James Randy Educational Foundation. Illusionist James Randi: biography, award and educational foundation. Conditions for receiving a prize

James Randi is a former illusionist and well-known American exposer of scammers posing as magicians and psychics. For two decades, he has offered to pay a prize of over $1 million to anyone who passes all his tests and proves that he truly has paranormal abilities. Thousands of people from many countries around the world tried to get this cash prize, but none of them could convince the skeptic Randy of his special gift.

Childhood and youth

The real Randy is Randall James Hamilton Zwinge. He was born in the Canadian city of Toronto in 1928. The boy was the eldest child; besides him, there were two more children in the family. At the age of 13, he had a serious bicycle accident, after which he lay in a cast for more than a year. Doctors were sure that James would remain bedridden for the rest of his life, however, to their surprise, the boy recovered and got back on his feet. Lying motionless, Randy began reading books about magic tricks. The boy liked the new hobby so much that he decided to connect his future life with it. As a 17-year-old teenager, James Randi left school and began working as an illusionist, performing at roadside entertainment venues. This was followed by work in Japan and the Philippines, where the young man became acquainted with the secrets of performing complex tricks, which the audience perceived as nothing less than miracles.

Work as an illusionist

James began his professional career as an illusionist in 1946. At first he performed under his real name (Randell Zwinge), but as his popularity grew, he decided to take on the pseudonym Amazing Randy. Since the mid-50s, the magician began to be invited as a guest on entertainment programs, and in the 60s he began hosting his own program on a New York radio station. In 1973-1974 illusionist James Randi went on tour with popular rock singer Alice Cooper. During the singer’s performances, he played the roles of an executioner and a dentist on stage, and also took a personal part in the design of some of the scenery for his performances.

The emergence of skepticism

In the 70s, Randy gradually began to move away from the illusion and focused his activities on exposing scammers who pretend to be people with supernatural abilities. Knowing the secrets of most complex tricks, he understood that any seemingly incredible trick actually has no supernatural basis. A skeptic by nature, Randy did not believe in miracles and considered all psychics, magicians, mediums, and contactees with aliens to be ordinary scammers deceiving viewers for profit.

Feud with Uri Geller

James Randi's loudest conflict began in 1972 with the then mega-popular psychic Uri Geller. The latter performed miracles inexplicable by science in front of the audience, claiming that alien creatures had endowed him with superpowers. James Randi harshly criticized Uri Geller's performance in which he bent a metal spoon with just one glance. He stated that bending cutlery is a common trick and persuaded the workers of the studio in which the psychic was supposed to perform to expose him to the audience. After this incident, the feud between Randy and Geller lasted for long years. A skeptical illusionist repeatedly revealed the secrets of the psychic's tricks, thereby putting his career in jeopardy.

Geller tried to fight his abuser legally and filed lawsuits against him many times. However, the servants of Themis never satisfied his claims against James Randi. In 1982, the former illusionist published a book called “The Magic of Uri Geller,” in which he revealed to readers the secrets of the psychic’s crowning tricks. He claimed that the metal spoon bending trick and other celebrity tricks could be performed by anyone. Many years after the start of the conflict, Geller was forced to admit that he did not have supernatural powers, but was an ordinary stage illusionist seeking to make his show unforgettable for the audience.

Founding your own fund

In 1996, the James Randi Educational Foundation appeared in the United States, dedicated to exposing fraudsters in magic and extrasensory perception and studying paranormal phenomena. The illusionist said that he would pay 10 thousand dollars from his personal savings to anyone who can prove that he really has supernatural powers and does not fool people with the help of tricks and tricks. psychological techniques. Gradually, the size of the cash prize increased due to contributions from enthusiasts and ultimately exceeded $1.1 million.

Conditions for receiving a prize

The James Randi Award has become a tasty morsel for many people who call themselves clairvoyants, sorcerers, psychics, fortune tellers, etc. It would seem that getting money is not at all difficult. To do this, you just need to demonstrate your paranormal abilities to the skeptic Randy. The illusionist is ready to pay a cash prize from his fund to anyone who can hypnotize, read minds, move objects with their eyes, communicate with the dead, predict the future, perform various magical acts, etc. The only condition is that the contender for victory must demonstrate his abilities in a scientific experiment under the supervision of Randy and his colleagues.

Fight for the Foundation Prize

Thousands of people competed for the $1.1 million cash prize. Clairvoyants of all stripes contacted the Educational Foundation, but none of them were able to demonstrate their abilities in strict accordance with the experimental conditions. James Randi's tests were too much for even strong psychics. The former illusionist never tires of bringing out clean water all applicants for the award. He easily manages to understand that their superpowers are just a trick.

James Randi divides all candidates for his foundation's award into 2 categories: charlatans and those who mistakenly believe in their paranormal abilities. The first ones come to the illusionist for easy money. During the experiment, they are cunning, spying, hoping to deceive others. Applicants belonging to the second category are confident in their superpowers, but upon detailed examination it turns out that they are simply mistaken about themselves.

