James Randi is my hero
Posted by Aioros[COLOR="Yellow"]James Randi was a former magician who has made it his mission in life to debunk all claims of paranormal and supernatural phenomena. His stance is very simple and one that i've agreed with for years. Making people believe that they can communicate with dead relatives or heal themselves mentally is just wrong. As[COLOR="Yellow"]s[/COLOR]holes like John Edwards and other "psychic readers" claim to ease the pain of the suffering or say they give people something greater to believe in, but all they're doing is taking advantage of poor folk in the saddest, most desperate moments of their life. And for what? A buck? It just pi[COLOR="Yellow"]s[/COLOR]ses me off to no extent. This is why i idolize this man.
More than 20 years ago James Randi wrote a check for $10,000 which he would give to anybody who could scientifically prove in his prescence the existence of paranormal activities of any kind. Since then, many have come forward claiming to have proof only to be debunked under heavy testing. The offer has grown to 1 million dollars as of today thanks to donations from skeptics and its still up for grabs. People like John Edwards have been offered the challenge only to walk away from it claiming they "don't need the money". How many charities do you know of that could use a million dollars? Why not walk in, prove them wrong, take the money and give it to the needy? F[COLOR="Yellow"]u[/COLOR]ck, the money is not even the most important thing that would come of this. Think about all the praise they'd get, not to mention that hundreds of years of scientific study would have to be rewritten. Whatever, these people who insist on bull[COLOR="Yellow"]s[/COLOR]hitting the gullible just make me mad.
This is an old video of James Randi. It's kinda long but worth every minute:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3396869920557391806&q=james+randi
If you wanna learn more about a person who is making this world a better place, check out his website [url]www.randi.org[/url] and read about the million dollar paranormal challenge yourself.[/COLOR]
Posted by ArwonHe should battle the pope.
Posted by BebopHe looks like Rolf Harrison's evil twin.
I enjoyed seeing him debunk Uri Geller. I've not really beleived in Gellar (maybe when I was little where a fat man in red giving me presents was rational) and I don't agree with con artists.
Jesus Christ that preacing healing guy really beat up that old stomach cancer suffering lady.
Posted by jefferey shalome
Quoting Aioros: [COLOR="Yellow"]James Randi was a former magician who has made it his mission in life to debunk all claims of paranormal and supernatural phenomena. His stance is very simple and one that i've agreed with for years. Making people believe that they can communicate with dead relatives or heal themselves mentally is just wrong. As[COLOR="Yellow"]s[/COLOR]holes like John Edwards and other "psychic readers" claim to ease the pain of the suffering or say they give people something greater to believe in, but all they're doing is taking advantage of poor folk in the saddest, most desperate moments of their life. And for what? A buck? It just pi[COLOR="Yellow"]s[/COLOR]ses me off to no extent. This is why i idolize this man.
More than 20 years ago James Randi wrote a check for $10,000 which he would give to anybody who could scientifically prove in his prescence the existence of paranormal activities of any kind. Since then, many have come forward claiming to have proof only to be debunked under heavy testing. The offer has grown to 1 million dollars as of today thanks to donations from skeptics and its still up for grabs. People like John Edwards have been offered the challenge only to walk away from it claiming they "don't need the money". How many charities do you know of that could use a million dollars? Why not walk in, prove them wrong, take the money and give it to the needy? F[COLOR="Yellow"]u[/COLOR]ck, the money is not even the most important thing that would come of this. Think about all the nobel prizes they'd get, not to mention that hundreds of years of scientific study would have to be rewritten. Whatever, these people who insist on bull[COLOR="Yellow"]s[/COLOR]hitting the gullible just make me mad.
This is an old video of James Randi. It's kinda long but worth every minute:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3396869920557391806&q=james+randi
If you wanna learn more about a person who is making this world a better place, check out his website [url]www.randi.org[/url] and read about the million dollar paranormal challenge yourself.[/COLOR]
It's like that one episode of southpark with John edwards. "Biggest douche in the universe."
Posted by Gollum
Quoting Aioros: [COLOR="Yellow"]As[COLOR="Yellow"]s[/COLOR]holes like John Edwards and other "psychic readers" claim to ease the pain of the suffering or say they give people something greater to believe in, but all they're doing is taking advantage of poor folk in the saddest, most desperate moments of their life. And for what? A buck? It just pi[COLOR="Yellow"]s[/COLOR]ses me off to no extent. This is why i idolize this man.
