Merged The One - Australian TV

Really, why is anyone expending even one calorie of brain energy even thinking about this train wreck of a show?
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Because prime time commercial television is a powerful force and if any of us care about spreading skepticism and defeating mass delusion, it's our duty to point out the flaws to those who can't see them for themselves.

Of course no one here expected a rational, scientific assessment of paranormality. That doesn't mean we shouldn't discuss it's flaws though. Consider it an easy workout, especially for those of us who are new to the skeptic movement and who aren't in a position to quote pubmed references to debunk pseudo-sciences.
 
AndyD said:
If it wasn't for the skeptical blogosphere, I still wouldn't know. I found the information because I looked for information on pyramid scams. The rest, for me, is history.
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Absolutely, me too and your blog is great and you should keep doing it (as purveyor of a little read blog myself, I love little read blogs! :D )

BUT it is not the only valid way to spread the message and people who put themselves on the line to try something different should not have the Skeptical Purity Police called out on them. The "More Skeptical Than Thou" line -- very unappealing and can we drop it?
 
Some good results. People at the car race track came over to meet me as they saw me on TV. Gave me the chance to talk to them about skeptics and our point of view. Turns out one of the women was a client of one of the 'psychics' on the show. They were not mad, they were happy to hear me. Very nice.
 
Richard said:
Some good results. People at the car race track came over to meet me as they saw me on TV. Gave me the chance to talk to them about skeptics and our point of view. Turns out one of the women was a client of one of the 'psychics' on the show. They were not mad, they were happy to hear me. Very nice.
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Any toe hold that we as logical rational thinkers can gain into the world of the true believer, or indeed the fence sitter, has by its very nature be a good thing.
That they included your good self in this show self is to be commended, even though doubtless it is not out of some overpowering need to seem impartial, or Zenu forbid, provide a focus for the "negative energy" of the TBs, which by the way, can attract viewers. At least the positively charged ones.
But what about when its all over, and the fickle public is searching for the next superparanormalnatural televisual feast, having forgotten, or never learned any lessons in critical thought that you may have introduced them too?
Will it be business as usual for the hordes of the all too uninformed?
Well , yes, it will.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could produce a skepticl version?
"Australia's finest skeptic"
The prizes would be awarded on the basis of how many frauds exposed, ghosts busted, minds opened, quacks castrated and cats saved from trees.
Something like Brian Dunning and co are trying to float in the US and A
As I am still too new, i cannot post links apparently, so The best I can do here is to leave a space in the address. Http: //skeptologists.com/

Seriously, we need to really be on top of our game. Its getting a little crazy out there. Anyone noticed the Papal Mass hysteria in Oz lately? Is that the behavior you want to see in the leaders of the future?
Not me.
 
My initial reaction to Richard's presence on the show was similar to that of many posters - I wished he could just condemn the nonsense before him. But I'm warming to the idea of him doing his way.

How many shows do we have with any skeptics on? We've got "drama" series about various "psychics" solving everyone's problems and even the various "CSI" type shows often hint at paranormal approaches to solving murder when they drift into those ghostly visualisation effects. Some of the key players seem to solve the crimes almost psychically rather than as a result of methodical science. How many shows represent a skeptical (not just a scientific) viewpoint?

So, if Richard can show that skeptics can be friendly, happy, humorous people with a heart (not, I'd assume, the stereotype), maybe that's what it takes to get a skeptical influence on telly. It would be nice to think that his connection with the station could buy some influence down the track for a TV version of his Mystery Investigators. And wouldn't it be great if it was televised in children's prime time?
 
wombatwal said:
Well I am doing battle with those evil believers :D. Talking on the Australian show.
I am on the N.Z. Sensing Murder forum.
http://www.sensingmurder.co.nz/regfrm/viewtopic.php?t=814&start=100
Anyone lend a sceptical hand.
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I would, but I've never had the intestinal fortitude to actually force myself to sit through an episode of the show.

Richard said:
Some good results. People at the car race track came over to meet me as they saw me on TV. Gave me the chance to talk to them about skeptics and our point of view. Turns out one of the women was a client of one of the 'psychics' on the show. They were not mad, they were happy to hear me. Very nice.
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Is your new avatar a still from the show? :D
 
I love this week's promo, especially Stacey Demarco exclaiming, almost incredulously, how amazed she is that three people found something IN FOUR AN A HALF THOUSAND SQUARE METRES!!!

I had to wait until the ad came on again so I could check what I'd heard. Seriously, I don't think I could make that text big enough or bold enough (or CAPS enough) to reflect her amazement that people could find something in an area a little over......... one acre.

That's one fifth of the size of the block I live on and we often find green(ish) tennis balls on our green(ish) block - without even looking for them.

One acre (4046sqm) is the size of four traditional Aussie suburban housing lots. Unless they're searching for something smaller than a hairclip - or the area is laden with mines - then I think Demarco's exasperation might be a little over the top. It'll be interesting to see how big the area looks on camera - and how fast they can run.

Keep up to date at: http://thinkingisreal.blogspot.com/
 
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Originally Posted by AndyD View Post
So, if Richard can show that skeptics can be friendly, happy, humorous people with a heart (not, I'd assume, the stereotype), maybe that's what it takes to get a skeptical influence on telly.
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DINGDINGDINGDING!

