Suggestions for Ouija Board experiments

[quarky]

A moment of Devil's advocate here:

Imagine if the board is doing what it claims to do by the woosters...then none of these exposes would work. The spirits would simply be confused and have nothing to report.

 

[RayG]

It'll stop the ouija board from working properly, but won't prove the operators' claims are false, if they claim that spirits need to see through their eyes to see the board.

That excuse would negate just about any test devised. Why would spirits need to rely on the line of sight of the participants?

RayG

 

[Paradox74]

Here's another one that I just conjured up in less than a minute:

Ask quesitons about which celebrities or historical figures are in heaven. For an example, get a group of people who think that Napoleon was a hero and have those people ask the board whether or not he is in heaven. Now, ask another group of people who think otherwise and have them ask the same question.

Of course, this experiment requirest that you get two different groups of people with different metaphysical/philosophical/religious/political beliefs and have them ask quesitons that relate to those fields (excluding the existence of an afterlife and spirits because those are a given to people who believe in the board's powers). Such questions include:

Is there sex in heaven?

Does reincarnation exist and if so, then do we reincarnate into animals or space aliens?

Now, if one group's results are "Yes" to one question and the other group is "No" to the same one, then that's a fail for the Ouija Board.

 

[Sledge]

How is that a fail? That's just a mischievous spirit playing with the group.

 

[quarky]

If I was one of these spirits, I would totally mess with skeptic's heads.

Can that be factored in?

 

[GrandMasterFox]

Now, if one group's results are "Yes" to one question and the other group is "No" to the same one, then that's a fail for the Ouija Board.

Sadly no. That would be like asking: "If 2 religious groups say different things about god, that proves that god is a false"

Isn't it more likely to say that odds are, the winning group will claim that the other one is wrong (and possibly vice versa)

If I was one of these spirits, I would totally mess with skeptic's heads.

Can that be factored in?

When it comes to excuses of failure? Absolutely
Reminds me of that show Derren Brown did about ghosts and EVP. He was following a guy who was going around cemeteries and taping supposed EVPs.
He asked the guy if he could ask the ghost a question. The guy asked yes.

Derren asked: "If there is a ghost here, would you show to me you exist by keeping silent for the next minute or so?"
Naturally, when the tape was played, the usual static noise was caught.
And the guy started dishing out excuses such just because Derren asked, doesn't mean the ghost has to play along and such.

 

[Pup]

That excuse would negate just about any test devised.

Of course. That's why woos use it.

To avoid an excuse-test arms-race (where woos come up with increasingly better excuses to thwart increasingly better tests), one needs to nail down exactly what the claim is first.

 

[TmoonII]

Is there sex in heaven?

yes, that's where we get cherubs.

 

[Ladewig]

A moment of Devil's advocate here:

Imagine if the board is doing what it claims to do by the woosters...then none of these exposes would work. The spirits would simply be confused and have nothing to report.

Why would the spirits be confused at being asked to add up some dice in a different part of the room?

 

[King of the Americas]

How about you make the 'piece' that everyone holds onto, have flexible tube-like ends so that no one can influence the movement...

 

[Paradox74]

Why would the spirits be confused at being asked to add up some dice in a different part of the room?

You got a point.

Of course. That's why woos use it.

To avoid an excuse-test arms-race (where woos come up with increasingly better excuses to thwart increasingly better tests), one needs to nail down exactly what the claim is first.

From:
http://www.omninerd.com/articles/Do_Ouija_Boards_Work_The_Fact_and_Fiction

There are essentially three schools of thought concerning the matter:

•The ritual summons the spirit and the spirit moves the planchette. The participant’s hands simply follow.
•The spirit controls the planchette through the participant.
•The spirit’s energy communes with the participant’s energy and influences the participant to move the planchette.

There appears to be more than one claim to test out concerning the source of the supposed powers of the game. There's more information in that website if anyone is interested.

 

[quarky]

Why would the spirits be confused at being asked to add up some dice in a different part of the room?

Because it would be meaningless for them. Why would they want to jump through hoops of that sort? Simple math quizzes? What is in it for them?

 

[Ladewig]

Because it would be meaningless for them. Why would they want to jump through hoops of that sort? Simple math quizzes? What is in it for them?

Right, and answering the silly questions that the average Ouija boardist asks are much more meaningful.

 

[GrandMasterFox]

Because it would be meaningless for them. Why would they want to jump through hoops of that sort? Simple math quizzes? What is in it for them?

It would prove they can truly comunicate with us. Therefore, if they want to ask us for additional favors (X is my killer, put him in jail) they better pass a simple test.

 

[quarky]

It would prove they can truly comunicate with us. Therefore, if they want to ask us for additional favors (X is my killer, put him in jail) they better pass a simple test.

Good point.

I am open to good points.

Yet, as potentially disembodied entity, I'm not sure that even matters.

Try to feel my dis-embodied-ness.
Try to relate with other dimensions, and the various agendas therein.

 

[Paradox74]

This came from the top of my head:

Alot of religious fundamentalists believe that Satan, or his demons, are behind this game so lets test that claim out.

Use the Ouija Board with a crucifix present and say, "Protect us Jesus from any unfortunate encounters etc." or something like that. Ask all kinds of questions (get creative) and record the results. I'll assume that Satan was able to communicate with the players.

Then, perform the blindfold experiment. If Satan was able to bypass Jesus, the son of God, but yet was stumped by the blindfold part, well...you get the idea. This experiment isn't really that different from the original one, but the operating premises makes it a valid one to test out.

 

[quarky]

I feel the spirit in this thread.

(don't wreck it for me again, science dorks)

 

[Ladewig]

I feel the spirit in this thread.

(don't wreck it for me again, science dorks)

In the words of Ned Flanders: ""Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends. Well I say that there are some things we don't want to know. Important things!"

 

[Paradox74]

How about a test to see if there are any bilingual spirits in the beyond?

Get a few words written by someone not in the group, in other languages.
Label them by language (spanish, arabic, hebrew, etc).
Place the word open on the table where all the players can see it (but none speak the language).

Then ask for a spirit that speaks that language to look through the eyes of the players, and translate it?

An alternative would be instead of simple words, have entire questions written in the other language, and ask the spirit to answer.

That might be something to look into. One foreign language word that I can think of is "thanatos" which, upon doing some basic research, is a word that Greek spirits, or ghosts or souls or whatever, should be very familiar with.

 

[Paradox74]

Something came to my mind. Are there electronic devices out there that record the nerve signals in your arms when you move them or something like that?