James Randi - Secrets of the Psychics Documentary (Full)

from the earliest days man has believed that dreams and the supernatural are in some way real all over the world psychics demonstrate powers that their followers accept as modern-day miracles - evidence reduces - Latoya here in Moscow psychic healers treat the sick with chants and incantations avid open efficient me and in the Philippines psychic surgeons perform operations without knives a metal spoon turns liquid in the hands of a psychic performer in Britain yes it's happening nearly everywhere fortune tellers find the future in cards crystal balls and palms three out of four Americans say they've had a psychic experience today you can even find a psychic at the mall purveyors of the supernatural have created a multi-million dollar industry but our psychic phenomena what they appear to be my name is James Randi the amazing Randi and the P I'm a magician okay I have here a pen for the past 25 years I've been investigating the claims of psychics a psychokinetic demonstration of a supernatural nature watch this psychics often say that an object can be moved using only the power of the mind and it moves in a miracle fashion like that isn't that amazing stop stop magicians can produce the same effect I was of course I was just blowing on the Pam but a little suggestion and a little distraction go a long way as a magician there's nothing I like more than a well-executed illusion just look at what my friend Jamy Ian Swiss can do but there are those who use magic tricks for more than entertainment they convince people that what they do is real but they have special powers magical thinking you know is a slippery slope sometimes it's harmless enough but other times it's quite dangerous personally I'm opposed to that kind of fakery so I have no reservations at all about exposing these people and their illusions for what they really are I've investigated the claims of hundreds of psychics people aren't always happy with my conclusions but I do have my supporters in 1986 I was honored with a MacArthur award unfortunately most of the prize money went into defending myself against a series of libel suits related to one of my earliest and most controversial investigations the subject was hurry Geller a young Israeli who claimed to have supernatural powers his remarkable affinity for metal and his psychic abilities are well documented all over the world in the early 1970s Gallery became a superstar the most famous psychic in the world okay justice oh look at me visualize everything that you drew once more he claimed to read people's minds I'm gonna show what I got and he found wrong then I'm wrong but it really came very strongly it could be two mountains with a round thing on or two people yeah yeah am I wrong you're right all right he claimed to bend keys with his mind I know you're gonna think this is a setup friends and old Thomas never conned you on anything this this guy is bending this key by rubbing it was bent about a 1 degree angle when you started out and it's coming up on 45 degrees now it's still moving you thinking Benz is that which I'm saying fan you think that odd soft and I'm saying Bend Bend Bend and sometimes I say Bend Vader but killer was best known for his way with spoon hold the tip of this one very very gently okay what I'm doing is I'm trying to melt the metal down yes you see I feel like it's just getting loose yeah and there's no force at all in my hands he has slipped with science there's no force at all look the home-ec to be all off its it touch it here where I'm stroking it there is absolutely Menace area I have a wisdom tooth if you can say that melon is beginning to crack here Mikey yes just look at me it's becoming it's like a patty laughs see look and keep keep stroking over here you see the coma don't don't you see the crack is becoming bigger yeah I melt the metal down so so I want you to bend I just say ban you melted her see now wait a minute wait a minute keep stroking your keys more and people at home want your watches to start working or if there is its radio that is broken we wanted to start working television broken just wanted all those broken things now what Geller was saying effectively was that wanting things could make them so I felt that claim had to be challenged the media even some scientists were taking the Geller phenomena seriously so I decided to show for starters that I could at least duplicate these effects using trickery now a key can be displayed in such a way that it looks like it's bending for example just by stroking it you'd swear that it's bending right up before your eyes magicians call this process ratcheting but to do this the key has to be bent in advance the hard part of course is how to go about bending the key without letting them catch you now there are several ways I could for example take it and press the tip against the top of the table that would do it or in shifting my chair backwards or forwards as I just did I could have taken it and dropped it below the level of the table and press the tip on the chair I'm sitting on which is exactly what I just did Julia medalists have been duplicating hidden drawings for years the cluster Geller had chosen to use trickery he could have used any of a number of techniques one favorite involves turning your back and covering your eyes while the drawing is being made now I always wondered why you would cover your eyes while your back is turned but melting metal is something else again it's done something like this and it gets soft so I see to it Bend Bend Bend and it bends of course it does take a little preparation in fact it takes a lot of preparation now this isn't proof positive that other demonstrations aren't the result of supernatural power but isn't this a more reasonable explanation and then of course there was mr. Geller's appearance on The Tonight Show I got a call after they booked him to appear will you welcome please Marie Geller Johnny had been a magician himself and was skeptical I was asked to help prevent any trickery nice to see you Thanks we uh we have only met scares me this is scares you well this is yet we just got some things together here and I told them to provide their own props and not to let Yeller or his people anywhere near the also one of our staff members