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Sent in my application today.

thaiboxerken said:
No, it's not. Superpowers = supernatural powers.
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Only in method, not result (exception: time travel). A better word would be "super improbable" or "absurdly unlikely" rather than supernatural (a butterfly causing a hurricane). I think the idea of natural and supernatural is wrongheaded - the seperation functions mostly as a buzzword to identify ludicrous things from sensible things. Taking the butterfly analogy as an example, subtle supernatural events occur along with sensible events all the time.
 
The reason people prefer images is that they can argue partial hits much better. If you have a 4 and they write 2 an arguments of “I was close I got the square root of 4” doesn’t impress anyone. If they got the wrong picture however they will look for similarities and argue that they misinterpreted the messages they received. “ I knew it was a building I just picked the wrong one.”

This argument I refer to is an internal argument as they convince themselves that something supernatural is going on. There are simply more hits (similarities) between two pictures than two numbers. As people tend to remember hits more than misses they will remember doing better with pictures than numbers, cards or whatever.
 
Lothian said:
The reason people prefer images is that they can argue partial hits much better. If you have a 4 and they write 2 an arguments of “I was close I got the square root of 4” doesn’t impress anyone. If they got the wrong picture however they will look for similarities and argue that they misinterpreted the messages they received. “ I knew it was a building I just picked the wrong one.”

This argument I refer to is an internal argument as they convince themselves that something supernatural is going on. There are simply more hits (similarities) between two pictures than two numbers. As people tend to remember hits more than misses they will remember doing better with pictures than numbers, cards or whatever.
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Good points, Lothian.

Neutralize, if I may suggest a training method: Pick up a simple deck of poker cards. Clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds. Deuces to Aces. In brief:
Pick ten cards. Take notes which cards you sent at which order. Send them via telepathy to your friend across town. Compare results.
If you feel like it, act as receiver. Have you friend do the sending. Compare results.



A while ago, I spent time in neo-hippie, esoteric, new-age circles. People would approach me at parties and get-togethers about their "abilities" to read minds.
Usually, we picked a mutual acquaintance to go in another room and "send" a number of tarot cards.

I spare you with the mathematic results. [Cough-zero-cough] Suffice it to say, I have yet to hear anything as creative as the excuses and explanations I heard from those probably well-meaning "telepaths" after they had a dose of the reality that surrounds us all.
 
GzuzKryzt said:
I spare you with the mathematic results. [Cough-zero-cough] Suffice it to say, I have yet to hear anything as creative as the excuses and explanations I heard from those probably well-meaning "telepaths" after they had a dose of the reality that surrounds us all.
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I presume your sceptical anti-psi powers nullified the effect.
 
Lothian said:
I presume your sceptical anti-psi powers nullified the effect.
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Yeah, I got several responses along this lines of: "You're too negative!"

Everyone: I want this to work, I just don't want to have to believe in it to work.
Convince me, wow me, show me a new aspect of reality.
 
Neutralize said:
Hello skeptics. Today I mailed my application form for the challenge. I am claiming to have the ability to read my friends thoughts. I am claiming that we have telepathy. I am very certain of this because this has been like this for over a year.
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I, too, want to welcome you and wish you luck.

It may be interesting to hear your friend’s perspective. Any chance you could convince her to join the forum and chat with us?
 
Hey!

Just to repeat the best bit of advice there has been:

Keep it simple. The challenge tests that have gone well are always with simple test protocols. They're easier to agree on, and easier to carry out without any post-test bickering about what went wrong.

And I didn't see anyone mention it, though it's in the FAQ:

Us Forum Dudez don't represent JREF in any way. :)
 
To my way of thinking, whether it's a number or an image isn't important. What is important is that all parties agree ahead of time what a "success" is.

If the transmitter sends "7" and the receiver receives "5" and it has been agreed upon that the number +/- 5 is acceptable, then this is a success.

If the transmitter sends "Empire State Building" and the receiver receives "Sears Tower" and it has been agreed upon that any large building is acceptable, then this is a success too.

If that has not been agreed upon, then it is not a fulfillment of the claim.
 
NobbyNobbs said:
To my way of thinking, whether it's a number or an image isn't important. What is important is that all parties agree ahead of time what a "success" is.

If the transmitter sends "7" and the receiver receives "5" and it has been agreed upon that the number +/- 5 is acceptable, then this is a success.

