9 ms·
James Randi Has Died
- nosmokewhereiam 6y agoHe made fighting disinformation something for others to strive for, or at least that was my view of him. "Critical thinking is as to friendly fire isn't"
- core-questions 6y ago> "Critical thinking is as to friendly fire isn't" Parser error on line 1
- cyberbanjo 6y agoCritical thinking : not critical thinking :: friendly fire : not friendly fire
- neolog 6y agoI still don't see how to parse it.
- Thasc 6y agoFriendly fire isn't friendly, but critical thinking is critical.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- core-questions 6y agoThere you go. But once you phrase it clearly, anything that was particularly amusing about the unparseable construction must go away.
- Zanni 6y agoI think there are some spurious words included. "Critical thinking is as friendly fire isn't" works. "Critical thinking is; friendly fire isn't" works better (along the same lines as "Variables don't; constants aren't.")
- neolog 6y agoThat's gotta be what they meant.
- macrael 6y agoI feel this one. I'm trying to remember what I read most about him. I watched old episodes of his skeptic TV show, exposing fraud after fraud (who never once repented) and I remember an article about him continuing to trade magic tricks with other magicians. .
- hobby-coder-guy 6y agoThat sucks. The much younger identity stealing husband was a surprise in the recent documentary.
- triska 6y agoRIP James Randi, and thank you! I often think about how brilliantly and carefully the setups were designed, thought through and explained. For example: Interviewer: “Which pipe was the water running through?” James Randi: “Well, I'm not supposed to know that! I'm supposed to be doing this in a double-blind fashion. [...]” Interviewer: “Did he get the right one?” James Randi: “I can't tell you that.” Source: https://youtu.be/cqoYrSd94kA?t=1405 https://youtu.be/cqoYrSd94kA?t=1405 The setup in this case was so well designed and explained that the participants themselves praised it: James Randi: “The tests that were done, were they adequate to the purpose?” Participant: “The testing, as far as I was concerned, and I think as far as the rest of the diviners were concerned, was done as fair and as square as could be.” Source: https://youtu.be/cqoYrSd94kA?t=1937 https://youtu.be/cqoYrSd94kA?t=1937
- flobosg 6y agoMore information about that dowsing test: https://www.skeptics.com.au/resources/articles/australian-skeptics-divining-test/ https://www.skeptics.com.au/resources/articles/australian-sk...
- savanaly 6y agoI first learned about him through some things Martin Gardner wrote, I believe. But I felt like I came to know him a lot better from watching the movie An Honest Liar [0]. [0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2246565/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2246565/
- hermitcrab 6y agoWhat a loss. Few people have done as much to champion rationality as The Amazing Randi. And he was very entertaining while he was doing it.
- DubiousPusher 6y agoNot rationality I don't think. More like empiricism. He found truth not in what one could reaosn but in what one could test.
- mythrwy 6y agoHis take on climate change is interesting. http://archive.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/805-agw-revisited.html http://archive.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/805-agw-r...
- thisrod 6y agoWhat's especially interesting, to me, is that he published his take on thermodynamics without running it past a physicist. I'm not sure what to make of that.
- MrZongle2 6y agoProve it.
- rustybelt 6y agoDamn, beat me to it. It would be ironic if he became a ghost.
- ApolloRising 6y agoRIP - You lived a legend
- TheRealDunkirk 6y agoDid he ever reveal what was in the safe? The contents of which he bet $1M that no one could divine? I just searched, and couldn't find mention of it.
- mwcremer 6y agoEffective 9/1/2015 the JREF has made major changes including converting to a grant making foundation and no longer accepting applications for the Million Dollar Prize from the general public. https://web.randi.org/home/jref-status https://web.randi.org/home/jref-status
- limaoscarjuliet 6y agoI have always been impressed how well he presented information. I will miss him so much.
- bryanrasmussen 6y agoI remember the 3-4 months I used my copy of Flim-Flam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flim-Flam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flim-Flam! to take down my relatives' delusions. I guess I was probably as insufferable for them as they were for me, so thank you James Randi for helping me let them all know what's what!
- gitgud 6y agoHe was one of the greatest magicians to ever live, but wanted to teach the audience how magic is just deception He made it his life's work to disprove all people abusing the art of magic to con others into believing something that isn't real... Rest in Piece Randi
- tombert 6y agoIn January 2010, I went on a binge of every James Randi video I could find on YouTube. Him debunking psychics, talking about religion and faith, talking about magic, the works. I got so obsessed with him, that I found his website, and sent a very generic "fan email" to him, saying that I respect what he did, and think that he should keep up the good work. Much to my surprise, he responded with a very quick "thank you!" message. I told my dad about this, and since we lived in Orlando at the time, and Randi was in Fort Lauderdale, he suggested we ask to buy Randi lunch. I figured there was no harm in sending the email, and much to my surprise, Randi agreed! We drove over to Fort Lauderdale, and he actually spent the whole damn day with us, talking about psychics, doing magic tricks for us, talking about science fiction novels, etc. He was an incredibly awesome guy, and I thought it was beyond cool that he decided to hang out with some dorky fans from the internet. RIP Randi. You made the world a better place, and you will always be missed.
