Psychic Samurai applies for MDC...apparently...

[Mojo]

There is no judging other than what normally takes place in everyday life.

Something like "It depends on what the meaning of IS IS?"

It will be Scientifically Explainable or Not, just as the JREF MDC has stated.

Deciding whether or not something is "Scientifically Explainable" involves judgment. Unless your "world renowned Scientist of Merit and Award" has some sort of properly accredited "scientificallyeplainableometer" which produces clear "yes" or "no" answers, of course.

Who is this "world renowned Scientist of Merit and Award", by the way?

 

[chillzero]

Links to evidence of intent to sabotage, please.

I have approved this question once only, becuse I suspect it will be raised by a few people. However, it is off topic for this protocol discussion. I will respond, though, by pointing out that several people in this thread said they would be contacting the department to confirm that the performance had the proper legal approvals.

Please do not derail the topic with further comments on this matter, they won't be approved.

 

[yairhol]

Have the professionals that helped you write this protocol ever read the challenge FAQ?
On second thought you don't need to answer this question. It is clear that they have not.
You should have pointed them firstly to the challenge FAQ so that a joke protocol such as this could have been avoided.

 

[jsfisher]

I don't see a specific claim in the alleged protocol.

All I see is TP will chant for a bit. Some electronic devices will do electronic device things. Then something odd will happen.

Would it be possible to nail down "something odd", or would that ruin the surprise?

 

[Mojo]

Have the professionals that helped you write this protocol ever read the challenge FAQ?
On second thought you don't need to answer this question. It is clear that they have not.
You should have pointed them firstly to the challenge FAQ so that a joke protocol such as this could have been avoided.

Be fair now. He said they were professional writers, not readers. Ideally, of course, he should try to find some professionals who can do both.

 

[GzuzKryzt]

I am willing to negotiate.

James Randi need not be present as long as the Million Dollars is there in cash or is verified to be paid promptly IN CASH ... Not part of the real estate belonging to the JREF.

Now we are getting closer ... Agree?

No.

As you have been told before and as it seems obviously clear from the Challenge Rules from which I quote:

"[...]At the formal test, in advance, an independent person will be placed in charge of a personal check from James Randi for US$10,000. In the event that the claimant is successful under the agreed-upon terms and conditions, that check shall be immediately surrendered to the claimant, and within ten days the James Randi Educational Foundation will pay to the claimant the remainder of the reward, for a total of US$1,000,000. One million dollars in negotiable bonds is held by an investment firm in New York, in the "James Randi Educational Foundation Prize Account" as surety for the prize funds. Validation of this account and its current status may be obtained by contacting the Foundation by telephone, fax, or e-mail.[...]"

Since you have to succeed in the preliminary test first, you have not yet qualified for the formal test.

You do understand this rule, right?

 

[steenkh]

I must be psychic ...


I thought right from the start that TP wanted only to apply for the MDC as a sham. He has probably known all along that he could never fool the JREF to hand him over the money, so he chose the next best: stalling the proceedings and trying to make it look as if it is the JREF that backs out.

First he dragged his description of the claim out for weeks until it was clear that the test could not be completed on the day he specified. Now he has - after more weeks - presented a protocol that shows that he has completely ignored everything that is stated in the MDC rules, the FAQ, and what forum members and JREF representatives have told him.

He knows that he has been told directly by Jeff Wagg that the test cannot take place for Halloween this year, but now he specifies that date as if nothing has happened. He demands Randi to be present, although Jeff has told him that this will not happen. He wants a "scientist" to judge if the test is successful or not, although the rules clearly state that this is not acceptable. He wants the preliminary test to be regarded as the final test, although he has been told that this will not happen, and he also wants all of the money to be ready in cash, although the MDC rules clearly state that this will not happen.

Since it is impossible that one person can have such huge reading comprehension, it is obvious, that he wants the test to be a failure. One can ojnly wonder why, and the answer must be in his stated wish to make a "media exposure".

In this way he hopes to garner the profits that he can get out of presenting himself as the victim of sham negotiations on the part of the JREF, because surely, he will not point to all the advice that he has been given, and all the times people inside and outside the JREF have explained the MDC rules for him.

