James Randi on Magic, Skepticism, and the Future

Keynote talk at Singularity Summit 2010.

[@sh6843]

James Randi has done more good for humanity than any pastor or minister.

[@swine13]

To be fair he's done more good than 99% of humanity will do in their lives _combined_ We're pretty useless, on average... 😅

[@giorgamikitta8938]

This man is brilliant. He understands more about the way the world works than anybody I ever heard speak. Not only that, he explains it so well. And as a bonus he is very entertaining!

[@fjccommish]

Um no. The proof that he doesn't understand how the world works is that he supported Obama as President. Randi was completely fooled or complicit in Obama's evil - one or the other.

[@greenrobot5]

I could listen to this man all day long

[@larrysbrain1627]

We either love him or hate him... Admire him or despise him... James, you're one hell of an interesting man. You've contributed so much to the scientific community!

[@garlicyum9147]

ea1000000d

[@calvaryapologetics]

As a Christian, i love him. He was completely correct, assume nothing and test all things.

[@swine13]

The only people that dislike James Randi are shills, scammers and liars whose "careers" have been shot down by this seemingly harmless little gnome. Everyone else likes him because he strives for truth and what is real, which is something any sane and cooperative human being would also prefer to pursue. What's more, he is always trying to maintain the utmost respect for people even if he doesn't like them (uri geller for example). In this way, I love seeing when people are upset with him - I like to bet on how long they can go before exposing their ulterior motives behind disliking Randi. There's always a few.

[@peteralleyman1945]

@@calvaryapologetics So you're no christian anymore?

[@MrXarontas]

Peter Popoff: "Ratnaw Ratnaw Jizz!" Jesus: "Wtf was that?.."

[@theanalogman1]

James Randi is fucking awesome!!!

[@OfficialFatLip]

self hating gay jew who proved to be the biggest liar, he is great at exposing fake STAGE magicians both psychic or performers, but he himself was expose for hiding a illegal under aged male prostitute while using a stolen ID of someone, he thrived both via erection and financially using this desperate illegal alien as a hoax by presenting him to be a guru for son years under the disguise of someone else's ID

[@theonewiththeeyeoftruth884]

Fat Lip I think we'll all accept that as _you_ coming out of the closet.

[@theonewiththeeyeoftruth884]

Fat Lip It's okay. It's your choice.

[@ZER0--]

+Fat Lip Oh dear, now its the Jews ! Again you can't spell and your grammar is atrocious. Why would anyone with a brain take an idiot like you seriously ?

[@OfficialFatLip]

Paul L please give up your erection cause I ain't, I know it breaks you icky heart

[@innovator1998]

i love this guy ! what a great great mentor 👍👏👏👏

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

agreed

[@larrysbrain1627]

Yeah, James is a great man! He has invested so much to the scientific community.

[@birdmanuk]

He's brilliant, I'm actually disappointed that ive only just discovered him.

[@beachdancer]

When he walked on stage I thought, "He looks like Darwin". Then he said the same thing. Magic!

[@Goosemeyer]

absolutely brilliant!!

[@kietrivers]

James Randi, now he is the man who will surely die smiling knowing that he did goods in this world =)

[@krisraps]

RIP To Amazing Randi :(

[@Lucifronz]

God damn it, he got me with the beard trimmer twice. Once in a previous video and once now. It's such a small thing, you really don't pay much attention to it. It's like what Leonard Dicaprio's character's father said in Catch Me If You Can. Something along the lines of: "Why do the Yankees always win? Because the other team is always looking at the stripes." In other words, you can distract people from the critical details and draw their attention away from obvious flaws in your lie. I noticed the microphone looked weird, but wasn't really invested in it because I was focused on him the whole time. It's simple, but clever.

[@simonspacek3670]

I saw enough videos with him that now I always look for light reflecion on his "glasses" when he comes to the stage.

[@etymos6644]

A life well lived.

[@trueblue374]

We need more people like James Randi because he exposes those whose intention is to make a lot of money out of the gullible. James Randi tries to help people realise that they are being conned but people like you criticise him. I suggest you take a look at Peter Popoff...he and his wife made millions from people who believed in Jesus and God..James Randi exposed him as a fraud.

[@kennethbowell4605]

Well said Larry I couldn’t have said it better myself…………👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@simonwilder1994]

Agree! Although I might swap out journalism for "wit", as it was almost certainly Hitchens' most valuable trait.

[@puppetsock]

The vids that they can't show are on youtube if you search for them. The best part is the "oh no, that dosn't come out." He puts it back!

[@vinaynk]

he is amazing, indeed.