uh did some drawings which have been sealed in an envelope and I'd like you to take your own pace when you feel like you want to try anything you want to try that particular the experiment first one all feel for it oh yeah sure we start eliminating the ones that do not have the water all right without touching him he is really suspicious you know I'm having a hard time with you okay I don't mean to be you're right I really want this keep looking okay let me rest a little right all right you know I'm surprised because before this program your producer came and he read me please 40 questions you're gonna ask me well I can ask you all kinds of question should be like if you like my nasty question I have to have time um dart we're back your hurry was telling me you don't feel what strong tonight is I'm strong it's not all tonight right now I'm feel I'm feeling being pressed and then I can I'm not trying to pressure I really not but yeah you're not telling me well will you try that or that well I thought there was the idea of no I'm not I'm not sense with you down much to my surprise the Tonight Show episode didn't have much effect on irregulars career neither did the book that I wrote about him but eventually his star faded why people are so drawn to the irrational is something that has always puzzled me I want to be if I can assure of the world the real world around me as is possible now you can only attain that to a certain degree but I want the greatest degree of control I don't never involve myself in narcotics of any kind I don't smoke I don't drink because that can easily just foes the edges of my rationality fuzz the edges of my reasoning powers and I want to be as aware as I possibly can that means that giving up a lot of fantasies that might be comforting in some ways but I'm willing to give that up in order to live in an actually real world as close as I can get to it during the 1980s I entered a world that I found filled with fantasy and rife with abuse the world of faith human I developed a special interest in a television evangelist named peter Popoff God told me he said you Shrike that cancer with your fists at the time Popoff was pulling in nearly four million dollars a year healing people on his miracle Crusades you've got cancer of the stomach are you ready for God to burn that cancer out here it goes in the mighty devil back off hallelujah hallelujah you really believe you're healed yes you think her cancers are gone now yes I believe that because God never lies and we stand in his roar praise the Lord I tell you from now on you're gonna have a song of victory in your heart hey man to his followers Popoff seemed to have divine powers as is it Gould Alice Gould he knew their names stand up Alice as well as the afflictions they'd come to cure God is touching that thyroid condition right now God is touching your nerves right now God is touching your eyes just lift up your hands get ready here it comes he also knew the personal details of their lives your good news from Charles before everything is over I'll tell you he's going to be completely delivered because of your prayers because of your faith here it comes complete healing it Jesus mighty name right now right now right now amen it's all right to praise him I suspected that Popoff's revelations were other than divine radio scanner we brought to the hall picked up a decidedly world hello PD can you hear me if you can't you're in trouble yeah is it papa was being prompted by his wife through a wireless earpiece John she'd gotten her information from prayer cards filled out by the faithful before the show began you want to get rid of this Walker sister Oh glory how long have you been walking on that walk Matt three years three years 16:27 tenth Street 16:27 10th Street burning this author itis right out of your body take a few steps just to make the devil mad hallelujah that's it just move around a little bit there she goes just walk with me Oh glory to God she's not gonna need that walker anymore God's just putting new strength new help burning that arthritis out of her body just keep going hallelujah I was able to arrange for another broadcast of the miracle crusade on The Tonight Show but this time the wireless prompting was included in 1987 peter Popoff declared bankruptcy greater is he greater is he the laying on of hands takes on new meaning in the Philippines where psychic surgeons perform miraculous operations without knives I investigated this phenomenon then went on The Tonight Show to demonstrate what I'd learned believe me what you're seeing is strictly special effects it's sleight of hand and nothing more and this is the way it looks a little animal blood and a few chicken parts complete the illusion a bonus that's a bit better just a second just one second now may be better for you you don't feel any better oh no that doesn't come out this is where I live with several birds and an old red cat outside of Fort Lauderdale Florida from here I run my investigations write my books and go about lecture recently I was asked to give a class of college freshmen a chance to evaluate one of the oldest systems of fortune-telling astrology I started life as I as a magician I still am a magician I guess I think it's in the DNA I'm not too sure but I'm an actor playing the part of a wizard I know how people are deceived I know how they deceived themselves and many magicians most magicians really allow people to deceive themselves we'd like to see me fool you who's wearing a wristwatch err regular ordinary wristwatch you've been a good girl haven't you yes that's a Seiko I thought it was a Rolex for a minute oh well now what time is it say on your watch it says 9 minutes before 3:00 and it says it's the 2nd of October right very good open up your hand from your flat like that the clean one she almost changed you know almost thanks now I'm going to put the watch face down you put your finger of your other hand on the back of the watch ok very good now my watch says 9 minutes to 3 so we disagree slightly but not enough for any nevermind ok watch what happens now her words I'm really concentrating on how are you doing honey I think I hurt myself and don't laugh there's a science let me see now holding it only but it's Oh would you tell the folks what time it says on your watch now see