[QUOTE=x-ray vision]
Iknewit, I haven’t read all of this thread, so forgive me if you answered this question or one like it already, but do you think Randi will not pay up to someone who can move objects with his mind, read thoughts, tell which playing cards are red or black a majority of the time while they’re face down, etc?
If you think he will pay up in those situations, isn’t the challenge not bogus?
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No, not at all.
The prize is just unwinnable. It’s not a prize at all. Of course, we are down to some speculation here, which is never a good thing, but most agree that Randi will not pay someone for simply being conscious. Consciousness and “why are we here” being the greatest scientifically unexplainable questions of our time. They are however, scientifically unexplainable. Also, we have numerous events and occurances that are also beyond the realm of science. The horizon problem, tetraneutrons, etc. The argument for Randi and the challenge being that “unexplained does not mean unexplainable”. I imagine this to be an expected response if anyone present these phenomenon to the challenge, althought they fit the definition of paranormal.
The second thing we have exposed are the odds of winning the challenge. They are 0. There are no known winners and no probabilty of a winner among the human race. The only probabilty of a winner rest with the expression of probability, >0. Greater than zero. That is the expression of the tiniest amount of something that stands between something and nothing. A good idea is to take a pencil, make a decimal point, start adding zeros and just before you reach infintiy, mark a one. In other words, in all practical terms, in scientific terms even, there is no possibilty of a winner . The only calculation of probability of a winner is the expression of >0. In the laws of probablity, that simply means, the unknown.
A prize is something that is awarded. If you affer a prize, there is an expectation of it being given. If you simply advertise that you have some money and then invite people to make an ass of themselves, with the knowledge that the prize, is in fact, not winnable, that’s not a prize. It may be an exercise, a demonstration, etc. but it’s not a prize. They succeed in making a lot of uneducated, even some here that seem otherwise educated, people think there is a prize. But they are being dishonest. They are smart enough, and indeed have said that they have 0 confidence that the prize will ever be awarded.
We have quotes from Randi where he claims that if someone did show some ability that it would open new doors of science. Think about that. In a search for something that is suppose to be “beyond science” Randi admits that he would immediately consider it new science. How can you offer a prize for something “paranormal” when you admit that even if it were displayed before your very eyes, you would still not accept it as paranormal. You would immediately consider it a new science project,
His intent is to expose fakes and frauds. In doing so, he has offered a bogus prize.