Magician. Investigator. Sceptic. These were various terms that James Randi will be remembered by.
For many decades, this was the man who debunked egregious paranormal claims with his insightful and amusing demonstrations. But alas, on October 20, 2020, the entertainer who had inspired an entire generation of sceptics had passed away.
Work
One of Randi’s most famous moments was when he debunked James Hydrick’s alleged supernatural powers on television. Hydrick, a self-described psychic, was challenged to riffle the pages of a book without touching it. Randi was prepared to pay Hydrick $10 000 if he could do so using only psychic powers. Suspecting that Hydrick moved the objects simply by blowing on them, Randi proceeded to sprinkle light plastic particles around the book and invited Hydrick to repeat his feat.
After being exposed, Hydrick confessed on camera, “My whole idea behind this in the first place was to see how dumb America was, how dumb the world is.”
In the 1980s, Randi developed a special interest in Peter Popoff, a television evangelist. Popoff, renowned for his faith-healing sessions, seemed to have the divine ability to recognize what illnesses the members of the audience were suffering from. A radio scanner in the room, however, revealed that Popoff was being prompted by his wife using a wireless earpiece. After obtaining the information from prayer cards that were filled up before the start of the show, she relayed it to him.
Astoundingly, Randi managed to arrange for another broadcast of the show on television, but this time, with the wireless prompting included. Viewer ratings of Popoff’s programme declined rapidly after this revelation. He declared bankruptcy in 1987.
As if the $10 000 offered to Hydrick was not enough, from 1996 to 2015, the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) raised the pay-out under the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge. Anyone who could demonstrate paranormal powers under scientific testing criteria would have been entitled to US $1 million. None of the one thousand or so individuals who took on the challenge succeeded under such controlled conditions.
The very fact that such a challenge existed gave us confidence that supernatural abilities likely do not exist. After all, if you did have them, why not just take on the challenge, obtain the reward, and earn international acclaim?
Randi’s efforts to expose self-proclaimed psychics as frauds made him deeply unpopular with them. During their active years, numerous legal disputes arose between James Randi and Uri Geller. The latter claimed to be able to use psychokinesis to bend spoons and keys, as well as move compass needles.
While the positive impact of Randi’s successes is undeniable, sometimes, there were less than ideal outcomes. Despite being exposed, Peter Popoff and Uri Geller eventually rebounded, and became rich and famous once more.
Entertainer and communicator
Debunking such paranormal claims would not have been possible without an in-depth knowledge of the tricks employed by magicians, as well as a mastery in the art of misdirection. But they were not the only skills in James Randi’s repertoire. He was also a superb entertainer and presenter.
Too often, abstract concepts like scepticism and critical thinking are presented in a dry or inaccessible manner. Had James Randi relied only on communicating through books and journal articles, it would have been extremely unlikely that he would have attracted such a huge following. But by integrating the information with entertainment, he became immensely popular among an entire generation of lay people.
Even if James Randi saw through the trickery behind a paranormal claim, he often did not tell his viewers the mechanism immediately. Rather, he led them to the conclusion. Moreover, he often did not just state his ideas, but provided ways to test these assertions. There are so many lessons to be learned from his modelling the of thought process that characterizes healthy scepticism.
His eloquent, clear and enlightening elucidations reminds us of how naive we can be. Even scientists can be fooled by simple tricks. After all, scientific training, while certainly essential in developing critical thinking skills, may not always be sufficient to see through a trick like veteran magicians can. Indeed, Randi noted that “The conjuror or conman is a very good provider of information. He supplies lots of data, by inference or direct statement, but it’s false data. Scientists aren’t used to that scenario. An electron or a galaxy is not capricious, nor deceptive; but a human can be either or both.”
Carl Sagan, a distinguished astrophysicist and one of his admirers, once said, “We may disagree with Randi on certain points, but we ignore him at our peril.”
Scientists have been trying for a long time to reach out to and encourage the public to think in a more critical manner. Apart from traditional media like journal articles, perhaps it would also be worthy to follow James Randi’s footsteps, and consider funding and supporting infotainment programmes on the radio, on television and online.
