Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions - James Randi [8]
Out of perverse curiosity, I once recorded on tape the utterances of a well-known (to the police as well as to his adoring disciples) practitioner of the subtle arts of precognition and clairvoyance, Peter Hurkos. He was appearing on a popular evening TV show in one of several bookings, and he grandly "read" members of the audience, reciting intimate details about their homes, their lives, and their minds. Considerable astonishment accompanied his revelations, and when I conferred with several interested laymen the next day I was bombarded with glowing accounts of his fantastic accuracy. I carefully gave the impression that I had not seen the TV program, and let them babble on.
A few days later, I invited two of these persons to my home to put on tape their accounts of his performance. I then played for them the tape recording of the broadcast that I had made, and we discovered by actual count that this so-called psychic had, on the average, been correct in one out of fourteen of his statements! Even more damaging to this miracle-worker's reputation was the fact that the right guesses were so flimsy—for example, "There are more persons at home; I see two or three"—that any child could have done as well by picking guesses out of a hat. To the dismay of my visitors, their accounts had been far from accurate. Selective thinking had led them to dismiss all the apparent misses and the obviously wrong guesses and remember only the "hits." They were believers who needed this man to be the genuine article, and in spite of the results of this experiment they are still devoted fans of this charlatan.
Many "men of science" stupidly assume that because they have been trained in the physical sciences or the medical arts, they are capable of flawless judgment in the investigation of alleged psychics. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the more scientifically trained a person's mind, the more he or she is apt to be duped by an enterprising performer. A scientist's test tube will not lie; another human being will. Scientists are all the more easily deceived because they think in a logical manner. All my efforts as a professional magician are based on the assumption that my audience thinks logically and can therefore be fooled by me if I work on that assumption.
We are bombarded today with wonders of "psychic photography," animals that prognosticate, and bump-in-the-night beasties that come back from Beyond. Investigation of these mummeries has been attempted mainly on the basis of wishful thinking and incompetent scientific procedure. It's about time that we woke up. Trained investigators should look into these matters. We must stop wasting money and labor on idiotic ideas. If there is something Out There, let's find out. I, for one, am willing to try.
A single book cannot possibly encompass all the idiocies that have been perpetrated upon the public in two decades. I have attempted to explain to the reader the major events in the realm of flim-flam, and I have discussed some in great detail so that they may serve as examples of what may be discovered when purported miracles are investigated thoroughly. Information has been gathered from several libraries, here and abroad, and I have maintained extensive files for many years from which items have been retrieved. A great number of correspondents contributed data in the form of clippings and affidavits, and many unhappy scientists supplied information to assist in the unmasking of fraud.
The three middle fingers of the author's left hand were placed into a Kirlian photography apparatus and four separate exposures were made. In the set marked "a," moderate pressure was applied. In "b," pressure was very heavy, and in "c" it was very light. The lower set, marked "d," was made with very light pressure but with the