[@gxbmb]

he is a national treasure

[@swine13]

I like to think that somewhere in the world, at some time, James will flick through the comments to videos like this, and maybe he'll see this comment telling him: "thank you for being you" 😊

[@johnfeury961]

The Astro physicist in question was Sam Nichols. A colleague/friend Steve Gratton attended soon after he graduated from London University. The James Randi show. Mike Roll,Director of The Campaign for Philosophical Freedom may have more info on the event.Sorry I can't be of further assistance.

[@Grimblenork]

2:59 Made me forget what OS I was using for a second

[@Andrew-vu9st]

I want to see the recordings!!

[@StephenDoty84]

They are on KZbin -- just search for "psychic surgery" and Popoff healing fraud on Tonight Show with Randi.

[@mikelheron20]

It's obvious how your mind works but not everyone, believe it or not, is motivated by financial gain. I believe Randi is one of those and if his aim (as I believe it to be) is to promote rational thinking and debunk paranormal bullshit he would be even more effective if he refreshed his material - which takes us back to my original point.

[@skyerune]

Every premise presented in the beginning of the Bible requires an enormous amount of faith. Evolution does not require the same leaps, as evolution can be studied in little pieces, evidence can be absorbed. Scientific research can be duplicated. Observations can be understood. Human observations by people who have dedicated their lives to the search of truth. The Bible is a decree. They are entirely dissimilar.

[@YeahThrashMaster]

Indeed. He is deeply missed.

[@Chayraz2]

Dawkins destroys superstition with science. Hitchings destroys superstition with journalism. Randi destroys superstition with magic.

[@salasvalor01]

You know all the good ones.

[@tuschman168]

That's it, I'm not getting a Ph.D. if you can still be fooled like that.

[@swine13]

I have to wonder about the person that assumes getting a PhD will make them impervious to being tricked just by nature of being a PhD. I mean... is someone that stupid really worthy of the title "doctor"?

[@dumbo800]

I always love his homeopathic sleeping pills bit, though. Always amusing.

[@risingconjunctvenus6568]

HOMoPATHIC 😂

[@salasvalor01]

Notice towards the end somewhere, Randi does acknowledge despite the validity of Kurzweil's claims, it's not an all or nothing deal- that if he's wrong, colossal advancements will be inevitably made (just without overkilled promises of things like a singularity). I've done research about this, folks, and I'm 21 and in the field of computer science, and honestly I think this way without even hearing Randi out. Honestly, big things are coming, singularity or not; and if not 20 years, still soon.

[@WrongChannelBob]

I CAN'T UN-SEE THAT!!

[@pulsarcolosal]

"the demon haunted world" introduced me to James Randi

[@jso2332]

=)...this should be on top

[@Ilovelucyclassics]

When Randi dies, its gonna be a sad day. he is a legend and nobody can impose logical thinking into a mass public better than him. I can see nobody replacing him where ever there is bullshit randi would be there

[@dhs8533]

Whenever I need my chakras aligned I watch James Randi...

[@davidbennett60]

pump up the volume!

[@Chayraz2]

That's right. But asking questions has nothing to do with superstition. Any speculation that arises from scientific progress, are not accepted until empirical evidence can be presented to support it. If evidence disproves an existing model, that model is updated with the new information. A lot of journalists will talk about how a discovery "sends scientists back to the drawing board." But this assumes that scientists ever leave the drawing board. Re-thinking things is a big part of science.

[@ZuglaXeno]

hooohoooooo 1M here I come :)

[@illusionistdave1]

Care to elaborate?

[@Quasi-stellar_object]

Epic Randy.

[@salasvalor01]

Kurzweil has one huge strike against him because of writing that book, and aside from that is surrounded by uncertainty and huge claims; James Randi, on the other hand, is a true voice for reason and the scientific method, and provides me with no uneasiness, chiefly because he advocates it, but also because of his way. By the way, I forgot to say in my first comment that RayandTerry is a website selling homeopathic drugs..... Please share your thoughts, anyone. But b4 that, one last thing...

[@BOBJABBA90]

What a boss!

[@Schleicherfreund]

Answer is simple, it is about the fame, the "myth" Houdini. That's what makes Houdini superior in that sense.

[@BR-ur2gk]

You the best

[@gokoreapodcast]

Wiki is variable. Nature found Wiki was quite good for science articles. For most most major science topics, most wiki articles provide excellent summaries for the lay person with links to actual research.

[@suomynona]

happyyyyy new year

[@alexcastro7339]

The first thing I thought is what kind of microphone is he holding? Doesn't look like any I've ever seen

[@01andak]

I wish he would speak about his voyage aboard the Beagle.

[@DelavarPix]

Thumbs up if you wondered why he would carry such an odd handheld mic before he revealed the trimmer for what it was.

