# How did Uri Geller (psychic) divine pictures people had written?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 7, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260 "2013-03-07T03:25:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/41 "2013-03-08T18:01:00Z")
Is it common for magicians to go on talk shows and say that they made something happen by wishing it to be true and then to encourage audience members also do wish things to be true?
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/42 "2013-03-08T18:18:26Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> [Here is a video exposing Gellar for the fraud he is.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9w7jHYriFo)
No, nothing in that shows fraud. He’s a conjurer, certainly. You’ve shown no evidence that he’s different from any other conjurer.
I;ll say this again. The (former) president of the Magic Circle, the worlds most prestigious magic club, noted magician AND SCEPTIC, gave Uri Geller an award for services to magic.
David Berglas, magician and sceptic has watched Uri Geller’s act, and seen a very fine magician. He doesn’t think Geller is a fraud. He doesn’t think Geller is third rate.
**Ianzin** , the Straight Dope’s most expert magician AND SCEPTIC, also likes Uri Geller.
What do you know that they don’t?
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/43 "2013-03-08T18:20:46Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> What do you know that they don’t?
We’ve seen his television appearances in which he purports to be exercising psychic powers.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/44 "2013-03-08T18:25:31Z")
Which is the same thing that many other magicians do.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/45 "2013-03-08T18:27:15Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> No, nothing in that shows fraud. He’s a conjurer, certainly. You’ve shown no evidence that he’s different from any other conjurer.
>
> I;ll say this again. The (former) president of the Magic Circle, the worlds most prestigious magic club, noted magician AND SCEPTIC, gave Uri Geller an award for services to magic.
>
> David Berglas, magician and sceptic has watched Uri Geller’s act, and seen a very fine magician. He doesn’t think Geller is a fraud. He doesn’t think Geller is third rate.
>
> **Ianzin** , the Straight Dope’s most expert magician AND SCEPTIC, also likes Uri Geller.
>
> What do you know that they don’t?
I think the discoonect you show here is too large to be fought with cites, since you either won’t acknowledge them( **razncain’s** links that _you_ asked for), or deny the obvious content of them(my link).
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/46 "2013-03-08T18:52:21Z")
In the first place, not every little point needs top be discussed at length. razncai’s links are one such thing that is not worth further discussion.
This is a tactic you use ad nauseam. You fire 100 trivial points, and if nly 99 of them are anwered, you declare that you won with the 100th.
As for the link you provided, I’ve seen it before, and it fails on so many levels. However, I will not argue about that man again.
You can say that Uri Geller is a fraud. That’s a matter of opinuion. Hiowever, most magicians do not agree with you, and their opinion is more credible than yours.
Obviously, you know nothing about stage magic. I do know something (though nowhere near Ianzin’s level)
You, not I, are refusing to look at cites.
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### Author:  [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/47 "2013-03-08T18:53:08Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> Uri Geller is a conjurer. Not a fraud, not a charlatan, a conjurer. The tricks he performs are no different from any other magician. It’s just a piece of entertainment. Roll with it.
> Most magicians will see his act, will be impressed, and they won’t call him a fraud. Neither will most well-informed sceptics.
Selling a “Crystal Pendulum Dowsing Kit” which he claims can help one find “Wealth, Health and Well-Being by Dowsing and Divining” and “teaches” how one can develop ESP and psychokinesis is just entertainment? A well informed skeptic wouldn’t call this fraud? Suing people for saying he doesn’t have real magical powers is “no different from any other magician”?
> [@](#):
>
> He doesn’t claim to assist the police in solving crimes.
>
> …
>
> People who do this are lowlifes, bur Geller isn’t one of them.
You sure?
> [@](#):
>
> TJ: Have you ever solved any crimes with your powers?
> UG: I helped track down the infamous psychopath son of Sam, during his rampage through New York in the late Seventies. I was given items which had belonged to his victims and used my powers of visualisation to picture the killer. And recently I helped solve a murder case in England.
> **[HOAX.COM: unravelling the truth from fiction, past to present...](https://hoax.com)**
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/48 "2013-03-08T18:56:39Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> In the first place, not every little point needs top be discussed at length. razncai’s links are one such thing that is not worth further discussion.
But you are the one that demanded that he provide those cites in the first place! If they weren’t to trivial for you to demand them, they _certainly_ aren’t too trivial for you to respond to them.
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### Author:  [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/49 "2013-03-08T19:55:57Z")
Perhaps I can add a little clarification to some of the points that have been made.
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> He or an associate would get a glimpse of the picture, either by watching the person draw it or opening the envelope - maybe by switching it temporary for a lookalike. That’s right: he cheated. That’s how.
This is GQ in the Straight Dope. Do you have any evidence that this is what Uri Geller actually did, and which instance of this kind of demonstration are you referring to? Uri Geller has reproduced unseen drawings thousands of times over the past 40 years or more. Which instances are you referring to? What evidence do you have to support your contention?
> [@the\_diego](#):
>
> Too bad his biggest trick bombed: he invited investors to fund a gold exploration company during the 1980s gold boom. Exploration method to be employed was, you guessed it, guessing. Few takers, I heard.
