A Lucid Proposal For A Preliminary Test

[Hellbound]

I am not so sure that a lawsuit would do oyu any good. The contract doesn't detail how the applicant has to perform his task. It only says what has to be done under which circumstances. So if an applicant cheats in a way that Randi has not forseen, he still fulfilled the contract and is entitled to the price.

The procedures really do work both ways: There is a protocol that both parties agee on, after all. The JREF believes that only paranormal abilities can make you pass - but that is not an actual requirement of the contract.

Rasmus.

Well, in the case steenkh pointed out, there might be cause. It sort of depends on how the "trick" was accomplished. I could see a case made for an independent verifier who wasn't really so independent..since the rules specify that it should be an independent observer. I dunno, though. Not having seen the actual negotiations and final result, I would assume it would depend on the exact wording of the agreement between JREF and the applicant.

 

[Darat]

Well, in the case steenkh pointed out, there might be cause. It sort of depends on how the "trick" was accomplished. I could see a case made for an independent verifier who wasn't really so independent..since the rules specify that it should be an independent observer. I dunno, though. Not having seen the actual negotiations and final result, I would assume it would depend on the exact wording of the agreement between JREF and the applicant.

I read Rasmus's comments earlier and was thinking about them and just reading your post clarified the difference between trickery and cheating as far as the Challenge is concerned.

There are two ways of winning the Challenge, cheating or doing what you said you could do. Cheating in this context should mean breaching the terms of the Challenge so that would cover bribing an independent observer or getting someone to cheat when setting up the experiment. And I think this kind of cheating would be actionable by the JREF or a strong defence for them not having to pay out.

Now the "doing what you said you could do" in terms of the Challenged means just that, the how you do it is not part of the Challenge. So if you do indeed have telepathy great then you can win the challenge likewise if you've invented real working x-ray spectacles or learnt a new magic trick that fools everyone and you use that to win the Challenge you would have still won the Challenge fair and square.

 

[ChaosEngineer]

I also found that if I tried to think about it and not go with my gut feeling, then my success rate dropped to around 20% (chance). In other words, when I went with my intuition, I was right most of the time.

There's a risk of introducing bias here. When you get a low success rate, you might retroactively decide that you were in the wrong mental state and throw out the results. But if you got a high success rate, you'd assume the test was valid regardless of your mental state.

If you're consistently able to get in the right mental state and you never throw away results, then this isn't a problem. Otherwise you need to take another measurement. After you've received all the symbols but before you've checked your answers, decide on a scale of 1-10 how confident you are. Then you can see how well you did whenever your confidence was above a certain threshhold.

As I stated in the thread, I'm just beginning with this. I wanted to start with the PRELIMINARY TEST. The results have been very encouraging, but I don't work at a lab and don't know people that do. The goal of the thread is to come up with a scientific protocol for testing and then to find a group that will assist me with it.

That's fine, but it's maybe a little early to be talking about the preliminary test. The JREF isn't a psychic research foundation, so they're not going to want to put a lot of effort into helping you refine your abilities. They want you to refine your abilities and then apply for the challenge. (And, remember, if you fail the preliminary, you have to wait a year before you re-apply.)

Likewise with local skeptics' groups. It'll be easier to set something up, but if you fail the first time it's not likely they'll ever give you a second chance.

Of course this thread's had a lot of good suggestions for tightening up the protocol, but probably the next step should be for you to get some friends to run you through a more formal version of the test. Once you're able to get consistent results, you can think about taking the preliminary test.

Also, the JREF will probably ask for three affidavits before they let you take the preliminary, so enlisting your friends will give you a head-start on the process.

 

[Dumb All Over]

Mental Professor, where are you?

I'm beginning to hear the chirp of crickets.

 

[GzuzKryzt]

Mental Professor, where are you?

I'm beginning to hear the chirp of crickets.

I'd rather see him silently and efficently work towards his test than post just to satisfy our curiosity. Teasing him will most likely not speed up this process.

 

[Dumb All Over]

I'd rather see him silently and efficently work towards his test than post just to satisfy our curiosity. Teasing him will most likely not speed up this process.

The guy says he has ESP, or mental telepathy, or whatever, and he wants Randi's money. I plan on teasing him relentlessly.

He said he'd post here after Memorial Day. It's after Memorial Day.

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

 

[Yahzi]

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

But see, you don't need to post the chirp, chirp, chirp.

Just think it really hard, and Mental Professor will get the message.

 

[Dumb All Over]

I'm thinking.......I'm thinking..........

Nope. Nothing.

Maybe I need to learn to think more loudly.

 

[Yahzi]

I'm thinking.......I'm thinking..........

Nope. Nothing.

But you're not the psychic one. Just yesterday, I saw MP outside with a can of insecticide at 3:00 in the morning.

 

[rjh01]

The next post in this thread will be Mental Professor's post. Please everyone prove me right.

If I am wrong then the post that comes after me will be pointless.

 

[GzuzKryzt]

The next post in this thread will be Mental Professor's post. Please everyone prove me right.

If I am wrong then the post that comes after me will be pointless.

No, no and, um: no. Because, why not?

 

[rjh01]

The post above is pointless. Please ignore the above post of Gzuzkryzt and also this post.

 

[LotusMegami]

Whoa, whoa, whoa

You say his wife is how old? Dude, what country are we in. Because a seventeen-year-old married to a professor is considered a little weird in this one.

 

[GzuzKryzt]

The post above is pointless. Please ignore the above post of Gzuzkryzt and also this post.

No and again no.

Stay in the Humor Forum, rjh01.

 

[Yahzi]

It would seem that the threat of being sued for wrong-doing has scared away our Mental Professor.

How... very... droll.

 

[MandosV]

rhymes with ... troll

 

[GzuzKryzt]

It would seem that the threat of being sued for wrong-doing has scared away our Mental Professor.

How... very... droll.

Nah, he's in the process of refining the protocol. Perhaps the kind of refinement which makes him realise he does not have what it takes to win the JREF Prize.

Yet again, an educational victory in the war against stupidity.