Canadian magician offers $1 Million USD for proof of supernatural

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) -- A sworn enemy of superstition, Canadian-born magician James Randi has thrown down the gauntlet to mystics, promising $1 million to anyone who can prove supernatural powers or a phenomenon beyond the reach of science.

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Alright ATS members. Those of you who have boasted abilities of telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, etc... Now is your time to let your skills work for you.

Will any of you take Mr. Randi up on his offer?

I am guessing no. No one will here at least, will have the guts to put their money where their mouth is...

These types of offers always amaze me...so ridiculous...the supernatural is not something provable but more something that one experiences...it is not controllable and therefore unstable and not where you can be prepared to prove it....really silly! I don't think nayone takes these people serious to start with.

I don't think it's silly at all. He wants proof just like anyone here. Looking to find the truth. Alot of people claim to have these powers yet nobody can produce them. I don't think it has to do with control, just honesty.

Originally posted by I See You
I don't think it's silly at all.

To each their own..but as I have explained in other threads:
Myself as an example. I usually know who is calling as soon as the phone rings, at home and many times at work, I know what's going on with my children, if I dream something three times consecutively, in a row, it will happen. I usually know when someone will become ill or pass away and I know when something is going to happen to loved ones and have been able to warned them that ended up saving them....but I have no control over any of it as most people don't.

James Randi is a fraud.

More Randinanigans here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

awww, i suck at this game

You are very late on this story, more than 70% of ATS know about this challenge, and a sizable amount know it is bollocks. The reason, he offers $1 million, is because he cannot lose. Now, that is not because no real psychics exist, and neither is it because psychic skills are not demonstrable, it is because it is a failure designed, unscientific, unfair test.

There are two stages to it:

The preliminary: The claimant is asked for a crude demonstration of their skills
The tests: The claimant is then put through vigorous tests.

To date, there is not a single person who has applied, which is probably thousands, who have passed the prelimary test. That, is not because they failed to demonstrate, but because the skeptic has to be convinced and testify that it was indeed proven, which basically means, the psychic has to prove the skills, before they are even tested. It's a fallacy. And any true psychic would be able to see through it.

Now, whether you believe in psychism or not, the Randi challenge is a complete hoax of an experiment.

Now, as for those here claiming psychic abilities are not demonstrable. That is untrue. In fact, I am not going to be politically correct, it's bolloks. Those who say this are either horribly misguided, or are making excuses for their own weak or non existing abilities. The truth is, some 90% of the psychic you will meet, are fakes, charlatans, or deluded people. It can be really frustrating finding genuines. I know mediums, who are so deluded, that they take their own imaginings to be messages.

However, genuines do exist, and psychic abilities have been tested, and positive results have been produced, over several decades of scientific experiments, and some are even documented in reputable scientific journals.

Well I found it on CNN TODAY...so yeah.
Indigo_Child

I wonder why CNN decided to bring up that again. It's not even news anymore... And it's shown to be a hoax. But of course that won't appear on CNN.

I suppose it could be said I have a view of james randi thats different from everyone else as it's from a different perspective. I'm not sure how many of you know that james randi started out as an escape artist and was actually a successful one to boot!
As an ex escape artist myself (for a number of years) I can tell you that randi is dispised by alot in the profession for quite a number of reasons. Some of them being that he thinks of himself as aloof from everyone else on this planet; and will use whatever means he deems right to get to his objective.
How many of you are aware that this money actually came from a US goverment grant? Do a bit of digging and you'll find out what I mean. Randi bragged about this to the whole escape profession as his biggest 'con'. So even if the money is ever paid out [which it wont ever be] unless it get's 'james randi' something in return (be it extra fame, money or power) it's not his money.
I've known a few people on the other side of randi's greed and find the man detestable. Remember this is a man who tried to distroy the entire escape profession [hundreds of years old!] all because he had stopped doing it. I hope this gives you an idea of what the 'real' james randi is like.

Wayne...






[edit on 7/12/2004 by the secret web]