Is this factually incorrect? I’d be interested to learn more. I believe it is the case that on at least one occasion, a corporation invited Uri to try and dowse for valuable ores and minerals such as oil, but the invitation was _to_ Uri, not _from_ him.
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#):
>
> Geller was the epitome of a charlatan. Apparently all his tricks were immediately recognizable to magicians as standard magic tricks
Incorrect. Metal-bending was unknown in magical literature before Uri Geller appeared on the scene. It did not form part of the performing repertoire of any magician or mentalist in the world prior to his arrival. Far from being ‘immediately recognizable’ to magicians, the vast majority were initially unsure whether it was a trick or not. Some are still unsure!
> [@](#):
>
> but he managed to find credulous people like Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ to help promote him as a psychic.
You may regard them as credulous if you wish, but this is simply your opinion. They are two well-qualified scientists who conducted some experiments into controversial fields (as good scientists have done since time began). Their only involvement with Geller was written up as a paper and submitted to Nature magazine, where it was peer-reviewed and published albeit with a note of reservation from the editor. Anyone can read the paper online for free. It’s not work of credulity. It’s a scientific paper that was published in the most pretigious scientific journal in the world. May I ask how many scientific papers have _you_ had published in Nature magazine?
> [@](#):
>
> Johnny Carson, a former magician, saw right through him. He famously debunked him with the help of the Amazing Randi on the Tonight Show.
Incorrect. Carson, with whom I corresponded personally before his passing, never debunked anyone or wanted to. When Geller appeared on his show, nothing happened. This isn’t the same as ‘debunking’ anyone or anything.
> [@razncain](#):
>
> I haven’t keep up with Geller over the years, but I too, am not aware of Geller admitting to anything other than supposedly being genuine. // Randi doesn’t give away the secret, but only says if you watch very carefully, magicians should be able to pick up on it. **GIGObuster** gives the various ways in which it is often done.
I’ve been friends with Randi for years and I’ve performed with him at two or three different conventions. Randi has lectured on this piece of TV footage many times. In his lectures he openly explains how he did this drawing duplication effect. He has his own reasons for wanting to explain it in his lectures but not more publicly, and I will respect his wishes. However, it has nothing to do with anything Geller may or may not have done, as Randi would be the first to acknowledge.
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Uri Gellar was, is, and always will be a con artist/fraud who uses 3rd rate magic tricks to convince the gullible that he has psychic abilities. James Randi has proven this time and time again, most famously on Johnny Carson’s _Tonight Show_.
First of all, since this is the Straight Dope, let’s at least try and get the name right, it’s ‘Geller’. The term 3rd rate magic tricks’ is meaningless and contributes nothing to the question, although perhaps it serves to convey your rather snarling tone. What Randi has done, as have several others, is demonstrate that the psychic hypothesis is not necessary in order to account for Geller’s feats and demonstrations. This is not the same as ‘proving’ Geller is any of the things you say he is. I hope you can see the difference.
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> I’ve never heard of any professional magician calling Geller anything but a fraud. Maybe some don’t mind his ‘psychic’ gimmick, but most are disgusted by the use of a strategy employed by con artists whose business is stealing and not entertainment.
It may be the case that _you_ have never heard of a professional magician calling Uri anything but a fraud, but how large is your data set? I am very confident I know more professional magicians than you do, and have known them for longer, and mix and mingle with them on a more regular basis. The number who have anything bad or unkind to say about Uri is very small They are in a tiny minority. Most are either neutral towards him or like him very much. I’ve been friends with Uri for years, and I think he’s a really nice guy.
Uri has been welcomed to several major magic conventions over the years, most recently the ‘Genii’ anniversary convention last year, where he was interviewed for two hours about his life and work and won a standing ovation. I wasn’t at that particular event, but I was at the Macmillian International convention in 2008 when he was given a prestigious award and spent hours afterwards with hundreds of magicians who wanted to shake his hand, have their photo taken with him and get his autograph. He was enormously popular, and it was rather like watching a rock star sign autographs for a couple of hours for enthusiastic fans!
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/50 "2013-03-08T20:22:31Z")
Is Geller is a magician doing tricks, **ianzin** , a real psychic, or a fake psychic? You claim that he is a magician respected by other magicians, but he has made numerous claims over the years that he is a real psychic. In fact, that is the claim he made to those at SRI-was he a real psychic then, or was he defrauding them with tricks? When he was hired by those companies to find gold did he tell them that he didn’t really have any psychic powers? Do you think they hired him to do magic tricks? Have you ever visited his website? You cannot do so and not see numerous claims of real psychic ability and testimonials of his “real” powers.
He is a fraud.
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### Author:  [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/51 "2013-03-08T20:29:16Z")
> [@ianzin](#):
>
> You may regard them as credulous if you wish, but this is simply your opinion.
