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

[chad_tukes]

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psychokinesis is not Uri Geller... so if I say 'I believe in psychokinesis' that doesn't mean that i believe in Uri.... they are different.... Uri is a joke while PK is not....

huh?! Uri allegedly does PK. fake nga lang. well, isn't PK itself a joke in the first place? there is no scientific evidence that supports it.

[kakashiOO7]

have you gone reading some quantum mechanics articles? or documentary videos? ....(including theories)

[hitch22]

Richard Feynman, one of 20th century's greatest physicist, once said "If you think you understand Quantum Theory, you don't."

I do not claim to have a firm grasp of Quantum Theory, therefore I cannot ascertain how those principles could be harnessed in the macro world---like using thoughts to channel energy or travel through space and time via remote viewing. It all sounds mumbo-jumbo to me, but hey I'm willing to be shown. Anyone who says he has the answer is making a big claim. Therefore, that person has the burden of proof.

Documentary videos or some books written by some scientist won't cut it. A discovery of this magnitude (which parapsychology is, if indeed proven) is certainly worth a Nobel Prize. As yet, we've never heard a Nobel Prize in the field of parapsychology. If psychic abilities exist, we should've witnessed people levitating themselves to work. If psychic abilities exists, that could've been used to prevent a lot of tragedies around the world. Sadly, only hindsight is 20/20.

If you really want to touch base with mainstream science regarding parapsychology, you have to ask the elite scientists....people from the National Academy of Sciences. Here's what the survey revealed:

Among scientists in the National Academy of Sciences, 96% described themselves as "skeptical" of ESP; 2% believed in psi and 10% felt that parapsychological research should be encouraged. The National Academy of Sciences had previously sponsored the Enhancing Human Performance report on mental development programs, which was critical of parapsychology.

A scientific methodology that shows statistically significant evidence for ESP has not been documented. The lack of a viable theory of the mechanism behind ESP is also frequently cited as a source of skepticism. Historical cases in which flaws have been discovered in the experimental design of parapsychological studies, and the occasional cases of fraud marred the field.

Critics of experimental parapsychology hold that there are no consistent and agreed-upon standards by which "ESP powers" may be tested, in the way one might test for, say, electrical current or the chemical composition of a substance. It is argued that when psychics are challenged by skeptics and fail to prove their alleged powers, they assign all sorts of reasons for their failure, such as that the skeptic is affecting the experiment with "negative energy."

That last statement is so typical of charlatans who've failed to demonstrate their so-called powers under strict scientific scrutiny. Ever wondered why the JREF challenge has never been won since its inception? People are right to be skeptical about these things.

Don't get me wrong. I would really like to believe that the human mind can do the things that parapsychologists claim. So far, all the proofs have fallen flat. I would like to celebrate with you, if indeed psychokinesis has achieved respectability in the mainstream scientific community. Surely, that would deserve a Nobel Prize, as well as the JREF's $1 million.

Peace, bro! Opinion lang nako ni....kapoy sad mo-compose ug taas nga response.

[kakashiOO7]

kini man gud c Feynman (mao ba ning magnet specialist?), strikto naman gud kaayo. kita nako sa interview aning tawhana ni.. dali lang kaayo saputon.... naay gipangutana ang nag-interview nasuko dayon kay broad ra daw ang question....natural kay dili gud to science ang nag-interview...

karon tungud sa iyang ka-strikto maong nakasulti xag "If you think you understand Quantum Theory, you don't." ....

If psychic abilities exists, that could've been used to prevent a lot of tragedies around the world. Sadly, only hindsight is 20/20.

actually kining mga psychis abilities ginagamit ni sa war sauna, katong panahon pa ni hitler.. see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FkYFxUSAJY&feature=fvst ...
NOTE: dili jud na purely science ha, like nag-involve ba og quantum mechanics studies para maachieve na ang desired result sa psychic abilities , etc...... so watch at your own risk (hehehe)


unya kaning mga scientist man gud, pirmi iwit... like sa mga mystics, psychics, or unsa pa nang tawag nimo ana, ingun sila sa ilang teachings nga naa daw universal energy, or life force, etheric energy, nga naa everywhere or blah blah........ pero ang mga scienctist igo ra man kataw-an na nga knowledge...... pero pag-abot ni Nikola Tesla, ingun xa nga naay daw free energy everywhere nga gitawag niyag "Ether"...and remember, tesla is an inventor.. iyang field kay sa electricity og magnetism........

