Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

James Randi's Latest Debunking Operation

Posted by samzenpus on from the liars-and-cheats dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The pair of documentarians behind An Honest Man — The Story of the Amazing James Randi will not only talk to the likes of like Adam Savage, Bill Nye, Richard Dawkins, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Penn and Teller about the life of the famous magician/skeptic, but they'll also follow Randi's latest operation as he assembles 'an Ocean's Eleven-type team for a carefully orchestrated exposure of a fraudulent religious organization.'"

5 of 498 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Just another Con Man by dave420 · · Score: 5, Informative

    He's already exposed loads. His methodology is perfectly sound.

  2. Re:Just another Con Man by Johann+Lau · · Score: 5, Informative

    "it's up to Randi to prove that his methodology is sound."

    lolwhut? what "methodology" are you talking about? you just string words together... take how he exposed popoff for example, by tuning into the frequency of his earpiece with a radio scanner. what fault do you find with that "methodology" --- ? it's different in every case. he exposes specific frauds, and offered challenges with either have been ignored, or failed -- nothing more, nothing less.

    and what is a "scientific test" in that context? all you do is blubber and try to smear the man, and you still haven't pointed out a single flaw. you ask for proof that is impossible to bring, and I guess you do so deliberately. "a representative set" of what, exactly? I note very carefully that you make no sense, but seem to be personally offended because some spirits or other. well, good for you.

  3. Re:"a fraudulent religious organization" by dissy · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have to agree with you there. I know nearly nothing about Scientology, but I agree with you on principle.

    I don't see why it's so popular on Slashdot to hate people who believe in some sort of God.

    Scientologists do not believe in a god or God (or Gods), they believe in Aliens in space ships who's souls lay dormant in earths volcanoes, put there by Xenu long ago during the great space battle. These souls infecting us humans are the reason for our misery and pain.
    (No, I am *NOT* kidding or making that up!)

    They do not believe in helping others. They believe that if you pay them very large 5-digit sums of money every couple of months, that they will remove these souls from your body, thus ridding you of pain and misery.

    That is why most slashdotters hate and despise scientologists.
    That and their well documented crimes such as kidnapping, torture, and murder.

    If you would like to fix the first line I quoted from you and put in bold, I highly recommend the second link here, or the first to "dip your toes" in this frightening subject:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology
    http://www.xenu.net/

  4. Re:James Randi is a fake! by Dynetrekk · · Score: 5, Informative
    I've been to a lecture by James Randi. According to my understanding, he never claims that 'no, dousing can never work' or anything of that kind. His main operation is his $1M award saying "if you can convince me that you've done something supernatural, I'll give you $1M". For instance, he let homeopaths try to determine which glasses contains homeopathic water, for a large-ish sample of water and homeopathic water. He let them use their own homeopathic water and use their own tests, whatever they may be. After the homeopaths failing to prove anything at all, he did not conclude that homeopathy does not work. He simply says "okay, you guys can't convince me that your supernatural methods are working". He'll give anyone a chance at convincing him, but charlatans consistently fail to do so. It's not science, but I'm drawing my own conclusions from all this, and so does James Randi.

    tl;dr: It's nearly impossible to prove that something "does not exist" or "can never work", so James Randi never phrases the question that way. He asks people to prove that their supposed tricks actually work, in whatever way they claim.

  5. Re:James Randi is a fake! by Supermike68 · · Score: 5, Informative
    This is true. When a positive claim is made like, "Dowsing is 100% real." then the burden of proof is on the one making the positive claim.

    James Randi will always stay with the default position, the side that the requires proof.