We have a winner!

:-)
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Hey, I missed this earlier. What do I win? :eye-poppi The million? I didn't even say I was psychic. What am I saying?!! Of course I'm psychic and, somehow, I proved it! Bank transfer is acceptable. Do you want my Account details and PIN?

I'm skeptical of the announcement that I actually won anything though and, unlike Richard, I'm not really the friendly, happy, humorous "person with a heart" type skeptic :(
 
Richard said:
That's better than being a weener.

I'll be on MMM radio (Brisbane) at 8.05am Eastern Australian Time.

TRIPLE M – Breakfast - The Cage

Date: Tuesday 22nd July

URL for live feed: http://www.triplem.com.au/brisbane/shows/thecage/

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New promo for this week's show. Ned Kelly was an outlaw in the 19th Century.

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My critique.

Listened to the show. Why did you even bother turning up? We ended up with both Martin and that Sammy woman believing this Madeline person was real. Quotes such as "wow", "how did she do that"?
You should have definitely told her to be quiet when you were talking, as you had the good manners to do that when she was talking. her continuous interruptions made your explanations appear quite weak. I'm sorry to say, you came across as the bumbling skeptic who failed to explain anything.

Surely a loaded question along the lines of;

"Why does Madeline need to say things like, "I see a person whose name begins with a D or a C", surely if she is TALKING to the dead person, this person should know the name of his own brother and/or mother"?

or why not say to the Cage Team, "When the next person rings in and Madeline makes contact with their dead, have the person ringing in remain silent and have Madeline tell the radio audience what the dead person is saying. Then get the caller to remark on what she has said, without any further remarks from Madeline".

Always a good laugh when they can't ask questions.

I was so furious with the show that I actually wrote to them and told them 'grown-ups' should not be so gullible. I also told them how mean these people are when they take money from the lonely and the bereaved. Told them to get hold of some cold reading books and suggested they do a spot on the show where they try out their own cold reading skills. Then they will see how anyone can do it. It just takes practice.

Also told them to look up Sylvia and Shawn Hornbeck if they wanted to see how dangerous these vile people are.

This is twice triple m have done a pyschic/medium show and both times it has turned out being a great ad for them.

We are losing ground, methinks.

:)
 
PBTree said:
My critique.

I'm sorry to say, you came across as the bumbling skeptic who failed to explain anything.
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I think you are being unfair. It is VERY hard indeed to be put on the spot like that. I did not know before hand that it would be this sort of thing. Anyway, I always could have done better, but you know what, I think I made some good points.

This sort of analysis of cold reading have never been done on Australian radio as far as I know. It's much harder than you think.

Judge for yourselves...

http://www.mysteryinvestigators.com/files/4MMM.mp3
 
Richard said:
I think you are being unfair. It is VERY hard indeed to be put on the spot like that. I did not know before hand that it would be this sort of thing.
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I don't understand how you could think that commercial radios treatment of skepticism would be any different from commercial television.

What did you expect?
 
SimonD said:
I don't understand how you could think that commercial radios treatment of skepticism would be any different from commercial television.

What did you expect?
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We had no idea this would happen. I thought it was just going to be an interview about the show and what I do. By the time we got going it was too late. I have asked that this does not happen again.
 
Well, it seems my psychic powers may rival those of any contestant on The One. Following last week's success in which I predicted Rayleen's eviction, I have had another perfect hit. Here's the prediction again (original prediction at #124 above):

I'm getting a sadness and feel disappointment. I'm feeling closed in. Locked, caged. I see a father figure but I'm also seeing a woman. The spirits are confused, both vibrant and sad. There's a happy man but there's disappointment. I'm getting an "E'. I see Demarco talking to angels. Again I'm getting a sense that the spirits were uncooperative under test conditions. They did an exceptional job - under the circumstances. I'm getting "middle-age" and wow! A strong female presence! They're telling me she must go. She has to go. I'm not getting a clear message but whoever she is, she is leaving next week. There's a strong ethnic presence and, damn, Demarco is messing things up with all her nodding again. Every time the guides try to tell me something, she chimes in with a comment about difficulty and success. She's impressed but she's blocking the vibe, it's all about the vibe. The vibe, I hear music. The spirits want to talk about the music. This makes no sense to me but they're pointing to the music. Over and out.

Now, weeding out all the nonsense, you can clearly see I predicted that "She has to go." I wrote exactly those words. Tonight, She was evicted. Again, Demarco waved away doubts with the standard disclaimer that conditions were difficult and praised what she considered to be success. The music reference was clear to anyone who watched - though I cheated here, as I did with the closed-in feeling. Both the music legends and Ned Kelly prison segments had been advertised.

I'll have more to say at: http://thinkingisreal.blogspot.com/ later tonight (WA time) but the show can be summed up with a fairly short "pffft!"

Richard, your skepticism got much better coverage tonight. Congrats.
 
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Richard said:
We had no idea this would happen. I thought it was just going to be an interview about the show and what I do. By the time we got going it was too late. I have asked that this does not happen again.
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The special pleading from Richard is what I hear from the psychics. Has Richard 'crossed over' or can we please hear more intelligent feed back.
 
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