James Randy
Randall James Hamilton Zwinge (Toronto, Ontario, August 7, 1928 - Plantation, Florida, October 20, 2020), known as James Randi, was a Canadian-American stage magician, illusionist, writer, and skeptic known for exposing frauds involving parapsychology, the occult, the supernatural, homeopathy, and other pseudosciences. He began his career as a magician under the name artistry of The Amazing Randi and later decided to spend most of his time investigating paranormal, supernatural, and pseudoscientific claims, topics he collectively called "woo-woo& #34;. Randi retired from practicing magic at 60 and from the JREF at 87.
Trajectory
He worked as a professional illusionist and escape artist from the 1950s on a live television show called Wonderama (in 1955), where he appeared as "The Amazing Randi".. In the 1970s he became internationally known when he publicly challenged the Israeli military and magician Uri Geller (1946-). Randi accused Geller of being nothing more than a charlatan who used tricks known among magicians to pass off as paranormal powers, and insisted on denouncing him in the book The Magic of Uri Geller. He responded to Randi with several lawsuits, and their rivalry has continued for three decades now.
Randi continues to write several books in which he attacks popular beliefs in the paranormal. She has also denounced frauds with which some charlatans obtained illicit profits. In Project Alpha he set out to essentially end paranormal investigation at the university level. Randi exposed the quack Peter Popoff, which led to his loss of influence and popularity.
Randi was a co-founder and prominent member of CSICOP, until he resigned because of lawsuits that Uri Geller filed against him, so the organization wouldn't be affected.
The Benveniste case and the memory of water
In 1988, the self-proclaimed “possible Nobel Prize winner” Jacques Benveniste sent to the prestigious magazine Nature an article that caused much debate in the scientific community, in which he exposed a series of experiments on degranulation of basophils triggered by very dilute IgE (immunoglobulin E group) antibodies. Benveniste claimed to have discovered that some compounds, which were recognized by antibodies, were recognized even if they were dissolved in water many times. These findings seemed to support the concept of homeopathy. Biologists were baffled by Benveniste's results because at Benveniste's more than a thousand times high solutions (equivalent to one drop of active ingredient in the entire Earth's ocean), not a single molecule of the original sample remained. Benveniste concluded that the configuration of the molecules in the water was biologically active; that is, the water could maintain the shape as if the molecule were dissolved in it. To the disbelief of the Nature editorial staff, but supported by the reliability of some articles that had already been published by Benveniste, the study was published in the June 1988 issue, on the condition that the experiment should be reproduced under the care of an evaluation team, made up of, among others, James Randi.
On July 4, 1988, the team arrived in Paris to do research. The experiment separated two types of test tubes, one with homeopathic water and the other with normal (control) water, and then they were subjected to the basophil degranulation test. Randi's team zeroed in on the lab's records and examined seven attempts to replicate Benveniste's study. Three of the first four attempts went partly in Benveniste's favour. However, the Nature team was not satisfied with the rigor of the methodology. The team noted that the fact that Benveniste knew which were the homeopathic samples and which were the control samples could influence the results of the experiment. In this way, the team took the homeopathic samples, as well as the control samples, and moved them around to later designate them with a code that only they knew. The code, as Randi suggested, was placed in an envelope and then taped to the ceiling of the lab for all to see.
In this way, only the evaluation team knew which were the control samples and which were the homeopathic ones. As Randi expected, when Benveniste's team was ignorant of the origin of the samples, the results showed no difference between the dilutions and the control. In response to Benveniste's refusal to retract, the team published in the July 1988 issue of Nature the following criticisms of Benveniste's original study:
1. Benveniste's experiments were "statistically poorly controlled" and the laboratory was not familiar with the concept of sampling error. The method for taking control values was unreliable and "no substantial effort had been made to exclude systematic error, including observer bias."
2. "The interpretation had been blurred by the exclusion of measures that clashed with what was sought." In particular, "blood that did not degranulate was recorded but not included in analyzes prepared for publication." In addition, the experiment sometimes failed completely for "periods of several months."
3. There was insufficient "avoidance of contamination" and in a large proportion "the blood source for the experiments is not controlled".
4. The study had not previously disclosed that "the salaries of two of the co-authors of the published article were paid by contract between INSERM 200 and the French company Boiron et Cie."
5. "The phenomenon described is not reproducible." "We believe that the experimental data has settled without any criticism and its imperfections have not been adequately reported."
Randi's Opinions
About religion
In his essay Why I reject religion, how silly and unreal it is, and why I am a dedicated and energetic bright, Randi states that many accounts in religious texts, such as the virginity of Mary, the miracles of Jesus Christ or the division of the Red Sea by Moses, are not credible. He concludes that The Wizard of Oz "is more believable and funnier" than the Bible.
On Arthur Conan Doyle and Spiritualism
Randi describes Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (famous for his stories about detective Sherlock Holmes) as "a bit of a snob." And he believes that his acceptance of spiritualism — which Randi considers "incredibly naive" — legitimized it as a religion.[citation needed ]
The Million Dollar Challenge
In 1996, Randi founded the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). This organization attempts to examine paranormal claims under controlled experimental conditions. Between 1996 and 2010, it offered a $1 million prize to anyone who could demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or occurrence under controlled viewing conditions. No one has passed the preliminary tests, which have been agreed upon in advance by both parties for each specific paranormal claim. Randi updates the JREF website every Friday, with written comments.