- Romanulus 6y agoThat's awesome! When I was in my early teens I went through a similar stint and also emailed him with my thoughts, kudos and thanks. Also to my surprise he wrote back with a genuine message and note. What a guy.
- tombert 6y agoYeah, he was one of the first "heroes" I've ever reached out to; I thought it was pretty awesome that he was willing to chat with his fans, and never got to a point of feeling "too good" to do something like that. Since then, I pretty much email everyone on the internet that I have any respect for; I don't know how annoying I am because of that but I think we can thank Randi for giving me the courage to do so.
- Touche 6y agoWow, what an amazing story.
- badwolf 6y agoThat's such a fantastic story! He truly inspired so many people worldwide.
- cogman10 6y agoOne of my favorite James Randi actions was the debunking of Uri Geller. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTn0t_7pGZo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTn0t_7pGZo
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- croissants 6y agoWhat strikes me about his presentation is the way he expresses skepticism without arrogance or superiority. It's easy for skeptics to sour their message that way ("how could you believe that?") but this mellow avuncular style seems much more effective.
- nabla9 6y agoRandi exposing Uri Geller in the 70s was huge event. Previously Uri Geller had passed DIA funded experiment conducted by Stanford Research Institute. The paper of this experiment was published in Nature. Geller was making millions. He was global celebrity.
- fossuser 6y agoThere's a great documentary on Netflix called an Honest Liar that goes through Randi's entire career with him as the main narrator. Unfortunately it looks like Uri Geller is still out there today and still making lots of money from cons.
- zf00002 6y agoRandi also exposed Peter Popoff, an evangelist who wore an earpiece and was fed info about audience members. Unfortunately Peter too is back out there grifting millions. Last I read he was selling miracle water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Popoff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Popoff
- giantrobot 6y agoI'm in the wrong industry.
- scosno 6y agoRIP James Randi. My short anecdote. As a kid in 1984 in NJ I went to a high school where an english teacher claimed to have psychic abilities. At first I was enthralled but as I leaned toward scientific thought I grew skeptical. In english class with that teacher we ended up having debates as a project. I chose to debate the non-existence of ESP. James Randi lived in NJ at the time and I wrote or called (I don't remember) him to learn more to debunk these abilities. To my surprise, he invited me (and my father) to visit him at his home. He shared with me his thoughts, taught me an illusion (to use in my debate), and even shared that he had a file on my teacher who had claimed psychic abilities publicly and that he had failed Mr. Randi's tests. Thank you James Randi for your time, patience, education, and encouragement to pursue scientific thought.
- allenu 6y agoRIP. I remember going to The Amazing Meeting (skeptics convention) years ago and running into a coworker there. It was his second time attending and he spotted James Randi and told me, let's go say hello and that he's super friendly and will chat with anyone. We went over and lo and behold he was super friendly and welcomed me to the con warmly. I was familiar with his debunking work, but not much beyond that. I watched the documentary about him, An Honest Liar, later on and was impressed with him as a human. Worth checking out to learn more.
- SoSoRoCoCo 6y agoWho is the successor to Randi's tenacity, wit, and intellect? I used to hope Shermer or someone born out of Skeptic would take up the mantle (and I appreciate comedians like Gervais who take a swing at it) but I don't see anyone who hits as hard and succinctly as Randi did. I think it was also his showmanship that made it all work so perfectly.
- DubiousPusher 6y agoAnd his kindness. He never came across as doing what he did out of cruelty.
- pge 6y agoRandi was also a very good magician himself which gave him insights and credibility that other skeptics that followed have never had.
- RandallBrown 6y agoPenn and Teller?
- dhimes 6y agoI'm thinking them, but also Phil Plait (the Bad Astronomer) is a candidate.
- SoSoRoCoCo 6y agoP&T are a bit too much about being "in your face". Penn just loves to yell to get his point across, where as Randi was tactful and calm. I also had in issue with them grossly misrepresenting several issues, specifically their PETA debacle. They're a bit too scattershot IMHO.
- yeneek 6y agoI guess Banachek is closest to that. He Randi help him with debunking Peter Poppof
- natex 6y agoCaptain Disillusion?
- YuccaGloriosa 6y agoRIP James Randi - Gone to the great beyond...$1 Million prize if you prove it in laboratory conditions
- cf100clunk 6y agoJames Randi has departed this corporeal reality... or has he? Please let there be a "TA-DA" ending. :( May he meet up with Ricky Jay. :)
- perardi 6y agoPaywalled, obviously, but a nice article from 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/magazine/the-unbelievable-skepticism-of-the-amazing-randi.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/magazine/the-unbelievable...
- sizzzzlerz 6y agoThere are bad, regular, and good people. Randi was in the smallest group of all, the truly great people. They're the ones whose work benefit us all and who do it because it was something they loved to do. Losing people like him makes our world a little sadder and colder place. RIP, James Randi.
