Topic drift, but interesting
It's not that he cheats, per se, it's rather that the tests are very badly designed and run. The switch is not some secret move made during the test. It's done before the test, the applicant is told about it and required to agree to the switch. If he does not agree, he does not get tested, and Randi claims victory by default.
While we await the announced changes to the challenge, why not discuss the obvious here? I don't know if the above is a true statement. If it is, then it seems obvious there is some trickery going on, and since Randi is known as a master of such, that does not look good.
I have yet to find much in the way of published material about the working out of protocol. There is scant material that shows how the challenge works. In the sense of getting to the preliminary test. But I hope there actually is such material. I would like to read it. And it would prove there is no such trickery involved, as some would claim.
On the surface, the claim Peter makes seems valid. But I don't have all the information. This does not mean there is an alternative,
as far as how to devise a test, but over many years, and with other people than Randi, I have experienced
this exact problem, when it comes to testing people. The test ends up not being about what is claimed.
Now please don't get me wrong, I don't even believe in anything paranormal or magical. By that I mean I have no evidence for any irrational powers, magical events, or supernatural abilities. Period.
That I don't believe in something does not mean I change the way I investigate something. If somebody says they see an aura around people, and get information from that ability, I don't test them to see if they can see through walls, or divine where somebody is hiding. Because they don't claim to do that.
See? Its not hard to devise a test for some things. But dowsing, that is another issue. For somebody that claims there is an underground source of water, and that it flows from miles away, and that they can tell you where to drill, and how deep to find that water, that is far beyond the ability of the MDC to test.
(drift, but worth reading, tmot)
To test an outrageous claim like that, you would have to
have the dowsers identify two locations where they thought underground streams were.
Then
drill test boreholes at the precise coordinates specified.
You would have to drill to a depth just short of the predicted streams and then completely seal off the borehole with a cement plug and grouting to exclude shallower groundwater from entering the borehole.
Then drill to the final depth at which the streams were believed to exist.
All this would have to be observed throughout by interested parties and properly supervised.
Effective seals against shallower groundwater would have to be achieved.
The water chemistry, geology and the flow rates of groundwater throughout the borehole would have to be documented.
In addition special water samples to determine the number of heavy and light isotopes (the isotopic signature) would have to be taken throughout the borehole.
Only then would it be possible for scientists to conclude whether the water sampled at the depth fell as rain or whether it derived from a source far away.
This would have to be done at specialist laboratories.
THIS ALL COST A LOT OF MONEY.
Clearly such an effort to DISPROVE something is not going to occur through a million dollar challenge. If somebody had divining abilities like that, they would be worth more than a million dollars. And if they had resources to actually carry out such an absurd plan, they wouldn't need the money. Maybe.
And in a purely practical sense, if they did hit water, where science had proved none could exist, they would be able to make money like crazy with such an ability.
But back to reality, and the changes to the challenge ......
