Tonight on NOVA, James Randi, magician and investigator of psychic phenomena.
Don't laugh, this is science.
For 25 years, Randi has explored the world of the paranormal and tested claims of supernatural powers.
Now, Randi journeys to Russia to challenge psychics never before seen in the West.
After decades of research, can we finally discover the secrets of the psychics?
Funding for NOVA's 20th anniversary season is made possible by
Lockheed, America's aerospace company, supporting math, science and engineering education for national technology leadership.
And Johnson & Johnson, the signature recognized around the world for commitment to quality health care products for the entire family.
Major funding for NOVA is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by annual financial support from viewers like you.
From the earliest days, man has believed that dreams and the supernatural are in some way real.
All over the world, psychics demonstrate powers that their followers accept as modern-day miracles.
Here in Moscow, psychic healers treat the sick with chants and incantations.
And in the Philippines, psychic surgeons perform operations without knives.
A metal spoon turns liquid in the hands of a psychic performer in Britain.
Nearly everywhere, fortune-tellers find the future in cards, crystal balls and palms.
Three out of four Americans say they've had a psychic experience.
Today, you can even find a psychic at the mall.
Prebears of the supernatural have created a multimillion-dollar industry.
But are psychic phenomena what they appear to be?
My name is James Randi, the Amazing Randi. I'm a magician.
For the past 25 years, I've been investigating the claims of psychics.
Psychics often say that an object can be moved using only the power of the mind.
Magicians can produce the same effect.
Of course, I was just blowing on the pen.
But a little suggestion and a little distraction go a long way.
As a magician, there's nothing I like more than a well-executed illusion.
Just look at what my friend Jamie Ian Swiss can do.
There are those who use magic tricks for more than entertainment.
They convince people that what they do is real, that they have special powers.
Magical thinking, you know, is a slippery slope.
Sometimes it's harmless enough, but other times it's quite dangerous.
Personally, I'm opposed to that kind of fakery, so I have no reservations at all about exposing these people and their illusions for what they really are.
I've investigated the claims of hundreds of psychics.
People aren't always happy with my conclusions, but I do have my supporters.
In 1986, I was honored with a MacArthur Award.
Unfortunately, most of the prize money went into defending myself against a series of libel suits related to one of my earliest and most controversial investigations.
The subject was Uri Geller, a young Israeli who claimed to have supernatural powers.
His remarkable affinity for metal and his psychic abilities are well documented all over the world.
In the early 1970s, Geller became a superstar, the most famous psychic in the world.
Okay, just a second, look at me. Visualize everything that you drew once more.
He claimed to read people's minds.
I'm going to show what I got, and if I'm wrong, then I'm wrong, but it really came very strongly.
It could be two mountains with a round thing on, or two people.
Can I show?
Yeah. Am I wrong?
Am I wrong?
You're right.
That's what I got.
He claimed to bend keys with his mind.
I know you're going to think this is a setup, friends, and old Tom has never conned you on anything.
This guy is bending this key by rubbing it.
It was bent at about a one degree angle when you started out, and it's coming up on 45 degrees now and still moving.
You're thinking bend, is that what you're doing?
Yes, I'm saying bend.
I'm saying bend, bend, bend, and sometimes I say bend baby.
But Geller was best known for his way with spoons.
Hold the tip of the spoon very, very gently. What I'm doing is I'm trying to melt the metal down.
Yes, you see, I feel it. It's getting loose.
And there's no force at all in my hands.
Look what's happening.
There's no force at all.
The whole thing is ready to fall off.
Touch it here where I'm stroking it.
That is eerie.
I have a wisdom tooth.
If you can see, the metal is beginning to crack here.
It's breaking.
Look, it's like putty wax.
And keep stroking it here.
You see the crack is becoming bigger.
I melt the metal down.
I want it to bend. I just say bend.
You see?
Now, wait a minute, wait a minute.
Keep stroking your keys more.
And people at home, want your watches to start working.
Or if there is a radio that is broken, want it to start working.
Television broken, just want all those broken things.
What Geller was saying, effectively, was that wanting things could make them so.