Skeptical illusionist cash prize up to today no one received it. Is there really not a single person in the world who truly has paranormal abilities? The James Randi Foundation continues to look for such people. “Battle of Psychics” and other TV shows regularly show people performing miracles in front of the camera. Are they all charlatans? And why don't any of them want to compete for a cash prize exceeding $1 million? Many famous psychics claim that they do not need any tests, so they are not going to prove their abilities to anyone. But Randy doesn't believe any excuses. He is confident that he can expose any person who turns to him.

Randy today

Despite this, Randy is still actively involved in exposing scammers. In 2009, he was diagnosed with intestinal cancer, but the former illusionist managed to overcome the disease and return to his activities in 2010. Today he is still waiting for the person to whom he can solemnly present the main prize of his foundation. After all, he spent the last 2 decades of his life searching for it.

When showing the first season of the “Battle of Psychics” on TNT, it was said when determining the winner: she will now be able to take tests at the James Randi Foundation.
It's better than that Mikhail Vinogradov, a criminologist was asked, were the finalists of the Battle tested there? For what Vinogradov replied that Randy is a scammer, the million is not paid in money, but is promised only in shares of this Fund. It was mentioned that you have to pay for everything out of your own pocket: hotel, food, transportation. There are no details, but these sufficiently hint at what is apparently Vinogradov with Vorotnikova Apparently we've been there.
And so they sent me a link on my website about an article about how others passed a test like Randy’s:

By chance I came across the article “Exposing James Randi”, which confirms that James Randi is avoiding any excuse to spend his million. He is not at all interested in the opportunity to prove that there are people with supernatural abilities. He simply had the opportunity to live comfortably at the expense of the collected million, so such people are a threat to his wealthy life.

Sincerely, Mark Komissarov ».

“A famous American illusionist, TV presenter and popularizer of science” - this is how the former magician was described James Randi one of the printed publications. In fact, his achievements in popularizing science are rivaled only by Torquemada- Grand Inquisitor of the Middle Ages. And is it even legitimate to talk about any kind of rivalry when it comes to like-minded people? This is not a rivalry, but just a friendly competition in the number of new sprouts roughly trampled into the dirt and ruined.

I take the liberty of making such a statement because I know Mr. Randy firsthand. Fate wanted to bring us together. The fact is that I do what the American Association for the Progress of Science defines as “Parapsychology”, and people in everyday life call “Clairvoyance”.

In particular, we work with the human brain’s ability to Perceive Information about the World around us. That is, to our brain receiving information from the outside directly, without using the senses for this. We are doing this quite successfully, and our results can really impress an uninitiated person as a miracle. My students, wearing tight blindfolds, read and write, move around the room, play with a ball, and even box. They are able to look into the past, read text from a blank computer monitor, see through walls, and much more.

Quite by accident, about a year and a half ago, I came across a newspaper publication dedicated to James Randi and his appeal to any person with paranormal abilities. It said, in particular:

« I, James Randi, undertake to pay the amount of 1,000,000 US dollars through James Randi Educational Foundation any person (or group of persons) who demonstrates any psychic, supernatural or paranormal ability of any kind under satisfactory conditions for observation».

After reading this message, I thought that this is for us great opportunity declare that paranormal phenomena are not fiction, but objective reality. Yes, if at the same time our school can receive a financial base in the amount of a million dollars, then this will give us good opportunity for further development.

I entrusted one of my best students, Natasha Lulova, to represent our school in Randy’s challenge. This ten-year-old girl perfectly demonstrated the ability to visually perceive the world around her without using her visual organs. On her behalf, through a lawyer, an application was submitted to James Randi Educational Foundation. I will say right away that our attempt James Randi failed successfully. The desire to understand the technology of such a “skill” made me take up the pen.

So a few years ago James Randi shouldered an extremely difficult and honorable (in his opinion) mission - to publicly expose charlatan mystifiers who presented their clever tricks as miracles and called them paranormal manifestations. Mr. himself Randy, as a former magician, of course, did not believe in miracles, did not like amateur magicians, and therefore took on the task of exposing them with all the fervor of his restless soul.

Although, it must be said that the very concept of a “miracle” in Mr. Randy was somewhat specific. However, as well as about the methods of exposing it.

…Imagine that by the will of fate you find yourself a guest of an Indian tribe in the jungle of the upper reaches of the Amazon River. This tribe, in its development, is still in the Stone Age, and you, wanting to amaze them, show them a radio, a video camera and cellular telephone. And then ask the aborigines if there are miracles in the world? You can be absolutely sure that they will answer you positively. What to take from them - savages...

" James Randi Mystic Foundation"

Exposing the Whistleblower.

"Randy is a born magician. Only now he is moving from tricks on the stage to tricks on paper."

