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List Of Prizes For Evidence Of The Paranormal
Paranormal challenges, often posed by groups or individuals who self-identify as skeptics or rationalists, publicly challenge those who claim to possess paranormal abilities to demonstrate that they in fact possess them, and are not fraudulent or self-deceptive. Process After establishing procedures and measures of success agreed upon beforehand between the challengers and the claimants, a challenge is usually divided into two steps, the first being a "preliminary test" or "pre-test", where claimants can show their purported abilities under controlled conditions before a small audience, before being admitted to the final test. Sometimes these pre-tests have a smaller prize attached to them. Several local organisations have set up challenges that serve as pre-tests to larger prizes such as the JREF's One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge or the 2012–2013 SKEPP Sisyphus Prize (for one million euros). History In 1922, ''Scientific American'' made two US$2,500 offers: (1) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it is the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. ''Scientific American'' is owned by Springer Nature, which in turn is a subsidiary of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. History ''Scientific American'' was founded by inventor and publisher Rufus Porter (painter), Rufus Porter in 1845 as a four-page weekly newspaper. The first issue of the large format newspaper was released August 28, 1845. Throughout its early years, much emphasis was placed on reports of what was going on at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Patent Office. It also reported on a broad range of inventions including perpetual motion machines, an 1860 device for buoying vessels by Abraham Lincoln, and the universal joint which now can be found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarksheel Society
Tarksheel Society (Rationalist Society) is a rationalist group based in Punjab, India. The beginning Founded in 1984 under the leadership of Megh Raj Mitter & Sarjit Talwar. Tarksheel Society aims to disseminate rationalist ideas and scientific temper among the Indian people in order to eradicate religious fanaticism, communalism, caste system, untouchability and superstitions. Affiliated to Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, Tarksheel Society advocates the separation of religion and education. The society has units in almost all the villages and towns of Punjab. Though mainly confined to the state of Punjab, the Society now operates in the neighboring states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir also. Due to its high South-Asian population, the Society is also active in three major cities in Canada: Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. Campaigns To accomplish its mission, the society orga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Committee For Skeptical Inquiry
The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the US non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "promote scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims." Paul Kurtz proposed the establishment of CSICOP in 1976 as an independent non-profit organization (before merging with CFI as one of its programs in 2015), to counter what he regarded as an uncritical acceptance of, and support for, paranormal claims by both the media and society in general. Its philosophical position is one of scientific skepticism. CSI's fellows have included notable scientists, Nobel laureates, philosophers, psychologists, educators and authors. It is headquartered in Amherst, New York. History The committee was officially launched on April 30, 1976, and was co-chaired by Paul Kurtz and Marcell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeptical Inquirer
''Skeptical Inquirer'' is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: ''The Magazine for Science and Reason''. Mission statement and goals Daniel Loxton, writing in 2013 about the mission and goals of the skeptical movement, criticized the idea that people wanted to read about the paranormal, Uri Geller and crystal skulls not being relevant any longer. Paul Kurtz in 2009 seemed to share this sentiment and stated that the organization would still research some paranormal subjects as they have expertise in this area, but they would begin to investigate other areas. S.I. "has reached an historic juncture: the recognition that there is a critical need to change our direction." While editor Frazier did expand the scope of the magazine to include topics less paranormal and more that were an attack on science and critical thinking such as climate change denialism, conspiracy theories and the influence of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sima Nan