 

[Loss Leader]

There is no judging other than what normally takes place in everyday life.

Something like "It depends on what the meaning of IS IS?"

It will be Scientifically Explainable or Not, just as the JREF MDC has stated.

This is insufficient. As I understand it:

1. You must state exactly what the outcome of the test will be.

2. You must state exactly how to measure that outcome.

3. You must state exactly what measurement constitutes a success, all else constituting failure.

This has been explained to you over and over again. You have never incorporated the idea into any of your thinking. Until you do, the JREF will probably never agree to a protocol with you.

"I will flip a coin and a prominent scientist will declare my coin flip to be unexplainable."

"I will flip a coin and it will land heads up fifty times in a row."

If you don't see the difference between those two statements, you shouldn't go any further.

 

[petre]

You miss the point .... The Scientist IS THE PROFESSIONAL!
He knows more about what IS and ISN'T scientifically explainable than anyone on this Forum or even the JREF themselves.

I doubt your claim that a qualified scientist has looked at your protocol and declared that, even with him as an observer, it would be scientifically unexplainable if voices appeared in the recordings at the conclusion of the test. I fail to see how all of the listed counter-measures and even an alert observer could declare that an HSS device did not project sound localized to the recording device's microphone (or more mundane-but-intrusive tactics like embedding a sound generating device at the location of the test prior to arrival).

I will offer apology if such a scientist is willing to make himself known and defend your protocol as secure against all scientifically explainable means of putting voice on tape. I await the opportunity to apologize.

 

[NobbyNobbs]

There is no judging other than what normally takes place in everyday life.

Read the rules. There is to be no judging, period. None. Either the coin is heads, or it's not. Either the envelope has a picture of a bird, or it doesn't. Either there's an apple in the box, or there isn't.

No judging whatsoever.

 

[Marcus]

That's disapointing, Professor. I did have some small hope that you were serious about this. By ignoring all suggestions on how to design a protocol with self evident results, you have given up even the attempt to make your challenge look legitimate.

 

[Jeff Wagg]

You have been proven WRONG once again!
It is not logical for me NOT to take the Challenge. I am totally dedicated to doing it! You can read about it on other threads.

You have been pretty forthcoming with your prediction that I will be at the Devil's Chair and claiming Randi is dodging me. I hope you are just as forthcoming with your apology when you are proven wrong.

The Protocol is moving right along. Things are going well. Jeff and I are working on it. Several email just this evening

We did exchange some e-mail, but we've made no progress since late September.

 

[gdnp]

Professor, are you planning on going ahead with your demonstration on Halloween 2008, without JREF participation?

 

[Seanrmr]

Ok I'll give myself a go at writing a protocol for this test.

Location: Devils Chair Florida

Time Midnight on the night of the 31st of October 2009

Aim: To receive communication with a paranormal entity

For this test the parts used will be
1.an AM/FM scanner
2.3 recording devices 2 digital one analogue
3.A white noise generator
4.A pink noise Generator.
5.a Faraday cage built to block out the frequency ranges of the AM and FM frequency bands.
6.A stopwatch
7.A selection of 20 questions with straight forward answers

If required the devices can be brand new so no accusation of tampering

Procedure
1.Parts 1 through to 4 will be turned on and placed within the cage at this time the stop watch will be started.
2.David shall seat himself on the Devil's chair
3.Invocation will be started and time of start and finished shall be noted down.(not re writing it out here)
4.The question “what is your name?” shall be asked, the time of the end of the question shall be noted as well as which question it was.
5.Four more questions selected at random shall then be asked with a 30 second gap after each one. The time of the end of each question shall be recorded. If a person yells out the answer another question shall be asked and that question shall be removed from experiment.
6.At 15 minutes after the first invocation steps 3 to five shall be repeated

Results
If 8 out of ten questions were answered in a clear voice during the 30 second gaps the test shall be deemed a success.

Questions depend on what these entities can and can't do which I do not know. If the entity can see the object around they could be thins like what colour is David's hair, What hat is Joe blow currently wearing. If they can do sums we could do some basic addition hopefully tomorrow night will shed light onto what can and can't be done by the entities.

Well how do people think I went there would still be work needed to be done.