is 340 340 how time flies when you're having fun isn't that wonderful now let me show you something this is such a little tiny itty bitty watch her hold it tightly in your head don't lose Oh what happened oh the gentleman was carrying it over here behind his waist and he didn't even know it there you go you have your right the trickster never works alone it did have his audience assists in what I did if he does his job well they want to be fooled Oh schürrle Japanse the fact you Wendy for the astrology test each student was given a detailed horoscope Robin they were told it was drawn up by a professional based on information they had supplied about when and where they were born actually these horoscopes were not quite what they appeared to be I'd like you to share something with me it could be so kind just with the show I asked the students to grade them for accuracy on a scale of one to five five being the most accurate how many he gave it a one let's see a show of hands two three four and five okay so we scored pretty highly with this set let's do a little experiment you've got your horoscopes right in front of you take them in your hand like this and hand them over your shoulder to the person behind you okay everybody and the guy at the end two down there you'll have to come up to the front because these people in the front don't have one now okay everybody change them around everybody's got to open up somebody else's horoscope and read it carefully please they had all received the same horoscope the personality descriptions were generally true of everyone like recently you have had to recover from a disappointment some of them seemed specific because they were so personal your sexual adjustment has presented some problems for you and there were others that any one might hope would be true you have a great deal of unused capacity people like to believe certain things are true they like to fall for very specific absolutely enormous ly accurate horoscopes right of course they are Jo the question so why do people persist in ascribing to these systems that's the big question of course and psychologically that is the most interesting question I think that people are trying to get some control over their lives by knowing more about themselves of course they get control over their lives but that's what we're doing all of us each and every day of our lives whether it's financial whether it's emotional whether it's a love interest whether it's health we're trying to get control of our life we're looking for power and astrology offers you apparently are very old and a very easy formula whereby you can do that sort of thing what you've presented me today is evidence that this can be misused or abused but you have not convinced me that there is nothing to this oh no no I didn't intend to do that okay and and I feel that your exercise today was kind of cynical in one sided and somehow it is wise to be unbelieving in this I can't prove it doesn't work I never perfect I've seen a lot of times where intellectuals have have wanted to disprove mystical things because since it didn't fit into their framework of beliefs that's true it wouldn't allow it but I can't prove you that Santa Claus doesn't exist I really can't can't disprove it I can't prove a negative but I can show you that it's not very likely to be true that's the best I can do needless to say my message isn't always popular my friend Ray Hyman is a psychologist and he has an idea why we seem to be taken as we're taking something away and not giving something every turn and these people want something they're looking for something and I think we have to understand what is it they're searching for and what they're seeking ray has an insider's perspective on these questions he once worked as a professional palm reader on a recent visit to Florida he allowed me to observe while he gave readings to two volunteers and I want to look at a few other things before we go very far I look at your thumb it's the most important ray started reading palms to help put himself through college as a little narrowing of the second joint here that's that's tak that suggests tactfulness at the time he was convinced there was nothing to add this is the spiritual mental I had no belief that would work but to be convincing I did read the books and I did study the lines the way and told it as its supposed to be told and to my surprise it worked and then became a very rabid leader in palm reading there is a break in your lifelines is your eye flying right here so you've had some physical problems you still may have some problems here some medical problems of some sort he was right about that that I had has some health problems is there anything there about my mother about your mother the one thing that the thing is clear is that right from the beginning you can want to be dominated by her you won't make your people online about what your life is gonna be like and so on I have been very headstrong when it comes to my mother she has kind of tried to dominate me sometimes and I've rebelled against it at the same time you want to be you want to be on your own terms so self rate that is it he's pretty run on the money with a lot of things maybe he's got some part to himself that are not in touch with and he knows these things turned about relationship between your mother and yourself how's a palm reader ray was quite successful I was saying then a college friend bet him that he would do just as well if he told her subjects the opposite of what he read in their palms he decided to give it a try and I did this on my first client and she didn't say where she had no reaction at all which was very spooky to me because I'm used to feedback I thought was because I bombed but it turned out because she was so stunned I was so accurate and this was really a shock to me because I had done everything wrong so I did it the next client wrong then I realized it doesn't make a difference what you tell him it's more what you convinced them how good you are and what you get them to believe what has a professional psychologist Rae is very much aware of the role that careful observation can play in her reading you're living in strange world you'd be better if you living maybe 50 40 years ago in some ways I've always said that I should have been for