I felt that claim had to be challenged.
The media, even some scientists, were taking the Geller phenomena seriously.
So I decided to show, for starters, that I could at least duplicate these effects using trickery.
Now, a key can be displayed in such a way that it looks like it's bending.
For example, just by stroking it, you'd swear that it's bending right up before your eyes.
Magicians call this process ratcheting.
But to do this, the key has to be bent in advance.
The hard part, of course, is how to go about bending the key without letting them catch you.
Now, there are several ways.
I could, for example, take it and press the tip against the top of the table.
That would do it.
Or, in shifting my chair backwards or forwards, as I just did, I could have taken it and dropped it below the level of the table and pressed the tip on the chair I'm sitting on.
Which is exactly what I just did.
Did I fool you?
Mentalists have been duplicating hidden drawings for years.
If Mr. Geller had chosen to use trickery, he could have used any of a number of techniques.
One favorite involves turning your back and covering your eyes while the drawing is being made.
Now, I've always wondered why you would cover your eyes while your back is turned.
But melting metal is something else again.
It's done something like this.
And it gets soft, so I see to it bend, bend, bend, and it bends.
Of course, it does take a little preparation.
In fact, it takes a lot of preparation.
Now, this isn't proof positive that other demonstrations aren't the result of supernatural power.
But isn't this a more reasonable explanation?
And then, of course, there was Mr. Geller's appearance on The Tonight Show.
I got a call after they booked him to appear.
Would you welcome, please, Uri Geller.
Johnny had been a magician himself and was skeptical.
I was asked to help prevent any trickery.
Nice to see you. Thanks. We have only met. This scares me. This scares you? Well, we just got some things together here.
I told them to provide their own props and not to let Geller or his people anywhere near them.
One of our staff members did some drawings which have been sealed in an envelope,
and I'd like you to take your own pace when you feel like you want to try anything.
Do you want to try that particular thing?
The experiment first? When I'll feel for it. Okay? Sure.
We'll start eliminating the ones that do not have the water. Without touching them.
He is really suspicious. I'm having a hard time with you.
I don't mean to be, Uri. I really don't. Just keep looking.
Okay, let me rest a little, all right?
All right. You know, I'm surprised because before this program, your producer came and he read me at least 40 questions you were going to ask me.
Well, I can ask you all kinds of questions if you'd like me to ask you questions. I have to have time.
Jart, we are back. Your Uri was telling me you don't feel what, strong tonight? Is that...
I don't feel strong. It's not at all tonight. Right now, I'm feeling being pressed and then I can't...
Well, I'm not trying to press you, I'm really not.
No, but I'm really trying to press you.
I'm trying to press you.
it's not all tonight right now I'm feel I'm feeling being pressed and then I can
well I'm not trying to press you I really not you're only telling me well
will you try that well I thought that was the idea of no I'm not much to my
surprise the tonight show episode didn't have much effect on Uri Geller's career
neither did the book that I wrote about him but eventually his star faded why
people are so drawn to the irrational is something that has always puzzled me I
want to be if I can assure of the world the real world around me as is possible
now you can only attain that to a certain degree but I want the greatest
degree of control I don't I've never involved myself in narcotics of any kind
I don't smoke I don't drink because that can easily just fuzz the edges of my
rationality fuzz the edges of my reasoning powers and I want to be as
aware as I possibly can that means giving up a lot of fantasies that might
be comforting in some ways but I'm willing to give that up in order to live
in an actually real world as close as I can get to it during the 1980s I entered
a world that I found filled with fantasy and rife with abuse the world of faith
human I developed a special interest in a television evangelist named Peter
pop-off and God told me he said you smite that cancer with your fist at the
time pop-off was pulling in nearly four million dollars a year healing people on
his miracle crusades you've got cancer of the stomach are you ready for God to
burn that cancer out here it goes in the mighty devil back off you really believe
you're healed yes you think your cancers are gone now yes I believe that because
God never lies and we stand in his word praise the Lord I'll tell you from now
on you're gonna have us all a victory in your heart amen to his followers pop-off
seemed to have divine powers as is it Gould Alice Gould he knew their names
stand up Alice as well as the afflictions they'd come to cure God is
touching that thyroid condition right now God is touching your nerves right now
God is touching your eyes just lift up your hands get ready here it comes he
also knew the personal details of their lives your good news from Charles before
everything is over I'll tell you he's gonna be completely delivered because
