James Randi
oracknows | September 2, 2014And now for something completely different...
Due to the holiday and suddenly being informed that my revised manuscript for a certain journal (more on that later) is needed NOW, I don't have time for much of a post. However, a certain bit of bombshell landed over the weekend that should keep those of you interested in the skeptics' movement (as I am) discussing until I finish "fixing" a final version of my manuscript. It came in the form of an announcement that appeared on the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) website:
In order to achieve cost-savings and greater efficiency, the Los…
oracknows | June 15, 2014Deepak Chopra isn't very happy right now. In fact, he appears downright pissed off right now, particularly at skeptics, so much so that he's issued a hilariously fatuous "challenge" to James Randi (a.k.a.) The Amazing Randi on You Tube entitled Deepak Chopra's One Million Dollar Challenge to Skeptics:
Yes, apparently with The Amazing Meeting (a.k.a. TAM) less than four weeks away, Chopra is looking to stir the pot a little bit with his usual blend of Choprawoo about consciousness and mind-body dualism and how nasty skeptics can't accept the paranormal and the healing powre of "intent." It's…
esiegel | October 14, 2012"History is full of people who out of fear, or ignorance, or lust for power has destroyed knowledge of immeasurable value which truly belongs to us all. We must not let it happen again." -Carl Sagan
From the streets and people of our hometown to the nations, planets, stars and galaxies (and beyond) of our Universe, there's an immensity of knowledge to be gained from a single human lifetime, if only we have the courage to let go of our preconceptions and discover it. Laura Viers might tell you that in her own way in her 2005 song,
Galaxies.
But no one is born with this knowledge; it takes hard…
oracknows | April 27, 2010...is to be among the 5 most fraudulent psychics of all time.
Still, this is as good an excuse as any to post one of my all time skeptical demolitions, namely that of Uri Geller on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson:
Yeah, now that's an oldie but a goodie.
Still, I wonder: Who are the young, up and coming psychic frauds? After all, the psychics listed above are all getting rather old, and one of them's been dead a long time. Who makes up the next generation of psychic frauds?
cevans | April 12, 2009
Universe has a firm "No Skepticism" policy.
Don't get me wrong, I dig empirical knowledge. And I like the ancient, Pyrrhonian school of Skepticism founded by Pyrrho of Elis (365-275 B.C.); Pyrrhonian skeptics believed that nothing could be known, not even "this" (i.e the very statement that nothing could be known) and strived for a constant state of inquiry as a source of pleasure. Since absolute knowledge is unattainable, the Pyrrhonian Skeptics felt that their end was: "In opinionatives, indisturbance; in impulsives, moderation; and in disquietives, suspension," which is essentially…