Comments on: Randi on TED

By: LMA

LMA — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:50:05 +0000

I’ve always tried to steer clear of many homeopathic remedies, though sometimes it gets difficult to tell real data from influential data that the media often gets caught up in.

Slightly off-topic recommendation: This image is from an artist who works with data… A speaker like Randi combined with straight-forward visual information such as this is far more effective than surfing the web (which gives me every result and no way to filter it). I won’t be wasting my money on Vitamin C anymore!

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-oil-supplements/

By: Floyd

Floyd — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:45:08 +0000

Phil–I got hit by some kind of replicating mailbot with the apparent initial name of “Opa,” hence the spam. Watch for it…and let me know if this message goes wonky.

“Floyd”/Pat

By: The Chemist

The Chemist — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 19:07:13 +0000

The Electric shaver stunt was a hoot. I wonder if he clipped any hairs on accident. If there was ever a venue where you could run into a scientist working on cloning technology it’s TED.

By: Soulfly

Soulfly — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 12:50:02 +0000

@Brad
Let’s hope they don’t claim that Randi says he was wrong all his life

But what a great performance, amazing indeed! He may be old, but still got the …erm.. spirit. It is time for mr Plait to start reading some magician books and take over when it is needed.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:33:06 +0000

The comments on the TED page are interesting. There is a lot of support for psychic beliefs and homeopathy. It seems that some commenters have the opinion that “science” is a belief system and it is dangerous to move into “extreme scientism”.

*sigh* This makes me sad. Seems like the human desire for the supernatural is just too strong.

By: Grand Lunar

Grand Lunar — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:19:46 +0000

It’s been said before (I assume), and it is stating the obvious….

Randi is made of pure AWESOME.

By: Richard Drumm The Astronomy Bum

Richard Drumm The Astronomy Bum — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 05:27:39 +0000

What a scream! I’d like one day to be half as good a speaker as Randi!
Using a beard trimmer as a microphone! Priceless!

By: Autumn

Autumn — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 05:17:14 +0000

The only, admittedly minor, quibble that I have with this awesome oration, is that Randi pointed out that he is a skilled conjouror, and thus there will inevitably be claims by the reality-challenged that he did not, in fact, actually ingest the homeopathetically lethal dose.
Although, as he points out, that would only make the medicine all the more lethal!

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:06:45 +0000

11 ND

Ah yes, love is a fine madness. It leads to obsession.

The ancient Greeks thought love a variety of mental illness( they had three different words for love, so I don’t know if they meant all varieties) and of course, let us not forget Romeo and Juliet(“What? You committed suicide for love? Are you fraking NUTS?”).

Nearly every person I’ve known who became really rich (thru their own effort) did so as a result of a passionate obsession with,,,something,,, they were interested in. They typically observed “I just LOVE what I do.”

From science to music to art to business, success requires an enormous investment in time and people will only do that if they “love” what they do.

GAry 7

By: ND

ND — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:06:15 +0000

Way to go Randi. Loved the homeopathic sleeping pill stunt. Very nice.

Reminds me of watching Charles Aznavour on stage, in his early 80′s, singing and dancing for 2 hours.

These people are like this because they are driven and motivated by what they love to do.

By: kuhnigget

kuhnigget — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:53:51 +0000

Seems like he was having a gay old time.

//slapping myself

By: MoonShark

MoonShark — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:16:44 +0000

@brad: So let’s make sure the psychics (as a profession) don’t outlast Randi. Let’s make it illegal to scam people with astrological readings, contacting the dead, and homeopathic pills.

“Oh you can’t do that, people have a right to spend money foolishly”, lots of folks would say. I disagree — we already have Lemon laws, the RICO act, and laws to oppose fraud and protect consumers. The economy doesn’t work if you can’t get something of value for your money. Caveat emptor is not the basis of any serious, long-term policy; it’s self-defeating.

If these charlatans have the powers they claim, then surely they can overturn legislation in court, using the same standards of evidence we expect from anyone.

By: timebinder

timebinder — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:11:44 +0000

Dude, when he took off his glasses, he looked just like Charles Darwin. I literally had to change my pants. LITERALLY.
Not really, but it was still awesome.

By: John Paradox

John Paradox — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 22:10:19 +0000

Shortly after watching this, I went to check my online comics. This one caught my eye:

Ziggy

By: Michelle R

Michelle R — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:44:53 +0000

Too short. It’s just…too short!

17 minutes? Lies! It was barely 2!

By: brad

brad — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:36:56 +0000

When the sad day comes that Randi dies, I expect psychics will claim that they are talking to him from beyond the grave. I can only hope that someone will have the decency to punch them in the mouth.

By: jcm

jcm — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:16:16 +0000

Off topic: http://www.buzzfeed.com/reddit/the-trustworthiness-of-beards-img

By: Lewis

Lewis — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:09:47 +0000

I saw this yesterday actually while browsing the TED videos. It was indeed “amazing”.

By: Mathias R.

Mathias R. — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:50:09 +0000

Damn, I knew Randi is a sophisticated speaker, but.. just damn. I think I have one of those man-crushes Mr. Plait talks about.
Great TED talk. I’ve spread it among my peers. I think I’ll have a large discussion momentarily with an aspiring doctor. She still believes in homeopathy. It saddens me that a woman of science can be so misled.

By: Vernon Balbert

Vernon Balbert — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:28:28 +0000

And his first name is The?