In one of the issues of NGN an article was published about James Randi, who offers a million dollars to a psychic who can prove that he has supernatural abilities. In response to the article, the editor received a letter from the United States with the following content:

“I accidentally came across an article by Gennady Matveev, “Chimera Destroyer,” published in your newspaper. It mentioned Natasha Lulova, who challenged James Randi. I am Mark Komissarov, Natasha’s teacher. James Randi turned out to be a very dishonest person, and Natasha and I are ready for this dishonesty they weren’t. It turned out to be a stolen victory for us and a psychological trauma for Natasha. But the meanness of this man did not break us. For the first time, a defeated contender takes the start line again. And this surprises James Randi immensely. But more serious surprises await him. For today we are ready resist his dirty tricks. Believe me, what Natasha demonstrates is absolute reality. I teach a class and I have several students like Natasha. She is not a phenomenon."

Sincerely, Mark Komissarov."

“A well-known American illusionist, TV presenter and popularizer of science” - this is how one of the publications described the former magician James Randi. In fact, his merits in popularizing science can only be rivaled by Tranquimodo, the Grand Inquisitor of the Middle Ages. And is it even legitimate to talk about any kind of rivalry when it comes to like-minded people? This is not a rivalry, but just a friendly competition in the number of new sprouts roughly trampled into the dirt and ruined.

I take the liberty of making such a statement because I know Mr. Randi firsthand. Fate wanted to bring us together. The fact is that I do what the American Association for the Progress of Science defines as “Parapsychology”, and people in everyday life call “Clairvoyance”.

In particular, we work with the human brain’s ability to Perceive Information about the World around us. That is, to our brain receiving information from the outside directly, without using the senses for this. We are doing this quite successfully, and our results can really impress an uninitiated person as a miracle. My students, wearing tight blindfolds, read and write, move around the room, play with a ball, and even box. They are able to look into the past, read text from a blank computer monitor, see through walls, and much more.

Quite by accident, about a year and a half ago, I came across a newspaper publication dedicated to James Randi and his appeal to any person with paranormal abilities. It said, in particular:

"I, James Randi, agree to pay the sum of US$1,000,000 through the James Randi Educational Foundation to any person (or group of persons) who demonstrates any psychic, supernatural or paranormal ability of any kind under satisfactory conditions of observation."

After reading this appeal, I thought that this was a great opportunity for us to declare that paranormal phenomena are not fiction, but an objective reality. Yes, if at the same time our school can receive a financial base in the amount of a million dollars, then this will give us a good opportunity for further development.

I entrusted one of my best students, Natasha Lulova, to represent our school in Randy’s challenge. This ten-year-old girl perfectly demonstrated the ability to visually perceive the world around her without using her visual organs. An application was submitted on her behalf through a lawyer to the James Randi Educational Foundation. I will say right away that James Randi successfully failed our attempt. The desire to understand the technology of such a “skill” made me take up the pen.

So, several years ago, James Randi shouldered an extremely difficult and honorable (in his opinion) mission - to publicly expose charlatan hoaxers who presented their clever tricks as miracles, and called them paranormal manifestations. Mr. Randy himself, as a former magician, of course, did not believe in miracles, did not like amateur magicians, and therefore took on the task of exposing them with all the fervor of his restless soul.

Although, it must be said that Mr. Randy’s very concept of a “miracle” was somewhat specific. However, as well as about the methods of exposing it.

Imagine that, by the will of fate, you find yourself a guest of an Indian tribe in the jungle of the upper Amazon River. This tribe, in its development, is still in the Stone Age, and you, wanting to amaze them, show them a radio, a video camera and a cell phone. And then ask the aborigines if there are miracles in the world? You can be absolutely sure that they will answer you positively. What can we take from them - savages...

But imagine that among them there is a type who does not believe in miracles. A sort of convinced savage materialist. So he takes your working radio, places it on a stone and smashes it from above with his stone axe. The receiver, naturally, falls silent. “You see,” he turns to his silent fellow tribesmen, “I told you that miracles do not happen!”

Yes, we know that there is nothing miraculous about a radio receiver. The objective laws of our material world operate there. But they are not yet open to people from the upper Amazon. In their minds, a working radio is a miracle. And I will not undertake to judge these savages for their ignorance. All except one materialistic savage who proves his commitment to materialism with the help of a stone ax.

James Randi is in the same mentality of a materialistic savage. The world around him is simple and understandable. Everything in him is already open, and he knows what is still to be discovered. official science. Everything else that official science does not recognize, in the firm conviction of James Randi, is trickery and quackery, which he, the “defender and popularizer of science,” must passionately and inspiredly expose.

I believe that the main reason for this was not the disinterested desire to serve the Temple of Science, but the deep longing of the retired magician for former glory and popularity. Well, who today will remember the Great Randy, who once shone on the stages of America and the world?!! Nobody! How would you like to get back what you lost?

I don’t know what is the happy day of the one who yearns for former greatness Randy suddenly has an epiphany: “Paranormal phenomena! That’s what we need today! Expose hoaxes! And do it publicly, in front of television cameras. This is the Klondike of untapped opportunities! And if this is done correctly, then fame and money will return to you.” will flow!"

“Wait!” you have the right to exclaim. “Why isn’t James Randi afraid that someone will actually demonstrate a paranormal phenomenon and take away the million prize money. After all, this will turn into a financial disaster for his foundation?”

