Top 10 reasons why JE won't participate in the million dollar challenge:
1) He already did participate in scientific testing and proved his abilities in "The Afterlife Experiments." I read both sides of the debate and in no way, shape or form, do I believe the conclusion drawn from those experiments was successfully discredited. You do. I don't.
2) Even if he did participate in the million dollar challenge and once AGAIN proved his abilities...people would desperately try to explain why it doesn't count. See #1.
3) I'm 100% confident the test and/or results and/or interpretation would be rigged to discount any abilities he would successfully prove.
4) JE is not a circus animal who has to jump through hoops to prove anything.
5) JE doesn't feel he has to prove anything to anyone. You believe, great. You don't believe, great.
6) He has more important things to do.
7) He already participated in testing and PROVED his abilities. Oh wait, I said that already... But it's worth repeating.
8) James Randi is annoying.
9) James Randi is annoying.
10) James Randi is annoying.
Thanks for the answer - I'm on the other side of the world so it takes me some time to respond.
I'm going to ignore your answers 1, 2, 7-10 (cos I stated in my question that the already "proven" skills had been discredited, and the last few answers are plainly just silly). Which leads me to answer the rest:
"3) I'm 100% confident the test and/or results and/or interpretation would be rigged to discount any abilities he would successfully prove.
4) JE is not a circus animal who has to jump through hoops to prove anything.
5) JE doesn't feel he has to prove anything to anyone. You believe, great. You don't believe, great.
6) He has more important things to do."
You are "100% confident" the testing would be rigged in some way. Why are you so confident that would be the case? Others who've applied (and been tested) have agreed with the test parameters, which don't allow for any rigging on either side (that's kinda the point); why do you think whichever organisation undertook the preliminary testing (because it is NOT Randi) would make an exception in this case?
No, he's not a circus animal - but he puts himself in the public arena, so he's certainly aware that public scrutiny will follow - in fact it's a large part of how he makes money. If YOU had this "gift" wouldn't you want to prove it were real, rather than deal with so much criticism and (supposedly) slander?
Sure, he doesn't feel he has to prove anything. Why would he? He's making a mint!
PS. I have a beautiful bridge for sale in Sydney. For just a $10 down payment I can arrange finance for you and then you can charge people to use your bridge!!
Ownership paers? Why on earth would you need to see THEM?
Look, I'm on your side. I have consulted tarot readers in the past, I've imagined my deceased parents trying to send me messages - but time has shown me that none of it is real. The human mind is amazing at making things work (I only have one eye that works properly, but my brains' figured it out so I have OK depth perception, for example), and as a temporary comfort, belief in psychics etc might be okay and actually helpful. But over time, it's far healthier to deal with loss and move on.