a long time ago this present world is presents problems for you and you're not to be happy with it you need my confirm the way she was dressed and so I could say that she'd rather be living in an earlier time than today in fact she was dressed for a hurry at time anyway there is a change there has been there for a while looked like you had two jobs or two careers I'm not sure and very recently you have switched in fact there's been a major career change I've been in the same career for six years next year I'm thinking about changing careers but I haven't done it yet so he could just be a little off in his timing if you set people up right you can tell her most at anything if they really got creative and intelligent mind they can make sense I doesn't matter how crazy it seems to be they can find a way of reinterpreting it so it really fits them like a glove this person wants me to succeed I should work out some accommodation now you certainly don't need someone to deliberately fool you to have what seems to be a psychic experience your mind can create one all by itself let's say you you don't like to fly and you're worried about a trip you're going to take then suddenly during the flight the plane sunny whoa drops a few thousand feet because of the downdraft you might very well choose to think that you had some kind of psychic intuition about this but what you forget is that you've had that same queasy feeling every time you've gotten on an airplane and if it doesn't fulfill itself you forget about it you see the brain is constantly searching for relationships it's trying to work out cause and effect so we can know what to expect in our lives that's natural the brain is very good at this but it does make mistakes and one way to explain these mistakes is by some kind of psychic explanation my investigations have taken me to dozens of countries but until recently one of the most interesting wasn't open to scrutiny it's long been rumored that Russia harbours psychic talent like nowhere else in the world the country has an ancient mystical tradition the government has encouraged psychic research to Moscow that's right any nuggets to check inside two pieces now that the country is open to visitors I wanted to check things out for myself I had seen the films that came out during the Cold War Jonah was a famous healer who had Brezhnev as a client Carl Nikolaev could apparently turn on lights with the force of his will the most famous Russian psychic is no longer living her name was nina kulagina during a long career she appeared to move all sorts of things through the power of her mind now that the media are no longer strictly controlled there's a vast new audience for the paranormal on Russian television every night a program called the stars speak precedes the news with an astrological forecast the psychic cash borovsky has even used television to demonstrate his claimed ability to control palin in this case during a live operation another's not me there are even commercials that extol the miraculous during the Cold War both the Soviets and the Americans carried out research on psychic warfare at one time there was fear in the Pentagon about a psychic or SCI gap the Russians claimed some success with psychic mind control but their evidence was sketchy yeah Donald is it on but now so I was interested to find that scientists at the prestigious and Institute of the brain in Moscow had reported measuring psychic effects under test conditions I arranged to observe the experiment that's it huh huh took solace shepherded the data they'd collected in their tests seemed promising what sees it the same effect this is a search as before it appeared that the psychic had been able to change the brain waves as well as the blood pressure of the test subject if these results could be confirmed it would be a real breakthrough for a parapsychology to make sure that the scientists would not know what the psychic was doing it was agreed that he would be isolated in a remote wing of the complex since it was founded in 1926 the Institute has been a National Centre for the study of the brain but much of the work done here had until recently been kept secret the psychics name was Agnes Anka according to parapsychologist in Moscow he was the real thing all right we now have a little over one minute before start the selection process she's chattering okay accompanying him was soya his assistant the experiment would last an hour broken down into four 15-minute tests during each test in each angle would attempt to change either the subjects brain waves or his blood pressure or he might be asked to do nothing at all inside at the beginning of each test ignatenko randomly determined what he would do it we have known if the not okay so we do nothing for 1504 the first segment ignatenko would not attempt any kind of influence this will be like control the scientists began their measurements unaware of the psychic selection for phase 2 ignition code chose a heart symbol he would try to change the subject blood pressure we are raising the blood pressure Martha beginning from the pelvis and working along the backbone until there's burner backbone that's enough there's no need to go any further the spreading has already started phase 3 the brain Thank You Janko would tried to change brainwaves see what else yeah stimulation he pushes the pituitary similar to keep off is a stimulation of the pituitary okay like that good like that the fourth and last test would again focus on changing brainwaves you will not be very smart we have stimulated both the right and left brain when the experiment was complete the scientists examined their measurements for changes in the subjects brain waves and blood pressure any variation from normal would indicate a psychic influence all right now let's handle them one at a time what is our conclusion and test number one if you remember during the first test ignatenko had done nothing no telling you what legend wasn't battalion it could be the blood pressure is not an experiment the scientists change in the subjects blood pressure then number two in test two ignatenko had tried to change blood pressure and I must be doing over DNA level the effect was on the brain yeah I think so Sara gave me disagree this time they detected a change in his brain wave doesn't