk a beatupon your mind.'The conclusion is obvious: CSICOP is controlled by people who regard theissues as political rather than scientific.Lab-SabberRandi himself has enjoyed the widest exposure of them all; so successfulhas been his bag of tricks that he has even played an indirect role inclosing down one parapsychological laboratory (MACLAB). He hasfrequently boasted that he can copy all psychic abilities and has doneso in front of scientists. However, those who have studied his'duplications' closely have noted that he rarely makes any attempt to dothem under the same conditions as the psychic had; furthermore, his'demonstrations' in front of scientists were done in very relaxedconditions, indeed in front of non-specialists. Worse still, he claimsto be a journalist and then performs his rather childish tricks withoutthe scientists even watching - and then claims that he has fooled them!A Self-Confessed LiarTo be fair, he has never claimed to be anything other than a showman,best expressed by his own remark,'I am a charlatan, a liar, a thief and a fake altogether.'However, those he has maligned find it less amusing and persistentrumours of forthcoming libel cases would seem to be entirely justified.Perhaps more importantly still, the mischief caused by his unsupportedexplanations can be profound; the effect is to cloud the issues as his'debunkings' become part of the public lore. It is thus particularlyunfortunate that so many top-ranking scientists, desperate to ignoreevidence to the extent that they will believe almost anyone who opposesthe paranormal, still appear to take his views seriously, quoting hisresearch as if it were really credible.$1O,OOO Psychic ChallengeIn 1964 parapsychologists, bored with Randi's denunciations of psychics,challenged him to 'put his money where his mouth was.' There followedhis offer of a $10,000 reward to anyone who could succeed in conditionsof his choosing - it has become a most effective gimmick. Over the yearshe has shown some swift footwork in adjusting conditions to hold on tohis money. His present offer guarantees this with several specialclauses - translated, the psychic must allow Randi to:(i)selectively report all the results and records in order to ensure thathe keeps his money;(ii)seriously harm them emotionally, physically and financially, wherenecessary, with impunity: when asked recently if he would apologise inthe event of a psychic being killed under his control, Randi snarledfacetiously, 'I'd say a little more than that (sorry)';(iii)finally, the psychic must 'agree upon what will constitute a conclusionthat he/she does not possess the claimed ability or powers. This will bea major consideration in accepting or rejecting claimants.' Does thismean that the performer must agree to being declared fraudulent even ifhe/she succeeds in the tests? If not, why use such ambiguous wording ina legal document?It is thus not too surprising that all contenders have failed to obtainRandi's cash over twenty-five years, although a great deal of their owntime, money and reputations have been lost.The 'Open Media' Shambles (1991)In recent years Randi has found it increasingly hazardous to obtaintelevision airtime, as his methods have become widely known. A couple ofyears ago, one prime-time British television appearance was abruptlycancelled when knowledgeable paranormal enthusiasts managed toinfiltrate the audience. So childishly obvious was his duplication ofmetal-bending that some of them erupted on to the stage, demanding aright of reply; when this plea was rejected, they stopped the show,causing Randi to beat a humiliating retreat back across the Atlantic.The return of Randi has been facilitated by the Open Media team, whohave produced programmes about magicians recently. They were allowed tofilm much of the series in the Granada Television studios - what afabulous setting in which to trap the best of British psychics! Theset-up was ideal: he could claim to be the chosen investigator,designing and executing 'scientific' tests. Banking on the general levelof disinterest within the psychic community about scientificinvestigators, he could destroy all the leading British psychics in onefell swoop! As an extra safeguard, the guest psychics would be kept inignorance about the level of Randi's participation until the lastmoment: most would be invited by telephone so that no incriminatingwritten evidence would be available - in this way even those aware ofhis appalling career would be lured into the lion's den.Film-Flam! Randi's TV TricksMy opportunity to study the tactics at close quarters occurred during arecorded session of 'James Randi - Psychic Investigator' recently atGranada's Manchester studios, in the excellent company of veteranresearcher and healer George Cranley, medium Sandy Thompson and herhusband Dennis. Old James did not seem especially pleased to see us,ignoring our greetings before the show; he had obviously tried hard tokeep his audience free of real enthusiasts but we were right in on theaction. The