James Randi, magician, skeptical of paranormal & supernatural-LA 4/28/11

James Randi- Interview in LA April 28th 2011
& Magic trick with Alex Chionetti

From Randi's web:
James Randi has an international reputation as a magician and escape artist, but today he is best known as the world's most tireless investigator and demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.

By: Milagros Lizarraga
rmchrist@earthlink.net

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[chrispeeez]

Randi can't rule out anything he doesn't fully understand ...But he does try.

[raydredX]

@tweaker1bms It's been a long time and my memory is around the lowest I've found in non-mentally ill people. Anyway I guess you're talking about the "I don't work on pure logic alone" which I end up working actually?

Well, yeh you get a bunch of logical rules. And you make some stuff up like math or something which is one of the main things I love to work with. I think I was referring to dealing with more argumentative, very true/false based areas of study.

[tweaker1bms]

@raydredX Well, a form of logic, or rather a certain set of rules, but this doesn't mean no rules at all are possible for success. Anyone arguing that logic overall is bs will have to appeal to some system of rules/logic to make their case, thus it's a self-defeating statement.

[raydredX]

@tweaker1bms Definitely. Even though I don't work on pure logic alone. Or maybe I do because everything follows from logic? Anyway, yes they're definitely fun.

[tweaker1bms]

@raydredX I thought we were arguing for a sec lol. Yeah the best way I've heard it is akin to the "meta-experiment" of science in itself. We don't know for sure if it's right, so we look towards it's results. Science and logic yield results, so the likelihood of them being wrong is very very slim. Paradoxes may indicate needs for fixes in esoteric areas, but by no means does this call for doing away with it altogether. Both are quite fun stuff wouldn't you say? ;)

[raydredX]

@tweaker1bms I simply won't disprove or proove logic but accept it anyway. (You could actually prove logic isn't self consistent using logic itself but it is.)

[tweaker1bms]

@raydredX Exactly. In turn you have to ask, what will you use to disprove logic.... a logical argument? :P The proof is more in the pudding than self consistency, but that is at least something.

[raydredX]

@kylebossify Like all beliefs,anything lacks irrefutable evidence supporting its validity.

You can't prove anything for sure. "But logic lets me prove some very fundamental stuff like: if A is B; and B is C; then A in C."

But you can't prove logic. Logic works, it makes perfect sense. I use it and I love it.

Science's peculiar sometimes, but it works better than any other method for discovering our world. When something looks wrong, we look for a better explanation. This is honesty.

[kylebossify]

@raydredX I am skeptical of the very philosophical basis of scientific thought. Granted, if I had to take a stab at the way the world works, I would be emotionally (as opposed to empirically) inclined to support scientific thought. Science is derived from materialism. like all of the metaphysical beliefs, materialism lacks irrefutable evidence supporting it's validity. This is radical skepticism, and it serves to cast doubt on all claims, suggesting that nothing can be "known"

[raydredX]

@kylebossify No science theory is proven. If someone tells you that, tell them to go plant peanuts.

Skeptic about science? Why? Skeptic about scientific theories? Sure. Find what's wrong with them, what to change in them, find a better one.

We just get better and better theories never knowing for sure that our theories are right, never to have them proven, that's being honest. If it works cool, if it doesn't we get something better.