A sworn enemy of superstition, Canadian-born magician James Randi has thrown down the gauntlet to mystics, promising a million dollars to anyone who can prove supernatural powers or a phenomenon beyond the reach of science. An arch-sceptic who demonstrates with his own sleight of hand how easily it is to dupe the gullible into mistaking trickery for the supernatural, the bearded 76-year-old has written nine books and lectured at the White House, NASA and several top U.S. universities. The million-dollar "paranormal challenge" lends publicity to Randi's life-long mission. His pursuit of scepticism was sparked by a visit to a spiritualist church in his native Toronto when he was just 15. Already an amateur magician, he was upset at seeing "common tricks" pass for divine intervention. But his attempts at enlightening the churchgoers cost him four hours questioning at the police station. Sixty years on, Randi is still trying to persuade people to give up their belief in mystic forces beyond their control. "It's a very dangerous thing to believe in nonsense. You're giving away your money to the charlatans, you're giving away your emotional security, and sometimes your life," he explained in an interview before giving a lecture in Stockholm. Deeply concerned with the spread of beliefs not based on the principles of science, Randi is especially worried about the growing popularity of exotic cures and therapies catering to sick people who are then lured away from effective treatments. "It's a mission, and also an obsession," he said. The challenge also serves to dent the image of professional psychics, as they so far have balked at the chance to win the million. "They offer all kinds of strange excuses," he said. On a European tour of Germany, Italy, Ireland, Belgium and Sweden, Randi tested people who wanted to go for his million. Most applicants sincerely believe they have supernatural gifts, the vast majority claiming to possess the power of dowsing -- the ability to detect water with the help of a cleft stick.

Dowsing has never been proved to work in a controlled setting, said Randi. "But no one ever changes their mind," he said, recalling only one single case throughout the years where a man backed down from his claim after being tested. At a lecture to promote critical thinking, a Swedish audience of about 300 applauded and laughed as Randi blasted away at astrologers, homeopaths, faith healers and psychic mediums, accusing them of defrauding the sick and the desperate. Riddling his performance with tricks -- divining the symbols on cards put in an envelope by an apparently randomly-chosen audience member -- Randi says his own expertise at "magic" helps him expose fraudsters.

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You'd think that people with paranormal powers would jump at the chance...though I have a strange feeling that the million will never be claimed.

To all those on these boards who claim to have any type of paranormal ability (you know who you are), here is your chance to prove it AND become rich beyond your wildest dreams.

So...when do you plan on submitting your application?

crickets

I think this offer's been open for months, and people still havn't managed to claim it yet. I don't tend to give the kids who claim to have "psi" powers the time of day, so I can't say I'm too up to date on their current excuses.

"You, theologists, who know nothing about God!

"You, doctors, who ignore the medical science!

"You, anthropologists, who do not know human nature in all
of its manifestations!

"You, lawyers, who do not have any feeling for righteousness, or for justice!

"You, Christians, who betray the Master in every moment!

"You, judges, who have never judged your own vices and
defects!

"You, governors, who have not learned how to govern your lower passions!

"You, priests, who exploit the fanatical sects of the world!

"You, merchants, who do not have respect, not even for the “bread” which
Mother Nature gives to her children!

"Listen, all of you!

"You have prostituted everything with your filthy money!"

SAW

Typical. Once the prize is withdrawn we'll have all the John Edwards of the world and those with special 'powers' claim that they could have won the prize, but that their abilities are too sacred for them to prostitue them for 1 million dollars. I despise faith healers, and all those stupid complementary therapies.

And what thread would be complete without Loge posting yet another rhetorical and completely irrelevant quote?

LOL

This world is becoming to close minded and bigoted.

Well, here's the chance for all the psi people in the world to go out there and give us a reason to believe.

But of course they wont.

Why? because they don't want to look like a fool and be shown as the pretenders they are. No one will ever win that million bucks, which has been around for a long time now, because the powers don't exist and the only people who think they do haven't passed grade 9 science. Obviously.

Harsh, but fair....and I love the hat

Thank you. Gives me a touch of christmas warmth.

