Description

James Randi discusses his career challenging and exposing fraudulent paranormal claims.  Throughout history people have claimed they can speak to the dead, experience remote viewing, read minds, or have other supernatural powers.  The trick, in the end, is to think up empirical predictions that having such a power would suggest and then testing them.

Discussion Questions

• What are some paranormal claims you’ve heard?
• What are some empirical experiments you might make if you heard someone were a psychic?  Or out had out of body experiences?  Communicated with the dead?
• Why do you think so many people make these claims?  Why do you think so many people believe them?

Keywords: supernatural, naturalism, paranormal, scientific method, Randi, conspiracy theory, psychic