James Randi - Psychic Investigator - Part 10 of 15

[bugisami]

Randi's experiment with Clive proves nothing. Locating a mountain of ore by dowsing might be possible; finding a small piece of zinc ore amongst all the interference in a television studio might be a lot harder or not possible at all.

[SlightyDisturbedNBK]

@bugisami Why? What 'interferes' with Zinc Ore?

[OhJustCallMeLuke]

The only dowsing device that works is the ITEMFINDER from Pokémon. You may find a Rare Candy with it! :D

[BigLundi]

@soccermastas None of these actually went towards the mllion dollar challenge. Just abut all of them were too easy to succeed on chance.

[TraceurMeeka]

his shoulder visually tenses whenever the rod spins in a circle...

[mrjesus1890]

Look at his body tense up at 5:43.

[drnickyp]

Pickles was what Penn & Teller would call an asshole - how dare he pop up in so many 1980's programs as a "rent-an-opinion" - he was a useless judge who made questionable comments from the bench when practicing and made an even worse D-list celebrity - i wonder if he is dead yet?

[Stairc]

The map thing is so easy to explain. The man picked two squares on nearly opposite sides of the board - claiming them both to have a monument in them... When Randi made it clear only one could fit that description. Now think about this. If the monument was somewhere in the middle, wouldn't that be an impressive bullseye he drew? no wonder he got readings from both sides. But if it was on the edge, as it was, one was nearby and very impressive! Forced to guess, he took one and got lucky.

[mrbbartok]

"Well that seems to be a very dramatic demonstration" lololol

[mornmeril]

So... guys were asking for locks of hair and clothing from a 13 year old girl? Am I the only one who finds that... well...

[JoshMufc101]

guy at 2:00

these people wanted pictures of a underaged girl to "dows over" those filthy bastards!

[mornmeril]

@JoshMufc101 Dowse their rods over her picture, clothes and hair!

[tkoizumi]

dowsing is legit. I used my penis as a dowsing instrument and it seems like it always points erect towards the hot wemmin. Explain that Randi!

[elmoman6]

@tkoizumi lol

[TheAutomaticMan23]

I'm a fan of two things here, one being that Randi consistently tells his audience what the chances are of something being done correctly on the first attempt so that later he can say "well, see, you haven't done any better than you would statistically with random chance" and two, the people who advertise their websites for healing powers, intuition and enlightenment on a video that will clearly draw a lot of skeptic viewers. Dolt.

[download333]

It's difficult on a live show, but I'd like to see, if not full double-blind studies, then at least multiple tests with multiple participants on each show. James Randi doing a show in the format of Mythbusters maybe (the first few seasons, not the new crap). More data is always better.

[sketchydc]

Im a massive skeptic on just about everything, but with regard to "bad spots" and "Good spots" i think that it could come down to the feeling of a place, a particularly grim enviroment isn't helpful for illness, especially in contrast to a much nicer place. Thats about all i can see that rings true from these dowsers, for instance those "Spots" on the floor could have been better/worse lighted.

[Forserean]

@sketchydc Oh yeah i agree on that, imagine having a terminal disease and being kept in a morgue, you wouldn't really feel the best at all.

[Darkstar1484]

The poor mineral dowser, he actually seemed sincere in believing that his stuff worked. The look of despair on his face moved me to sadness.

[ShaolinViolin]

@Darkstar1484 don't feel too sad. maybe he needs a wake up call. how can he expect to find ore under miles of earth when he cant find it under a paper box?

[ianbarton1990]

So lets get this right, they wanted locks of hair and clothes and they wanted photos so they could 'dowse' all over them. These people sound a bit like the dodgy looking men who offer children sweets.

[bearshawn]

Notice that the right shoulder of the dowser was slightly raised and tensed when his rod began circling. The circling rod is entirely his actions.

[shaman723]

they should have a game show where dowsers have to find a certain item and every time they get one wrong they lose money.

[ViralMessiah]

now if my stick spins counter clockwise,i have the largest penis in north america,if it spins counter clockwise,i have the largest penis on earth! if it ever makes a square,triangle,or goes up or down,you have to give me 1 million billion dollars

[Alekpowah]

i mean.. wtf, at about 6:10 you can clearly see him making an effort to forcing the circle movement >,,<

[LibertyJusticeTruth]

I'd be pretty upset to find out I had a magic power...and it was wiggling a stick.

[mwilliams60]

#LOL #lol

[mwilliams60]

#lol

[KaslarProductions]

Twirling a stick in witch you are HOLDING.... convinced me... #LOL

[morro765060]

jajajajaja

[LifeInBrunswick]

I love that the guy starts swinging his rod around after the second wrong guess just in case there was anyone left who didn't think he was full of shit :P .

[Baldnesz]

S H I T and Ore

[omnissient]

Maybe he hoped to get lucky. 1 in 7 chance to get it right. That would have been impressive: Omg it works, he found it.

