4 ms·
There's already at this early point a curious amount of hostility in the comments - the height of Geller's fame was in perhaps a more woo-oriented time (post hi
by mellosouls 3y ago
There's already at this early point a curious amount of hostility in the comments - the height of Geller's fame was in perhaps a more woo-oriented time (post hippydom) and now he just seems like a clever showman who capitalised on his exoticness and niche ("its not magic, you see, its psychokinesis") to charm his western audience like some classic guru.
He kept a straight face, and maybe even believed it a bit himself.
His efforts now to stay newsworthy doing things like moving the Ever Given are obviously tongue-in-cheek and funny.
There has never been any "debunking" needed because he's subject to the same physics as the rest of us. Of course he's not really bending stuff with his mind! People were just more ready to believe he had some special exception, and he ran with it.
Randi's obsession and anger (reflected here a little?) seems as old-fashioned and silly as Geller's spoon-bending antics.
- dTal 3y agoI see no evidence of woo-orientation slowing down - Deepak Chopra has seemingly never been more popular - and angry backlash is a perfectly understandable response to swathes of people being taken in by lies with spiritual overtones. We should be thankful that Uri Geller never attempted to become a true cult leader.
- TillE 3y agoYeah there's been an enormous resurgence in astrology in recent years, some semi-ironic but most of it absolutely sincere. You can say "oh but isn't this harmless", but it's not really. Critical thinking isn't just a thing you can turn off and on. Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World" deals with this really well.
- Gordonjcp 3y agoYes, but nobody ever believed that Uri Geller could really bend spoons.
- RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u 3y agoJust like nobody actually believes that the Earth is flat. Oh wait...
- stouset 3y agoOr that Mars appearing to move backward in the sky has a significant impact on your personal life.
- Gordonjcp 3y agoNobody does believe the Earth is flat.
- ggm 3y agoIt's a posture. "Owning the libs" taken to illogical extreme
- Gordonjcp 3y agoIt's a joke, that people don't appear to "get". The more upset people get about "Flat Earthers", the funnier it is.
- dTal 3y agoMaybe this was once true, but nowadays I'm afraid the etiology is rather more complicated than that - flat eartherism is now full-on cult territory. I recommend the documentary "Behind the Curve".
- Nursie 3y agoGeller repeatedly made claims to have special powers, on and off the stage. The word for him is “charlatan”, not “performer”.
- cubefox 3y agoHe didn't "run with it". He was actively deceptive.
- vintermann 3y agoHis lawsuits aren't funny.