An Honest Liar

[Daglord]

Here is a thought I've just had. EY says he won't monetise the website but surel that isn't his choice to make? As he has told us, the site was set up and is owned by Skynet, surely it is up to Skynet whether the site gets monetised or not? Unless EY is actually Skynet. Dun dun Dun!

lol. I remember that. he has made that slip up a few times on the OG when he gets really flustered over there.

kind of like the "our soldiers" when referring to the US military.

[Som-Pong]

555 he really is a shit liar.

[Devil's Advocate]

Getting back to Randi for a moment. You know that guy who says he talks to dead people, John Edwards? Well he travels the world convincing people that he has just talked with their departed loved ones, and he is very good at his job. His method is most likely an old practice known as cold reading, and I believe he is most likely a fraud. The other side to it though is that no one from his audience has ever complained about him, or said that they feel worse after seeing him. They are actually the opposite, and very happy that they heard from their loved one, and that he/she is still thinking of them. Sure it's a scam, but I have to ask, what harm is he doing if he is helping people deal with their grief? Is it any different to a person who believes that their loved one is now in heaven with God? What Randi essentially does to people like Edwards, is the equivalent of marching onto the stage, and telling the audience that they've been duped and that their loved ones are nothing more than worm food, and that all hope is gone. Sure, Randi made his point, but is anyone really better off because if it?

Should Randi be calling out all of the world's religious leaders as frauds, and demand proof of their God's existence or be known as a fraud forever more?

Randi might be able to destroy the mythos of some show business paranormal practitioners, but what has he ever done that saved people from pain or trauma? What harm was Uri Geller doing by making people think he could bend a spoon? Everyone quietly thought that Geller was faking it anyway, but he was still a trip to watch, and Randi only really ever exposed the spoon trick. His explanation on how Geller was stopping watches and clocks in the homes of the TV audience, was inconclusive, in my opinion.

Sometimes, a bit of faith is a healthy thing, and too much harsh reality in your face, is not.

It does come back to my Santa Claus analogy, OK dude, you just told the kids that Santa isn't real, and now they can live with the truth, do you want a fucking medal, you douche.

[Som-Pong]

[Devil's Advocate]

I just watched the second video that you posted Daglord, and I agree with Randi exposing someone like Peter Popov who is making people believe that their cancer is gone, that's disgraceful and it should be exposed. His attack on Geller though seemed more like a personal vendetta than anything else, he did show an effective duplication of the keys and spoon bending but his answer to the drawing, wasn't all that convincing. I've seen Geller and others perform that "trick" successfully when they haven't been in a position to see the original drawing. The video was good because it showed Randi's philosophy on life and it's completely opposed to my own. He said that he thought making people believe that if they want something they can make it happen, was a bad thing, whereas I believe it is a great thing. The human will can move mountains, yet Randi is saying that it's bullshit. He also says that he wants no fantasy or escapism in his life, whereas I believe that escapism is a very important part of a healthy, or rather, complete, consciousness.

Great video though, and I actually like Randi a bit more after watching it.

[Devil's Advocate]

I love that episode.