Scepticism – Only a Western concept?
Just as James Randi succeeded Thomas Huxley in playing an important role in the rationalist movement, another generation of sceptics have since taken over. Well-known figures like Michael Shermer as well as Penn and Teller come to mind.
But like humanism, the sceptic movement is often seen to be active in and focussed only on the occidental world. With regards to the Asian context, some may have the impression that scepticism is irrelevant – as if local paranormal claims hold more water than those in the West and cannot be debunked by such methods.
This is certainly not the case.
Indeed, James Randi was famous for exposing a Korean man who claimed to be able to attract objects to his body using magnetism. Using ordinary talcum powder, the alleged mystical power vanished, as expected.
James Randi was not the only one to expose such trickery in such demonstrations. Much credit also has to be given to the Asians who similarly debunk locally popular supernatural assertions. On live television, Sanal Edamaruku of Rationalist International similarly exposed Pandit Surendra Sharma in March 2008. In what was known as “The Great Tantra Challenge”, Sharma, who claimed to possess lethal black magic powers, was challenged to kill Edamaruku. Edamaruku was unharmed despite several hours of failed attempts.
Indeed, the sceptical mindset is not only compatible with the Western way of thinking, but is also applicable in the Asian context. For instance, Jason Leong, a Malaysian-Chinese comedian and former doctor, is also known for articulating his critical views about Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Closer to home, firewalking is a common practice among some Singaporeans. Many engage in certain rituals before proceeding with this significant event. After completing the feat, some go further to attribute their success to paranormal or supernatural causes, or to “mind over matter”.
While we do not dispute that such rituals may possibly have calming, confidence-boosting and determination-enhancing effects, we should not deny that the physics of not getting burnt during firewalking has already been understood for some time.
Due to the physical properties of charcoal and human flesh, when heat is transferred from the former to the latter, the temperature of the embers on the charcoal decreases more than the temperature of the human feet increases. Some of these embers may even decrease below the flash point and stop burning altogether. Furthermore, as firewalkers walk across the pit quickly, their feet are not in contact with the embers over a long duration. These factors help keep the rate of heat transfer from the charcoal to the firewalkers’ feet lower than one might expect, and help prevent their feet from being burnt.
Notably, Michael Shermer also successfully walked over a bed of hot embers despite not participating in rituals prior to firewalking. All the while, he was sceptical of the paranormal claims promoted by some of its advocators.
The local context
Closer to home, what can be done to encourage healthy scepticism as a way of thinking, just as James Randi had encouraged us to? Several members of the Humanist Society (Singapore) (HSS) and other members had a lively discussion over Zoom.
As a community, we should continue watching out for attempts to portray the paranormal as being a part of reality, as well as for efforts to promote superstitions.
For media outlets that refrain from publishing ghost stories, we welcome such a decision. Though such scoops can potentially get a lot of readership by playing on our emotions, portraying such tales as plausible or even as real events would be a rather irresponsible and unethical move that encourages superstitious belief. On the other hand, airing television shows like “Incredible Tales” could be concerning.
Similarly, media outlets which refrain from publishing horoscopes should also be given credit. A belief in astrology goes against having a scientific outlook based on healthy scepticism. Encouraging such beliefs to just to boost viewership is thus morally questionable.
Another area of concern is fear and avoidance of the number 13 in many contexts. Of the hotels you have visited so far, how many lack the 13th floor? Why should this be the case? For what reason should we be afraid of this number? So should taxpayer-funded public hospitals pander to irrational triskaidekaphobia by naming their thirteenth wards and beds with euphemisms like “12A”?
Handling sensitivities
Singapore is home to people from many different cultures. Indeed, a 2014 Pew Research Centre study identified Singapore as being the most religiously diverse country in the world.
While being a melting pot of cultures contributes to the vibrancy that characterises everyday life in Singapore, the unfortunate side effect of this is the prevalence of paranormal beliefs of different origins in our society.