doubt it what do we think on three three continue with some disagreement they called the next test correctly for the brain maybe we're brain in third case maybe okay that's brain what about number four still thing the last test had been another attempt to change brain waves nothing but the scientists found no change at all alright sure we announced the result set up the experiment had produced one positive result out of four just what would be expected by chance alone the former senator not very convincing evidence so what about their previous claim I had an idea what might be at work here I suspected that in the past when they examined their data they had known what effect they were looking for in scientific lingo that the tests had not been blinded they confirmed this raising the possibility that their previous work had not been objective look to see some correlation but one of the group believed that the problem lay elsewhere I feel strongly that it is impossible to accurately measure these extra sensory phenomena by observing electrophysiological indicators because the methods are too crude but remember the modern methods no matter how complicated technical and and technically perfect and advanced are of no use whatsoever unless it is conducted in a double-blind fashion you know of course the results of a single test are in no way conclusive but one thing I've learned over the years is that scientists like the rest of us have an uncanny ability to find what they're looking for whether it's there or not with you only influence in aspect of visual stimulation maybe communism from its very start was considered a scientific system with its failure many Russians had become suspicious of science altogether at the same time private enterprise has begun to develop and operates largely unchecked a good example is health care it used to be provided exclusively by the state modern Western medicine was the model now some clinics charge for service and practice pretty much as they wish the traditional people's medical center in Moscow opened in 1990 some 30,000 people pass through here every year the treatments here consist of an eclectic mix of folk remedies and psychic healing the average charge is 50 rubles about half a day's wage for many there are therapies for nearly every ailment from cancer to impotence this hitter claims to be able to alter the body's chemistry through the power of his will down the hall a team of healers uses a somewhat different approach we were told that these patients were having their bile fields adjusted psychics say that bile fields our auras are a visible form of energy that radiates from the human body sick people's bio fields beadwork bottles of water are found throughout the clinic they're here to be charged by the healers energy later the water will be consumed for its curative powers feeling claims are difficult to test suggestion alone is psychologically powerful and the body's immune system can cure most disease without any help whatsoever I am pouring some tap water into this glass here but the clinic claimed that it's healing waters have qualities that are detectable so I decided to test them now first of all we're testing to show that there is no charge no charge on this water at the moment they used a dowsing rod to measure the charge it's a simple device that beyond whatever other powers are claimed for it responds to the slightest movement of the hand no charge electrical charge very well I'm going to ask the gentleman now to put the charge on the water let me say it's just better than mine what caused it food he's showing me showing the field the field of apparently the field of child for several meters I wanted to find out whether they could tell the difference between this charged water and plain water if there were no visual cues now if we were to place a shield like this around the glass can he still detect the field the chasm was nothing it was to you they said the shield wasn't a problem but that such a test just couldn't be made it seems that the charge would be picked up by all other water nearby making differentiation impossible we tried to find another approach you'll check it by this they claim that charge water would reduce blood pressure I would simply have my blood pressure measured before and after drinking Salah measuring but here blood pressure was measured rather uniquely that seventy millimeters usually seems low how are we going to use this machine eventually I requested that a standard blood pressure cuff be used lightly prove that you will say how was how is your prayer what blood pressure and then you'll check it by this ok Google check this gentleman or somebody else but once again we were stymied no one in the entire facility knew how to use the cup there's no one any any doctors here it's all the traditional our host the director of the clinic interrupted to remind us of the importance of what we were dealing with said the water had other even greater virtues it aided weight loss increased energy even bolstered the immune system it would preach don't imagine this water appearing all over America in different bottles green rose red and people could drink it quietly and improve their health if this water is so powerful and so important and has such very special qualities it must be possible to tell whether or not it's ordinary water or charged water regardless of all these other influences we've been told yes I can be done now we're being told no it can't be done because there before he came into the room we mixed these up like that finally it was concluded that if a charged glass of water was kept at a certain distance from other glasses of normal water there would be minimal contamination three glasses would be placed around the room one of them would contain charged water we wish them to tell us which one you consider mr. whiskers Annika can you tell there's none okay mm-hmm all right I'll take a seat over here as for moisture you look the amounts are the same there would be three attempts to identify the glass of charged water the law of averages would give one accidental success three hits by chance alone would be improbable she's a baby record he said that this charge this is the chart yes okay they leave the room now we'll do it a second time with randomizing okay yes the