And here we come to the most interesting and at the same time the most disgusting moment of the entire “exposing” activity of the James Randi Educational Foundation. The fact is that any applicant for the award announced by the Randy Foundation is initially doomed to defeat, no matter what and how he demonstrates!

Apparently Randy is a born magician. Only now he is moving from tricks on stage to tricks on paper. Read his Challenge carefully. Here are some interesting excerpts from this document:

* We cannot pretend to be judges. The test plan will be designed in such a way that no judging procedure is required. The results should be self-evident to any observer...

* The applicant may be asked to first demonstrate his or her stated abilities informally before a representative designated by the OPDR if distance and time dictate such a need. This preliminary examination should help determine whether the applicant is truly capable of demonstrating what he has promised...

* We are not interested in theories or explanations of what is demonstrated, do not provide them to us.

On a superficial reading, all these provisions look quite reasonable, and even benevolent towards the applicant. “So where are the tricks here?” you ask. “Somehow they are not visible.” That's why they are tricks, so that they won't be seen. But let's look at all this a little more closely.

Trick No. 1 - "No judges".

The trick itself lies in their absence. Let's say you demonstrated your previously declared paranormal abilities. But someone will have to decide whether it was convincing enough. Who? There are no judges. Well, guess who will make the decision? Right? RANDY! Alone! Whoops! Nice trick?!!

Trick number 2? "Preliminary test".

If you remember the ancient expression: "Forewarned - Forearmed!" , then you will understand - on this test, Randy just wants to see what you are preparing for him. Any surprises that threaten the Fund with loss of money must be excluded. This test will be no different from the official one, except for one thing - the result Randy shows you does not oblige you to anything. It is at this test that the Great Whistleblower will unleash with impunity the entire arsenal of his dirty tricks, with the help of which he will try to crush and destroy you - your demonstration at the official test will never be able to take place. Whoops! Nice trick?!!

Trick No. 3 - “No need for explanations.”

This clause completely removes your ability to object to Randy's use of improper testing methods. Let me explain what I said with a simple example.

Let's say you present Randy with a working radio as a paranormal phenomenon. Randy lays it on the table and covers it with a metal cap. Naturally, the receiver stops receiving the radio station signal. Your attempts to explain that a metal screen prevents the passage of radio waves will be interrupted by the phrase: “We are not interested in theories or explanations of the phenomenon being demonstrated. Goodbye.” Whoops! Nice trick?!!

So, our story officially began on November 6, 2001, when the Lawyer sent to the OFDR a signed and legally certified application from Natalia Lulova to demonstrate the ability to “read with a tight blindfold.” Randy was officially notified, which means there was a real danger for a million! Specific people appeared who encroached on his integrity. We must defend ourselves! How does Randy do this? It is common knowledge that the best defense is an attack! And the first stage of conducting a military campaign begins - a psychological attack on the applicant and the members of his team.

I get the first one. “I noticed,” writes Randy, “a certain tendency among Russian emigrants. They greedily reach for easily accessible money. They will deceive, cheat, go to any dirty enterprise - just to get the coveted jackpot. I am sure that Mr. Komissarov belongs to this category of people and, probably, even the worst of them, since he does not hesitate to involve children in achieving his dirty goals." That's it, no more and no less! But Mr. Randy had never met me before and had never even heard of me.

But the main object of Randy’s psychological attack is, of course, Natasha. It comes from her real threat financial well-being Fonda. If she proves her paranormal abilities, Randy can safely retire to the fireplace and TV. And he really doesn’t want this!

The targeting salvo for Natasha was already heard in the second letter to the Lawyer dated November 13, 2001:

"... After thinking about your message, I came to the conclusion that the fraudster in this case may not be Mr. Komissarov, but Natalia Lulova, who simply cleverly fooled him..."

Well, now is the time to move on from quoting Randy's letters to talking about Natasha's Florida Ordeal. We arrived in Florida naively believing in the sincerity of James Randi's desire to become acquainted with paranormal manifestations. Randy himself was ill, and Natasha's test was carried out by his assistant Andrew Harter.

In our classroom sessions, we usually use specially designed blindfolds as eye coverings to prevent peeking. But for the demonstration, the OFDR decided to use something different, from our point of view even more convincing. Self-adhesive black technical tape was used as a covering - it was this method of covering that made it possible to confidently control the absence of gaps around the eyes.

First, according to the conditions of the test, we had to apply our covering to Natasha’s eyes. I cut out ovals from the tape to fit Natasha's eye sockets and glued her eyes shut. In this covering, she easily read all the words of the test. Andrew handed cards with words printed on them to Natasha from a distance of half a meter and clearly saw that there were no cracks in the covering of her eyes. The applicant clearly and unequivocally demonstrated that he had paranormal abilities.

The stand under the bag with the inscription "$1,000,000" began to wobble. What to do? How to save a million? And for Andrew Harter, besides this, in full height Another question arose about saving one’s own skin. Just think - the boss is in the hospital; he trusted you to expose a ten-year-old fraudster, and instead you are ready to give her a million! So what to do? Where are the ways to salvation?

