7 thoughts on “James Randi on Psychic Fraud”

1. @ dmab: I left the million dollars in your butt. Try using both hands to find it, you’ll have better luck.

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2. Just watching it now.

   Randi quotes the famous line about being an actor playing the part of a magician, but I don’t think he really gets what that means. That line, as originally intended, absolutely does not mean simply that a magician/conjurer is someone who pretends to be a magician. To read it that way is to miss the point. Acting is distinct from mere pretending in that it implies some theatrical talent, and the real point of the quotation is to advise people on the skills that are most important in becoming an effective conjurer. It’s a rebuttal to people who think they’re conjurers/magicians just because they can perform the mechanics of a few tricks.

   Randi is wonderful in many ways, but in my opinion he’s a lousy actor. That’s why Penn and Teller are much better magicians than Randi. On the other hand, Randi is a much better advocate for critical thinking than Penn and Teller.

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3. Amazingly enough, I don’t recall ever having seen Randi do magic.

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4. So does David Mabus get first (and second) comment spots on every Randi-related post across the internet?

   Mr. Randi, please pay Davie his $1,000,000. He has clearly and repeatedly demonstrated omnipresence, on the internet.

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5. give dmabus his 1 mil. he needs to pay for his meds.

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6. Can we pay him in Guayanese dollars? They’re worth about half a cent…

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7. I saw Randi do magic years ago.

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