- owens99 6y agoWow I’m so sad to hear this. I am such a huge fan of James Randi and his debunking and have most of his books in my personal library at home. Losing a legend and an amazing champion of science.
- senectus1 6y agoI went to see him do a talk once... it was great. I even payed extra and lined up to chat with him for a few mins. On top of that I managed to get him to sign a picture we took on my Note (phone with stylus) https://photos.app.goo.gl/yQB7rXH5JcdWT77b9 https://photos.app.goo.gl/yQB7rXH5JcdWT77b9
- natex 6y agoTerrible news. I saw him in Rochester, NY back the 1900's.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- hobby-coder-guy 6y agoOver a hundred years ago?
- willcipriano 6y agoJames had a huge impact on my thinking as a young man as I'm sure he did to many others. A life well lived.
- gyom 6y agoI met James Randi around 2007 when he came to campus at UBC to give a talk. He told the following story about a magic trick that he worked on for years, which concerned guessing the timing of his death. I haven't heard him tell that story elsewhere, so now seems like a good time to share it. He said that for a good number of years, every time before going to bed, he would write on a little card that he predicted he would die that night during his sleep. In the morning, he got up and happily threw away the little card. Every day. For many years. His concept was that, on the rare chance that this actually happened to be last day, people would think that he pulled the ultimate magic trick. People would not suspect that he wrote this on a little card every day because, well, nobody does that.
- 8note 6y agoHarsh, ruining his last trick. He spent how much time setting this one up?
- gyom 6y agoWell, I guess he stopped doing it at some date before 2007. That's why he told an audience of 500 people about it. He sorta "cashed out" by making it a fun story about him being clever, instead of a last magic trick. He must have simply gotten tired of doing this every day and seeing all those cards in the waste basket (or burning them?). If he had indeed tried to pull that trick in 2020, a lot of people would have remembered that he said he was setting it up.
- sxp 6y agoMy favorite story about him from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/magazine/the-unbelievable-skepticism-of-the-amazing-randi.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/magazine/the-unbelievable...: > When he was still a young man appearing in Toronto nightclubs and pretending to predict the future, Randall Zwinge created what he hoped would be his greatest trick. Each night before he went to bed, he wrote the date on the back of a business card along with the words “I, Randall Zwinge, will die today.” Then he signed it and placed it in his wallet. That way, if he were knocked down in the street or killed by a freak accident, whoever went through his effects would discover the most shocking prophecy he ever made. Zwinge kept at it for years. Each night, he tore up one card and wrote out a new one for the next day. But nothing fatal befell him; in the end, having wasted hundreds of business cards, he gave up in frustration. “I never got lucky,” he told me.
- a9h74j 6y agoI know it is too early to ask about someone checking his wallet.
- sidcool 6y agoRIP you magnificent human. I am not an atheist but I loved Randi for exposing the charlatans.
- rsapkf 6y agoRIP The Amazing Randi. Reading and watching Martin Gardner and James Randi has taught me so much. Gardner was already dead when I first heard of him and I've looked upto Randi ever since. From magic to religion and pseudoscience, I have always enjoyed their views. You will be missed.
- throwaway29303 6y agoThis has saddened me. May he rest in peace. My condolences to Mr. James' family and friends. :-( If thread lurkers don't know who this gentleman is I suggest you watch his videos on YouTube. There's also his foundation's channel on there, IIRC.[0] He debunks psychics, astrology, homeopathy to name a few off the top of my head. EDIT: Here's a brief bio https://web.randi.org/about-james-randi.html https://web.randi.org/about-james-randi.html [0] - https://www.youtube.com/user/JamesRandiFoundation https://www.youtube.com/user/JamesRandiFoundation
- junon 6y agoNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. This is terrible, terrible news.
- mrslave 6y agoI'm a fan of Randi up to a point. Some of his investigations were culturally relevant, such as Popoff's prayer cards. But also some of his work was decidedly low stakes, such as Uri Geller's spoon bending (though Geller escalated with potentially ruinous lawsuits). Ultimately the skeptic movement left us with tame establishment defenders such as Michael Shermer, and a complete disregard for the positive roles Christianity plays in our Western heritage, culture, and communities. That all said, James Randi was a very impressive and entertaining man. And I love that he was an ambassador for sobriety which is rare, and I think fitting of the scientific mindset.
- pachico 6y agoHe will be missed. :( One thing we can be sure of, he didn't die because of overdose of homeopathic sleeping pills. RIP
- nom 6y agoI'm imagining James Randi finding himself in an afterlife. He is more than surprised and investigates it deeply, very happy to finally get an answer to many questions. One day, he hears a distorted voice, coming out of nothing - it's a psychic, asking him if he is worrying about the money. Jokes aside, the world has lost a great man. All the stories you guys posted here are more than amazing. The dedication and selflessness is hard to come by today, I hope someone can continue his mentality. If there were more James Randi's in the world, maybe my grandma would stop believing Uri Geller bend her key she place on the TV 20 years ago.