[iSOBigD]

So if they're wrong, it doesn't matter, but if they're right, it's cause magic really exists and they have super powers? I like those odds! lol

[NekoMouser]

Ha! When he gets to box 4 and box 7 (about 6:15 in) you can actually see his arm twitch and shoulder lift to induce side to side movement. Up down, up down, up down, twitch, circle! Oops!

[tehbeast666]

Even with this crappy video I can still see his hands deliberately swing the rod.

[handlas1]

can I deliberately swing your rod?

[AtheistBaby]

Did anybody notice that at 5:42? Watch his shoulders!

[666brandon666]

Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't notice at first.

[AtheistBaby]

Haha, that's okay. I think James Randi called it the ideomotor effect.

[Nolebrab]

7 chances, 3rd guess is the one, pretty much law of averages worked out there.

[charil619]

what an absolute weapon gr8 3rd guess

[bman170]

The old guy with the rod, is talking straight out of his ass. I can't understand how anyone buys this bullshit.

[suckmyballs1]

well that seems to be a very dramatic demonstration lol master of sarcasm

[robberval]

lol, Sue Blackmore is one of the leading cognitive scientists today. It was quite astonishing seeing her in the show. She's awesome!

[zackhanscom]

are doctorate degrees in england easier to get? how did these morons become doctors of anything?

[supermembrax69]

You can be a doctor in a lot of different subjects like doctor in psychic or doctor in informatics or a doctor in religious though, etc...

You the short answer is yes, anyone can be a doctor :-D Doctors must not be trusted even scientific doctor or medics... I know several doctors that made a carrier in cheating at the exams...

After, when you have a real problem, some are honest enough to say "i don't know go to the hospital" others lie and get you in trouble...

[Sutskoen]

I once had a neighbour who had a doctorate in fairy tales, not sure of the equivalent wording in english, but "doctorate in trolls and mystics" or somesuch

[nearadyn]

Sadly, I think doctorate degrees are just as easy to get anywhere.

[bman170]

A sweater vest is required.

[tbird13936]

God I love how Randi is such a smartass to these people in such a nonchalant way that the guests don't even realize that they are being insulted. For example: right after the guest finishes his not-so-convincing display of dowsing, Randi responds with, "Well that seems to be a very dramatic explanation." James Randi is fucking awesome.

[AnonFore4]

Fucking Awesome

[TheGreatPyro]

I laughed, but then I felt bad cause there are a lot of these people...then I laughed again!

[RichoRosai]

Yeah, so true. Even the goofy music feels subtly sarcastic.

[FretNinja]

HAHAHAHA so true!!

[stottie301]

jesus randi is the only normal one there

[abbernomad]

If you rewind this vid to the 2nd attempt, he just says, "Nope" and walks off to No. 3.

[jordanrivers1]

ppl are so full of shit!!

[andyrooney11]

LoL...there are people like James Randi that tell a lot of us that this stuff is absolute shit...but those people just cuss us out and say that we don't know what we're talking about so...I don't give a fuck if some drugged up dowser cons those assholes out of their money...if someone is so fucking stupid to believe in this stuff then they deserve to lose their money.

[PsychicBuster]

BULLLLLSHHHIIIIIIITT

[tvargan]

My rod goes stiff, then has upward movement, when I face an 'ore! Sorry, stupid joke.

[Sutskoen]

stupid jokes for stupid thinking (not your thinking, the dowser's)

if it makes you feel better though, I'd made a similarly poor joke, hehe

[KamratSvenneryd]

Dowsing is one of the most stupid "psychic" things I've ever seen

[ApachePiL0T]

4:25 of this video, the guy is clearly bouncing that rod along, all on his own with his own hand. Which makes Dowsing null RIGHT THERE.

[LovelyYTRocks]

"The steet isn't healthy."

Lololol.

The streets needs it's weekly check ups. I mean, come on, one of the piece of gravel had AIDS!

[BruceSpringsteeen]

lol, tough episode :) I can't believe that dowser got that 1/24 chance map one. It's dissapointing to think that alot of people would have thought "Oh wow, it must work" just because it was unlikely for that to happen. Obviously it goes without saying that in all probabillity (except for the amazing possibility that this guy is what randi is looking for with his million dollars) that he would fail over the long term. Thanks for posting these vids!

[Eyedunno]

It's possible he could have memorized roads around historical sites in Britain though. :P

[turboturtle73]

or an educated guess that all roads lead to something important , therfore crossroads should pinpoint the site. not an absolute precision but definetly in the ball park...

that was my pick b4 being told

[DEANOTECHNO]

yes kind of agreed slieghtly goodish efforts however overall a failure as per usual.

[LeeTheAgent]

I'd have to recheck the previous video to be sure, but didn't most of the roads converge on that grid, and hence it would most likely be where ruins would be found?

[grimeldasnodpocket]

Yes. There seemed to be a built up area (or at least, a lot of roads joining at one spot) in the square the guy picked. It was the most 'concentrated' area on the board.

[raistlin75]

It was mentioned before, but Randi said in his podcast that the dowser who correctly got the 1/24 map square cheated. Apparently there was a map with the correct square marked that was carelessly left out backstage by the crew. It makes it more unfortunate that he didn't even get this one by chance.