following lists some of our observations on what Granada sayis a series which 'allows psychics to take part in agreed (scientific)tests to test their psychic ability' and in which 'discussion will beproperly balanced'.1.Studio audience filled with school and college parties, suitablybuttered up before and during the show; in this way he gets a gratefulreception and keeps out too many knowledgeable enthusiasts who can seethrough the facade. In addition, a smattering of young cheerleaders(presumably aspiring magicians or hired by Open Media) were placedstrategically to ask prepared questions, shout down anyone who disagreedwith Randi, applaud as if in ecstasy, etc. Thus the atmosphere was acurious mixture of a children's TV show on the one hand and a perversereligious ceremony on the other, with Randi playing the High Priest ofOrthodoxy sacrificing the reputations of his 'guests' one by one.2.Ensure that the panel of experts contain his friends, who can be reliedupon to supply punchy derogatory quotes, seemingly worked out inadvance.3.Where pro-paranormal experts are invited, their answers can be limitedby asking brief, loaded questions designed to elicit sceptical answers -should this fail there is always the possibility of either ridiculingtheir answers or leaving them out at the editing stage. Better still,they can simply be misquoted: at a previous session Professor ArthurEllison had investigated a psycho-surgeon at work and found 'no evidenceof trickery'. But with the cameras on, Randi declared that Ellison hadfound 'evidence of trickery' - by simply omitting the word 'no' from theautocue Randi had utilised a most economical means of rewriting history.'Everyone looks for complicated explanations and the explanations arealways simple. That's why you don't see them.' - James Randi (1975).4.Should a psychic succeed partially, Randi presents a series ofrapid-fire questions laying emphasis on the poor aspects of theperformance. After an aura-reader had scored only slightly above chancelevels during a test, he was immediately hustled into answering 'Why doyou think you failed?'5.Never let the psychic get comfortable enough to feel settled; the guestswere more or less dragged on stage with barely an introduction and thenexpected to exhibit psychic marvels. There was one exception: a mancalled Norman Knight, who claimed to have developed a device which coulddetect thought energy. Having some familiarity with George Meck'sSpiricom technology, I was suspicious, especially when he nervouslyrefused to reveal details of the circuit design. Was this a send-up ofelectronic communications work? I'd put money on it.6.According to Randi the experiments were designed by Stanley Krippner,Persi Diaconis, Ray Hyman, Sue Blackmore and himself. But when I pointedout that four of these were active CSICOP members with a track record ofdestroying paranormal claims, Randi was outraged: 'What is wrong with myexperiments?' he protested.Well, nothing really, except that they were under the control of aprofessed liar.7.The tests themselves demanded a level of ability which would astoundmost researchers, e.g. one aura reader was asked to read the auras offive people from a distance of several metres, behind a screen! Inaddition, there was also the possibility of making a last-minute switch,unknown to the audience (this would eliminate the possibility ofcheating, using a confederate), yet this seemed to be ruled outsubsequently; that makes the experiment either flawed or deceitful. Soif the performer fails, Randi wins and if he succeeds, Randi also wins.8.When Open Media invited a psycho-surgeon onto the show, no mention wasmade of the rave reviews he had attracted - even their own investigatorswere impressed. Mr Randi's solution was simple: he effected one of hisspecious 'duplications', using, animal organs and blood - of course, heconveniently forgot to point out one crucial fact: it actually works.Living for ApplauseJames Randi is a skilled and courageous entertainer; if his involvementin the paranormal was billed as comedy, he would be respected by all andsundry. Instead he has chosen to take on the mantle of a scientificinvestigator for business reasons; in doing so he has ruthlessly damagedthe careers of scores of honest psychics and their researchers. He hassurvived because of the high level of intolerance among the scientificcommunity and other establishment bodies towards these matters (oneagency gave him a grant of nearly $300,000 after he had helped tosabotage the MacDonnell Laboratory).Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Open Media performance wasjust how many of the bright and youthful audience had been taken in byhim. After the show (off camera, of course!) Randi agreed to answer someantagonistic questions; he simply repeated the same tired old lineswhich have long since been exposed - most of the audience gave him agreat round of applause.Source MaterialTarg & Puthoff: Mind-Reach, Jonathon Cape (1977)Brian Inglis: 'The Hidden Power, Jonathon Cape (1986)Targ & Harary: The Mind-Race, Villard (1984)James Randi: The Magic of Uri Geller, Ballantine Books (1975)James Randi: Flim-Flam!, Prometheus Books (1982)Victor Stenger: Physics & Psychics, Prometheus Books (1990)The Skeptical Inquirer Magazine (various issues), private communications--- End forwarded message ---

