1 Excellent article by @MitchHorowitz on paranormal claims, the late James Randi, his educational foundation (JREF), his unwinnable $1 million prize & Skeptics vs. Debunkers.
"In the pioneering days of scholarly psychical research in the United States, roughly between the 1930s
"In the pioneering days of scholarly psychical research in the United States, roughly between the 1930s
2 "and 1960s, Duke University housed a highly regarded center for the study of #ESP, founded by researchers J.B. and Louisa Rhine. Yet today the Rhine Research Center functions off-campus as a nonprofit organization and, while individual researchers and a handful of university
3 "labs soldier on, many college textbooks brand ESP research a pseudoscience, often citing Randi's work as the source of that opinion, so the topic is shunned by most academics & journalists who cover them.
"As a historian and writer on #metaphysical topics, I have spent time
"As a historian and writer on #metaphysical topics, I have spent time
4 "among fraudulent mediums, and I share Randi's outrage at their manipulations. I have no issue with his or others' targeting of stage psychics and woo-woo con artists — I join in it. But Randi made his name, and influenced today's professional #skeptics, by smearing the work of
5 "serious researchers, such as Rhine, who, in founding the original parapsychological lab at Duke with his wife & co-researcher Louisa, labored intensively - and in a scientifically conservative
6 "manner that reverse-mirrored Randi's work - to devise research protocols for testing psychical phenomena."
boingboing.net/2020/10/26/the…
boingboing.net/2020/10/26/the…
7 One of my favorite skeptics of all time...
"I think belief is dangerous. I'm frankly afraid of believers. Skepticism, I think, is the healthiest place to be."
"I think belief is dangerous. I'm frankly afraid of believers. Skepticism, I think, is the healthiest place to be."
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