Under the conditions and rules governing the challenge, Randi established that both parties (himself and the party accepting the challenge) must agree in advance which test results constitute a "success" and which constitute a "failure." The illusionist claims that the most difficult part of the process is getting the seekers to define precisely what they can do that is paranormal, since ambiguity and indeterminacy are a primary resource of charlatans when it comes to declaring any of their attempts as a success.
These pre-stipulations are what, according to skeptics, makes the self-proclaimed "possessors of paranormal powers" refuse to take part in Randi's challenge. On the other hand, his detractors claim that the offer is deceptive and that Randi will never pay whatever the result. They blame him for the fact that, in an interview in Fate magazine (October 1981), he came to admit that he "would always have a way out"; however, it must be said that this interview was published during what was an internal political struggle between members of the CSICOP. Observers of the ongoing debate between skeptics and believers say that the phrase was indeed taken out of context and originally referred to the controls Randi uses during experiments to prevent cheating. They also maintain that the claims that Randi would not pay are unfounded, as the money is in a Goldman, Sachs & Company, and breaking the rules would constitute fraud punishable by law.
Parapsychologists generally try to downplay the challenge, because of Randi's character and his harsh and inflexible way of writing and presenting himself, which has made him many enemies among self-described "experts" on paranormal themes. Randi's supporters note that there are other skeptical organizations that have made similar offers and challenges to prove the existence of paranormal abilities, and that experts can present their claims in those other challenges, if they don't like Randi's..
Recent Challenge Changes
In January 2007, James Randi, seeking greater participation, changed the conditions of the challenge, which became effective on April 1, 2007. From that moment on, the Foundation requires two conditions to accept the proposals that come to it:
- The aspirant must have some kind of media recognition (TV interview, mention in some publication or have published something) that offers details of his alleged skills.
- The aspirant must provide at least one document signed by a university student who has witnessed the demonstration of the aspirant's powers.
Once the applicant has completed that part, the Foundation will check the data. If the proposal is accepted, the Foundation may lift the need for a preliminary test before moving on to final testing.
Another important change in the Foundation's plans is that it will regularly directly challenge people known for their paranormal statements. The Foundation will make their names public, as well as their response to the Challenge. On April 1, this new modality began with challenges to Uri Geller, James Van Praagh, Sylvia Browne and John Edward.
James Randi's critique of Cleve Backster's studies
Now, why do demential science and pseudoscience exist? The reasons are several. First, because publishers love books that support these ideas. A few years ago, the play The secret life of plants He reported millions of dollars to a Cleve Backster. It states that connecting a plant (the best to do so is a Dieffenbachia) to a polygraph, incorporating several electrodes and threatening it with burning, the detector exits from the scale. Isn't that magnificent? I never thought the plants would have a central nervous system. Apparently I was wrong, me and all the botanists. But that got a lot of publicity. To tell the truth, this gentleman did not fail before public opinion until he performed his last experiments. And I insist that you do not blame me; the experiment is yours, not mine. The man discovered that by connecting two yogurts to one another with a wire—please, they would not laugh that this is Science—and then insert a cigarette on one of the containers (which is to waste a good yogurt), the other yogurt will manifest a reaction in the polygraph; but it is only fulfilled if both yogurt vessels come from the same crop. This is very important. Believe it or not, that was its conclusion and, of course, at this point lost some followers within the scientific community.James Randi, «Cience and pseudoscience» p. 216-217.
Private life
In February 2006 Randi underwent surgery and a bypass was performed on his coronary arteries. In June 2009 he was diagnosed with colon cancer. A tumor the size of a ping pong ball was removed by laparoscopy. He was subsequently treated with chemotherapy for several weeks.
In his blog post on March 21, 2010, he came out as gay. It was inspired by the film Milk in which Sean Penn portrayed the life of Harvey Milk, the first outspoken gay politician elected in California. On July 12, 2013 at The Amazing Meeting (TAM) Randi stated that she had married 10 days earlier in the city of Washington with the artist Deyvi Peña, who had been her partner for 27 years.
In 2012 magician Penn Jillette (b. 1955), of the duo Penn and Teller, announced that he was working on a biography of James Randi. He passed away on October 20, 2020 at age 92.
Honors
Eponymy
Randi Asteroid
The asteroid (3163) Randi is named in his honor.
Books
- 1980: Flim-Flam! (in Spanish): Paranormal fraud), ISBN 9780690018776 (hardship), ISBN 9780879751982 (critical)
- 1982: The magic of Uri Geller.
- renamed The truth about Uri Geller.
- 1989: The healers (Carl Sagan's prologue). ISBN 0-87975-535-0.
- 1990: Nostradamus mask: the most famous prophecies of the world’s diviners; ISBN 0-87975-830-9.
- 1992: Conjuring.
- 1995: An encyclopedia of affirmations, frauds, and occult and the supernatural.
James Randi in popular culture
- Randi appears in one of the musical videos that make up the play Symphony of Science by John D. Boswell: "A Wave of Reason".
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