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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
James Randi is the Greatest!,
By Mr. Hasta Pasta "Wagon Wheels" (Oz, Lithuania) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Flim Flam (Paperback)
James Randi is a one-man crusade against the flummery and charlatanism of what has come to be called the New Age movement. He knows that perhaps the majority of people have a deep psychological need to believe in nonsense, and this, by turns, embarrasses him, exasperates him, amuses and challenges him to pierce through manifold delusions. Unfortunately, judging by the present intellectual and cultural climate of our nation -- along with the rest of the world -- Randi's crusade isn't working. And this is distressing on many levels. Perhaps the central challenge of Randi's works is this: If you're a person inclined to believe in such things as e.s.p., p.s.i., "pyramid power," astrology, the Bermuda Triangle, virgin births, astral traveling, "psychic surgery," faith-healing, crystals, Tarot cards and other forms of metaphysical malarkey, then you can not possibly be an intellectually serious person. Period. If, however, you don't believe in such things, well, this guy who writes so skeptically and gleefully about them is one helluva a great entertainer! On its face, the subjects Randi addresses might seem to be inherently trivial, and in many ways they of course are. But then again, consider this: if a person is apt to be bamboozled by any one of the practitioners of the above New Age "arts," how responsible a citizen can he really be? If he votes for a specific politician, what sort of nonsense the candidate espoused did he believe? If he serves on a jury, can this citizen, who might be inclined to believe in, say, the psychic bending of spoons or the viability of astrology, be said to be a worthwhile juror? Considering most people in this country probably believe in one form of metaphysical mumbo-jumbo or another, we have a long, long, long way to go before stepping out of the Dark Ages. But you can't blame that on James Randi! Note: I withheld a final star from my review because this book contains no footnotes.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent!,
By Rattus Norwegicus (Norway) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Flim Flam (Paperback)
An excellent book that should be read by everyone. This book is a couple of decades old, but I think it's just as important today; as a reminder of how easily we are deceived by quack artists. James Randi carefully dissects all these paranormal claims, before he systematically debunks them all. He also performs a knockout on several representatives of the parapsychology community that truly whistles in the sails. And his chapter on Uri Geller is mercyless! To the reviewer from Illinois: Your cliam concerning the existence of telepathy have absolutely no legs to stand on from a scientific point of view. Your ridiculous statement that people who doesn't experience telepathy lack something in mental capacity is even wilder! There are no parts of the brain that has been identified as a center for telepathy, or any other form for psi, so that is a completely worthless statement.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Informative Introductory Book,
By
This review is from: Flim Flam (Paperback)
While Flim-Flam! does not conclusively prove that the paranormal doesn't exist (to be fair, it's rather impossible to do so; the lack of proof for the paranormal does not conclusively prove the lack of existence), it does a good job in exposing the deceptive claims that have bamboozled the human race even until today.James Randi gives many case studies of supernatural claims that have turned out to be false, and shows how easily decieved we can be. The book is easy reading with Randi's sarcasm seeping out every now and then. An interesting book, and an eye-opener; recommended for those who need a healthy dose of skepticism.
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