Mosin he sure does look post agent ah but there was once again a problem usually all the glasses of water are becoming charged when he comes in here the other glasses start ticking on a charge because he starts thinking he just said the charging is driven by this mental energy the energy of thought when you idiot diet when you might have soup for apparently the very act of measuring a charge created a new church okay so a tennis in fact is getting a charged each of them is right it seemed that the water had yet another special quality and inability to be tested at all edible stations before I left Moscow there was one more psychic specialty that I wanted to investigate two women in a nearby suburb had developed a reputation for an unusual ability anga pachenko and svetlana charnetski i claim to be able to describe a person's life and character in detail using only a picture of them for inspiration they even said the Moscow police had called on them to help solve difficult cases because it's easy to inadvertently pass on information particularly with such congenial people I determined that I would work diligently to eliminate any feedback from a group of pictures that we supplied they selected a quite remarkable one to work on Ted Bundy is best known as a serial killer and is believed to have brutally murdered more than 30 women he was executed nearly four years before this session I'd read about him and found that ironically he was a psychology major in college he was also married and had a child especially committed arson he's good at meditation once part sealing he's athletic Amy Akasha and it seems to me that to some degree I was involved in my wrestling things tennis to some degree he has a pleasant wife when you were but he got nazuna he has a very potent hmm it started like most readings do a laundry list of possibilities she's cute attractive blonde reddish hair they were looking for me to respond in some way you know maybe you can say something he looks like Lori Geller dozen eight he graduated from college he has some kind of military training I think he's a psychologist by education um psychology history it seems to me he's been to Switzerland there was one overwhelmingly important fact about this person if these women had any psychic ability they should have been able to pick up on Bundy's horrendous crime pretty wife and everything is not maybe the most outstanding thing looks there's línea what they're still good North America yeah hey don't feel this is a man with one moral direction when you wish he has a wife uh-huh one child did you have a margin a boy did a good thing that boost three years ago something happened that was critically important to his fate I feel it's so clearly if you would ask questions we could continue our talk in a particular direction it was hard to deny these women but it seemed to me that any questions I asked would give them information ah Regan Ireland he is original talking lady she can behave in many different ways many variations to his behavior would your boy strong-willed be sure to give me a girl though it's hard to say this about a person in a negative direction brightness it up with you I'm uncomfortable saying mad leader a leader got off get a nice rotation team manages a group Wells and I permittivity Karla has an excellent memory bliss - outstanding is it if we had feedback it would be a completely different emotional search I think it's time baby I told them the whole story one window jesel Vaqueros kph Olivia this is a photograph a man named Ted Bundy he was executed by the government because he is a mass murderer how well did they do now Bundy did have more than one moral direction but then again so do a great many other people nothing important happened to him three years ago because he was already dead he was executed four years ago and I'm not inclined to give them that kind of latitude in all two-thirds of the statements the women made were wrong and the rest weren't very specific his wife was brunette not blonde his child a girl not a boy he was neither a wrestler nor a tennis player and he had never been in the military or to Switzerland it's true that he did study psychology interesting I was saying that he had a sad yes the eyes of a sadist may get a negative psyche the morality of a negative character I said that categorically almost not quite before there can be results we need to be unfettered and we aren't unfettered with him the information doesn't come he doesn't inspire us he makes a stop it the woman is complaining him the woman is complaining I got nobody me yes again a lot of people hate my skepticism and I think I understand why the psychics offer wonder and endless possibilities in a world that often seems difficult and mundane they promise health wealth wisdom eternal life but if you examine the record it's not the psychics but the hard-nosed scientists who have actually delivered the things that improve human life and to me science describes a world far more interesting than any psychic fantasies it's a good world not perfect but it's ours so we better learn to live with it the way it is now I'm just doing it very gently very gently remember plead innocence through this whole thing I know nothing I know nothing I ha it's just at the right point now but tea you can hammer that you can handle it quite freely and we're lucky a tree doesn't show very much just the tiniest little bit of a of a packet now you see how flexible it's getting you say okay now it's broken you see and they don't know it watch now let go of it you tell them to let go and then you hold it up like this you see so you do this kind of thing and you say oh look it's getting flexible and you let the top part droop over very slowly I'm pinching it pretty tightly yet the control is not all that easy and then turn it sideways like this and it starts to go over to one side and it gets to this point it hold your hands beneath it hold your hands beneath it go ahead all right like this a hand oh and it drops into pieces a miracle and then you look at them straight in the eye nice and you know I don't know how that happens it's just such a mystery funding for Nova is provided by Johnson & Johnson the signature recognized around the world for commitment to quality health care products for the entire family

