The world of Ted Serios : "thoughtographic" studies of an extraordinary mind

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In Immortal Remains, Braude finds the best evidence for survival to be certain highly impressive cases of mediumship and reincarnation/possession, so he understandably focuses his analysis on these. His discussion of mediumship centers on trance mediumship, and in particular the well-documented historical investigations of Leonora Piper and Gladys Osborne Leonard. His discussion of reincarnation and possession ranges over several historical cases investigated by Ian Stevenson and others, including the Thompson-Gifford case investigated by James Hyslop in the early twentiethcentury. It should be noted, however, that in his 2021 BICS essay, Braude reports no longer being as enthusiastic about the evidence from apparent past-life memories, which he says is plagued by the ‘Problem of Investigative Intricacy’, among other issues. 38 Retrocausation – causal influence of the future on the past – is often invoked to explain apparent precognition: the knowing of something before it happens. In Chapter 5 of The Limits of Influence, 46 Braude argues that retrocaus Randi has been quoted as saying, with respect to the possibility that someone might succeed at the challenge, ‘I always have an out.’ He later asserted that the full quote was, ‘Concerning the challenge, I always have an out: I’m right!’ 18 Testing Dowsers

Randi said in an interview he disliked being called a debunker – ‘because that implies someone who says, “This isn’t so, and I’m going to prove it” ’ – and that he preferred the term ‘psychic investigator’. 11 Peter Popoff While Braude is sometimes misunderstood as endorsing the living-agent psi explanation for all apparent evidence of survival, his goal has rather been to emphasize the necessity of taking this hypothesis seriously and not facilely accepting psychic feats as necessarily the work of discarnate spirits. Eisenbud immediately responded on 23 October offering to waive the alcohol requirement and once again requesting that Randi reply to the original issue of meeting the challenge to duplicate Ted’s phenomena. At that point, since Randi had no excuse left, it’s not surprising that neither he nor his representatives appeared at a New York hotel for a meeting Eisenbud had repeatedly tried to arrange. Jon and a Mrs. Morris, who had escorted Ted there, excitedly urged Serios to shoot some more but Eisenbud called a halt to the proceedings when he discovered that Ted’s pulse rate was 132 and “pounding like an angry surf.”In 1968, W. A. H. Rushton, a professor of physiology and president of the Society for Psychical Research, rejected any paranormal interpretation of the photographs. He suggested that it was light that formed the photographs from a luminous picture placed in front of the camera lens hidden in the 'gizmo'. Rushton successfully replicated the Serios phenomenon by holding a little reflecting prism that contained a microfilm picture against the camera lens. [17] Harris, Frank (1993). Debates on the Meaning of Life, Evolution and Spiritualism. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. p. 77. ISBN 9780879758288. Wagenmakers, E.J., Wetzels, R., Borsboom, D., & Maas, H. (2011). Why psychologists must change the way they analyze their data: The case of psi: Comment on Bem (2011). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 100/3 (March), 426-32.

In these tests, by the way, witnesses often provided their own cameras and film and when they used cameras supplied by Eisenbud, they were allowed to inspect them before the sessions and to impound them afterwards for further inspection. Participants also made open paper gismos on the spot. These were always subject to inspection and often signed by the witnesses to avoid changes or duplication. Braude would have liked to investigate and document Katie’s abilities further but was prevented in this by the resistance of her psychologically abusive husband. Ironically, Braude thought it likely that Katie’s difficult domestic situation actually provoked the materialization of the metal foil in the first place, in the same way that emotional distress is thought to provoke poltergeist phenomena. James Randi. (1982). Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-0879751982 Randi, J. (1990). The Mask of Nostradamus: The Prophecies of the World ’ s Most Famous Seer. Charles Scribner's Sons. Republished 1993 by Prometheus Books, Buffalo. Skeptics, among them professional photographers, consider psychic photographs to be faked or the result of flaws in the camera or film, exposures, film-processing errors, lens flares, flash reflections or chemical reactions. [7] [8] [9] [10] Claims [ edit ] Tomokichi Fukurai [ edit ]So paranormal or not, the photographs with their strange murky images that emerge like a figure in a fog do have something strangely mesmerizing in their visuals. In 1980, Randi persuaded two teenagers interested in stage magic, Michael Edwards and Steven Shaw, to pose as metal-bending subjects for an experimental program on psychokinesis being conducted at the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research at Washington University. 13 The eventual aim was for the pair to be tested by parapsychological labs throughout the world, as a means to discredit parapsychology as a scientific endeavor. The pair succeeded in fooling investigators during early experiments, but their ability waned as the protocols were tightened. No academic papers claiming positive results were ever published. Carlos a b Stein, Gordon (1996). The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal (2nded.). Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. p.517. ISBN 9781573920216. John Sladek. (1974). The New Apocrypha: A Guide to Strange Science and Occult Beliefs. Stein and Day. pp. 223-224. ISBN 978-0812817126