James “The Amazing” Randi is amazing indeed. His fight for rationality and passion about being conscious are inspiring, while his sense of humor is so sharp that it physically hurts to imagine how bright and intelligent this guy is.
I remember a friend of mine telling me a story about “guru”, whose one of great abilities (apart from exploiting children sexually, for what he’s being chased in most of the civilised world) was to use his “psychic” power to create things. She was absolutely sure this was true, even though she hasn’t seen it personally. And even if she had, seeing is usually not enough. Why? Well, that’s where rationality comes in. Rationality is a natural condition of any intelligent person and some people just keep this state unchanged throughout their lifes, while others need some refreshing. If you need that kind of recovery, I’ll give you a tip: stop watching horror movies, playing RPG, hugging trees and talking to ghosts for at least a few days. That doesn’t help much in treating. And if you haven’t seen Avatar yet, I recommend buying tickets any other weekend.
So how do people know, what is real? There are a few simple rules to follow if unsure:
- First of all, if there was anything like psychic powers proven by anyone, James Randi wouldn’t be looking for anyone to pass 1 milion bucks.
- Start from seeking simple explanations. No matter how complex the stuff looks like.
- Before you go into magic, think about basic law of physics.
- Don’t trust what people say if you feel there’s something irrational going on. Use your own brain.
- If someone may gain any benefits from making you believe in magic, paranormal abilities etc., you can easily assume it’s a prank.
Ah, did I mention the guru was buying his newly created things in nearby shops? I know, I know. That’s sad there’s no real magic in this boring, physical world.
If you’d like to watch the rationalization process live, here are two clips starring James Hydrick – an ex-prisoner, kung-fu master with telekinetic skills. Eventually, he admitted that is was a simple trick and he just wanted to check “how dumb the world is“. Enjoy.
Don’t forget to visit James Randi Educational Foundation website!