Sean

 

[Mojo]

If 8 out of ten questions were answered in a clear voice during the 30 second gaps the test shall be deemed a success.

Sorry, no good as it still requires judgment as to whether there's been a "clear voice" (in EVP, sounds claimed as "clear" voices generally aren't that clear).

Also, if we're going to ask questions, the answers would need to provide new information, not information already known to the claimant, if it was going to be any sort of evidence for a paranormal event and thus a criterion for a successful test.

 

[steenkh]

Sorry, no good as it still requires judgment as to whether there's been a "clear voice" (in EVP, sounds claimed as "clear" voices generally aren't that clear).

This has been addressed before, and it has been suggested that a panel of, say, 5 persons who have not being informed what they are supposed to hear. could listen to the "voices" and if all of them write down the same answer, it is deemed that the voice was 'clear'.

Also, if we're going to ask questions, the answers would need to provide new information, not information already known to the claimant, if it was going to be any sort of evidence for a paranormal event and thus a criterion for a successful test.

If the mere presence of a voice is paranormal, then the voice does not need to answer in an intelligent way to question. But on the other hand, if the voice gives the same answer "fish" to every question, it is very likely that there is fraud at play. I do not see a simple solution for this.

But at any rate, such speculations are futile, because TP has no intention whatsoever of risking a test. He has his sights set on the second best which is to gain whatever he can get out of slandering the JREF, which is hopefully less than he expects. Many have tried it before, and I am not aware that it has as yet been a profitable business.

 

[MattC]

I deem speculation of what Mr. Koenig may or may not attempt to do in the future as being just that - speculation.

Concerning ourselves with the facts of the claim thus far, the protocol still seems to involve some interpretation - quite a bit of it in fact. I dimly seem to remember making a (paranormal) prediction about this (http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4140752#post4140752) some days ago, and in this case I'm disappointed to have been right.

Over a month ago, Loss Leader seems to have hit upon what appears to be the only real way to make a cohesive test out of this jumble of paranormalism. Simplifying his words a little, he stated that it isn't so much what the voices say as much as it is their mere presence. A voice appearing when one could not expect this to be the case is certainly paranormal, and seems to be well within Mr. Koenig's capacity (it's the ability of the voice to speak at all that matters, not its ability to answer questions). The protocol he suggested here (http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4043546#post4043546) seems to be the best way to get something moving.

I'm not exactly sure how one works the Devil's Chair into this, but this seems a better place to start than by dickering over how many people in accord is necessary to have a scientifically unexplainable result - far better that no people be involved at all aside from the testing crew.

~ Matt

(ps: By the way LL, any interest in designing protocols professionally? You have a rather precise manner of scribing that seems rather superior to the usual, I confess myself in the presence of a master of the art.)

 

[Loss Leader]

(ps: By the way LL, any interest in designing protocols professionally? You have a rather precise manner of scribing that seems rather superior to the usual, I confess myself in the presence of a master of the art.)

Thanks for the compliment. If you have a job, I have a resume.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like TP wants the help.

 

[The Professor]

So many posts of mine being deleted, edited or moved, I'm not sure this one will make it through.

Jeff does acknowledge that we've been emailing back and forth. I HAVE given in to the JREF demand that James Randi need Not be present.

So in this instance of the Give and Take of Negotiations I HAVE come closer to a protocol that the JREF MDC will finally agree upon.

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!

There will be EVP's and ITC in record breaking numbers tonight ... Mark my words!

I'd like to thank everyone for their help in taking the test. I am looking forward to the Million Dollar Challenge!

 

[leonAzul]

So many posts of mine being deleted, edited or moved, I'm not sure this one will make it through.

Jeff does acknowledge that we've been emailing back and forth. I HAVE given in to the JREF demand that James Randi need Not be present.

So in this instance of the Give and Take of Negotiations I HAVE come closer to a protocol that the JREF MDC will finally agree upon.

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!

There will be EVP's and ITC in record breaking numbers tonight ... Mark my words!

I'd like to thank everyone for their help in taking the test. I am looking forward to the Million Dollar Challenge!

Just for the record, please restate the venue.

It is going to be entertaining, one way or the other.