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From: JamesRandiFoundation
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  • Had to really crank up the sound to hear it and then it still wasn't very loud.

  • bolenreport . com/feature_articles/Doctor's-­Data-v-Barrett/Who-the-2010-20­11-Quackbusters-are.htm

  • Okay, for the fifteen millionth time, where can I get that globe!

  • the editing really shows

  • James Randi is one of the most interesting human beings alive. It will be a great loss for the species when he goes. : (

  • Two of my favourite people!  (If Hitchens and Dawkins were in this video too, I'd be set for the summer)

  • @BrokenBard Hitchens is a fucking drunk.

  • @Thespeakerofmanytru8 I'm not sure if that is an insult or not...

  • @BrokenBard I rest my case

  • @Thespeakerofmanytru8 Behan, Bukowski, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Thomas, Amis, Hemingway, Poe, Parker, Williams, Kerouac, Faulkner, Sartre, etc...want you to retract resting your case.

    Google: "Intelligent-People-Are-Prone-­to-Alcoholism"

  • @BrokenBard Ya or it proves a few drunks are intelligent.

  • @Thespeakerofmanytru8 I bet you wrote that without reading the article or looking further into it. Either way...Hitchens is one of the greatest things to happen to the world in the past 70 years, drunk or not.

  • @JamesRandiFoundation if you change your acct type to like directer or artist etc you can post videos that are 15 minutes long instead of only 10 f.y.i.

  • i think it's interesting how many magicians either start out as, or become, atheists, because they see how easily people can be fooled. so for them, it's very easy to see how people back in the day could easily be tricked into thinking someone was turning water into wine, etc.

  • I want that spinning globe on the bookshelf!

  • Wow I really dislike Steve Novella... I find this part of me completely irrational, but I can't help myself lol. I LOVE the show though.

  • Also, from the side, if you look real fast, he looks a bit like Brent Spiner  :)

  • omg.. it's so weird to look at him talking after listening to him for hundreds of hours :)

  • Dr. Steven Novella has some jacked forearms. I bet he's ripped. HUGE Fan of SGU Thanks Dr. Novella! Thanks Randi!

  • Skeptics guide to the Universe has been my favorite podcast for years now. Keep up the good work!

  • @DamoYoung25

    Lloyd Pye is either a nutter, or a scammer looking to sell books. Regardless of any mistakes made in a paper, deleting it is not a valid reaction. Post a retraction or correction rather than censoring.

  • @DamoYoung25 Oh? In which way did he lie? The fact remains that Lloyd Pye has not even come close to making his case and is completely full of shit until he does.

  • Randi REALLY looks like Darwin from this angle :P

  • steve is my uncle

  • James Randi is the original Epic Beard.

  • Novella looks a lot more like a used car salesman than I ever would have thought, both Randi and Novella are both amazing men as are the rouges on the SGU, keep up the good work!

  • The Skeptics Guide to the Universe is a wonderful podcast. Anyone who wants to learn about the scientific process and the value of skepticism should give it a listen.

  • i must have that globe!

  • @centrino105: Do you know what evidence is? Evidence is not Vaccine Nation, evidence is not an anecdote, no matter how elaborate. You're not going to win any minds here if you don't understand this.

    Arrogant? Possibly, but no more so that yourself - you have no evidence and yet *we* must believe everything you say? That's arrogance.

  • steve novella is epic

  • Steve looks a bit like Data from Star Trek :o)

  • @LittleDragon7 He does!! but he needs some Just For Men lol

  • Am i the only one who was surprised when i first saw Dr. Novella? I knew who he was from the podcast and then i looked his picture up and i was totally picturing someone else.

  • Novella is funded by the NIH so why is anyone shocked he is a government shill spewing propaganda about vaccines being safe? Boy oh boy that H1N1 hoax was a whopper eh? Novella is a stooge for big pharma so they can sell more mercury laced toxic vaccines to the gullible public. Wake up people novella and JREF are LIARS selling you government approved toxic BS.

  • @centrino105 Time to go back to your padded cell! Your meds are ready and your straight jacket aint gonna wear itself!

  • @comanchio1976

    Is that the best you JREFers can do is come up with some lame grade school insult? Pathetic man really. JREF opinions on ANY subject are worth about as much as a warm bucket of hampster spit.

  • @comanchio1976

    Oops!

    I forgot to ask centrino105 if he is on any medication and if so for what.

    I understand that he possibly may not be honest with his answers but a few well placed questions can usually expose either any prospective bullshitter or lunatic.(if perhaps he is either of these things.)

    If he's on the level he should not have a problem with honest inquiry!

