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From: emjej@uokvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.tv
Subject: Re: NOVA:  The Case for ESP - (nf)
Message-ID: <5297@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 31-Jan-84 23:25:25 EST
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.5297
Posted: Tue Jan 31 23:25:25 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 3-Feb-84 02:36:06 EST
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#R:ihuxb:-46800:uokvax:6000009:000:1659
uokvax!emjej    Jan 30 10:25:00 1984

/***** uokvax:net.tv / heurikon!jeff /  8:07 pm  Jan 24, 1984 */
What are some of the *tricks* used by those
claiming to have PSI or ESP?

/* ---------- */

They're the classical tricks of the magician: misdirection, "pencil
reading" (inferring what one is drawing/writing by watching the
movements of the top of the pen or pencil), taking advantage of the
canonical behavior of humans (example (thanks to Randi's *The Magic
of Uri Geller* for this): instruct someone as follows--"Draw two
geometrical figures, one inside the other (not a square; that's too
easy!)." The result will almost always be a circle and a triangle,
so you can guess what they did about half the time (who is going to
draw a decagon, for example?)), and the like.

Also noteworthy is that people reporting on events exclude significant
details (evaluating things that way comes with intelligence and experience,
which is why magicians have a harder time fooling children and less
intelligent people)--ask any lawyer about the problems of eyewitness
testimony. Bad vision and hearing are always useful (in witnesses):
the Welsh boys that fooled Soal used a hypersonic dog whistle to do
so, and one of Puthoff and Targ (I forget which) is extremely nearsighted.
People will also interpret often remember things or interpret them
in favor of the alleged psychic (see *The Magic of Uri Geller* for
several examples)--in the remote viewing example on the *Nova* episode
which had the Superdome as its target, the subject reported a "round
object," which could be any stadium, traffic circle, and was *interpreted*
as being the Superdome by people who wanted to believe.

						James Jones