Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions is a 1980 book by magician and skeptic James Randi about paranormal, occult, and pseudoscience claims. The foreword is by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. Randi explores topics which he says that scientists and the media are too willing to promote without skepticism and proper expertise.
George Kauffman wrote, "Randi explores and exposes the outrageous deceptions widely promoted in the sensation-seeking media."[4] The book calls on "researchers" to be accountable for their failures and impostures.[4][5] Randi writes the public is badly served by scientists investigating the paranormal who don't adhere to the standards of their profession and shows how sloppy research was followed with rationalization of their failures.[4] The book repeatedly explores the sloppy nature of research into the paranormal, pointing out how commonly carelessness and selective interpretation that would not be tolerated in other fields of research is accepted in investigations of the supernatural.[6] Randi documents how the scientific method is often twisted and bent to accommodate the subject of investigation.[6]
Later sections of the book cover specific cases of paranormal feats where Randi was consulted as an expert or judge.[2] These include tests of dowsing and pyramid power.[12] In these anecdotes the reader learns some of the methods used by charlatans including how to guess cards, tilt tables, read while blindfolded and produce photographs.[2][13] Randi announces an annual award for "the psychic who fools the greatest number of people with the least effort" and the scientists, journalists and foundations they fool.[1] The "Uri trophy" is a bent spoon on a "flimsy and quite transparent base". He writes that winners will be notified telepathically.[1]
Reception
Timothy Ferris wrote in The New York Times Book Review it is "a healthy and often hilarious book."[1] He described the "Uri trophy" as typical of the "cheerful devices" of Randi's book.[1] Ferris cited Randi's "penchant for sarcasm and overemphasis" as a drawback and considered this "heavy-handedness" appropriate for charlatans who profit from fraud but less so for sincere if gullible true-believers.[1] He noted Randi apologized for this, describing it as, "killing the gnat with a sledgehammer."[1]
Kirkus Reviews states Flim Flam! has a brisk pace and clear message.[2] They were also critical of Randi's "abrasive style" but state that after, "Randi has set forth the shameless frauds and money-making schemes, the outrageous misstatements and falsifications of data in respected scientific journals, the righteous harangue seems warranted."[2] The magazine describes the anecdotes about cases Randi was involved in as a judge or expert as absorbing and states they go far to make the point, "if you design the experiment adequately, no extraordinary powers are demonstrated." concluding, "By the end of the book, Randi's personal offer of $10,000 to be paid to anyone who successfully demonstrates paranormal abilities under proper test conditions seems safe beyond a doubt."[2]
Dave Langford reviewed Flim-Flam! for White Dwarf #43, and stated that "Always he thrusts before your nose the parts of the story which believers' books omit: even if inclined towards the loony, I mean the uncritical viewpoint, you should consult these books for the devil's advocate arguments. They are important. In a world where an ounce of sensationalism sells better than a ton of rationality any day, they are very important."[14]
Jack Kirwan writing in the National Review embraced the tone of the book describing the writing as "a juicy knock-'em-down style" and stating, "Randi takes on the heavies of the paranormal scene - von Däniken, UFOs, Uri Geller, TM - and feeds them into the meat grinder of critical investigation."[6] The San Francisco Chronicle stated, "Flim-Flam! is an excellent overview of paranormal claims that analyzes medical humbugs, psychic photography, Transcendental Meditation, ancient astronauts, UFOs, etc. Plentiful photographs catch hoaxers in the act."[15]
In a review of the audiotape edition in the Journal of College Science Teaching George Kauffman wrote of Randi's analysis of the failures of paranormal "researchers", "In clearly pointing out their errors and misrepresentations, he provides a compelling and convincing case that will startle and enlighten the listener, especially one unable to distinguish between genuine scientific research and the pseudoscientific nonsense that results in fantastic theories and fallacies.[4] The Lodi News-Sentinel stated Flim Flam! succeeds in discrediting the supernatural.[16]
In 2001 Skeptic magazine listed Flim Flam! at number three in its "Top Ten Recommended Skeptics' Books".[17] Novelist Christopher Brookmyre listed Flim Flam! among four of the best, "works evincing a vivid, clear and entertaining rationalism."[18] In a 2010 interview the magician Teller listed it as one of four books "In My Library."[19]As of 2014[update]Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions has been cited in newspapers, magazines and scientific journals, since its initial publication in 1980 to 2014 Google Scholar lists 82 citations[20] and 3 citations in 2023[21]
During an interview at TAM! 2012, Penn Jillette stated that he read Flim-Flam! in high school and "Randi had already started changing [his] life."[22]:3:04
Publication history
Flim Flam! was originally published in hardcover by Thomas Y. Crowell Co. then by Lippincott Crowell (an imprint of Harper & Row).[23] The publication run by Harper & Row was planned to be 17,500 but was reduced to about 6,000 and the book was declared out of print by the publisher despite outstanding paid orders.[23][24] Randi charged this was due to the publisher's conflict of interest, as Randi described the market for books promoting belief in the supernatural as, "possibly the single greatest moneymaker in publishing today."[23] Harper & Row denied this.[23] A revised edition with an introduction by Isaac Asimov was published in 1982 by Prometheus Books.[23]As of 2001[update] the book is available in English, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese.[25]
Smith, Jack (June 4, 1986). "Meditation may be off-base, or out in left field.... How about focusing energy on what's really important?". Los Angeles Times. p.H1. ProQuest154731691.