of your prayers because of your faith here it comes complete healing it Jesus
mighty name right now right now right now it's all right to praise the Lord I
suspected that pop-offs revelations were other than divine radio scanner we
brought to the hall picked up a decidedly worldly source hello Petey can
you hear me if you can't you're in trouble pop-off was being prompted by
his wife through a wireless earpiece she'd gotten her information from prayer
cards filled out by the faithful before the show began you want to get rid of
this walker sister
Oh glory how long have you been walking on that walk about three years three
years 1627 10th Street 1627 10th Street burning this arthritis right out of your
body take a few steps just to make the devil mad hallelujah that's it just
move around a little bit there she goes just walk with me oh glory to God she's
not gonna need that walker anymore God's just putting new strength new health
burning that arthritis out of her body just keep going hallelujah I was able to
arrange for another broadcast of the Miracle Crusade on the Tonight Show but
this time the wireless prompting was included in 1987 Peter pop-off declared
bankruptcy
greater is he greater is he the laying on of hands takes on new meaning in the
Philippines where psychic surgeons perform miraculous operations without
knives I investigated this phenomenon then went on the Tonight Show to
demonstrate what I'd learned believe me what you're seeing is strictly special
effects it's slight of hand and nothing more and this is the way it looks
a little animal blood and a few chicken parts complete the illusion a bonus
that's a bit better just a second just one second now maybe better for you you
don't feel any better this is where I live with several birds and an old red
cat outside of Fort Lauderdale Florida from here I run my investigations write
my books and go about lecture recently I was asked to give a class of college
freshmen a chance to evaluate one of the oldest systems of fortune-telling
astrology you know I started life as a as a magician I still am a magician I
guess I think it's in the DNA I'm not too sure but I'm an actor playing the
part of a wizard I know how people are deceived I know how they deceive
themselves and many magicians most magicians really allow people to deceive
themselves would you like to see me fool you who's wearing a wristwatch here a
regular ordinary wristwatch you've been a good girl haven't you yes I just say
oh I thought it was a Rolex for a minute oh well now what time does it say on
your watch it says nine minutes before three and it says it's the second of
October right very good open up your hand for me flat like that the clean
one she almost changed you know that almost changed now I'm gonna put the
watch face down you have put your finger of your other hand on the back of the
watch okay there be good now my watch says nine minutes to three so we
disagree slightly but not enough for any never mind okay watch what happens now
I'm really concentrating on I think I hurt myself don't laugh this is science
let me see now holding it only by this oh would you tell the folks what time it
says on your watch now please it says 340 but 340 how time flies when you're
having fun isn't that wonderful now let me show you something this is such a
little tiny itty-bitty watch her hold it tightly in your hand don't lose all the
gentleman was carrying it over here behind his waist and he didn't even know
there you go the trickster never works alone his audience assists him if he does
his job well they want to be fooled Sharla did you pass that back Wendy for
the astrology test each student was given a detailed horoscope Robin they
were told it was drawn up by a professional based on information they
had supplied about when and where they were born actually these horoscopes
were not quite what they appeared to be I'd like you to share something with me
if you'd be so conscious with the show I asked the students to grade them for
accuracy on a scale of one to five five being the most accurate how many gave
it a one let's see a show of hands two three four and five okay so we scored
pretty highly with this then let's do a little experiment you've got your
horoscopes right in front of you take them in your hand like this and hand them
over your shoulder to the person behind you okay everybody and the guy at the
end down there you'll have to come up to the front because these people in the
front don't have one now okay everybody change them around everybody's got a
heart open up somebody else's horoscope and read it carefully please
they had all received the same horoscope the personality descriptions
were generally true of everyone like recently you have had to recover from a
disappointment some of them seem specific because they were so personal
your sexual adjustment has presented some problems for you and there were
others that anyone might hope would be true you have a great deal of unused
capacity people like to believe certain things are true and they like to fall
for very specific absolutely enormously accurate horoscopes right of course
they are did you have a question so why do people persist in ascribing to these
systems that's the big question of course and psychologically that is the
most interesting question I think that people are trying to get some control
over their lives by knowing more about themselves of course they get control