It is well known that if you cause a person severe emotional stress, he loses the ability to adequately perceive the world. There is even an expression: “Blind with rage.” But we are talking here about vision - the visual mode of perception of the surrounding world - reliably developed over hundreds of millions of years of the evolution of life on Earth. What then can we say about another mode of perception, still extremely fragile and unusual for the brain, used by Natasha? It was precisely on provoking severe emotional stress in Natasha that Andrew Harter’s dirty trick was calculated.

This is disguised as a supposed “discussion of the results of the testing.” First, he categorically states that he saw Natasha peeking through the crack under her left eyebrow. The fact that this is anatomically impossible does not bother him.

Natasha is literally dumbfounded by such a shameless lie. But that’s what Andrew’s whole calculation is based on! He “creatively” develops what he has achieved. When our covering was removed from Natasha, she mechanically scratched the skin under her eye that was itchy after the glue. Andrew immediately takes advantage of this: “Yeah,” he shouts. “I saw her put her finger in her mouth, slobber on it, and then moisten the skin under her eye so that our tape could not stick in this place!”

This vile lie finally finishes off Natasha. She is no longer able to demonstrate anything. The demonstration was completely disrupted.

In the library of James Randi's Florida office, a little ten-year-old girl sat and cried bitterly, repeating the same phrase as usual: “Mark, why does he say that I’m a spy? I’m not a spy!”

And how could I explain to her that since big money is involved, then great meanness is also used. There is a breed of people in the world for whom the smell of money (in vain they say that money has no smell) clogs everything! They absolutely do not care that there is a child in front of them.

I don't know why James Randi decided not to count this attempt against us. Perhaps he sensed the legal vulnerability of Andrew's demonstrated "unmasking method." Or perhaps he doesn’t have the opportunity to expose someone very often, and he decided not to miss this chance to remind the general public about himself. But be that as it may, Natasha was given a second attempt to demonstrate her paranormal abilities.

“A representative of the OFDR in New York will contact you,” Andrew Harter told us when parting in Florida. “He will conduct a preliminary test of Natasha.” We were waiting for this New York representative, but, unexpectedly for us, James Randi himself decided to come to New York.

We were also preparing for this meeting. The fact is that the stress Natasha experienced in Florida was not in vain for her - she lost her ability to see without the help of her eyes. We worked hard every day, and yet it took us more than two weeks to rehabilitate. Finally, her vision returned, and we notified OFDR that we were ready to conduct the test.

The demonstration was held at our Lawyer's Manhattan office. As in Florida, we first applied our covering to Natasha's eyes - the same technical adhesive tape. But then the unexpected happened - Natasha didn’t see!

In the once popular Soviet song it was sung: “Nothing on Earth passes without a trace...” The true truth! For Natasha, Florida also did not pass without a trace. We believed that she had fully recovered from the ordeal that befell her, but, as it turned out, we were wrong. Even in the evening of the previous day, she read the text with her eyes covered with several layers of adhesive tape, but now she couldn’t! Apparently, from some depths of Natasha’s subconscious, a memory of the humiliation she was subjected to in Florida emerged, and her brain refused to work in the Information mode of perception. The feeling of adhesive tape on her eyes, combined with the concept of “demonstration,” formed a powerful psychological block that Natasha could not overcome. For more than 45 minutes she courageously fought with herself, but it was all in vain.

Since, according to the conditions of the test, in the first part of the test we use our own covering for Natasha’s eyes, I asked Randy to change the covering. He generously allowed it. Natasha put on our work bandage.

I said above that its design made it impossible to peek. Two thick foam rubber circles, lined with dense material, completely covered the eye sockets, and the elastic band that pressed them to the eyes passed over the bridge of the nose, excluding contact of the covering with the nose. It was truly impossible to peek while wearing this headband.

In her usual covering, Natasha calmed down, looked at the colors as a warm-up, read the text from the book, played tic-tac-toe with me and then easily coped with the test tasks.

It was Randy's turn. He laid his on the table secret weapon, which has been intimidating us for so long - goggles that protect swimmers' eyes from water getting into them. The outside of their glass was covered with aluminum foil, and the internal cavity was covered in size with foam ovals. In principle, it was our same bandage. Therefore, I was not worried about Natasha.

Randy proudly showed us his creation, once again assured us that nothing would really be visible in it, and put it on Natasha.

This is where I made a mistake. Instead of immediately starting the test part of the test, I decided to make sure that Natasha saw well in it. I let her see the colors. Natasha named them correctly. But Randy saw it too. He flew at Natasha like a kite and began to paste over his own vaunted covering everywhere he could. Natasha took up the colors again and named them correctly again. Randy immediately continued his work as a wrapper.
I must make one digression. Natasha does not see with her eyes through the blindfold, as Randy believes. It’s just that her brain is capable of perceiving certain rays that carry visual information from the world around us. But in order for these rays to reach the brain, they need to break through the energy field (aura) that all material bodies, both living and nonliving, possess. The aura creates barriers on the path of Information rays. And the more physical bodies there are in the forehead area, the more barriers appear on the path of these rays to the brain.