  • @centrino105

    I would like to begin with one simple question.

    Are you at all religious?

    Secondly do you subscribe to any(other)conspiratorial ideas?

    Finally I'd just like to inquire where exactly you get your information on these matters from.

    These are simple and perfectly honest questions and I hope you can answer them .

  • @RandomVortex I've tried talking to these conspiracy heads before,and have learned it's pointless.Whatever evidence you bring to the table or undeniable point you make gets 'trump carded' by that kind of "well they would want you to believe that wouldnt they..." Kind of response.Their mind is closed to anything that doesnt support their argument/world view,much the same with creationists. So I've given up trying.Mockery is all I've got the energy for these days.

  • JREF the promoters of lies about 9/11 and the promoters of lies about vaccines. Shame on you all. You will always be remembered as disinformationists and Penn and Teller known for promoting Bullshit such as the official conspiracy theory of 9/11 which is a laughing stock across the globe. Funny how funding for JREF is from an "anonymous" source that lives in Washington DC. Funny like cancer.

  • @centrino105

    OK all sarcasm aside where exactly do you get your info/proof from?

    As far as I know you could be right but I require evidence(at quite a high standard I should add!)

    So fire away.............

  • @RandomVortex,

    Proof of what? You want proof that the mercury in the vaccines is harmful or do you want proof that Novella is an NIH funded hack pushing the big pharma agenda? In either case the internet is loaded with answers, look it up yourself. As to your other questions: I don't take ANY medications other then an occasional aspirin simply because I don't trust the toxic crap big pharma pushes. So my "well placed" answers usually expose smarmy JREF trolls for the coolaid drinkers they are

  • @centrino105

    I do not find anything you have said to be in the least bit convincing.

    I require a higher standard of proof than merely searching the net for anything that will claim to back up a chosen delusion without any hard evidence..

    I don't suppose you have any actual varifiable proof to back up your paranoia.

    As to your claim that you do not take any medication(other than the occasional aspirin)perhaps this is your problem as there are some very good anti-psychotic drugs out there!

  • @centrino105

    You still did not say whether you are religious or not.

    Oh and if you do indeed believe in all of this mindless drivel that you have claimed to then what exactly have you done about it?

    What do you plan to do about it and how do you plan to do it and when?

  • @centrino105

    I mean what are you actually physically going to do(other than just type silly shite on the internet.)

    Finding something that constitutes actual varifiable hard evidence would be a good start(I shant hold my breath though!)

  • @RandomVortex

    I beleive in a higher power but oppose organized religions (all of them) which has nothing whatsoever to do with the discussion of course. You are just a typical JREF troll, smarmy, arrogant, and blind to your own foolishness. Once again if you need proof that mercury is bad for you then I suggest you learn how to do your own research. Should you want to continue drinking the coolaid, or in this case injecting the mercury, then by all means do so buddy it is your body to poison

  • @centrino105

    Higher power ?(That's a bit vague could you perhaps specify?)

    Why do you keep on implying that I am a JREF troll?(whatever that is.)

    I'll admit I have checked out quite a few of James Randis vids and found them to be very interesting but other than that my interests are largely elsewhere.

    It would appear you are simply assuming that I am one of these JREFers(although if you are an example of the oposite to a JREFer then I would by simple virtue of reason have to side with them!)

  • @RandomVortex

    As to what I am personally doing about this I will give you a hint. My wife works at a hospital and she and all her friends have been given all the information about the toxic vaccines and the big pharma agenda. They are now organizing resistance across the entire hospital. I have shown them the film Vaccine Nation (by Gary Null) and their eyes are now completely open never to be shut again by copper tops such as yourself. (Copper top is a reference to the film The Matrix.)

  • @centrino105

    So you are actively stopping children from recieving vital medication based on?

    What exactly was the evidence again?where is this"proof"?

    Before you risk hugely damaging the health of many kids you must be more than 100% sure that you are correct in your appraisal of the situation and so far I have not seen any actual evidence from you.

    So you strike me as being nothing more than a dangerously deluded child harming idiot!

    I guess you think I work for"Big Pharma"also.

  • @centrino105

    I strongly suggest that anybody with children who are worried about any of this simply ignore the vast legions of paranoid lunatics and ignorant idiots(like centrino105 for example!)and look into this via channels that can be varified,cross referenced and actually proven with testable facts!(if you neglect your kids health because you believed the crazed rants of some sad fuck on the web then you should probably have them taken somewhere away from you where they might be safe!)

  • "We're all meatheads."

    Ain't that the truth.

  • If you want to know the truth about Randi look up the homeopathy challenge he weaseled on when the players could not be controlled and he changed the rules at the last minute to torch the entire process.