over their lives but that's what we're doing all of us each and every day of
our lives whether it's financial whether it's emotional whether it's a love
interest whether it's health we're trying to get control of our lives we're
looking for power and astrology offers you apparently a very old and a very
easy formula whereby you can do that sort of thing what you've presented me
today is evidence that this can be misused or abused but you have not
convinced me that there is nothing to this oh no no I didn't intend to do
that okay and and I feel that your exercise today was kind of cynical and
one-sided and somehow it is wise to be unbelieving of this I can't prove it
doesn't work I can never prove it doesn't see you a lot of times where
intellectuals have had to have wanted to disprove mystical things because since
it didn't fit into their framework of beliefs that's true they wouldn't allow
it but I can't prove you that Santa Claus doesn't exist I really can't can't
disprove anything I can't prove a negative but I can show you that it's
not very likely to be true that's the best I can do
needless to say my message isn't always popular my friend Ray Hyman is a
psychologist and he has an idea why we seem to be taken as we're taking
something away and not giving something in return and these people want
something they're looking for something and I think we have to understand what
is it they're searching for and what they're seeking Ray has an insider's
perspective on these questions he once worked as a professional palm reader on
a recent visit to Florida he allowed me to observe while he gave readings to two
volunteers now I want to look at a few other things before we go very far I
look at your thumb it's the most important Ray started reading palms to
help put himself through college there's a little narrowing of the second joint
here that's that's tact that suggests tactfulness at the time he was convinced
there was nothing to it this is the spiritual mental I had no belief that
would work but to be convincing I did read the books and I did study the lines
the way and told it as it's supposed to be told and to my surprise it worked
business and then became a very rabid believer in palm reading there's a break
in your lifeline this is your lifeline right here so you've had some physical
problems you still may have some problems here or some medical problems
of some sort he was right about that but I had had some health problems is there
anything there about my mother about your mother the one thing that the thing
that's clear is that right from the beginning you didn't want to be
dominated by her you want to make it put your own mind about what your life is
gonna be like and so on I have been very headstrong when it comes to my mother
she has kind of tried to dominate me sometimes and I've rebelled against it
at the same time you want to be you want to be on your own terms and stuff like
that it was pretty right on the money with a lot of things maybe he's got some
part to himself that others are not in touch with and he knows these things
turned about relationship between your mother and yourself as a palm reader Ray
was quite successful I was saying then a college friend bet him that he would do
just as well if he told his subjects the opposite of what he read in their palms
he decided to give it a try and I did this on my first client and she didn't
say a word she had no reaction at all which was very spooky to me because I'm
used to feedback I thought was because I bombed but it turned out because she was
so stunned I was so accurate and this was really a shock to me because I had
done everything wrong so I did it the next client wrong then I realized it
doesn't make a difference what you tell them it's more what you convince them
how good you are and what you get them to believe as a professional
psychologist Ray is very much aware of the role that careful observation can
play in a reading you're living in strange world it'd be better if you
living maybe 50 40 years ago in some ways I've always said that I should have
been born a long time ago this present world is presents problems for you and
you're not too happy with it you'd be much from the way she was dressed and
so I could say that she'd rather be living in an earlier time than today in
fact she was dressed for an earlier time anyway there's a change there's been
there for a while looked like you had two jobs or two careers I'm not sure and
very recently you have switched in fact there's been a major career change I've
been in the same career for six years next year I'm thinking about changing
careers but I haven't done it yet so he could just be a little off in his timing
if you set people up right you can tell them most anything if they really got a
creative and intelligent mind they can make sense out of matter how crazy it
seems to be they can find a way of reinterpreting it so that really fits
them like a glove this person wants me to succeed I should work out some
accommodation now you certainly don't need someone to deliberately fool you to
have what seems to be a psychic experience your mind can create one all
by itself let's say you you don't like to fly and you're worried about a trip
you're gonna take then suddenly during the flight the plane suddenly whoa drops
a few thousand feet because of a downdraft you might very well choose to