Sima Nan (; born 22 June 1956), real name Yu Li (), is a Chinese television pundit, social commentator, and journalist. In the early 21st century, he is well known for his staunch support of Chinese Communist Party stances and nationalistic, anti-American sentiments. In the late 1990s, he was mostly known for his criticism of pseudoscience and supernatural phenomena, especially his opposition to what he called ''Qigong''-related fraud. Biography Sima was born son of a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, in Heilongjiang province, although Shandong is considered his ancestral home. He graduated from Heilongjiang College of Business at the end of 1981, after which he was assigned to work for the central government in Beijing. He had worked a variety of jobs since, notably as a journalist and television producer. He is a member of the Communist Party of China. Filmography Television Publications * * * * Views and activism As a political commentator ''The Wal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhabdomancy
Rhabdomancy is a divination technique which involves the use of any rod, wand, staff, stick, arrow, or the like. One method of rhabdomancy was setting a number of staffs on end and observing where they fall, to divine the direction one should travel, or to find answers to certain questions. It has also been used for divination by arrows (which have wooden shafts) - otherwise known as belomancy. Less commonly it has been assigned to the I Ching, which traditionally uses a bundle of yarrow shoots. Another type of rhabdomancy is dowsing in its traditional form of using a wooden stick, usually forked. Rhabdomancy has been used in reference to a number of Biblical verses. St Jerome connected Hosea 4:12, which reads "My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them" (KJV), to Ancient Greek rhabdomantic practices. Thomas Browne, in his ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'', notes that Ezekiel 21:21 describes the divination by arrows of Nebuchadnezzar II as rhabdomancy, thoug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telekinesis
Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Psychokinesis experiments have historically been criticized for lack of proper scientific control, controls and repeatability. There is no good evidence that psychokinesis is a real phenomenon, and the topic is generally regarded as pseudoscience. Etymology The word ''psychokinesis'' was coined in 1914 by American author Henry Holt (publisher), Henry Holt in his book ''On the Cosmic Relations''. The term is a Compound (linguistics) , compound of the Greek language, Greek words ψυχή (''psyche'') – meaning "mind", "soul", "spirit", or "breath" – and κίνησις (''kinesis'') – meaning "motion" or "movement". The American parapsychologist Joseph Banks Rhine , J. B. Rhi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telepathy
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), and has remained more popular than the earlier expression ''thought-transference''.Glossary of Parapsychological terms – Telepathy – . Retrieved December 19, 2006. Telepathy experiments have historically been criticized for a lack of proper controls and repeatability. There is no good evidence that telepathy e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Czech Skeptics' Club Sisyfos
Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland *Czechville, Wisconsin, unincorporated community, United States People * Bronisław Czech (1908–1944), Polish sportsman and artist * Danuta Czech (1922–2004), Polish Holocaust historian * Hermann Czech (born 1936), Austrian architect * Mirosław Czech (born 1968), Polish politician and journalist of Ukrainian origin * Zbigniew Czech (born 1970), Polish diplomat See also * Čech, a surname * Czech lands * Czechoslovakia * List of Czechs * * * Czechoslovak (other) * Czech Republic (other) * Czechia (other) Czechia is the official short form name of the Czech Republic. Czechia may also refer to: * Historical Czech lands *Czechoslovakia (1918–1993) *Czech Socialist Republi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Randi
James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Rodrigues 2010p. 271/ref> He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims, which he collectively called "woo-woo". Randi retired from practicing magic at age 60, and from his foundation at 87. Although often referred to as a "debunker", Randi said he disliked the term's connotations and preferred to describe himself as an "investigator". He wrote about paranormal phenomena, skepticism, and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', famously expo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abraham Kovoor's Challenge
Abraham Kovoor declared, in 1963, an award of Rs. 100, 000/- (Sri Lankan Rupees) for anyone who could demonstrate supernatural or miraculous powers under fool-proof and fraud-proof conditions. The challenge : ''I, Abraham T. Kovoor of "Tiruvalla", Pamankada Lane, Colombo-6 do hereby state that l am prepared to pay an award of 100, 000 Sri Lankan rupees to any one from any part of the world who can demonstrate supernatural or miraculous powers under fool-proof and fraud-proof conditions. This offer will remain open till my death or till I find the first winner.'' Godmen, saints, yogis, and siddhas who claim that they acquired miraculous powers through spiritual exercises and divine boons win this award if they can perform any of the following "miracles" # Read the serial number of a sealed up currency note. # Produce an exact replica of a currency note. # Stand stationary on burning cinders for half a minute without blistering the feet. # Materialise from nothing an object I ask. # ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
