RIP The Amazing Randi

James Randi died. 

I had the luck to hear him speak a few times on the topics of stage magic and skepticism.

That sucks. He tried to keep the magic industry on the up and up.

That documentary about him is great! 

https://tubitv.com/movies/479036?link-action=play&utm_source=google-feed&tracking=google-feed

Yeah, he's a minor hero of mine.  He was skeptical of so much more than magic.

I meant to post a thread on this this last night, but apparently it didn't go through.

The influence Mr. Randi had on me in my youth is immeasurable.  He taught healthy skepticism and how to spot frauds and hucksters. Tools I use every day. 

I will second the recommendation of the documentary about him.  He really was an amazing man that really cared about what he was doing.  He spent his youth developing the skills of a magician and when he realized other people were using those tricks to take advantage of people he devoted himself to stopping it.

He had a very useful and effective roll in society.

I am not entirely sure if we are currently need more (healthy) skepticism or a reduction in (unhealthy) skepticism.

Trent (Generally supportive dude) said:

I will second the recommendation of the documentary about him.  

do you know the name of the Doc ?

Its in my link above.

The last thing we need right now is a reduction in rational thought.  He will be missed.

This is not the Randy I was thinking of.

I wonder if Miss Cleo predicted it?

Jay_W said:

The last thing we need right now is a reduction in rational thought.  He will be missed.

I agree with what you say, however I also believe that's the majority of Americans need to believe in something, we have so many critics and skeptics now it has turned the World into a terrible place. Whether you believe in God or not, the world was a halfway decent place when people did

In reply to Vajingo :

Too bad, he was a pretty cool cat

I remember when he used to be on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. RIP The Amazing Randi. 

In reply to Vajingo :

What you've done is fire a proverbial shot over the bow on a board upon which we're supposed to ignore religion and politics. I had a lengthy response typed out. Instead, I'm going to ignore history, focus on the now, repeat my mantra of "Don't be an shiny happy person" and distill it down to this:

The individual referenced here, James Randi, dedicated his life to debunking frauds that preyed upon desperate individuals. He kept people safe from predators. He did it as a godless skeptic, because he thought that taking advantage of people was wrong.

He was a living example of the fact that empathy and compassion are readily available without religion. In fact, I often find that they're present in greater abundance in people without faith, including myself. I'd rather operate under the assumption that there is no guiding hand on the wheel of the universe, so when people need help, my only response can be: "Who will help them if I don't?" 

I'm quite sure that some of the people I've helped have considered me an answer to their prayers. I'm not going to lose sleep over that.

I'm glad you find comfort and direction in your faith, and I hope it continues to offer you those things. I'll continue to operate without any- I'm a better person this way. 

He was still alive?

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) :

I can't upvote this post enough times, either. 

And yes, he was 92. 
 

I got the impression that he was more about disproving scammers than being vocal about being anti God. Yes, he was that also, but fought against the scammers - the ones that claimed to be religious, as well as the ones that don't.

Yeah, I believe he was a pretty equal opportunity debunker.  I think he was most famous for debunking Euri Geller (sp), not a religious at all, but also got a lot of attention for de-bunking those faith healers that used to be popular (e.g. pulling the cancer out of the body).  If I am remembering correctly.

I only vaguely remember him, but read some stuff after the first post. Seemed like a cool guy.

Never heard of him. I don't know anything about this guy. Apparently he has some credibility based on your posts. I'll check him out. I guess his views will determine my opinion.

aircooled said:

Yeah, I believe he was a pretty equal opportunity debunker.  I think he was most famous for debunking Euri Geller (sp), not a religious at all, but also got a lot of attention for de-bunking those faith healers that used to be popular (e.g. pulling the cancer out of the body).  If I am remembering correctly.

Correct- he didn't attack religious people, he attacked people that tried to use religion and faith to scam people. 

californiamilleghia said:

Trent (Generally supportive dude) said:

I will second the recommendation of the documentary about him.  

do you know the name of the Doc ?

Just to make it easier for folks to find, the doc is called "An Honest Liar". Looks like Amazon Prime has it.

aircooled said:

Yeah, I believe he was a pretty equal opportunity debunker.  I think he was most famous for debunking Euri Geller (sp), not a religious at all, but also got a lot of attention for de-bunking those faith healers that used to be popular (e.g. pulling the cancer out of the body).  If I am remembering correctly.

That or the Hyrick guy. The one who could no longer "turn the pages of a phone book with his mind" once Randi sprinkled some little piece of paper or plastic around the phonebook so it would be obvious the guy was discreetly blowing air in the direction of the phonebook. 

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) :

Great response, just absolutely perfect. 

z31maniac said:

That or the Hyrick guy. The one who could no longer "turn the pages of a phone book with his mind" once Randi sprinkled some little piece of paper or plastic around the phonebook so it would be obvious the guy was discreetly blowing air in the direction of the phonebook.

I remember seeing that on live TV when I was about 14 and thought it was awesome.  I think they were styrofoam beads.  I had also seen Randi on Carson when I was younger.

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) :

Great response, just absolutely perfect.

Agreed.