RIP: The Amazing James Randi

ASHES said:

www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5772234

The great magician and nonsense debunker has died at 92. His TV appearances testing psychics, faith healers and other pseudoscience practitioners were legendary, and nobody yet has claimed the $1M prize for demonstrating any supernatural claims.

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ASHES said:

www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5772234

The great magician and nonsense debunker has died at 92. His TV appearances testing psychics, faith healers and other pseudoscience practitioners were legendary, and nobody yet has claimed the $1M prize for demonstrating any supernatural claims.

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In his twenties, Randi posed as an astrologer and, to establish that they merely were doing simple tricks, he briefly wrote an astrological column in the Canadian tabloid Midnight under the name "Zo-ran" by simply shuffling up items from newspaper astrology columns and pasting them randomly into a column.[22][23] In his thirties, Randi worked in the UK, Europe, Philippine nightclubs, and all across Japan.[24] He witnessed many tricks that were presented as being supernatural. One of his earliest reported experiences was that of seeing an evangelist using a version of the "one-ahead"[25] technique to convince churchgoers of his divine powers

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The mentalist provides paper, pencils and envelopes to the audience, who are asked to write statements on the paper and then seal them in the envelopes. The envelopes are then collected and handed to the mentalist. The mentalist takes the first envelope and magically examines it, typically by holding it to their forehead. After concentrating, they announce what is written on the paper. The envelope is then opened to check that they have read it correctly. The mentalist then selects the next envelope and proceeds to mind-read the contents of the rest, one by one.

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In his essay "Why I Deny Religion, How Silly and Fantastic It Is, and Why I'm a Dedicated and Vociferous Bright", Randi, who identified himself as an atheist,[139] opined that many accounts in religious texts, including the virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus Christ, and the parting of the Red Sea by Moses, are not believable. Randi refers to the Virgin Mary as being "impregnated by a ghost of some sort, and as a result produced a son who could walk on water, raise the dead, turn water into wine, and multiply loaves of bread and fishes" and questions how Adam and Eve "could have two sons, one of whom killed the other, and yet managed to populate the Earth without committing incest". He wrote that, compared to the Bible, "The Wizard of Oz is more believable. And much more fun."[140]

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