The best comment I’ve seen so far on the affair of the telephone telepathy study, and the predictable moans about how scientists must keep an open mind etc. etc., is in today’s letters page of the Times:
As a member of the Magic Circle for 55 years, may I offer some advice to the British Association for the Advancement of Science (report, Sept 6, letters, Sept 7)? In any assessment of claims of telepathic or paranormal powers, the panel should always include a magician with specialised knowledge of this branch of his art.
The occult committee of the Magic Circle for many years offered a reward if any such phenomena could be shown to be genuine, but this reward was never claimed and the committee was disbanded.
As any magician will tell you, scientists are some of the easiest people to fool.
Leave a Reply