It is harsh, but as i've seen from this site, everyone who posts forums about these powers are all children who have no grasp of reality because they are to young.

Thats not going to happen, there have been so many chances for people with 'psychic abilities' to prove it and no-one has....well actually I correct myself a couple have but have been proved otherwise!
Why is this? I feel there are two reasons:

1) People do not want to face the probable reality that there is no existence after death.

2) Some (and I am not referring to people on UM) people make money out of this and gain celebrity status and attention that they so desperately crave. Why would they want to prove to their fan base that the reality is that they are as psychic as a brick.

Watch out Lottie. Many a brick has been known to control the elements and read minds.

At least, as much as anyone else has.

In life we have met many individuals who are loaded with money and full of problems: they are involved in lawsuits, overtaxed, etc. They are not happy.

What is the use of being rich if one does not have good health? Wretched rich people! Sometimes they are more unfortunate than any beggar.

So you're saying that if these people with psychic powers proved their powers and earned 1 million dollars for it, they'd get very sick??

If not, i don't see the relevance.

Is it just me, or did reading this make you want to think of some trick around to getting a MILLION BUCKS????

...The secret is- Knowing that there is no spoon...there is no spoon...there is no spoon....

Never have the masters of Objective Science yielded to the curiosity of anyone. All of them are always silent when they are asking for a sign.

To furnish proofs of Objective Science to those who mock its very existence is to pollute wisdom. It is to give pearls to the swine; is to profane the gold of the spirit; is to deserve the laugh of learned ignoramuses and the fate of betrayers.

Therefore, whosoever wants proof of ultra-sensorial perceptions, let them develop their own brain capacities, let them fight for their own psychological development.

Let them become guinea pigs to themselves!

No offense...but what the hell are you talking about?

Maybe all those pyrokinetics, telekinetics, telepaths, clairevoyants, precogs and psychometrists are shy?

Like peeing in public...the damn thing just doesn't work!

That, or the radioactivity from the camera interferes with their power?

Or maybe the "negativity" and "closed minds" send off an aura that blocks their powers?



Am I the only one who has no idea what he's talking about?

No, i really had no idea either.

Not really that rich...

1 mill isn't that much nowadays, it's enough to keep you off your job for about 20 years, and survive, not enough to make you rediculously rich.

Let's see, i million, after taxes and all that good stuff...

Still leaves you a good $600,000 dollars, tax-free.

Considering how my bank account regularly hovers at the $1500-$3000 dollar mark, living on a month by month basis, and thinking carefully if I can afford to eat at McDonalds, or would I rather put gas in my Sentra...

If I had a power, I would be knocking at Randi's door in a minute. Heck, if I thought I had a pretty good con I would give it a go. I have found that people who do not consider money to be all that important generally have not had to make their way in the working world.

What kind of time frame are you talking here?

Does anyone think that the actual million is worth it? I mean if someone does prove it then I'm pretty sure everyone would want them. The media would follow them. People might want to turn them into lab mice and for what? $1 million? You can win that much on a carppy reality show. If I had an ability I would go for it even if it was a large sum of $$$.

If someone were to prove, scientifically, that they had these powers, then they could make a lot more than $1million....hell, with some of the sad claims people on this board make alone, you wonder why they don't have their own tv show by now, amazing the world, and raking in the money

If someone collected this prize, then the papers would all want to buy their story, and get exclusive interveiws...other scientists would want to test out the process, and would offer more money. You would probably be offered places on tv shows for interveiws, and be offered yet more money, and you'd probably be considered a celebrity until psi became "normal", and people lost interest...by which time you'd probably be a multi-millionair.

This is assuming it can be done I doubt very much that this prize is ever going be collected, simply because these powers seem to be a combination of lies and self dellussion

With all the 'special' people on this site who claim they have powers, make website, try to teach others and yet an offer like this comes around they go all quiet - it makes you wonder if they live in a fantasy world. Since in reality they have all of these prizes for their powers but they seems to like to live in fantasy and continue to impress others from their computer. I even challenged a member here (won't name her) but she unfortunately has a cold. Interesting since it's summer here...