think that you had some kind of psychic intuition about this but what you forget
is that you've had that same queasy feeling every time you've gotten on an
airplane and if it doesn't fulfill itself you forget about it you see the
brain is constantly searching for relationships it's trying to work out
cause and effect so we can know what to expect in our lives that's natural the
brain is very good at this but it does make mistakes and one way to explain
these mistakes is by some kind of psychic explanation
my investigations have taken me to dozens of countries but until recently
one of the most interesting wasn't open to scrutiny it's long been rumored that
Russia harbors psychic talent like nowhere else in the world the country has
an ancient mystical tradition and the government has encouraged psychic
research to Moscow now that the country is open to visitors I wanted to check
things out for myself I'd seen the films that came out during the Cold War Juna
was a famous healer who had Brezhnev as a client
Carl Nikolaev could apparently turn on lights with the force of his will the
most famous Russian psychic is no longer living her name was Nina Kulagina
during a long career she appeared to move all sorts of things through the
power of her mind
now that the media are no longer strictly controlled there's a vast new
audience for the paranormal on Russian television every night a program called
the stars speak precedes the news with an astrological forecast the psychic
Kashparovsky has even used television to demonstrate his claimed ability to
control pain in this case during a live operation there are even commercials
that extol the miraculous
during the Cold War both the Soviets and the Americans carried out research on
psychic warfare at one time there was fear in the Pentagon about a psychic or
sigh gap the Russians claimed some success with psychic mind control but
their evidence was sketchy so I was interested to find that scientists at
the prestigious Institute of the brain in Moscow had reported measuring psychic
effects under test conditions I arranged to observe the experiment the data
they'd collected in their tests seemed promising it appeared that the psychic
had been able to change the brainwaves as well as the blood pressure of the test
subject if these results could be confirmed it would be a real breakthrough
for parapsychology to make sure that the scientists would not know what the
psychic was doing it was agreed that he would be isolated in a remote wing of the
complex since it was founded in 1926 the Institute has been a national center for
the study of the brain but much of the work done here had until recently been
kept secret the psychics name was a net check according to parapsychologist in
Moscow he was the real thing all right we now have a little over one minute
before we start the selection process okay accompanying him was Zoya his
assistant the experiment would last an hour broken down into four 15-minute
tests during each test Ignachenko would attempt to change either the subject's
brainwaves or his blood pressure or he might be asked to do nothing at all
now he reaches inside and he takes one of these around at the beginning of each
test Ignachenko randomly determined what he would do what do we have no is the
no okay so we do nothing for 15 minutes for the first segment Ignachenko would
not attempt any kind of influence this will be like a control the scientists
began their measurements unaware of the psychic selection for phase two
Ignachenko chose a heart symbol he would try to change the subject's blood
pressure we are raising the blood pressure beginning from the pelvis and
working along the backbone until there's burning in the backbone that's enough
there's no need to go any further the spreading has already started phase three
the brain Ignachenko would try to change brainwaves stimulation
the pituitary stimulation of the pituitary okay like that good like that
the fourth and last test would again focus on changing brainwaves he will now
be very smart we have stimulated both the right and left brain when the
experiment was complete the scientists examined their measurements for changes
in the subjects brainwaves and blood pressure any variation from normal would
indicate a psychic influence all right now let's handle them one at a time
what is our conclusion in test number one if you remember during the first
test Ignachenko had done nothing it could be the blood pressure the
scientists saw a change in the subjects blood pressure then number two in test
two Ignachenko had tried to change blood pressure the effect was on the brain I
think so Sergey may disagree this time they detected a change in his brain with
some disagreement they called the next test correctly for the brain maybe we're
brain in third case maybe okay that's brain what about number four the last
test had been another attempt to change brainwaves but the scientists found no
change at all all right shall we announce the results the experiment had
produced one positive result out of four just what would be expected by chance
alone not very convincing evidence so what about their previous claims I had
an idea what might be at work here I suspected that in the past when they
examined their data they had no one what effect they were looking for in
scientific lingo that the test had not been blinded they confirmed this raising