An analogy with a radio receiver picking up a very distant radio station with a weak transmitting signal is also appropriate here. If you enter a large building with the receiver turned on, then at the entrance or at the window you are still able to hear this wave, but as you go deeper into the building, the signal weakens, audibility decreases and, in the end, disappears - the radio waves are not in able to penetrate the thickness of all the walls of the building.

So, all these stickers that Randy attached to his “real” covering did not at all close non-existent cracks, but created more and more obstacles for Natasha’s brain to directly perceive visual information. After all, each of these pieces of tape had its own aura and created its own energy barrier.

Finally, Randy's efforts were crowned with success - after another batch of stickers, Natasha still stopped seeing. What happened next? And then there were children’s tears of resentment and complete misunderstanding of how it could be proven that she doesn’t see if she sees? And as a consequence of this shock - severe psychological trauma, expressed in the fact that Natasha lost her wonderful ability to see without the help of her eyes.

It took ten (!) months of struggle to restore what was lost and see the world again with “eyes wide shut!” And the most amazing thing about this girl is that she was ready to fight Randy again. According to the OFDR rules, the applicant can repeat his attempt one year after failure. This period expired on January 31. On February 5, Natasha’s application was sent to the OFDR.

To be honest, I wasn't sure that James Randi would want to meet with us again. He is cunning, he knows that today we know his dirty tricks and tricks, and we will counter them with all legal means.

It looks like I was right - Natasha's new application has not yet been signed. James Randi is looking for any clues, just not to sign. But I’m using Mikhail Gorbachev’s patented weapon against him - Glasnost. The funds have been notified that we have challenged Randy for the second time mass media. Three New York newspapers have already published articles about this. One of the central American news channels requested exclusive rights from us to cover Natasha’s demonstration. So Randy will have nowhere to go.

Well, now, really, the last thing. It may seem that I am writing all this because Randy offended me personally. Not at all! Remember the eastern proverb: “The dog barks, but the caravan moves on”? Yes, my caravan is coming! But sometimes the caravan driver really wants to turn to this mongrel barking hysterically and give her a good kick so that she flies ahead of her squeal away from the caravan path - The caravan driver is also a person. Well, forgive him for this human weakness.

Mark Komissarov,
New York, USA

Almost a century ago, Scientific American magazine established the first prize for demonstrating paranormal abilities, promising to pay the winner $2.5 thousand. Last week, a similar project appeared in Russia. Three applications have already been submitted for the award: the first candidate claims that she has the gift of clairvoyance, the second that she is a medium and can communicate with the dead, the third reports thirty years of experience in contact and non-contact treatment of herself and others. The organizers announced that within two weeks they will decide which tests each of the participants will undergo and will contact them.

The established prize is named after Harry Houdini.

“We didn’t choose the name Houdini by chance: this legendary illusionist and hypnotist struggled with charlatanism all his life, which is why he even quarreled with his close friend, who was a fan of spiritualism,” says Ph.D. and a representative of the award's organizing council. — By the way, it’s interesting that in modern society Harry Houdini is perceived as a cross between a magician, a mystic and a hoaxer."

The founders of the prize guarantee that anyone who demonstrates paranormal abilities as part of a correctly conducted scientific experiment will receive a payment of 1 million rubles. and the ability to read the entire genome. “During this analysis, all the genetic characteristics of the Harry Houdini Prize winner will be revealed,” the project organizers say.

According to the rules published on the award website, abilities that contradict the scientific picture of the world are considered supernatural. Thus, the organizers of the project invite everyone who can prove that they have telepathy, clairvoyance, telekinesis or levitation to participate. The slogan of the award is the words of an American astrophysicist and outstanding popularizer of science: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

It is curious that the idea of ​​​​experimentally testing the abilities of psychics is liked by some representatives of religious movements.

“I think that the gift of influencing people’s lives with the help of prayer, an icon or holy water can also be classified as a paranormal ability and tested,” the candidate ironically notes biological sciences, senior Researcher Institute for Information Transmission Problems, part of the organizing committee and expert council of the Houdini Prize.

“There are two categories of “psychics”: those who are well versed in psychology and business, and those who are sincerely mistaken and believe that they have supernatural abilities,” says the illusionist, who is part of the expert council of the Houdini Prize. - The second category, like all of us, from time to time sees dreams similar to reality and assumes that it correctly predicts events, and simply forgets about unfulfilled predictions. By the way, in the book for illusionists there is a warning that when techniques, such as fortune telling, are practiced on many spectators and become a skill, there is a chance that you yourself will begin to believe in the supernatural. I once fell into a similar trap myself! I think I'm not the only one."

Members of the Houdini Prize organizing committee shared with a Gazeta.Ru correspondent stories of interactions with people posing as psychics.

