Tom in ca.......Everything else aside.Just sitting here looking at the video. Could that guy have been chosen because there was another series of questions used to pick people from?
watching his expressions at the end, he does look confused. Like he can't figure out what just happened. If I was making TV I would pick the guy most likely to fail. If he would have passed, they would have said the show was rigged or he just got lucky.
He just fits the most ridiculous representation, or stereotype. I'm not saying I would know how to pick either though.lol
Of course he probably agreed to the test. I wonder if a part of that could be, wanting to prove it, so agree to things beyond the ability. who knows! Just trying to think of all possibilities.
If it is muscle reaction(?) related, then maybe stress, anxiety, has an effect too.
or this guy was just an imposter pd by tv.
Or he couldn't do it at all!
Nitric, when the subject of Randi has come up in the past, your notion has been put forth many times. It goes along the lines of 1) "they don't let successful/good dowsers be tested" and 2) it's rigged by magic, slight-of-hand, etc... which CAUSES the dowsers to fail. 3) even if a dowser was successful, the show/Randi would dismiss the results, accuse the dowser of some trick, and refuse to pay, etc...
My answers to the above 3 claims, in the same order:
1) You'll notice that the Randi people (admittedly) don't accept challenges from any and all dowsers. They weed out and accept the challenge from ONLY those "at the top of their game". Ie.: ONLY those who are reknowned acknowledged representatives of the craft. So like in that video, for instance, notice the guy DOES INDEED have a list of credentials (is actually paid by respectable companies, etc...). As opposed to being some Joe-Blow billy-bob from anytown USA. So too is the other video from Randi's visit to Australia. The list of persons partaking of the test there was also a "Who's who" of top dowsers there (not just mere rookies).
Now ask yourself: Why do you think they do this ? TO AVOID THE VERY ACCUSATION YOU ARE MAKING HERE. But alas I guess it doesn't do much good. Because when someone (even the highly credentialed rep's failed), someone else is sure to come along and say "he wasn't qualified". Aaargghh.
2) When this "trickery" and "slight of hand" notion gets put forth, I repeatedly ask persons for examples of how this was possibly done. Eg.: magnets ? unseen threads? some way to move the targets under the cups in a way the audience can't see ? I'm totally open to suggestions as to the "magic" done to defeat the dowser. But as of yet, it's only claims. No one can seem to suggest HOW or WHAT "slight of hand" might be doing it to the poor dowsers.
3) If someone has an proof of a successful dowser passing the test, yet the Randi people refusing to pay, I would love to hear of it. Remember: The terms of the test have to be MUTUALLY agreed before hand. So you can BET YOUR BIPPY that any dowser with half a brain, is going to have had it all there agreed upon ahead of time, that if he does X, Y, Z, then he will a) get paid, and b) the information will go public. This is all in contract language, with the money held by a 3rd party escrow type entity.
If someone has proof to the contrary, I would love to hear it . Otherwise, just like #2, it's all just accusations that are way to easy to claim.
