James Randi Debunks Spiritualists, Homeopathy and other Pseudoscience Matters on TED

[superman-yak]

---

good terminologies..

[kenites]

James Randi ako idol, I read his book Flim Flam and The Faith Healers..
I used to be a subscriber of Skeptic Magz pero I stopped since wala na kaayo ko time kay medyo
busy na sa work...gimingaw na pud ko ani nga mga discussion
Wala lage makakuha anang $1M niya

[hitch22]

Why don't we have skeptics like James Randi or Michael Shermer in the Philippines to keep charlatans like Jaime Licauco and the mumbo-jumbo artists in check? Superstition is so tightly wound up with our culture that people actually waste lots of money and time on them. Some farm owners pay lots of money for dowsers to spot water aquifers. A lot of women in the provinces queue up at some witch doctor's house to cast hexes on their cheating husbands or their abusive bosses. The men, upon hearing that hexes have been cast on them, invariably go to the same witch doctor, to pay him to have these hexes removed. Exorcism is in fact still being practiced. A lot of people still believe that demons hover the air around us, waiting for a moment of weakness in certain individuals. That's a shame, especially considering how far we've come in our understanding of nature...especially in this new millenium.

We've come a long way in science to understanding a lot of phenomenon that used to be deemed as supernatural. We now have the Germ Theory to explain un-seen things that afflict the health of a community, where we once believed them to be punishment from a certain type of god. Advances in psychology and our study of the brain have explained voices-in-the-head as schizophrenia, where before we used to believe them to be demonic possessions. It used to be thought that the body is like a house, and if we make it uncomfortable for the spirits to live in, using various kinds of torture, we can drive it out of the body. They tried that trick on King George III of Great Britain but without success.

[rodsky]

Why don't we have skeptics like James Randi or Michael Shermer in the Philippines to keep charlatans like Jaime Licauco and the mumbo-jumbo artists in check? Superstition is so tightly wound up with our culture that people actually waste lots of money and time on them. Some farm owners pay lots of money for dowsers to spot water aquifers. A lot of women in the provinces queue up at some witch doctor's house to cast hexes on their cheating husbands or their abusive bosses. The men, upon hearing that hexes have been cast on them, invariably go to the same witch doctor, to pay him to have these hexes removed. Exorcism is in fact still being practiced. A lot of people still believe that demons hover the air around us, waiting for a moment of weakness in certain individuals. That's a shame, especially considering how far we've come in our understanding of nature...especially in this new millenium.

We've come a long way in science to understanding a lot of phenomenon that used to be deemed as supernatural. We now have the Germ Theory to explain un-seen things that afflict the health of a community, where we once believed them to be punishment from a certain type of god. Advances in psychology and our study of the brain have explained voices-in-the-head as schizophrenia, where before we used to believe them to be demonic possessions. It used to be thought that the body is like a house, and if we make it uncomfortable for the spirits to live in, using various kinds of torture, we can drive it out of the body. They tried that trick on King George III of Great Britain but without success.

We do have skeptics here in our country--I count myself as one of them. The trouble is, due to the popularity of "quack" medicine, horoscopes and etc, it's a case of "A sane man in an insane society is the one deemed insane."

-RODION

[analog man]

ancient knowledge is deep

[hitch22]

We do have skeptics here in our country--I count myself as one of them. The trouble is, due to the popularity of "quack" medicine, horoscopes and etc, it's a case of "A sane man in an insane society is the one deemed insane."

-RODION

Nice quote, rodsky!

What I mean really is we don't have a popular skeptic like James Randi or Michael Shermer? I also don't see a Filipino version of Skeptic magazine. Whenever I see Jaime Licauco's columns about psychic powers and spirit mediums, I sometimes wish a Filipino James Randi were here to expose these fraudulent claims.

Licauco and Randi did cross swords once in 2006. Randi challenged Licauco to apply for the JREF $1 million dollar prize, since the latter claimed that "he has paranormal abilities". In his "Setting the record straight" article on Inquiret.net in January 15, 2007, Licauco denied having supernatural powers. He said "That’s a lie. I have never claimed to have any paranormal or psychic ability. I don’t know where Randi got that idea".

Licauco used to teach a course in Parapsychology at the De La Salle U. This subject covers, among other things, ESP and how to do remote viewing....you know, Mumbo Jumbo...and even boasted in a show that more than 80% of his students develop the skill. And he never claimed to have paranormal abilities?! That's a "Gotcha!" moment there for Mr. Randi.

[rodsky]

Nice quote, rodsky!

What I mean really is we don't have a popular skeptic like James Randi or Michael Shermer? I also don't see a Filipino version of Skeptic magazine. Whenever I see Jaime Licauco's columns about psychic powers and spirit mediums, I sometimes wish a Filipino James Randi were here to expose these fraudulent claims.

Licauco and Randi did cross swords once in 2006. Randi challenged Licauco to apply for the JREF $1 million dollar prize, since the latter claimed that "he has paranormal abilities". In his "Setting the record straight" article on Inquiret.net in January 15, 2007, Licauco denied having supernatural powers. He said "That’s a lie. I have never claimed to have any paranormal or psychic ability. I don’t know where Randi got that idea".

Licauco used to teach a course in Parapsychology at the De La Salle U. This subject covers, among other things, ESP and how to do remote viewing....you know, Mumbo Jumbo...and even boasted in a show that more than 80% of his students develop the skill. And he never claimed to have paranormal abilities?! That's a "Gotcha!" moment there for Mr. Randi.

Well, I'm just not that popular... yet.

-RODION

[YJOB]

Well, I'm just not that popular... yet.

-RODION

I'd be more than glad to contribute my resources to this (project).

[chad_tukes]

ancient knowledge is deep

LOL

let's just say --- ancient knowledge is OUTDATED.

[chad_tukes]

OT: my next book. hope you'll get a copy if you haven't.