[@TheRealCalPerr]

Stay a while and listen

[@swine13]

..(w)ell, GREETINGS, stranger! (Question is: do you remember which NPC that was?)

[@Hack3r91]

Wow, those physicists embarassed themselves.

[@illusionistdave1]

I can observe paranormal events too. That doesn't PROVE them, neither does observation only.

[@BryonLape]

You are correct. Science can only get you so far. After that, it is a matter of belief.

[@skyerune]

The research into it can be reproduced. Evolution itself requires natural stressors that are difficult to duplicate in a lab setting (but that would be an interesting experiment).

[@sSunbeamM]

Quantumvibrations!

[@VindulaP]

It's interesting that Israel produces so many magicians. Now I know of three, the guy doing the match box trick, Uri Geller and Jesus.

[@taosan]

stay awhile and listen

[@IAwake1989]

WOW.

[@YeahThrashMaster]

Hitchens* And he destroys superstition by using facts, arguments, debating morality and logic. Journalism is not the bigger part of his debating style.

[@carsandguitars88]

I really like the way his beard moves when he talks and moves around. Is that weird?

[@unnamedchannel1237]

Sounds like you have a G.I.L.F fetish

[@PokeRapper5000]

I'm desperetaley trying to reproduce the match box trick but I'm not able to do it. Must be real magic then.

[@HenryAshleyCooper]

Hitchens Hitchings are a series of knots.

[@ThePBass]

You completely misunderstand the genetic science behind Y-chromosomal Adam and mitochondrial Eve. Y-chrom Adam was never alive at the time of Mito Eve, nor in the same region. Y-chrom Adam and Mito Eve were not the first humans. They were not the only humans alive at their time, nor the only ones who have passed down genes. They are not the sole origin of all human genetic code today. They're simply the most recent common ancestors. It in no way matches the Genesis myth.

[@BigHugsFromHell]

Shades of Asimov, certainly, more specifically from "The Last Question," perhaps... but also shades of the Technocore from Dan Simmons' "Hyperion Cantos." Hmmm... I wonder, I wonder, I wonder...

[@robotpanda77]

Well obviously Randi knows Jesus wasn't the son of god because he is old enough to have known him personally.

[@MissKrissy2010]

robotpanda77 so youre saying James Randi is over 2000 years old? Dont insult a man based on his age.

[@Ometecuhtli]

@@MissKrissy2010 He can't be that old since he was a kid when he was recruited by Columbus

[@jrny20]

@@Ometecuhtli No matter his age, he was born WITH the beard.

[@hologram70]

other than the beard, you are the greatest.

[@BullyDefender]

Well played greenrobot5, well played!

[@b.deville3236]

When he is thanking his old dead colleague (at 34;28) and he looks up to the ceiling and says "Martin, thank you", to whom was he talking and where was he looking?

[@GH-oi2jf]

Martin Gardner, who died in May 2010.

[@valeriegosselin4580]

he beat Houdini's records when he was young. he had the advantage of age on his side.

[@swine13]

I would have thought "being alive" to be the bigger advantage, there, but ok! 🤷‍♂️

[@tomupton1921]

Ridiculous copyright laws. Is anyone going to lose anything if we are able to view the Carson tapes?

[@amichair]

omg darwin is talking!!!

[@RiTutorials]

Those who believe in death will face eternal death, unlike those who have faith in their creator.

[@salasvalor01]

..est disgrace to humanity. I suddenly got the urge to surf my memories of pioneers and leaders of reason and science, if any of them may had anything to say about Ray Kurzweil or Terry Grossman (I needed to find out about Kurzweil's integrity). I got to Google and stumbled across a nice blog about James Randi's performance here. The blog made it sound like it was behind closed doors, so I am very thankful and surprised to see it here, an hour's worth, too. All I know is this now:

[@Sakura13kohime]

If Mr.James Randi broke all of Harry Houdini's records, then Mr.James should be the number 1 magician in all of known history. Even Jesus would pale in comparison. Oh, but I'm assuming that Houdini is the best magician in history.

[@EJuliusF]

no one beats harry potter.

[@jeronp420]

Houdini wasn't a magician. He was a escape artist.

[@frankkelch4553]

+jeronp420 He was a magician who specialized in escapes. Randi also specialized in this when he was younger.

[@jlastre]

Sadly Ronny Marcus has a website.

[@HansonProMusic]

Hard to believe that this soft spoken humble man cut the head off of Alice Cooper many times.

[@landonmiles97]

Here's the thing... I am a Christian. I am unashamed of it. However, I think faith healers and psychics are frauds much like Randi. Mr. Randi is an atheist and I don't agree with his spiritual beliefs or lack thereof, but I do agree with him that psychics prey on the weak and it is incredibly disgusting. Just a small example of how those who have opposing views can agree. I have a great amount of respect for Mr. James Randi.