the possibility that their previous work had not been objective look to see some
correlation but one of the group believed that the problem lay elsewhere I
feel strongly that it is impossible to accurately measure these extra sensory
phenomena by observing electrophysiological indicators because the
methods are too crude but remember that modern methods no matter how complicated
technical and technically perfect and advanced are of no use whatsoever unless
it is conducted in a double blind fashion you know of course the results
of a single test are in no way conclusive but one thing I've learned
over the years is that scientists like the rest of us have an uncanny ability
to find what they're looking for whether it's there or not
communism from its very start was considered a scientific system with its
failure many Russians have become suspicious of science altogether at the
same time private enterprise has begun to develop and operates largely unchecked
a good example is health care it used to be provided exclusively by the state
modern Western medicine was the model now some clinics charge for service and
practice pretty much as they wish the traditional People's Medical Center in
Moscow opened in 1990 some 30,000 people pass through here every year the
treatments here consist of an eclectic mix of folk remedies and psychic healing
the average charge is 50 rubles about half a day's wage for many
there are therapies for nearly every ailment from cancer to impotence this
healer claims to be able to alter the body's chemistry through the power of
his will down the hall a team of healers uses a somewhat different approach we
were told that these patients were having their biofields adjusted psychics
say that biofields are auras are a visible form of energy that radiates
from the human body sick people's biofields need work bottles of water
are found throughout the clinic they're here to be charged by the healers energy
later the water will be consumed for its curative powers healing claims are
difficult to test suggestion alone is psychologically powerful and the body's
immune system can cure most disease without any help whatsoever all right I
am pouring some tap water into this glass here but the clinic claimed that
it's healing waters have qualities that are detectable so I decided to test them
now first of all we're testing to show that there is no charge no charge on
this water at the moment they used a dowsing rod to measure the charge it's a
simple device that beyond whatever other powers are claimed for it responds to
the slightest movement of the hand very well I'm going to ask the gentleman now
to put the charge on the water he showed the field the field of apparently the
field goes out for several meters I wanted to find out whether they could
tell the difference between this charged water and plain water if there were no
visual cues now if we were to place a shield like this around the glass can he
still detect the field they said the shield wasn't a problem but that such a
test just couldn't be made yes it seems that the charge would be picked up by
all other water nearby making differentiation impossible we tried to
find another approach you'll check it by this they claim that charge water would
reduce blood pressure I would simply have my blood pressure measured before
and after drinking some of it but here blood pressure was measured rather
uniquely are we going to use this machine eventually I requested that a
standard blood pressure cuff be used that you'll say how was how is your
blood pressure and then you'll check it by this who will check it this gentleman
or somebody else but once again we were stymied no one in the entire facility
knew how to use the cuff there's no one any any doctors here just all the
traditional our hosts the director of the clinic interrupted to remind us of
the importance of what we were dealing with he said the water had other even
greater virtues it aided weight loss increased energy even bolstered the
immune system imagine this water appearing all over America in different
bottles green rose red and people could drink it quietly and improve their health
if this water is so powerful and so important and has such very special
qualities it must be possible to tell whether or not it's ordinary water or
charged water regardless of all these other influences we've been told yes
that can be done now we're being told no it can't be done before he came into
the room we mixed these up like that finally it was concluded that if a
charged glass of water was kept at a certain distance from other glasses of
normal water there would be minimal contamination three glasses would be
placed around the room one of them would contain charged water we wish them to
tell us which one okay I'll take a seat over here the amounts are the same there
would be three attempts to identify the glass of charged water the law of
averages would give one accidental success three hits by chance alone would
be improbable
he said that this charge this is the chart yes okay that they'll leave the
room now we'll do it a second time but randomizing okay if they're more than
a short of the fact that I but there was once again a problem all the glasses of
water are becoming charged when he comes in here the other glasses start taking
on a charge because he starts thinking the charging is driven by this mental