They didn’t have an explanation for how some of Geller’s magic tricks were done and concluded that he had genuine psychic abilities. That’s not credulous?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/52 "2013-03-08T20:32:01Z")
Show me how Uri Geller is only putting himself forward as a professional magician [during this encounter,](http://site.uri-geller.com/en/mind_over_missile) **ianzin**.
edited to add: That was from his own website, by the way. If you wish, I could link to a couple of dozen more claims of psychic ability on his part, all from the same source.
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### Author:  [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/53 "2013-03-08T20:48:37Z")
> [@ianzin](#):
>
> I’ve been friends with Uri for years, and I think he’s a really nice guy.
That’s really awesome. It’s always nice to know famous people are still grounded.
But he wants to sell me a crystal pendulum dowsing kit. No amount of nice guy can make up for handing out new age nonsense.
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### Author:  [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/54 "2013-03-08T20:55:14Z")
> **[HOAX.COM: unravelling the truth from fiction, past to present...](https://hoax.com)**
> [@](#):
>
> Spoonbending psychic Uri Geller today called on the nation to unleash its healing powers to mend David Beckham’s crocked left foot.
>
> Geller told viewers to touch their TV screens and concentrate on mendingthe sta(s broken bone when he appeared on GMTV.
>
> He aimed to use the collective will to hurry the healing process and ensure the England captain was fit for the team’s first World Cup Game on June 2.
>
> Urging viewers to trigger their powers, he said: “I know it sounds light-hearted, but it is actually very serious.”
And then from [Wikipedia:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Beckham)
> [@](#):
>
> On 10 April 2002, Beckham was injured during a Champions League match against Deportivo La Coruña, breaking the second metatarsal bone in his left foot. There was speculation in the British media that the injury might have been caused deliberately, as the player who had injured Beckham was Argentine Aldo Duscher, and England and Argentina were due to meet in that year’s World Cup. The injury prevented Beckham from playing for United for the rest of the season and they missed out on the Premier League title to Arsenal (also being knocked out of the Champions League by Bayer Leverkusen on away goals in the semi-finals), but he signed a three-year contract in May, following months of negotiations with the club, mostly concerning extra payments for his image rights. The income from his new contract, and his many endorsement deals, made him the highest-paid player in the world at the time. Despite the injury, 2001–02 was arguably Beckham’s best season as a United player; he scored 11 goals in 28 league games, and a total of 16 goals in 42 games in all competitions, the best tally of his career.
>
> Following an injury early in the 2002–03 season, Beckham was unable to regain his place on the Manchester United team, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær having replaced him on the right side of midfield.
He’s a load and deserves to be ignored.
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### Author:  [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/55 "2013-03-08T20:55:49Z")
I’'m a bit confused. Is it the “Magic Circle” or the “Magic Castle”?
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/56 "2013-03-08T21:14:23Z")
Two different entities.
The [Magic Castle](http://www.magiccastle.com/about/index.cfm)is a club in Hollywood.
The [Magic Circle](http://www.themagiccircle.co.uk/)is a club in London.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/57 "2013-03-08T21:21:19Z")
It seems like we need to go back to first principles.
So I would like to ask Ianzin and Peter Morris questions like these –
1. Is there any person claiming to have psychic powers whom you would consider a fraud?
2. What are the characteristics of such a fraud?
3. Among those characteristics of a psychic fraud, which do not apply to Uri Geller?
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### Author:  [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/58 "2013-03-08T22:11:38Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> Two different entities.
>
> The [Magic Castle](http://www.magiccastle.com/about/index.cfm)is a club in Hollywood.
> The [Magic Circle](http://www.themagiccircle.co.uk/)is a club in London.
Thanks, Peter.
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### Author:  [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/59 "2013-03-08T22:47:39Z")
> [@stpauler](#):
>
> [HOAX.COM: unravelling the truth from fiction, past to present...](http://www.uri-geller.com/healing/2006/Beckham.html)
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > Spoonbending psychic Uri Geller today called on the nation to unleash its healing powers to mend David Beckham’s crocked left foot.
> >
> > Geller told viewers to touch their TV screens and concentrate on mendingthe sta(s broken bone when he appeared on GMTV.
> >
> > He aimed to use the collective will to hurry the healing process and ensure the England captain was fit for the team’s first World Cup Game on June 2.
> >
> > Urging viewers to trigger their powers, he said: “I know it sounds light-hearted, but it is actually very serious.”
>
> …
>
> He’s a load and deserves to be ignored.
I believe the technical term is “whackadoodle”.
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### Author:  [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-uri-geller-psychic-divine-pictures-people-had-written/652260/60 "2013-03-08T23:01:13Z")
His methods may be lauded by magicians. That doesn’t keep him from being a fraud.
These days, a magician does not need to claim his tricks are truly supernatural. Everyone knows they’re illusions. Doug Henning was the first I remember who could be up front about it, while other magicians were just doing the tricks and enjoying the amazement, knowing that everyone knew it was illusion.
Geller doesn’t equivocate. He claims to have special powers, without any wink or nod. He makes it quite clear that it’s not just an act. It might not meet the criminal definition of fraud, but he’s clearly a charlatan. Either that, or he has supernatural powers. Which do you suspect is the case?
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