[hitch22]

Thanks for the Youtube link, bai. It's a rather long documentary, hosted by one of the more famous versions of James Bond 007, Roger Moore. I think I'll be able to watch it one of these days...if I'm bored out of my wits.

Anyway, to respond to your statements...

Feynman was one of the greatest teachers of Quantum Mechanics. He, like most geniuses, was intolerant to stupidity and anyone who claimed to know Quantum Mechanics even though they didn't. The incomprehensibility of Quantum Mechanics was also expressed by one its founding fathers, Niels Bohr. It is also no wonder that the Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle (the indeterminability of the position and velocity of electrons) was formulated precisely from this field. Unfortunately, the weirdness of quantum mechanics has not stopped pseudo-scientists from claiming its principles for their own agenda. It has, in fact, been fertile ground for a host of pseudosciences like parapsychology to exploit. Feynman was right in stomping his foot down whenever people hitched their wagons on Quantum Mechanics to advance non-sense.

Secondly, while it is true that funding and mobilizations were done during World War II to utilize ESP (particularly remote viewing) for intelligence purposes, there is no conclusive evidence that it worked. In other words, puro controversy ang agi. For those who don't know what "remote viewing" is, it is simply the supposed ability of psychics to literally see a remote location. It's a phenomenon first authored by parapsychologists Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ. According to their studies, they claimed to have conducted successful experiments and concluded that the "remote sensing" faculty exists.

Unfortunately, subsequent properly controlled tests done by several other researchers, (eliminating several sources of cuing and extraneous evidence that had been present in the tests done by Puthoff and Targ) produced negative results. The data of Puthoff and Targ were re-examined by the other researchers, and it was found that their students were able to solve the locations without use of any psychic powers, using only the clues that had inadvertently been included in the Puthoff and Targ transcripts.

The fact that a powerful government has put funding into a pseudoscience doesn't lend it credibility per se. Just take a look, in recent times, the Iraqi funding for the Quadro Tracker, a dowsing device that's purportedly able to detect bombs. The US military relied on it in their Iraqi occupation with fatal consequences. In other words, wasted money and lives.

Lastly, one must be careful when following even the opinions of even great scientists. Tesla, no doubt, was a great inventor and engineer. In his 60s, however, his mental health declined. He started believing in all sorts of non-sense, like he believed he was actually an alien avatar born to Earth parents. He claimed to have invented a death ray which could destroy ships 200 miles away. He even offered this invention to the US government during World War Two. Even when sane, some notable scientists were not spared from believing in non-sense. Isaac Newton believed in alchemy, and spent nights locked up in his room, trying to transmute lead into Gold.

So, No. At this point in time, Parapsychology remains on the outskirts of science (even if it has adherents from the scientific community itself and tons of books, videos and testimonies claiming its occurrences). It has not passed the test for a valid scientific theory, namely: observability, predictability and demonstrability. Heck, parapsychology doesn't even have a coherent scientific theory that explains its mechanisms. At best, I can grant this much: Parapsychology could be something...but it's not science (in the strictest terms).

[rodsky]

The fact that a powerful government has put funding into a pseudoscience doesn't lend it credibility per se. Just take a look, in recent times, the Iraqi funding for the Quadro Tracker, a dowsing device that's purportedly able to detect bombs. The US military relied on it in their Iraqi occupation with fatal consequences. In other words, wasted money and lives.

.

"Men Who Stare at Goats"

-RODION

[kakashiOO7]

.. He started believing in all sorts of non-sense, like he believed he was actually an alien avatar born to Earth parents...

nyaahahaha tinuod na bai? ...

basta motuo ko aning mga butanga ni...nyehhehhee...... puhon kung makabalo na ko akong ibutang sa youtube... akong eharvest ang reward ni james randi....... ang kahadlukan lang nako basig naay moadto sa among balay ba unya kidnapun ko kay ukbun akong utuk unya buhatan og formula

[analog man]

LOL

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

hahaha. why did you say that?

[malebranche]

I wouldn't call Bill Maher scientific. Just a raving uber secularist.