“Once I was in a small town, where a man of about fifty was performing on the stage of the local recreation center, showing ordinary tricks and passing them off as amazing abilities your brain,” says Mikhail Lidin, a skeptic and video blogger. — For example, he invited viewers to write different words on the board behind him, and then “guessed” these words. In fact, the speaker did not possess any telepathy, but simply, with the help of simple tricks, could see what was written behind his back. I also gave him the opportunity to “count” the words I said. They were ordinary words like “alphabet” or “elevator,” but I wrote them backwards on the board. If the speaker really were a telepath, he would have called them as intended. But he, of course, read the words as they were written: “tivafla” or “tefill” - and did not understand their meaning. By the way, after several of my critical remarks about the “psychic,” I discovered that some viewers turned into skeptics.”

“One of my relatives’ friends was working as a healer in the city hospital,” recalls Stanislav Nikolsky. — It was the mid-nineties, and no one thought it strange. Then there was a huge number of all kinds of “healers” who worked only with those who “believed in their power.” At the same time, such people did not demonstrate visual miracles. By the way, one of my friends died suddenly, having chosen sessions with paranormal representatives instead of official medicine.”

The organizers of the award admit that their source of inspiration is the foundation of the former illusionist, skeptic and debunker of pseudoscientific theories, James Randi. The American organization promises to pay $1 million to anyone who can demonstrate paranormal abilities under the conditions of a correct experiment. Over the 19 years of the fund’s existence, not a single applicant has walked away with the promised amount. Tried to get an award Russian girl Natasha Lulova, who claimed that she could read words and distinguish colors without the aid of sight. However, James Randi determined that the “psychic,” due to the unusual concavity of the bridge of his nose, was simply peeking through the bandage. By the way, modern illusionists willingly demonstrate tricks during which they “see”, wearing similar and even more reliable headbands.

“Some “psychics” come up with excuses in advance for why they won’t be able to demonstrate their abilities under experimental conditions,” says Alexander Panchin. — On this subject it is appropriate to quote a remarkable passage from work of art"and methods of rational thinking."

“Imagine: someone tells you that there is a dragon at home. You answer that you want to look at him. You are informed that this is an invisible dragon. Great, you say, in that case you want to hear it. They tell you that this is a completely silent dragon. You announce that you will throw flour into the air to see its outline. They explain to you that flour passes right through this dragon. And, having said all this, the explainer knows in advance what exactly the result of the experiment he needs to explain in his favor. He knows that everything will go as if there were no dragon, he knows in advance what he must invent an excuse for. Perhaps this someone is only claiming that the dragon exists. Perhaps he believes that he believes that the dragon exists. This is called "conviction within conviction." But he doesn't actually believe that the dragon exists."

It's the same with psychics. Some of them are scammers and they know they won't pass the test. Such people will not even try. Only those who are sincerely confident in their abilities will come for testing. We will interact with such people. But, most likely, they will be disappointed.”

James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF)- private educational fund, created by James Randi. Registered in the USA. Engaged in research and scientific verification of facts presented by various individuals and organizations as so-called “paranormal phenomena”.

Story

The award proposal has been edited several times, currently version 2.0 dated March 9, 2011 is current.

The introductory part of the sentence states:

The JREF will pay US$1,000,000 (One Million US Dollars) (“The Prize”) to any person who demonstrates any psychic, supernatural, or paranormal ability under satisfactory observation. Such demonstration must take place under the rules and limitations described in this document.
(JREF will pay a prize in the amount of USD $1,000,000 (one million US dollars) to any person who demonstrates any psychic, supernatural or paranormal abilities under valid experimental conditions. Such demonstration must be carried out within the rules and restrictions described in this document.)

Official statement about the award, the Russian translation is not official

So far, not a single applicant has been able to achieve this award, although there were quite a lot of applicants - about 50 people a year apply for testing. One of the first testing experiments was to test a group of people who declared themselves dowsers and claimed that they could find water underground. To test dowsers, a method was developed, described later in this article. Not a single applicant passed testing according to this scheme.

At least one candidate for the award is known from Russia - this is Natasha Lulova (at the time of testing - ten years old, originally from Russia, for the last few years she has been living in the USA with her parents), who, under the leadership of a certain Mark Komissarov (also a native of Russia, by education - chemical engineer) tried to demonstrate the ability to distinguish colors and read words without the help of vision. The test was failed, but at the same time the solution to the “phenomenon” was found - the girl, due to the peculiarities of her face structure, could simply peek through a bandage that did not fit tightly enough.

Randy's repeated attempts to involve well-known “psychics” and “magicians” in testing were unsuccessful. His offers were rejected, in particular, by the Israeli psychic Uri Geller, famous for his ability to bend spoons with his gaze and stop and start watches from a distance, French homeopath Jacques Benveniste, and Arizona spiritualist Gary Schwartz, who demonstrated communication with the dead on a television show. Psychic Sylvia Brownie evaded testing, declaring on television that she could easily receive the Randy Foundation Award.

Since about 2007, only people who have published about their abilities in the media or have documents confirming their abilities issued by official academic organizations can apply for testing.