[@SkyLess]

42:00 In case you wanna watch the video, here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpupYqaLj6qsaLc

[@Whereisjaygoing]

Haha, I'm from South Africa and I can assure you there are no unicorns here!

[@thunderfeet]

JayHfails you wrote this four years ago. Are still no unicorns there?

[@illusionistdave1]

"Not a single claim of a paranormal event or ability has ever stood up to careful scrutiny." That's an assumption. Just because you haven't seen it, sir, doesn't mean that others aren't just as qualified as you and haven't seen it.

[@MrJannieboy]

he broke them when he was younger than when houdini broke them, which gave him a huge advantage.

[@RemainIndoorsPainting]

Er hate to correct you but no Satanists are atheists, and no atheist is a Satanist. You can't believe in Satan and then say you don't believe in deities, they are mutually exclusive positions.

[@WalterWhite-pl3ls]

i fucking love SANTA CLAUS, especially at CHRISTMAS : 0 )

[@illusionistdave1]

We can reproduce evolution? It is my understanding that we have only just been able to clone in the last few years.

[@johnfeury961]

It was a James Randi show...anyone is free to attend, Randi was making the presentation not Sam Nichols. Mainstream science UK still will not touch survivalist evidence which is why its not in most journals. One of the leading proponents of consciousness after brain death is the neuropsychiatrist Dr Peter Fenwick his work corresponds with his American counterpart Raymond Moody.

[@opensourcerob8420]

I second this statement... Point me to the research. The bible contains a rough interpretation of history in the same way that the Indiana Jones franchise does. Science is not indicative that we came from two people. The scientific process can supply vast amounts of evidence that our species has evolved and that we and other primates share a common ancestor.

[@IAmMyOwnApprentice]

how does one do this mentalism trick?

[@bumblingberry]

The greatest trick that was ever pulled upon humanity was religion.

[@markharrisllb]

When he first got with his husband we all thought it was a younger man taking advantage. They were together for several decades and remained totally in love. Assume nothing.

[@Ohsnapzdawg]

Peter Popoff sounds like Sam Kinison

[@stepheneldridge9231]

Ohsnapzdawg That is actually not a bad comparison. Kinison grew up in a family of preachers, and did it for a living for several years. So part of that style really made up his stage persona.

[@9288jjw]

Iduno. If u find out let me know

[@neilhobson3624]

I don’t believe I god , even though James Randi looks like him 😀.

[@SuperStrik9]

James Randi rules. Everyone who believes in the supernatural should know about him and the million dollar challenge. I wish people would stop wasting their time on psychic ghost crap and deal with reality! The world would be so much better off.

[@smoothmicra]

Entertaining stuff from the old boy, we need someone to carry on his fine campaigning against the charlatans as he ain't getting any younger.

[@joshuahood507]

Penn and Teller are carrying that torch for now.

[@swine13]

@@joshuahood507 not any more. Haven't heard from those boys in a long time Ill be real with you- I kind of wanna do it. Its a topic/issue that im quite passionate about, I've got the editing skills and gear to do at least a reasonably decent youtube channel, but I struggle a lot with time and research. I dont have a lot of either at my disposal, and I consider them essential to delivering a good product/service when it comes to this kind of thing. I'd hate to make some videos supposedly outing some "liar" and then it turns out I didn't do my research well enough and then I make myself out to look like a fool while also slandering someone innocent on a public platform... So that's where im at. Basically I need a partner/researcher- someone who isn't currently working full time and can devote time to lining the facts up and proof reading what I/we wanna say. We need to be on the same page in terms of beliefs and values, too. A discord admin would be handy, too, but thats not a massive job. Cause I can definitely foresee myself ranting about pseudo-scientific garbage claims for the rest of my life. In fact I'm relatively certain I will do just that, whether I have a youtube channel or not. 😅

[@markharrisllb]

I thought his husband would as he dabbled in that area. Unfortunately it seems not, but it’s only about a year since he passed and his husband struggled with severe depression.

[@cr0wsb0nes]

28:57 :D J. Randi is too awesome

[@daniel121212121212]

I can't do this trick!!!

[@brendonkauffman4962]

father time

[@SlayRo9480]

Though I do believe in evolution, you cant say the Bible is COMPLETELY wrong. Science shows we all came from the same two people, though it is believed more than two existed. When biologists analyze the past of a species they often run into what they call genetic bottlenecks. Cheetahs had such an extreme genetic bottleneck recently (that is, so few remained) that all the Cheetahs we have now are essentially close relatives.

[@fjccommish]

Yeah right, he was sitting there taking in the meeting as he wrote his speech. Canned comments.

[@TunnelSnakes_Rule]

hitchings..?