The Paranormal Challenge

[Sword of Christ]

People such Sylvia Brown and James Van Praagh are fakes and Randi has demonstrated this to be the case, but we knew they were anyway.

[Doubting Thomas]

Then there was Dr. Hovind's $100,000 challenge to prove evolution. Of course it was so biased and slanted that there's no way anyone could ever prove it, because to win you'd have to prove straw man arguments as real, including cosmology, abiogenesis, and perhaps a couple other things which have nothing to do with evolution, and IIRC one part of it was that you had to prove that evolution is the only way that life could have developed on this planet and not through God's magic. Then, even if someone were up to the challenge, the judges were creationist preachers or friends of Hovind. And finally, it was not even proven that Hovind had the $100,000 in the first place.

Kind of stacking the deck like someone tried to do here in a formal debate.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

[/quote]

[ManMachine]

I figure this is old news, but since I can't find a thread for it, I'll make one.

"In 1964, Randi began offering a prize of $US1000 to anyone who could demonstrate a paranormal ability under agreed-upon testing conditions. This prize has since been increased to $US1 million in bonds and is now administered by the JREF as the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge. Since its inception, more than 1000 people have applied to be tested. To date no one has either been able to demonstrate their claimed abilities under the testing conditions or have not fulfilled the foundation conditions for taking the test; the prize money still remains to be claimed."

I think that is a definant score for science, and a smack to faith.

Science would tell you that a lack of evidence either way means we do not know.

As much as something cannot be proved without evidence it cannot be disproved without the evidence to disprove it.

Clearly not a win for the principles of scientific theory.


MM

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Not really as it only demonstrates that humans don't appear have the ability to harness and control the supernatural at their own whim.

But that is precisely the claim that is being made and tested. Dowsers, telekinetics, 'readers' and so on are all so confident in their abilities to do just that, that they are (largely) allowed to design their own tests.

These things will only occur by the grace of God.

Then God must be pretty well graceless.

That said many ordinary people do often experience strange and unusual phenomenon.

Agreed.

For instance when grandmother fell down the the stairs and broke her leg my mother knew something was wrong and called for some to check on her.

So...your mum was worried about an elderly relative who (it appears) lives alone? Mate, this isn't paranormal, this is simply normal. Sadly, this exact situation is often used as 'evidence' of psychic phenomena: So-and-so is worried about such-and-such, so makes a call or a visit to find out that such and such has had a fall, or a car crash, or has been diagnosed with cancer. Compassionate concern, however, does not a paranormal experience make. For instance, did your mum say something like, 'Oh, dear - I just got this horrid feeling that Gran tripped on the 6th stair from the top, fell, and fractured her right tibia in three places, and sustained minor bruising to her right shoulder'? I doubt it. More likely, you mum calls often to check on the old dear, and got a 'hit' (no pun intended).

But this isn't something you can test and analyse in Randi's lab so she won't win his million dollar prize.

True enough, but only because the JREF isn't testing for lucky guesses.

Boru

[Captain Colostomy]

Funny how psychic abilities always seem to totally diminish in laboratory controlled conditions.

I figure it's similar to why people freeze up when attempting a BM in a public restroom.

Ok, bad analogy, well...except for the full of shit part.

[Angrboda]

Not really as it only demonstrates that humans don't appear have the ability to harness and control the supernatural at their own whim.

What is noteworthy to me is that so many people believe those claims anyway.

A couple months back I was saddled with watching a broadcast of Peter Popoff's ministry. People are still sending him money, believe it or not.