Uri Geller - Magician

[Guild B301]

@hbarcat - you are talking logic (I was trying as well). There doesn't seem to be much interest in logic in this thread.

Hey, don't put me in one category or another. I just wanted to see what you guys thought. My mom didn't make a bunch of predictions. She didn't call them predictions. She did not say "be careful" about something up ahead, when that thing did not later happen, soon after.

What she did thousands of times, was know how much my dad had spent at the store. She did that, over and over and over. She didn't ever guess wrong. She either knew how much, or had no idea, and wouldn't just guess. I realize it would have to be a controlled study of someone doing this, but she had no idea what he was going to end up buying.

 

[Guild B301]

It's called the fallacy of observational selection.


My brother thinks that our mom is some kind of psychic. He's ignoring some important details. Our mother often predicts bad things will happen. She's predicted that there were car accidents ahead when there weren't any. Only once was she right.

Yes, I have studied all that. I had an interest in it my mom never had. Probably because I have always been intrigued because of her.
You say Only Once was your mom right. That didn't happen with my mom. She was either right, or she just didn't say anything about things she thought were going to happen. Except for doing the normal motherly duty of telling everyone to stay safe.

 

[hbarcat]

My mom, (the best I can remember), never made a 'prediction' that didn't happen within a short amount of time. She didn't do it all the time. But it would happen in small everyday things she would mention, at least once a week. She wasn't trying to trick anyone, nor impress anyone. She wouldn't mention it to anyone outside of very close family members, because she said, people would think she was crazy. She did not make a lot of wild guesses about stuff. The only thing she ever did that with was the grocery bills, mentioned above. She didn't claim it was some kind of paranormal, or anything. But, I never remember anything she gave us a 'warning' about, not happening. Thanks

I just now did a quick experiment. I called my brother and asked him his opinion about our mother and whether he thought she had some kind of special ability to predict the future. He believes she does. He recollected the semi truck accident and the heart attack death plus a couple of other incidents.

I asked him if he remembers her making similar predictions that didn't come true. He said he doesn't. So I suggested it might be possible that she did sometimes make inaccurate predictions and he simply doesn't remember those instances. He said he's pretty sure that's not the case.

So, this is just one anecdote. It doesn't "prove" anything, but it does suggest something important about perception and memory.

 

[Guild B301]

I just now did a quick experiment. I called my brother and asked him his opinion about our mother and whether he thought she had some kind of special ability to predict the future. He believes she does. He recollected the semi truck accident and the heart attack death plus a couple of other incidents.

I asked him if he remembers her making similar predictions that didn't come true. He said he doesn't. So I suggested it might be possible that she did sometimes make inaccurate predictions and he simply doesn't remember those instances. He said he's pretty sure that's not the case.

So, this is just one anecdote. It doesn't "prove" anything, but it does suggest something important about perception and memory.

I got ya, thanks. I have considered that before. I find this kind of stuff all very interesting.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

What does he do for a living nowadays?

He's digging for Egyptian treasure in Scotland.

Uri Geller wants to excavate a Scottish island in search of Egyptian treasure

 

[TOOL460002]

He's digging for Egyptian treasure in Scotland.

Uri Geller wants to excavate a Scottish island in search of Egyptian treasure

Dude has a map, right?

EDIT: Oh, and I've drank every flavor of Graham Hancock's Kool-Aid, so I'm normally with prehistoric stuff. But c'mon! Maybe he should've bent forks...

 

[TOOL460002]

Yes, I have studied all that. I had an interest in it my mom never had. Probably because I have always been intrigued because of her.
You say Only Once was your mom right. That didn't happen with my mom. She was either right, or she just didn't say anything about things she thought were going to happen. Except for doing the normal motherly duty of telling everyone to stay safe.

You know what intrigues me? You are interested BECAUASE of your mom, who was the source or the mentioned paranormal activity, who DIDN'T get into it! Crazy! Did you ever talk about it, at all, whilst she was around? Feel like that could've been interesting.

To be clear, I'm a medically certified crazy person who believes in simulation theory. I like science and thinks ghosts are dumb, but of course I'm beyond confused/hypocritical.

 

[Guild B301]

You know what intrigues me? You are interested BECAUASE of your mom, who was the source or the mentioned paranormal activity, who DIDN'T get into it! Crazy! Did you ever talk about it, at all, whilst she was around? Feel like that could've been interesting.

To be clear, I'm a medically certified crazy person who believes in simulation theory. I like science and thinks ghosts are dumb, but of course I'm beyond confused/hypocritical.

We would discuss it. She didn't like to tell anyone outside her immediate family, meaning her parents, her children & a her sibling. She would just basically say: 'I don't know how I know these things are going to occur, but I can "see" them in my minds eye, the way it will look. I can't do it on demand to try to figure which horse will win the next race.'
Regarding her knowing how much my dad would spend at the store, she'd say:'I only see what it will cost, as a "vision" of the numbers, I don't see the cash register receipt.' Otherwise, she'd just tell us not to mention it to anyone because they'd say we were making it up, or call us crazy and make trouble for us. I didn't inherit any of her ability.

 

[Frank Tuesday]

Of course many of the tricks are either fake or can be copied in some way.

But we are also now talking about people getting internal warnings about traffic hazards. That's entirely different.

I could make something up, and then we'd "be talking about it", but that wouldn't make it true.

 

[Gorn]

Reality would be be really interesting if magic was real. Reality is already pretty interesting as is, but it would be cool if magic was demonstrable. What would science be like? What would happen to cause and effect? The world would be a very different place.

 

[capnjim]

The only hint I could find on how to do the bent key trick was "Its very expensive".

 

[TOOL460002]

Reality would be be really interesting if magic was real. Reality is already pretty interesting as is, but it would be cool if magic was demonstrable. What would science be like? What would happen to cause and effect? The world would be a very different place.

You, sir, need to waste more time reading string theory crap. You are too level-headed.

 

[ElectroVibe]

Jonathan Edwards is a true psychic, I believe.

 

[Gorn]

Jonathan Edwards is a true psychic, I believe.

Why?

 

[ElectroVibe]

Why?

It's based on my observation of his readings.

 

[Gorn]

It's based on my observation of his readings.

Do you believe that psychic powers are the most reasonable explanations for the accuracy of his readings? Have you considered alternate explanations? Like tomfoolery behind the scenes or his practiced skills at cold reading? Are mundane explanations not more reasonable than the supernatural?

 

[TOOL460002]

 

[ElectroVibe]

Do you believe that psychic powers are the most reasonable explanations for the accuracy of his readings? Have you considered alternate explanations? Like tomfoolery behind the scenes or his practiced skills at cold reading? Are mundane explanations not more reasonable than the supernatural?

The line between cold reading and mind reading is fuzzier than you are implying. This is something that everyone has a degree of, but some have just developed it or had a stronger gift.

 

[ElectroVibe]

My question is "Why" also. Why do you deny something that so many people believe in?

Does it bother you in some way? Is the idea threatening? I really don't understand. But it just seems like some people feel threatened by this for some reason.

 

[TOOL460002]

My question is "Why" also. Why do you deny something that so many people believe in?

Does it bother you in some way? Is the idea threatening? I really don't understand. But it just seems like some people feel threatened by this for some reason.

A popular belief does not a fact make. My guess is the problem lies with stating everyone has this ability, yet there is not a single convincing piece of evidence, just corruptible memories or anecdotes. And then you wanna try to take that base and build from it. Science doesn't really work like that.