[Guest guest]

dear scientist

 

answer all question in this mail or ask randi and giv us answer

 

 

, "prashanthnair999" <prashanthnair999 wrote:>> James Randi - His Amazing Role in the Great Psi Media Circus> by Sam Nicholls (1991)> > Of all the powerful establishment mechanisms opposing paranormal> phenomena the scientists' case would seem to have the most credence, and> it is interesting to study the tactics used in some detail. With the> advent of innovative theories from disciplines such as physics, biology> and information science, the feasibility of forming a framework for Psi> is increasing and thus the main attack has been redirected to 'exposing'> sensitives as mere charlatans who use standard conjuring tricks to> hoodwink researchers. Thus academic sceptics rely increasingly on> professional magicians to do their 'dirty work'. The most prominent of> these is the American illusionist, James 'The Amazing' Randi, whose> books, articles and TV appearances have earned him much kudos within the> scientific community, as well as, presumably, considerable wealth.> A Young Pseudo-Psychic> Born Randall Zwinge in Toronto in 1928, 'Randi' was a child prodigy who> devoted his teenage years exclusively to the art of deception. In his> early twenties he achieved local celebrity status by posing briefly as a> psychic, imitating telepathic, clairvoyant and precognitive abilities;> whether he was exposed or not is uncertain, but it is clear that he> became a regular magician and within ten years was renowned as one of> the best escapologists in the world, following in the footsteps of his> idol, Houdini. Like the latter, he developed an unquenchable distrust> towards mediums - he has since expended a large part of his energies> endeavouring to expose them all as fraudulent.> A Compilation of Con Tricks> Whereas earlier magicians such as Houdini, Maskelyne and Goldstone had> reluctantly admitted that some mediumship was indeed genuine, Randi has> exhibited an almost fanatical dislike and used unprecedented tactics to> deny the existence of any paranormal occurrences. His first book> contained an appalling catalogue of misrepresentations, bogus media> articles, deceptive accounts of sham duplications and outright> fabrications: comparing his accounts with those of the researchers and> psychics he maligns, it seems he either quotes fabricated stories from> other sources (very often his own friends) or makes them up himself.> Psi-Cops on the Beat> In the 1970's scientists became alarmed at the growth of belief in the> occult, particularly with the emergence of TV personalities such as Uri> Geller and Doris Stokes. Gradually their colleagues were confirming in> laboratory trials that psychic feats were absolutely genuine. In James> Randi they found a superb 'hatchet man', capable and eager to destroy> performers and their scientific investigators alike. In an interview> Randi confessed that he had lost $15,000 in one year alone because> colleges openly backed out of contracts when their students preferred to> watch Geller. Soon a bizarre organisation had been formed with the> unusual mixture of scientists and magicians - it was called the CSICOP> (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal)> and Randi, as one of the ultra hard-liners, was given a place on the> Inner Council.> > In spite of a whole series of suppressions, distortions and outright> cover-ups the organisation remains a real factor to be reckoned with,> both in the scientific literature and in media coverage. One of the> stated aims was to pressurise producers into allowing at least one of> their members to take part in any televised discussion programmes on the> paranormal, with the aim of using scientific knowledge to bombard the> guest psychic and thus obscure the issues in the public mind - in this> they have been outstandingly successful.> > According to Keith 'Blue' Harary, who is both a proven psychic and a> scientist, their aim is to> 'control your access to information and interpretation, to walk a beat> upon your mind.'> The conclusion is obvious: CSICOP is controlled by people who regard the> issues as political rather than scientific.> Lab-Sabber> Randi himself has enjoyed the widest exposure of them all; so successful> has been his bag of tricks that he has even played an indirect role in> closing down one parapsychological laboratory (MACLAB). He has> frequently boasted that he can copy all psychic abilities and has done> so in front of scientists. However, those who have studied his> 'duplications' closely have noted that he rarely makes any attempt to do> them under the same conditions as the psychic had; furthermore, his> 'demonstrations' in front of scientists were done in very relaxed> conditions, indeed in front of non-specialists. Worse still, he claims> to be a journalist and then performs his rather childish tricks without> the scientists even watching - and then claims that he has fooled them!