energy the energy of thought apparently the very act of measuring a charge
created a new charge okay and it's in fact getting charged each of them it
seemed that the water had yet another special quality an inability to be tested
at all
before I left Moscow there was one more psychic specialty that I wanted to
investigate two women in a nearby suburb had developed a reputation for an
unusual ability
Inga Pachenko and Svetlana Chernitskaya claimed to be able to describe a
person's life and character in detail using only a picture of them for
inspiration they even said the Moscow police had called on them to help solve
difficult cases because it's easy to inadvertently pass on information
particularly with such congenial people I determined that I would work
diligently to eliminate any feedback from a group of pictures that we
supplied they selected a quite remarkable one to work on Ted Bundy is
best known as a serial killer and is believed to have brutally murdered more
than 30 women he was executed nearly four years before this session I'd read
about him and found that ironically he was a psychology major in college he was
also married and had a child
he's good at meditation he's athletic and it seems to me that to some degree
was involved in wrestling tennis to some degree he has a pleasant wife
he has a very pleasant wife it started like most readings do a laundry list of
possibility she's cute attractive blonde reddish hair they were looking for me
to respond in some way maybe you can say something he looks like Laurie Geller
doesn't he graduated from college he has some kind of military training I think
he's a psychologist by education psychology history it seems to me he's
been to Switzerland there was one overwhelmingly important fact about
this person if these women had any psychic ability they should have been
able to pick up on Bundy's horrendous crime you know pretty wife and everything
is not maybe the most outstanding thing I don't feel this is a man with one
moral direction he has a wife one child a boy three years ago something happened
that was critically important to his fate I feel it so clearly if you would
ask questions we could continue our talk in a particular direction it was hard to
deny these women but it seemed to me that any questions I asked would give
them information he is original in that he can behave in many different ways
many variations to his behavior strong-willed though it's hard to say this
about a person in a negative direction I'm uncomfortable saying that a leader
who is patient, manages a group well, has an excellent memory, outstanding
if we had feedback it would be a completely different emotional search I
think it's time maybe I told them the whole story
this is a photograph of a man named Ted Bundy he was executed by the government
because he is a mass murderer how well did they do? well Bundy did have more
than one moral direction but then again so do a great many other people nothing
important happened to him three years ago because he was already dead he was
executed four years ago and I'm not inclined to give them that kind of
latitude in all two-thirds of the statements the women made were wrong and
the rest weren't very specific his wife was brunette not blonde his child a girl
not a boy he was neither a wrestler nor a tennis player and he had never been in
the military or to Switzerland it's true that he did study psychology
interesting I was saying that he had a sad yes the eyes of a sadist negative
negative psyche the morality of a negative character I said that
categorically almost not quite before there can be results we need to be
unfettered and we aren't unfettered with him the information doesn't come he
doesn't inspire us he makes a stopper a cork the woman is complaining Jim the
woman is complaining
a lot of people hate my skepticism and I think I understand why the psychics
offer wonder and endless possibilities in a world that often seems difficult and
mundane they promise health wealth wisdom eternal life but if you examine
the record it's not the psychics but the hard-nosed scientists who have actually
delivered the things that improve human life and to me science describes a world
far more interesting than any psychic fantasies it's a good world not perfect
but it's ours so we better learn to live with it the way it is now I'm just doing
it very gently very gently remember plead innocence through this whole thing I
know nothing I know nothing ah it's just at the right point now but see you can
handle that you can handle it quite freely and we're lucky it really doesn't
show very much just the tiniest little bit of a cracker now you see how
flexible it's getting you say okay now it's broken you see and they don't know
it watch now let go of it and you tell them to let go and then you hold it up
like this you see so you do this kind of thing and you say look it's getting
flexible and you let the top part droop over very slowly I'm pinching it pretty
tightly yeah the control is not all that easy and then turn it sideways like this
and it starts to go over to one side and it gets to this point they hold your
hands beneath it hold your hands beneath it go ahead all right like this and ah
and it drops in two pieces a miracle and then you look at them straight in the
eye and you know I don't know how that happens it's just such a mystery
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