The Million Dollar Psychic Power Challenge

[thewayne]

The Amazing Randi, a stage magician (AKA James Randi), started a challenge to the "psychics" of the world, it started as a $1,000 challenge and through an anonymous contribution, stands at $1,000,000. He has an office and staff in Florida to evaluate claims. It became a two-tier process: local investigators would see what was being offered in a controlled environment and the person was normally debunked then and there. If they got past that stage, if they could demonstrate the power in front of Randi, they got the money.

The office is funded by donations and interest on the million bucks, no one has won it yet.

Well, Randi and associates have become increasingly concerned that they're dealing with too many nut jobs, so they're changing their methodologies. Now new millionaire wannabees have to develop a media presence with their powers. They also have to get backers who will endorse their claim of powers. THEN they can get evaluated and have a shot at the big bucks.

But that's not all. Now Randi et al are going to directly challenge big-name psychics with registered mail, email, possibly full page ads in prominent magazines and newspapers. They are calling out the psychics. And two of the four people who are on their initial hit list? Uri Geller and John Edwards!

I haven't seen Edwards on SciFi in a long time, and I'm very thankful for it. I've always found his show, what little that I've seen, rather distasteful. But the all-time capper for me was when South Park nailed him and made Stan Marsh a psychic, it was a beautifully-done episode.

Anyway, good luck to Randi! I'd love to see the airwaves (and reality) cleansed of some of these people, but forcing them into a lower profile will be good enough for me.


http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72482-0.html

Comments

[deborak]

Y'know, I have about as much contempt for Randi. This is really about keeping HIS name in the spotlight, not saving the world from scammers.

[silveradept]

Randi and his challenge have often been accused of rewriting the rules to make it hard-to-impossible for anyone to make it past the first stage, and even then, going in to the second stage with a significant prejudice, looking for any reason at all, including impatience with the slowness of the process, as an excuse to dismiss candidates out of hand. His money, his rules, I guess. This engagement to call out the higher-profile psychics could backfire rather than produce the skepticism he wants, depending on how people view his attitude toward the matter.

P&T

[joecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Penn & Teller devoted a sizable portion of there Vegas show on debunking pychics.

My MiL is hooked on John Edwards, and gets upset everytime I call him a phoney/grifter.