> A Self-Confessed Liar> To be fair, he has never claimed to be anything other than a showman,> best expressed by his own remark,> 'I am a charlatan, a liar, a thief and a fake altogether.'> However, those he has maligned find it less amusing and persistent> rumours of forthcoming libel cases would seem to be entirely justified.> Perhaps more importantly still, the mischief caused by his unsupported> explanations can be profound; the effect is to cloud the issues as his> 'debunkings' become part of the public lore. It is thus particularly> unfortunate that so many top-ranking scientists, desperate to ignore> evidence to the extent that they will believe almost anyone who opposes> the paranormal, still appear to take his views seriously, quoting his> research as if it were really credible.> $1O,OOO Psychic Challenge> In 1964 parapsychologists, bored with Randi's denunciations of psychics,> challenged him to 'put his money where his mouth was.' There followed> his offer of a $10,000 reward to anyone who could succeed in conditions> of his choosing - it has become a most effective gimmick. Over the years> he has shown some swift footwork in adjusting conditions to hold on to> his money. His present offer guarantees this with several special> clauses - translated, the psychic must allow Randi to:> > (i)> > selectively report all the results and records in order to ensure that> he keeps his money;> > (ii)> > seriously harm them emotionally, physically and financially, where> necessary, with impunity: when asked recently if he would apologise in> the event of a psychic being killed under his control, Randi snarled> facetiously, 'I'd say a little more than that (sorry)';> > (iii)> > finally, the psychic must 'agree upon what will constitute a conclusion> that he/she does not possess the claimed ability or powers. This will be> a major consideration in accepting or rejecting claimants.' Does this> mean that the performer must agree to being declared fraudulent even if> he/she succeeds in the tests? If not, why use such ambiguous wording in> a legal document?> > It is thus not too surprising that all contenders have failed to obtain> Randi's cash over twenty-five years, although a great deal of their own> time, money and reputations have been lost.> The 'Open Media' Shambles (1991)> In recent years Randi has found it increasingly hazardous to obtain> television airtime, as his methods have become widely known. A couple of> years ago, one prime-time British television appearance was abruptly> cancelled when knowledgeable paranormal enthusiasts managed to> infiltrate the audience. So childishly obvious was his duplication of> metal-bending that some of them erupted on to the stage, demanding a> right of reply; when this plea was rejected, they stopped the show,> causing Randi to beat a humiliating retreat back across the Atlantic.> > The return of Randi has been facilitated by the Open Media team, who> have produced programmes about magicians recently. They were allowed to> film much of the series in the Granada Television studios - what a> fabulous setting in which to trap the best of British psychics! The> set-up was ideal: he could claim to be the chosen investigator,> designing and executing 'scientific' tests. Banking on the general level> of disinterest within the psychic community about scientific> investigators, he could destroy all the leading British psychics in one> fell swoop! As an extra safeguard, the guest psychics would be kept in> ignorance about the level of Randi's participation until the last> moment: most would be invited by telephone so that no incriminating> written evidence would be available - in this way even those aware of> his appalling career would be lured into the lion's den.> Film-Flam! Randi's TV Tricks> My opportunity to study the tactics at close quarters occurred during a> recorded session of 'James Randi - Psychic Investigator' recently at> Granada's Manchester studios, in the excellent company of veteran> researcher and healer George Cranley, medium Sandy Thompson and her> husband Dennis. Old James did not seem especially pleased to see us,> ignoring our greetings before the show; he had obviously tried hard to> keep his audience free of real enthusiasts but we were right in on the> action. The following lists some of our observations on what Granada say> is a series which 'allows psychics to take part in agreed (scientific)> tests to test their psychic ability' and in which 'discussion will be> properly balanced'.> > 1.