    It was a very revealing expose on how Randi seems to project his ethics onto most of the "charlatans" he claims to uncover. Whatever, he certainly did NOT want to go up against the challenge by homeopathy as he will LOSE. (He and his corporate/pharma backers know this.)

  • @UnoRaza Irrationalize much?

  • You both Have been on Penn & Teller: Bullshit! That Show is awesome. James Randi PWNS :D

  • Oh no. I can't unhear it.

  • chinese gimp not very politically correct James LMFAO

  • wow...steve novella looks completely different than what i expected.

    awesome.

  • LOL @theintriguer

  • Please elaborate!

  • @theintriguer Let's see, your argument is entirely ad hominem and conspiratorial. You present no facts or evidence to support your base assertion, and we're supposed to take you at your word, random internet person. Thanks for the insight. You've convinced us all.

  • I always think Steve Novella sounds like Ray Romano

  • @CaptChrisT haha yeah when i first heard the podcast i thought the exact same thing. Hes such a bright guy and seems to know a bit about everything!

  • @CaptChrisT OMFG I ALWAYS SAY THAT TOO

  • Gladly.

  • do us all a favour and die of whooping cough

  • Ditto, gladly.

  • yea dude, try some reiki light therapy and prayer, i heard that is the surefire way to live to be 500 like moses. dont forget the wolfsbane dilution and foot vibrations!

  • er, that's spelled m-e-r-cury, btw. I'd happily get dozens of vaccines w/ ethyl mercury. My kid has all his vaccines. I got my flu shot a week ago, but since I'm not in a high risk group, I can't get the H1N1, but I will when it becomes available. My parents get their flu shots every year (since I can remember), and, lo and behold, they're in their late 80s - and still alive and healthy! Imagine that...

  • Two awesomely, awesome individuals.

  • I'll second that. Love hearing Steven Novella and of course Randi is brilliant. I hope he is well.

  • Two Awesome Individuals.

  • On the Contrary, they are very open to the question of the unknown....

    They just want to try and find out the answer, rather than leave it as unknown, and so advance the human condition.

  • No he doesn't look weird....You make weird comments.

  • what he means is you have images in your head of what a person looks like.. and maybe the actual image of him doesn't match

  • we're not all beautiful

  • I'm no stallion... my point was that, having *listened* to SGU for so long... seeing Steve strikes me as odd. Apparently I'm alone on this one.

  • Speak for yourself! I'm a 10+/10!!!

  • holy crap that rules!

  • "we're all meatheads"

  • this is weird. they're interviewing each other in turns

  • LOL! true! that's hilarious.

    Interesting video

  • I think you need to find out the correct meaning of bigot.

    And I must say I'm suprised, being one yourself, and being religious you must also know a large number of them also.

    GOD??? Indeed!!!!!!!

    And don't you think its being a little disrespectfull, to your diety, to hasle him about such trivia, he may be doing something important, like unleashing his awesome wrath, on some horrid gay fella, or heathen atheist.

    If i were you, I'd throw myself onto my knees, and beg for mercy.

  • how christian of you

  • How about you do that, and I'll do something useful to balance it out?

  • Actually, YouTube allows up to 11 minutes of video! :)

  • James Randi also seems to have a charming sense of humour... It does add a little something to his talks.

  • Why doesn't Randi become whatever you need to be to be able to post longer videos?

  • I thought that was a technology issue (the flash video streaming server licence allows only x minutes per stream for free.. otherwise youtube would have to pay for each view). So I guess JREF would have to pay out the nose for longer time.

  • As far as I know you have to be something like Partner or Director to be able to upload more than 10 minutes. I don't think you have to pay for it. And I suspect Randi meets all the criteria to be able to become whatever you need to be to upload longer vids. ;)

  • actually you're both wrong. youtube certainly doesn't pay any streaming fees, because it streams the videos off its own servers. also, no company as big as youtube would actually buy such a cost intense licence model...if it even exists at all

    people that had director accounts prior to mid 2007 have the ability to upload videos longer than 10min. as the video description of this video already hints at, merely being a partner doesn't seem to give someone that extra account upgrade.

  • and yellow means go like hell...

  • I'm sure Steve is a swell guy. Only, he didn't bring anything new to the plate at all. If anything, he was belaboring the obviously obvious and repeating himself too much. It was painful to listen to, and Randi was being extremely kind in humoring him. Yes, we get it Steve, everyone can be tricked. Thank you.

  • Science is a method. It doesn't require a mindset or philosophy to do. Atheists and theists can do it. Skeptics and believers can do it. Pacifists and miltants can do science.