Channel: Muon Ray

Views: 2,753,001

Rating: 4.8035398 out of 5

Keywords: James Randi, secret of the psychics, Psychics, Dowsing, Pseudoscience, Fraud, Faith Healing, Uri Geller, Peter Popoff, Scientific Method, Magic, Homeopathy, Secrets Of The Psychics, History, Documentary (TV Genre), Russia (Country), United States Of America (Country), Magician, Trick, Soviet Union (Country)

Id: 2MFAvH8m8aI

Length: 54min 18sec (3258 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 17 2012

Reddit Comments

[u/EvilTony]

I recently read about his encounter with Uri Geller which surprised me. Just shows that people will believe what they want to:

In 1973, Geller appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson... James Randi says that “Johnny had been a magician himself and was skeptical” of Geller’s claimed paranormal powers, so prior to the date of taping, Randi was asked "to help prevent any trickery.” Per Randi's advice, the show prepared their own props without informing Geller, and did not let Geller or his staff "anywhere near them.”

... The result was a legendary immolation, in which Geller offered up flustered excuses to his host as his abilities failed him again and again. “I sat there for 22 minutes, humiliated,” Geller told me, when I spoke to him in September. “I went back to my hotel, devastated. I was about to pack up the next day and go back to Tel Aviv. I thought, That’s it – I’m destroyed.”

However, this appearance on The Tonight Show, which Carson and Randi had orchestrated to debunk Geller's claimed abilities, backfired...

To Geller’s astonishment, he was immediately booked on The Merv Griffin Show. He was on his way to becoming a paranormal superstar. “That Johnny Carson show made Uri Geller,” Geller said. To an enthusiastically trusting public, his failure only made his gifts seem more real: If he were performing magic tricks, they would surely work every time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Geller

[u/MisprintPrince]

Bless this man and all the exploitation he’s cracked down on.

[u/cbdhalkyard]

James Randi's story is fascinating, An Honest Liar is one of the best documentaries I've seen, I'm looking forward to watching this one now

[u/bigfinnrider]

My favorite conspiracy theory is that James Randi's whole career of exposing fraudulent supernatural claims is a very clever distraction from the fact he's actually a gnome.

Look at his ears! Look at his beard! He's a gnome!

[u/hollybooty]

This is a really good documentary. I don't think it came out in 2012 though. Pretty sure this is an episode of PBS Nova from 1993.

[u/Gand877]

I love the way that Randi simply lets these frauds trap themselves through their own bullshit. My favourite is the one with the Japanese “magnet man” showing off his magnet abilities. Randi then appears with some talcum powder and suddenly the magic magnet powers disappear.

[u/uglylittledogboy]

Watch An Honest Liar instead of this, way better documentary about the guy

[u/crybannanna]

It would be nice if someone picked up his mantle and took down all the high profile Hucksters. The Long Island medium, and the ghost hunters, and all the rest.

I think a series tearing down these con artists would be great.

[u/EnergyTurtle23]

I recently heard about his work against Peter Popoff on the podcast “Swindled”, and this documentary is great! The part about the Soviet Union is nuts!