> > Studio audience filled with school and college parties, suitably> buttered up before and during the show; in this way he gets a grateful> reception and keeps out too many knowledgeable enthusiasts who can see> through the facade. In addition, a smattering of young cheerleaders> (presumably aspiring magicians or hired by Open Media) were placed> strategically to ask prepared questions, shout down anyone who disagreed> with Randi, applaud as if in ecstasy, etc. Thus the atmosphere was a> curious mixture of a children's TV show on the one hand and a perverse> religious ceremony on the other, with Randi playing the High Priest of> Orthodoxy sacrificing the reputations of his 'guests' one by one.> > 2.> > Ensure that the panel of experts contain his friends, who can be relied> upon to supply punchy derogatory quotes, seemingly worked out in> advance.> > 3.> > Where pro-paranormal experts are invited, their answers can be limited> by asking brief, loaded questions designed to elicit sceptical answers -> should this fail there is always the possibility of either ridiculing> their answers or leaving them out at the editing stage. Better still,> they can simply be misquoted: at a previous session Professor Arthur> Ellison had investigated a psycho-surgeon at work and found 'no evidence> of trickery'. But with the cameras on, Randi declared that Ellison had> found 'evidence of trickery' - by simply omitting the word 'no' from the> autocue Randi had utilised a most economical means of rewriting history.> 'Everyone looks for complicated explanations and the explanations are> always simple. That's why you don't see them.' - James Randi (1975).> 4.> > Should a psychic succeed partially, Randi presents a series of> rapid-fire questions laying emphasis on the poor aspects of the> performance. After an aura-reader had scored only slightly above chance> levels during a test, he was immediately hustled into answering 'Why do> you think you failed?'> > 5.> > Never let the psychic get comfortable enough to feel settled; the guests> were more or less dragged on stage with barely an introduction and then> expected to exhibit psychic marvels. There was one exception: a man> called Norman Knight, who claimed to have developed a device which could> detect thought energy. Having some familiarity with George Meck's> Spiricom technology, I was suspicious, especially when he nervously> refused to reveal details of the circuit design. Was this a send-up of> electronic communications work? I'd put money on it.> > 6.> > According to Randi the experiments were designed by Stanley Krippner,> Persi Diaconis, Ray Hyman, Sue Blackmore and himself. But when I pointed> out that four of these were active CSICOP members with a track record of> destroying paranormal claims, Randi was outraged: 'What is wrong with my> experiments?' he protested.> > Well, nothing really, except that they were under the control of a> professed liar.> > 7.> > The tests themselves demanded a level of ability which would astound> most researchers, e.g. one aura reader was asked to read the auras of> five people from a distance of several metres, behind a screen! In> addition, there was also the possibility of making a last-minute switch,> unknown to the audience (this would eliminate the possibility of> cheating, using a confederate), yet this seemed to be ruled out> subsequently; that makes the experiment either flawed or deceitful. So> if the performer fails, Randi wins and if he succeeds, Randi also wins.> > 8.> > When Open Media invited a psycho-surgeon onto the show, no mention was> made of the rave reviews he had attracted - even their own investigators> were impressed. Mr Randi's solution was simple: he effected one of his> specious 'duplications', using, animal organs and blood - of course, he> conveniently forgot to point out one crucial fact: it actually works.> Living for Applause> James Randi is a skilled and courageous entertainer; if his involvement> in the paranormal was billed as comedy, he would be respected by all and> sundry. Instead he has chosen to take on the mantle of a scientific> investigator for business reasons; in doing so he has ruthlessly damaged> the careers of scores of honest psychics and their researchers. He has> survived because of the high level of intolerance among the scientific> community and other establishment bodies towards these matters (one> agency gave him a grant of nearly $300,000 after he had helped to> sabotage the MacDonnell Laboratory).> > Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Open Media performance was> just how many of the bright and youthful audience had been taken in by> him. After the show (off camera, of course!) Randi agreed to answer some> antagonistic questions; he simply repeated the same tired old lines> which have long since been exposed - most of the audience gave him a> great round of applause.> Source Material> Targ & Puthoff: Mind-Reach, Jonathon Cape (1977)> > Brian Inglis: 'The Hidden Power, Jonathon Cape (1986)> > Targ & Harary: The Mind-Race, Villard (1984)> > James Randi: The Magic of Uri Geller, Ballantine Books (1975)> > James Randi: Flim-Flam!, Prometheus Books (1982)> > Victor Stenger: Physics & Psychics, Prometheus Books (1990)> > The Skeptical Inquirer Magazine (various issues), private communications>