    And after 80 years, Randi almost understands the meaning of traffic signals, but he will be pulled over for speeding through a yellow light.

  • 'Real science' IS skepticism. Your understanding of both is woefully inadequate. And what evidence do you have for, "Skeptics often suffer from self-doubt, depression and..."? Very few (if any) of the self-professed skeptics I've met seem to suffer from these. I myself suffered from depression LONG before I became a skeptic. In fact I it can be fairly said that becoming a skeptic and learning a healthy, rational way of looking at the world was one of the things that helped me overcome that.

  • It's the questioning of claims that have allowed us to climb out of the stone age. Scepticism stands for process.

  • Questioning is not skepticism, doubting is. A skeptic is someone inclined to doubt or disbelief. That's the dictionary definition. A skeptical predisposition is a mental bias, and as such, not conducive to objective truth or "real" science.

    Nor is it intrinsic to the process, but as a bias, it's a determinant of results. The results of a bias are finding what one wants to find. Skepticism is the process of bias just as much as a willingness to believe is.

  • Even if there was bias, the willingness to refute other people's claims is what keeps the scientific development going. Scepticism is the catalysator in the progress of refining our knowledge.

  • Aside from entertainment and mental unhappiness, what has skepticism actually produced? They've managed to expose a few charlatons, and by inference, by associative guilt, cast doubt of serious studies of the paranormal.

    But the actual scientific output of skepticial inquisitions .. and literal witch hunts .. is remarkably threadbare. Almost nothing. The Unexplained remains entirely unexplained.

    Good work, guys.

  • You're just confusing two things here. Criticism on a personal level can be harmful. Having it eat away at your self confidence harmful thought, the thing meditation tries to eliminated, etc.

    When it comes to finding out the truth, then there's simply no such thing as too much doubt and too much criticism. Scientists are naturally sceptics, as it helps them to define their theories in the most accurate ways as possible.

  • No actually, I'm not confused. I'm sarcastic. The job of the skeptic is to confuse. To use science to CAST DOUBT. To set off little smoke-bombs of 'Gotcha!' and 'PWNed!

    But the actual science produced by the skepticism-driven scientist is minimal, and not very good. I can show examples.

  • Here's a perfect illustration. In 2007, Dr Henrik Ehrsson claims to have "induced" out-of-body-experiences in the lab by using 3D VR tech. The concensus is, he simulated reality, and got a simulated OoBE. Garbage In - Garbage Out.

    Using science to induce hallucinations = Casting Doubt

  • If sceptics are able to do that, then surely the theory needs refining. Any scientist will be thankful for that.

    And really it's quite ironic you're being cynical about critics after all the blabla about how it hurts the health and everything. Lovely.

  • Skepticism is a habit to some. That too is in the dictionary. Habitual behaviors are an element of OCD. Doubt is an element of self-doubt. Depression results from these habits, self-doubts, self-denials and anxieties.

    I stand by my diagnosis .. and I don't make a habit of being cynical.

  • I think you're just having a wrong image of sceptics.

    Just like those people who think atheists believe there is no god (while it actually means not believing in a god).

    You'll get a better view from this TED seminar.

    watch?v=8T_jwq9ph8k

  • watching these James Randi videos, one would conclude that the world is full of gullible idiots and the charlatans who prey on them.

    And boy, do a lot of skeptics eat it up.

  • Aye definitely.

    Especially considering how much money goes into the industry of paranormal specialists. It isn't hard to see how gullible people are.

  • The harm of being too gullible can be offset by the harm of being too skeptical.

    But the gullible are the ones who benefit from placebo effects. Skeptics don't enjoy that benefit.

  • Want to buy some magic beans? They are chalk full of placebo.

  • It's not just quacks who profit from fraud. 10%, 30%, 50%, as much as 90% (!) of the effectiveness of modern pharmaceutical products is due to placebo. How do I know this? Because scientists test and measure how fraudulent these products are. Pharm companies and their scientists, profit greatly from these products.

    Is it quackery? No, it's state of the art science.

  • Astounding figures you got there. Forgive my SCEPTICISM, but do you have any sources on that?

  • I'm sorry, I read so many studies and pick up bits of data. But the wiki Placebo article has some numbers. And I wouldn't be surprised if placebos have matched or outperformed some medicines in tests. To my knowledge, these products (sugar > patented medicine) aren't on the market, but marginally better performers are.

  • So, how are these tests done?

    Two cancer patients.

    One of them gets the tumor surgically removed. The other one only gets an incision

  • C'mon, whose the gullible one now?