If the transmitter sends "Empire State Building" and the receiver receives "Sears Tower" and it has been agreed upon that any large building is acceptable, then this is a success too.

If that has not been agreed upon, then it is not a fulfillment of the claim.
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This is a perfect use for my pictures. We have two pictures, one of "numerals" and one of "sky scraper." We can label them "heads" and "tails" and pick which one to send by coin flips.
 
:o
Ausmerican said:
Reading your friends thoughts? Thats not psychic. Thats a result of being friends and knowing each other well. Also, there is a probability that you became friends because you think alike about many things in the first place. Try reading a strangers mind and you may have something.
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No. really we don't even see each other regularly. we only talked like three times at school. We both have heterochromia(one blue eye and one green eye). We sometimes run sround playing hide and seek in the middle of the night.
 
uh, as for cards and stuff. the easiest way top do that is ryhme. We could pretty much talk to each other and write down each others thoughts. I can even feel her uterus etc. inside my stomache. It really feels weird to be around her.
 
Hmm, I'm not following what you mean about rhyme. A simple way to test would be for her to set up a tray of foods, say six of them, with very different tastes. Then have her roll a die to pick a food and eat some. You agree in advance that she will eat at (say) 6:00, 6:15, 6:30, etc. and check your clocks together.
 
tkingdoll said:
I think the main problem is that what you are suggesting sounds like a plausible explanation (especially if one was claiming to have such powers), but when you examine it closely, for example, what if you are visualising a picture of a number rather than the number itself, the hypothesis falls apart somewhat.
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Three points:
1. Numbers are handled in a different part of the brain, and are treated as different concepts. A six and and a nine, for instance, are the same image, but they are not the same number. When numbers are handled in the same way as images, that's called "dyslexia".
2. We are discussing testing the possibility of telepathy. Isn't it rather odd to be accepting, for the sake of argument, that telepathy exists, yet rejecting the possibility that numbers are treated differently from images?
3. The whole point of the Challenge is to give the subject all benefits of the doubt that are compatible with the scientific method. That way, if he fails, he has no excuses. In the end, it is irrelevant whether there is a reasonable explanation for the claims. If the subject claims that his ability works only on dates which are prime, then he is tested only on dates that are prime. The aim is to test the claim, not to see if the claim makes sense.
 
Art Vandelay said:
Three points:
1. Numbers are handled in a different part of the brain, and are treated as different concepts. A six and and a nine, for instance, are the same image, but they are not the same number. When numbers are handled in the same way as images, that's called "dyslexia".

2. We are discussing testing the possibility of telepathy. Isn't it rather odd to be accepting, for the sake of argument, that telepathy exists, yet rejecting the possibility that numbers are treated differently from images?
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That's not what I'm saying. I accept that there is a difference between a picture of a cow and the number seven, but I do not accept that there is a difference between a picture of a cow and a picture of the number seven. Numbers are different from pictures. Pictures of numbers are not different from pictures of anything else. It's just lines.

What I'm interested in is why a psychic would struggle with one but not the other, unless it's just an excuse to interpret the results to get more hits, as has been suggested.

Regarding your point 3, your aim might be to test the claim, mine is to make sense of the claim. Hence my posts.
 
tkingdoll said:
What I'm interested in is why a psychic would struggle with one but not the other, unless it's just an excuse to interpret the results to get more hits, as has been suggested.
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Numbers = math = science = powerful evil woo-blocker... :p
 
Neutralize said:
uh, as for cards and stuff. the easiest way top do that is ryhme. We could pretty much talk to each other and write down each others thoughts. I can even feel her uterus etc. inside my stomache. It really feels weird to be around her.
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Neutralize said:
Also when she is at home I can smell her perfume, taste what she is eating etc.
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This is a little... weird to say the least. Are you sure you don't just have a crush on her? It seem a tiny bit obsessive. Does she know that you "feel" her uterus?

I have heard about people that knows what their friend is thinking many times and it NEVER holds up in a test. Test the card trick that has been suggested and see for yourself. It will save you a lots of time and you can spend that time asking your friend out on a date! :)
 
Neutralize said:
uh, as for cards and stuff. the easiest way top do that is ryhme. We could pretty much talk to each other and write down each others thoughts. I can even feel her uterus etc. inside my stomache. It really feels weird to be around her.
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After the sun sets on this brave new world, and leaves you $1,000,000 richer, you should ask her to go raving. Look deeply into her eyes and tell her it couldn't have happened without her uterus (lying).
 
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