Since they don't come forward, it's quite likely they don't actually believe what they're saying in the first place

It's not about being rich or happy, it's about proving to the entire wotld that these powers do infact exist. If you actually have these powers, but you claim you don't want the money, that's a lame excuse, because you could simply give the money to charity.

It doesn't make you wonder, it makes you KNOW that they are in a fantasy world. Hey, lets get that 12 year old witch who claims she controls the weather to cash in on the prize and give it all to us!

You people have no idea.

Most people claiming to have powers will not want to be tested because: they will be in front of a large crowd of people judging them which will make them nervous and this alone will probably make their abilities fail. The moron 70 year old fool will just call them a liar, a fake, a loser whether they make their abilities work or not. The million is just a way of getting the psychics there so that single-minded idiot can ridicule them and he can be in the limelight before the end of his life.

All you "non-beleivers" out there should really research the subject before you go pointing the finger. Try it out yourself then if it doesn't work then maybe you can call us liars until then stop.

Research shows that most of the people who claim th have powers have a higher IQ than most Americans so dont call them idiots or that they haven't passed 9th grade science because chances are they are more intelligent than you are.

"It doesn't make you wonder, it makes you KNOW that they are in a fantasy world. Hey, lets get that 12 year old witch who claims she controls the weather to cash in on the prize and give it all to us!"

Maybe instead of taking the piss you should be a real skeptic and try it out for yourself, research it again and again, get some real proof that it doesn't exist and tell us all.

If someone truly believe they have a psychic ability then surely they would want the whole world to know about it and prove the sceptics wrong. Regardless if there was a big crowd or not if these psychic abilities are there and this person is gifted then there would not be a problem with showing it. Crikey these 'psychics' are on television all the time anyway so whats the difference? I can think of several two being:

1 )that the people watching them in the first place are believers anyway and its so much easier to perform.
2) they are afraid of being tested in a scientific surrounding because in reality they do not possess what they say they do and this will prove it.

What you have written above is just an excuse and something that I have heard many times by apparently gifted psychics.
These tests would be done under certain conditions where I doubt very much there would be a large crowd.
I say again, If these 'gifts' were genuine then science would have to change its views and isn't this what these people want? So why does this not happen? People have had many chances to prove the sceptics otherwise and haven't. Yet Science has proved these 'gifted' people wrong time and time again...makes one think doesn't it.




Research has shown that there is no evidence and no proof that these abilities are genuine. Oh and no-one is shouting liar on here.



Where have you seen these findings? This research? Can you paste a link so I can take a look? Oh and no-one is calling them idiots either on this thread...You are seeing what you want to see which appears to be very much like psychic abilities.

What Lottie said with a cherry on top.

You're calling a 70 year old millionaire both a moron and a fool? Get a bloody clue.

Conventionally the idea is for proof to be presented that supports the existence of something, not the other way around.

Can you get proof that there is not an invisible elephant standing outside your house at this very moment ? Imagine someone is trying to convince you that there is - can you prove to him that there isn't ?

I will give One Dollar to any one that can show me what color the mind is!

Depending on how long it's been out of the human body, it'll either be red, and very rich in blood, or it'll have dried out to a slight, fleshy pink

Can I get my dollar now?

Nice try boy, but you are wrong!

However, I have to admit that your thoughts are bloody red!

The human mind has no color: it is merely the organized conscious and unconscious mental activity of a person. The human brain is just what Shadowsleet described.

Nice try boy, but you are wrong too!

However, I have to admit that sometimes your thoughts have no color: together they form a disorganized unconscious chaos!

Lime green? Hot pink? Dioreah brown?

Some hints man!

I'm just waiting to see what relevance the color of the mind has with the topic of this thread. Okay, Loge, you've had two people give it a shot. Time to give up the answer before even more more people start goofing on you.

To those who cry that "proving" abilities for a $1 million "reward" would be "whoring" their talents, there is a fantastically simple solution to this.....

*shock horror*

DON'T ACCEPT THE MONEY!

Or..... if that's too radical an idea.....

GIVE IT TO CHARITY!