    I'm sure they have a pill that can cure that.

    Lab tested, doctor recommended, FDA approved.

    It's purple.

  • I hope you get an STD and the doctor gives you a sugar pill instead of the antibiotic.

  • Why am I not surprised that you would encourage doctors to commit malpractice?

  • I'm glad you agree that such methods are malpractice indeed.

  • One need only look at the state of healthcare to see why many people wisely choose alternative medicines. Many alternatives are not quacks or frauds but have a reliable record of successes, earned trust and earned income.

    Criticizing or "debunking" them isn't going to earn anyone's trust back.

  • Haha yeah, YOUR healthcare, not ours.

  • May your overpaid, pill-dispensing robot doctor over-prescribe for you the latest experiemental Jekyll potion for your mild obsessive-depressive disorders and unsightly toenail fungus.

    Sim Sim Salabim and good luck, Skeptics. You'll need it.

  • at least it does Something mate, least its not woowoo !

  • If an alternative medicine "witch-doctor" uses a placebo to trick .. fool .. decieve a sick mind or sick body into curing itself, that doctor has earned his worth.

  • My dad's hip was quite hard to be replaced by a placebo so he opted for regular medicine.

  • Look, I can understand that in some countries, even western ones, like the US, the medical care is so incredibly dire that you resort to the quacks that do nothing but make you feel special and precious.

    But that doesn't mean they can actually cure you from real diseases. If they can cure you trough a placebo alone, then that says everything about the disease you've been cured from and nothing about the ""doctor"" that cured you.

  • Comment removed

  • You didn't answer my question, why not replace your dad with a robot?

    Can you prove that he isn't just a biological machine? That he's a conscious being?

    Can you scientifically prove your feelings for your dad are real?

    Oh that's right, you can't. No one can. We can't test for consciousness, and your "feelings" for your dad are a delusion. They don't exist. It's all in your head. So why not replace him?

  • We can physically record the impulses in specific parts of the brain responsible for emotions these days. Not which emotions, but Yes you could record the feelings BaileysBeads has for his dad on a ECG machine. So apart from being apparently devoid of empathy yourself, you are also empirically proven wrong. We are biological machines AND we have consciousness as well. Not mutually exclusive concepts.

  • te⋅lep⋅a⋅thy /təˈlɛpəθi/ [tuh-lep-uh-thee]

    noun

    communication between minds by some means OTHER than sensory perception.

    Thanks to my 'mystic book' known as The Dictionary.

  • τηλε (tele: distant) and πάθεια (patheia: feeling)

  • So now you know the etymology of the word , you might be able use it in a sentence correctly.

    Do you ever have a 'distant feeling' without your brain doing any work?

  • I did use it correctly. The problem isn't detecting brain activity with a machine, it's attributing emotions to the information. Lie detectors are not reliable. Brain imaging detects general and subjective activity. Subjective information isn't objective and isn't science. It's mind reading. Feelings for 'dad' are subjective and unscientific.

  • Depends what he is charging.

  • I thought sugar pills can do anything because placebo is the most effective part of treatment? Why would you want the real medicine in this case but not in others?

  • Ideally we wouldn't need any medicine, real or placebo.

    Ideally, BaileysBeads wouldn't need a dad, real or placebo.

  • Placebo effects can do pretty much anything that god can do. Guess why that is. :)

  • Its the most effective part of treatment for a booboo, a band aid with Barney the Dinosaur on it and a kiss from mummy makes it all better.

    Its not the most effective part of the treatment for cancer. What do you know, there IS actual medicine out there that does something!

  • This specific comment sounds very sceptical to me. Now, what were you against again?

  • I love skepticism. And these two. Not in a gay way though. Although there's nothing wrong with that.

  • That globe in the background is pretty cool.  Oh, and Randi and Steve are too.

  • I wonder how it works...

  • Steve really reminds me of Ray Romano but with white hair.

  • SGU is the best podcast ever .

  • Ehm... why?

  • Ya gotta love the way James tells a story, I could listen to him for hours.

    Dr. Steve Novella - what can I say? He can make anything interesting. I really enjoy the precision in what he says, you can tell he is a practicing scientist and teacher. I never miss a podcast, it is my weekly fix.

    Thanks James, Steve and all the rogues.

  • ... and yellow means "go like hell."

    I love that guy.

  • My heroes.

  • Dr. Steve Novella is incredible.

    Everyone should subscribe to his podcast, "The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe"

  • I agree on both counts! (no relation to previous poster, similar screen names)

  • i agree on both counts as well! with even less relation to previous 2 posters. XD

  • mmmm delicious meat in the head

  • Interesting vid