Since independence, maintaining racial and religious harmony has been an integral part of our national ethos. Here at HSS, we also cherish the efforts by previous generations to build social cohesion. So how do we “encourage a rational approach to human problems” and “provide a constructive alternative” dogmas while upholding social harmony?
In situations where sensitive issues may arise, a rational, assertive but nonconfrontational approach could be ideal. For instance, in 2011, HSS contacted the media and highlighted its stance against evangelizing in hospitals. (Original text: [1] [2])
Especially for patients with terminal illnesses, prayers may be a source of comfort. Some hospital staff may hence feel conflicted about saying no to proselytisers. While we recognise that telling the hard truth may not be appropriate in such cases, neither is it ethical to promote allegedly divine solutions which efficacy has not been demonstrated. As active participants in interfaith circles, HSS representatives also remind other participants to refrain from evangelizing to patients at their weakest and most vulnerable.
Perhaps we should also learn how entertainers communicate their ideas. For instance, local stand-up comedian Kumar is renowned for managing to present his incisive and perceptive views on socio-cultural issues. He points out the absurd facts of our way of life in a sustainable way that is not overly confrontational.
After all, being perceived to be infringing on cultural and religious sensitivities could have severe consequences. In 2012, Sanal Edamaruku investigated the steady dripping of water from a statue of Christ in India. He revealed that what was thought to be a miracle could be attributed to an overflowing drain and bad plumbing.
Things turned for the worse when Catholics alleged that Edamaruku had insulted the Catholic church. He has since left India and lives in Finland.
Thinking critically in a post-truth world
In recent years, the damaging power of fake news has come to public attention. While it is important for us to exercise our critical thinking skills, this is often easier said than done.
Modern disinformation tactics can be exceedingly sophisticated. Rather than relying completely on fabricated untruths, facts are often mixed with falsehoods to more effectively duping the public. In fact, sometimes, concocting convincing fabrications may even be unnecessary when cherry-picking convenient facts would suffice for making a twisted narrative seem plausible.
Even those who claim to be on guard against fake news and other forms of trickery are not completely immune to falling for it themselves. In times like this, it would be great if subject-matter experts craft constructive and coordinated responses to alert the public of attempts to mislead them, just like how James Randi imparted scepticism to the layman. By making the public more aware, all of us would certainly benefit greatly when such untrue narratives are exposed.
Nevertheless, as realists, we also have to come to terms that despite all the efforts to promote scepticism, there will likely remain a proportion of the population who would continue to be duped. Just like beliefs in horoscopes and psychic powers, long-held faith in warped ideological narratives are hard to completely eradicate. Regardless of their factuality, they may be comforting to the individual, who may feel empty and depressed should such cherished beliefs be proven wrong.
After all, James Randi himself noted, “There exists in society a very special class of persons that I have always referred to as the Believers. These are folks who have chosen to accept a certain religion, philosophy, theory, idea or notion and cling to that belief regardless of any evidence that might, for anyone else, bring it into doubt. They are the ones who encourage and support the fanatics and the frauds of any given age. No amount of evidence, no matter how strong, will bring them any enlightenment.”
Concluding remarks
The latter half of the twentieth century was a time where belief in the paranormal was widespread. The prevalence of such superstitions were rife to the extent that even the top echelons of both superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, were known to support studies of paranormal phenomena in an effort to obtain an advantage over the other. The Stargate Project was one of the more infamous examples of this.
And yet, under such adverse conditions, this was the time when James Randi truly flourished.
As twenty-first century citizens, we are privileged to live in an increasingly educated world. Yet, as sceptics who live in a world full of disinformation, we need to come to the realization that our work is still far from complete.
After all, to quote The Amazing Randi himself, “[t]he market for nonsense is infinite.”
External links
- The International Skeptics forum began as part of the James Randi Education Foundation. Discuss and learn about critical thinking there!
- The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe is a podcast “dedicated to promoting critical thinking and scientific literacy”. Do check it out!