Test conditions and procedure

Any legally competent applicant who has reached the age of 18 is allowed to take the test, regardless of his gender, race or level of education. An application for testing is submitted in writing (the form is published) to the JREF office, in which the applicant must briefly (within 250 words) describe the essence of his paranormal abilities. In order for an application to be considered, the applicant must provide evidence of the declared ability. The following are accepted as such:

1. Formal recommendations from a professional scientist, academic institution, or medical doctor.
2. Publications in printed works or media (except those self-published by the applicant and/or published exclusively on the Internet).
3. High-quality professional video recording (recordings made by the applicant themselves are not accepted).

The first or second type of recommendations are preferable. In any case, each application and each set of recommendations is considered individually. If the application is accepted, the applicant is notified of this in writing, otherwise a justified refusal is sent. An applicant who provides only a video recording as a recommendation may be refused acceptance of the application without explanation.

The Randy Foundation accepts as evidence of psychic abilities only the results of its own testing, conducted in accordance with officially published rules. No other evidence, including documents, video recordings, or testimony of third parties, is grounds for payment of a premium. The Foundation also reserves the right to refuse the applicant if the experiment is highly likely to be dangerous to the life and health of the subject or other persons (in particular, it is associated with restrictions on food, water, breath holding, the use of narcotic or other dangerous or prohibited substances, the use of dangerous technical devices).

According to the official announcement of the James Randi Foundation, testing for paranormal abilities is carried out in accordance with the following basic principles:

1. The applicant must clearly and definitively state what specific abilities he will demonstrate.
2. It is agreed in advance between the award applicant and representatives of the foundation how the experiment will be carried out. Also, the parties must agree in advance what will be considered a positive and what will be considered a negative result of the experiment. The experiment is designed in such a way that the result is obvious to anyone to a normal person, who has familiarized himself with the agreement between the applicant and the fund on what is considered a positive and what is a negative result. Thus, the presence of a panel of judges and the possibility of disputes about the results of the experiment are excluded.
3. The applicant may be asked to conduct an informal demonstration of his or her abilities under conditions similar to the formal testing so that the parties can ensure that the experimental conditions are acceptable.
4. After a documented approval of the procedure, the applicant must undergo preliminary testing. Pre-testing is carried out once and must be successful. Only after passing it is the applicant allowed to take official testing, which, if passed, is the basis for awarding the award. The text of the proposal emphasizes that so far not a single applicant has reached the stage of official testing.
5. The official test will be conducted at the fund's office or other location of the fund's choosing. At the official testing, an independent observer is present, to whom the fund gives a check for $10,000. If, as a result of the experiment, according to its stipulated conditions, the applicant actually demonstrates the claimed paranormal ability, the observer must immediately hand over the check to the applicant. The rest of the premium is paid by the fund through the bank within no more than the next ten days.

In addition, a number of procedural rules and legal guarantees are stipulated, in particular:

1. Any correspondence regarding the application will be conducted in English only.
2. Any information materials obtained during the experiment, including photographs, video and audio recordings, etc., can subsequently be used by the foundation anywhere and anytime.
3. All expenses for travel to the testing site, accommodation, and meals are paid by the applicant himself.
4. The applicant in advance waives legal action against the Foundation and James Randi if the testing or its results cause moral, physical, material, professional or other harm to the applicant.
5. An applicant who fails the preliminary test may re-apply no earlier than 12 months after submitting the first. The same applicant cannot apply more than twice.
6. If the applicant is able to pass the official test, the fund will pay him a bonus and officially recognize the fact of passing the test and payment, but this will not mean that the fund recognizes the existence of supernatural phenomena.

Testing example (dowsing)

When the location of the pipes was discovered, it turned out that none of the dowsers passed the test. Borga carefully placed his markers, but the closest one was 8 feet from the active pipe. Borga said, "We lost," but after just two minutes he began complaining that he hadn't taken into account things like sunspots and geomagnetic variations. Two dowsers thought they had found natural water before the test, but they disagreed with each other where it was located, as well as with those who did not find it at all.

Notes

Links

• Application for testing in the JREF fund - Russian translation (by now the translation is outdated compared to the current edition of the fund's proposal).
• The myth of the million dollar challenge (English) - a critical article on the site of supporters of paranormal phenomena. The anonymous author (Greg) argues that the Randy Foundation's proposal does not serve in good faith scientific study paranormal phenomena, as it contains too high requirements that practically exclude receiving a bonus. See also the answer on randi.org - “The Grubbies Attack!” - where Randy explains why the high statistical criteria were chosen.

Literature

• Christopher, Milbourne (1975), "Mediums, Mystics, & the Occult", Thomas Y. Crowell Co., ISBN 0-690-00476-1
• Polidoro, Massimo (2003), "Secrets of the Psychics: Investigating Paranormal Claims", Prometheus Books, ISBN 1-59102-086-7
• Randi, James (1982), “Flim-Flam! », Prometheus Books, ISBN 0-87975-198-3

see also