McGlone, Tim (July 5, 2001). "Unforeseen troubles beach foundation started by psychic Edgar Cayce has lost nearly 80,000 members in the past 10 years and $4.5 million in the past two". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk, VA. p.A1. ProQuest387409126.
Bernard, Jami (October 24, 1997). "Just their imagination how U.K. girls made all the sprite movies". Daily News. New York. p.48. ProQuest313588814.
Riniolo, Todd C. (2002). "The attorney and the shrink". Skeptic. Vol.9, no.3. pp.80–3. ProQuest225222018.
Bensley, D. Alan (July–August 2006). "Why great thinkers sometimes fail to think critically". Skeptical Inquirer. Vol.30, no.4. pp.47–52. ProQuest219251645.
↑ Goldberg, Carl (Fall 2000). "The general's abduction by aliens from a UFO: Levels of meaning of alien abduction reports". Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy. 30 (3): 307–20. doi:10.1023/A:1004198917428. S2CID37702648. ProQuest217674727.
De Paul, Tony (April 13, 1994). "You either believe or you don't *Dowsers say they can use twigs or rods to find water. But scientists say that's the stuff folklore is made of". The Providence Journal. p.B1. ProQuest397073782.
↑ Loxton, Daniel (2005). "Mythbusters exposed: How a special effects crew opened the most important new front in the battle for science literacy". Skeptic. Vol.12, no.1. pp.34–42, 96. ProQuest225220737.
↑ "The books of the year: What have the famous, the academic, the literate, the political and the artistic been reading in 2005?". The Herald. Glasgow. December 3, 2005. ProQuest333090952.
James Randi was a Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims. Randi retired from practicing magic at age 60, and from his foundation at 87.
Remote viewing (RV) is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen subject, purportedly sensing with the mind. A remote viewer is expected to give information about an object, event, person, or location hidden from physical view and separated at some distance. Physicists Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff, parapsychology researchers at Stanford Research Institute (SRI), are generally credited with coining the term "remote viewing" to distinguish it from the closely related concept of clairvoyance. According to Targ, the term was first suggested by Ingo Swann in December 1971 during an experiment at the American Society for Psychical Research in New York City.
Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism, sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence. In practice, the term most commonly refers to the examination of claims and theories that appear to be beyond mainstream science, rather than the routine discussions and challenges among scientists. Scientific skepticism differs from philosophical skepticism, which questions humans' ability to claim any knowledge about the nature of the world and how they perceive it, and the similar but distinct methodological skepticism, which is a systematic process of being skeptical about the truth of one's beliefs.
Zé Arigó was a faith healer and proponent of psychic surgery. He claimed to have performed psychic surgery with his hands or with simple kitchen utensils while in a mediumistic trance, therefore he was also known as the Surgeon of the Rusty Knife. During his operations he supposedly embodied the spirit of Dr. Adolf Fritz.
Psychic surgery is a pseudoscientific medical fraud in which practitioners create the illusion of performing surgery with their bare hands and use sleight of hand, fake blood, and animal parts to convince the patient that diseased lesions have been removed and that the incision has spontaneously healed.
