James Randi
James Randi
James Randiis a Canadian-American retired stage magician and scientific skeptic who has extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Randi is the co-founder of Committee for Skeptical Inquiryand the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation. He began his career as a magician under the stage name, The Amazing Randi, and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims, which he collectively calls "woo-woo". Randi retired from practicing magic aged 60, and from the...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionMagician
Date of Birth7 August 1928
CityToronto, Canada
CountryCanada
I can go into a lab and fool the rear ends off any group of scientists.
Science is a search for basic truths about the Universe, a search which develops statements that appear to describe how the Universe works, but which are subject to correction, revision, adjustment, or even outright rejection, upon the presentation of better or conflicting evidence.
Escapology has one thing going for it that probably made Harry Houdini such a superstar in his day and a legend in the present. Everyone wants to escape from something. Taxes, contracts, illness, work, the multitude of burdens that we chafe under are shadows from which we want to escape.
Nostradamus himself confessed that the vague manner in which he wrote his "prophecies" was so that 'they could not possibly be understood until they were interpreted after the event and by it.'
Nature doesn't cheat - people do.
I believe in the basic goodness of my species, because that appears to be a positive tactic and quality that leads to better chances of survival- and in spite of our foolishness, we seem to have survived.
No evidence against a firmly-held belief, no matter how good or abundant it may be, will sway the true believer.
I am in a very peculiar business: I travel all over the world telling people what they should already know.
I want to be cremated, and I want my ashes blown in Uri Geller's eyes.
[Psychics] use exactly the same gimmicks that we magicians do - the same physical methods, the same psychological methods - and they effectively and profoundly deceive millions of people around the earth, to their detriment.
They would have been very let down if they had to leave the theater and he had missed. He would feel badly. Everyone would feel badly. But he never let them down.
I don't expect that the million will ever be won, simply because there is no confirming evidence for any paranormal claims to date.
There's something about the Houdini act that is not always made clear - about the escape act in general.
Feeling better is not actually being better.