Monday, January 14, 2008

Say It Ain't So, Randi!

James Randi, for those of you not familiar with his work, is the closest thing we have to a modern Harry Houdini. Like Houdini, "The Amazing Randi," has spent his career both astounding audiences worldwide with unrivalled feats of stage magic and debunking charlatans who seek to dupe and defraud the unwary by claiming to harness supernatural forces. Houdini became involved in exposing fraudulent mediums after the death of his mother, but Randi's debunking of supernatural fakery comes from an unshakable belief in the naturalistic world.

To further his ends, Randi established the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), which he used to put forth the ultimate "put up or shut up" challenge to the world's mediums, dowsers, psychics, spiritualists, faith healers, astrologers, and everyone else trying to make money from the gullible by pimping the supernatural: The JREF Million Dollar Challenge. The challenge guarantees in writing a prize of one million dollars who can conclusively prove the existence of any supernatural power or force. All applicants have to do is to submit their claim in writing and have their powers tested by JREF's experts. All tests are set up using scientific controls which do not allow cheating or the possiblity that success was caused by chance alone.

What could be simpler? What easier way could there be to get your hands on a million bucks?

Yet, in the ten years it has been around, JREF's million dollar prize has yet to pay off for any of its would-be claimants. None of the aspiring psychic millionaires has been able to pass a test that does not allow cheating or luck to be a controlling factor. After ten years the score is Randi: $1 million, Psychic Woo Woo's: 0.

Last week the bad news came. In JREF's Swift newsletter (http://www.randi.org/joom/content/view/144/1/), Randi announced that the end of the Million Dollar challenge would come on March 6th, 2010. It seems the sheer numbers of mystically-charged loonies crawling out of the woodwork to attempt the challenge has been overwhelming and the foundation's time and resources have been stretched to the limit, keeping the foundation from fulfilling its primary purpose: education. No one has even come close to proving the existence of the supernatural and, worse yet, the big-name psychics (the ones with TV shows, radio programs, and best-selling books) are so afraid to be proven frauds that they would not touch the challenge with a ten-foot pole.

Fans and admirers of Randi and his foundation certainly understand and respect the reasons the challenge must end, but we will miss it nonetheless. The challenge always hung over the heads of charlatans and their believers, a sword of Damocles ready to burst their bubble of nonsense should they dare attempt to face it. Their fear to 'go for the million' was all the proof we ever needed that there was nothing but air to the mystic claims of the Sylvia Brownes and James Van Praaghs of the world.

Worst of all, however, is the unfortunate truth that if the challenge can end, so, too, can Randi. The Amazing Randi, tireless crusader against those who would have us ruled by the irrational, is no longer a young man. His recent open-heart surgury leads us to the inexorable conclusion that he is mortal and must pass the way of all mortal men, despite the fact that his wit and wisdom are needed as much now as ever.

Perhaps when it happens Sylvia Browne can talk to him so that he can share his wisdom from beyond the grave ("I'm hearing a name. It starts with 'M'...or maybe 'R'...although it could be an 'A.' No? Well, think about it. It'll come to you. I think he had a full head of...no...I mean he was losing his hair? Yes, that's what I'm seeing...). No, probably not.

2 comments:

earlt said...

Well, old pal, you have a glaring logical flaw here. The disproving of one hypothesis does not necessarily prove the converse; ergo, the fact none of the people have won the prize doesn't mean that those abilities don't exists. It means they failed that test. Not to say that some of these folks aren't kooks either; they probably are. These things aren't necessarily controlled "powers" but "perceptions" some people are open to, thus negating the ability to perform "on-demand". I am clear I have had precognative dreams from time to time in my lifetime and so have others on my mother's side of the family (mostly not very useful or interesting in my case). I can't call on this "ability" at all. It just happens sometimes. I truly believe in scientific principles and I also believe there is more out there...

Arb Elbow said...

Sorry, but there is no "glaring logical flaw" in present. The post about JREF’s Million Dollar Challenge never made any claim that either Randi or the Challenge disproved the existence of the paranormal/supernatural. All it said was that no one has been able to prove their existence when subject to a testing methodology that did not allow for cheating or for the results to be controlled by chance. Logic dictates that we can’t ‘prove a negative.’ All we can do is to demonstrate (again and again by investigating claims one at a time) is that certain ideas or principles are not very likely to be true. It IS, however, quite possible to definitively claim that the existence of the supernatural/paranormal has NEVER been proven via any testing methodology that does not allow cheating or chance to control the outcome.

I will, however, stand by my claim that the failure of the big-name psychics/supernaturalists (who generate huge income and celebrity from their alleged abilities) to participate in being tested for the Million Dollar Challenge is all the proof anyone really needs as whether or not these people actually have paranormal/supernatural abilities.