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I understand where you're coming from, but I really think that it depends on how much he charges for his services. If it costs hundreds of dollars, then I'd say yes, that's not right at all to take advantage of people. However, if it costs $20 to walk in and have your pain eased, then I don't think there's anything wrong with that. People do what they want to feel better. For a tiny monetary investment, if they'll feel better, why not? I think that being happy is very important to everyone.
However, I get the feeling that his psychic readings aren't cheap, in which case I totally agree.
Posted by Aioros
Quoting Irrelevant: I understand where you're coming from, but I really think that it depends on how much he charges for his services. If it costs hundreds of dollars, then I'd say yes, that's not right at all to take advantage of people. However, if it costs $20 to walk in and have your pain eased, then I don't think there's anything wrong with that. People do what they want to feel better. For a tiny monetary investment, if they'll feel better, why not? I think that being happy is very important to everyone.
However, I get the feeling that his psychic readings aren't cheap, in which case I totally agree.
[COLOR="Yellow"]It's not about the money these as[COLOR="Yellow"]s[/COLOR]holes are making, even if they only charged 10 cents it wouldn't make a difference, they're still resorting to making money by tapping into the most vulnerable of human emotion. Easing the pain of the grieve-striken by lying to them about the people they love and making s[COLOR="Yellow"]h[/COLOR]it up can never be justifiable. I saw a woman on TV crying after the psychic told her they made contact with her son and it breaks my heart (i've experienced losing a loved one first hand) because the memories of her son when he was alive are all twisted and f[COLOR="Yellow"]u[/COLOR]cked up now because of what some guy invented on the spot. The best thing one can do is remember those precious moments when they were alive. Making a ham sandwich now for someone you love will mean a million times more to them than spending thousands of dollars on a shiny coffin or hundreds on psychic readings after they die. It'll cost a lot less and make you feel much better knowing you were there for them in their final hours.[/COLOR]
Posted by Gollum
Quoting Aioros: [COLOR="Yellow"]It's not about the money these as[COLOR="Yellow"]s[/COLOR]holes are making, even if they only charged 10 cents it wouldn't make a difference, they're still resorting to making money by tapping into the most vulnerable of human emotion. Easing the pain of the grieve-striken by lying to them about the people they love and making s[COLOR="Yellow"]h[/COLOR]it up can never be justifiable. I saw a woman on TV crying after the psychic told her they made contact with her son and it breaks my heart (i've experienced losing a loved one first hand) because the memories of her son when he was alive are all twisted and f[COLOR="Yellow"]u[/COLOR]cked up now because of what some guy invented on the spot. The best thing one can do is remember those precious moments when they were alive. [/COLOR]
If your girlfriend broke up with you for no reason, you would probably be pretty mad, and maybe ruin something she gave you. You'd feel better after doing it, but somewhere down the road wish that you hadn't. I realise that they're two different scenarios, but I think they're comparable. I think its more important to be happy than to know you're being ripped off. If someone gave me sugar pills and told me I'd cheer up because of them, I wouldn't care if I ever found out that they were just sugar, because I'd placebo myself into feeling better, in which case I benefit. I agree that it's morally pathetic and unjustifiable, and I think that the psychic reader is a jerk, but the many people that have benefited from his 'services' probably don't care either way.
Edit: But now, after rereading your post, I actually had no idea that psychic readers would screw up the dead person's image, in which case that's pretty bad.
[quote=Aioros]
spending thousands of dollars on a shiny coffin
Now this I agree with. When I die, I'm going to tell my relatives to put my body in a coffin made of 2x4's from Home Depot and to go buy cool stuff.
In any case, I'm not trying to argue, just saying that it might be not so bad in some cases, but clearly not all. Not that I'm trying to defend the 'psychic' people's lack of morals. I'd also like to point out that although I don't believe in any of that psychic garbage or anything supernatural like that, there isn't a way to convince everyone that having powers like that is impossible. There's also the distinct possibility that the psychic readers are merely insane and don't have a clue whether that voice in their heads is the dead or the schizophrenia talking.
Edit: by the way, just wanted to say, I do think the psychics are total bull**** and what they're doing is totally immoral and wrong. I don't think I made that point clear.
Posted by GameMiestroHe's a rip-off of Houdini, and virtually nobody knows it.