Then not only would you be providing the sceptics the "proof" they require and once and for all ending the argument that it's all fake or psychological, but you would be giving something to people who need help thus returning the thanks to "spirit" for your so-called "gift".

*watches to see the "genuine" psychics line up for this idea*

Oh the silence is deafening.

Hehe...trust me, it won't end there. It may just make some people believe in Psi is all...


Are you trying to state the fact of what color the mind really is?

Or having us telepathically find out what YOUR mind color is..

Let me tell you:

If you convince one skeptical, this one will bring 10 more skeptical, then you have to convince 10 skeptical; once you convince all of them, each one of them will bring 10 more skeptical, and so on.

So, I have a better idea; let all skeptical develop their inner ultra sensorial capacities and give the million dollars to charity and the problem is resolved!

Here's another idea. Go in. Prove your psychic abilty. Give it to charity or buy yourself a condo. Get some big, strong men in dark suits and sunglasses to tell people knocking on your door to shove off.

Loge, are you going anywhere with the brain thing or are you just doing your irrelevant, rhetorical schtick?

Wow, from a semi-neutral position I can see where you all stand on this topic.

Pros and Cons

I agree with BabyCakes on who should recieve the money, for those who do not wish to accept it. However, I also agree with the one who sort of spoke about "stage-fright".

It's like going on stage and performing and act. You get stage-fright and your act goes down the drain like your reputation.

Solution

Have it done in a place where stage-fright won't be a problem. And make sure you are very capable of your ability. Practice makes perfect.

It's been done in one way or another

These "performances" have already been done in the past. From what I've read in amazingabilities.com and from various articles on the net.

Then again there are those who say "don't believe everything you read on the internet" In reality there is something in our world that is beyond our materialistic perspective.

Certainly Einstein understood this, he did believe in God and being a "genius" he still did.

ALL of these psychics have stagefright? Not one of them feels like going to try and get the 1 mil?

The psychics don't have stagefright. They get on stage for a living and pretend to have special powers. The only thing they're frightened of is being exposed as the frauds that they are.

It's hilarious how these people are getting fat and rich on claims that have no basis whatsover. Charlatans, frauds, that's what these people. In all honesty they are no better than criminals.

********************************************************************

A million dollars can neither prove nor disprove the existence of paranormal phenomena.

For example:

"Quantum - Physics", has determined the existence of at least 11 different dimensions, which parallel our own, ( see PBS / NOVA series: [U]Elegant Universe: "String Theory").
According to this theory, one could be standing next to oneself in a parallel - universe and be completely oblivious to the fact.
Could this be considered a paranormal reality?
I say - "Yes".
Can I prove it and claim a million bucks?
Without a particle - accelerator the size of a football field and better understanding of "Quark - theory" - No.
Does that make it any less real ?

The above example, is my humble, attempt, at presenting a paranormal state of reality, which modern physics is only beginning to accept and understand.
It is a frontier of science that I am sure Einstein and Tesla dreamed about.

Can a million dollar bet prove, nor disprove a "Parallel - Universe", "UFO Phenomena", an "Out - Of - Body - Experience" (OOBE), "Remote Viewing" (Ingo Swann), "Crop Circles", "Ghosts", or any number of unexplained mysteries?
"No".
Does that mean that any of the above is non - existent and purely imaginary ?
Would space - debris from a UFO get me or anyone else that million bucks?
I rather doubt it.

I am not here to bash skeptics, nor confirm believers.
I am here merely to state that paranormal science is far too complex and misunderstood at present, to have someone place a monetary - bet, as to whether it is real or illusionary.

Debunking a few charaltans neither disproves, nor proves, the reality of paranormal phenomena. There have been actual laboratory tests performed upon individuals with paranormal capabilities, i.e. Russian telekinetic moving box of matches(?) under a glass dome in 1960's, which was recorded on film. Did this person receive a million bucks? No.

Would someone get the million bucks for performing that same feat today ?
Of course they would, right ?

That million bucks is just sitting there waiting to be claimed, by anyone who dissolves a cloud with mind over matter.

Why I bet that ole' million has been claimed already.