• 0 Posts
  • 51 Comments
Joined 3 days ago
Cake day: June 5th, 2025
  • QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.workstoPeople Twitter@sh.itjust.works•Mad Laddicus
    1·
    14 hours ago

    I could show quite a few unflattering articles about Randi’s controversies but I feel his supporters insist that the fact that the challenge existed was the end all be all. In and of itself.

    When one must realize that Randi’s big claim to fame was the million dollar challenge and without that he had nothing.

    Critical thinking should tell you quite simply that JREF’s donations required appealing to skeptics. If Randi went to bat for anything that seemed supernatural his fans would turn on him, and if his big claim to fame was an unwinnable contest then his bread and butter demanded that he never allowed the contest to be won.

    It’s that simple.

    Now one could say that he’d get famous and rich for confirming Magick exists but… why would he? The papers would talk about the psychic not the foundation and further studies couldn’t be done at JREF because it wasn’t a scientific research facility and James had no training in science at all…

    It merely had people who were trained to look out for things like cold reading and the like.

    There’s nothing to gain and everything to lose and the fact that 99% of people who applied to challenge were turned down and 0% of those who did even got past so much as a preliminary round. Well it’s a little sus.

    Now I’m not saying magic is out there and JREF is hiding it. If it were then JREF wouldn’t have the means to hide it.

    What I am saying is JREF and James Randi were not scientists they were showmen and that’s very important to keep in mind.

    Sharing The idea that you can debunk a phenomenon by yelling “FAKE!” And doing a smug dance is something that offers more harm than good imho. Especially when you get people like Anti-Vaxxers who Mimic this behavior though rallying against medicine instead of faith and folklore.

  • QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.workstoGreentext@sh.itjust.works•Bait or r*tar*ation. Call it.
    6·
    2 days ago

    It wasn’t anything specific, it’s just… the idea of this guy being the real life Tony Stark didn’t pass the smell test. Not because he didn’t seem bright, but because I couldn’t believe ANYONE lived up to the hype that Elon had.

    That and… well… the idea of the Private Corporation coming to save the day and guide us into a Utopia sounded way too much like a Libertarian Fantasy.

  • QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.workstoPeople Twitter@sh.itjust.works•Mad Laddicus
    84·
    2 days ago

    Ah yes James Randi, a man I have very mixed feelings on. He was a climate skeptic who would claim to have debunked people who never signed up for his challenge. A real scum bag in general. He was also a high School drop out with no training in the sciences.

    Admittedly he called himself an “Honest Liar” and was motivated not by money but out of fear that people believed he had magic back when he was a magician.

    Still given his character I tend not to take JREF too seriously.

  • QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.workstoPeople Twitter@sh.itjust.works•Mad Laddicus
    10·
    2 days ago

    Bro you didn’t make up that word. You heard it on an episode of Always Sunny and forgot. I’d say it but honestly it’s so close to a racial slur that I’d rather not risk it.

    You have said it before, it was the last thing you said to Brian before he went out that night and… well I can sense there’s a lot of unresolved drama there so I’ll stop talking now

    Anyway don’t worry about Brian, in the great hereafter he became really good at Sudoku and is considering reincarnation on a planet in the Crab nebula. Interesting choice considering the people of that world are all female. Humanity won’t discover them for about two weeks but first contact will be surprisingly underwhelming

    Naw I’m messing with you. This was all stream of conciousness… but maybe I freaked someone out who thought I was serious.