Skeptic, colloquially known as Skeptic magazine, is a quarterly science education and science advocacy magazine published internationally by The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs. First published in 1992, the magazine had a circulation of over 40,000 subscribers in 2000.
In parapsychology, psychometry, also known as token-object reading, or psychoscopy, is a form of extrasensory perception characterized by the claimed ability to glean accurate knowledge of an object's history by making physical contact with that object. Supporters assert that an object may have an energy field that transfers knowledge regarding that object's history.
Spoon bending is the deformation of objects, especially metal cutlery, purportedly by paranormal means. It is a common theme for magic tricks, which use a variety of methods to produce the effect. Performers commonly use misdirection to draw their audience's attention away while the spoon is manually bent. Another method uses a metal spoon that has been prepared by repeatedly bending the spoon back and forth, weakening the material. Applying light pressure will then cause it to bend or break.
The Pigasus Award is the name of an annual tongue-in-cheek award that was presented by noted skeptic James Randi. The award seeks to expose parapsychological, paranormal or psychic frauds that Randi had noted over the previous year. Randi usually made his announcements of the awards from the previous year on April 1.
Milbourne Christopher was a prominent American illusionist, magic historian, and author.
Pieter van der Hurk known as Peter Hurkos, was a Dutchman who claimed he manifested extrasensory perception (ESP) after recovering from a head injury and coma caused by a fall from a ladder when aged 30. He came to the United States in 1956 for psychic experiments, later becoming a professional psychic who sought clues in the Manson Family murders and the Boston Strangler case. With the help of businessman Henry Belk and parapsychologist Andrija Puharich, Hurkos became a popular entertainer known for performing psychic feats before live and television audiences.
Jacques Aymar-Vernay was a stonemason from the village of Saint Marcellin in Dauphiné, France, who reintroduced dowsing with a divining rod into popular usage in Europe. He claimed to have discovered springs and treasures hiding in the earth using his rod, and even tracked down criminals using it. According to some accounts, when he neared the scene of a murder using a divining rod, he would break into a sweat, shudder and, in some instances, even faint.
Theodore Judd Serios was a Chicago bellhop known for his production of "thoughtographs" on Polaroid film. He claimed these were produced using psychic powers. Serios's psychic claims were bolstered by the endorsement of a Denver-based psychiatrist, Jule Eisenbud (1908–1999), who published a book named The World of Ted Serios: "Thoughtographic" Studies of an Extraordinary Mind (1967) arguing that Serios's purported psychic abilities were genuine. However, professional photographers and skeptics have argued that Serios and his photographs were fraudulent.
Joe Nickell is an American skeptic and investigator of the paranormal.
Rosemary Altea is a British author who describes herself as a medium and healer. She has appeared on various programs, including Larry King Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and featured in the series premiere of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! alongside mentalist Mark Edward. She has written six books and claims to have a "healing foundation".
An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural is a 1995 book by the conjuror and paranormal investigator James Randi, with a foreword by Arthur C. Clarke. It serves as a reference for a variety of topics within pseudoscience, the paranormal, and hoaxes. The Encyclopedia received generally positive reviews. In 2006, Randi made the work available free online.
A pet psychic is a person who claims to communicate by psychic means with animals, either living or dead. The term psychic refers to the claimed ability to perceive information unavailable to the normal senses by what is claimed to be extrasensory perception. It is the opinion of scientific skeptics that people believe in such abilities due to cognitive biases and the use of various techniques by the practitioners, including intentional deception.
The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge was an offer by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) to pay out one million U.S. dollars to anyone who could demonstrate a supernatural or paranormal ability under agreed-upon scientific testing criteria. A version of the challenge was first issued in 1964. Over a thousand people applied to take it, but none was successful. The challenge was terminated in 2015.
Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California carried out research on various phenomena characterized by the term parapsychology from 1972 until 1991. Early studies indicating that phenomena such as remote viewing and psychokinesis could be scientifically studied were published in such mainstream journals as Proceedings of the IEEE and Nature. This attracted the sponsorship of such groups as NASA and The Central Intelligence Agency.
Psychic Blues: Confessions of a Conflicted Medium is a memoir by Mark Edward about his time working as a psychic entertainer. Published in 2012, the book covers Edward's controversial career as both a performer and a skeptical activist.
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