Secrets of The Psychics (Part 1 of 6)
-
0:01 - 0:03... magician and investigator of
psychic phenomena. -
0:03 - 0:05Don't laugh;
this is science. -
0:05 - 0:08For 25 years, Randi has
explored the world of the -
0:08 - 0:14paranormal and tested
claims of supernatural powers. -
0:14 - 0:17Now, Randi journeys to Russia to
challenge psychics never -
0:17 - 0:20before seen in the west.
-
0:20 - 0:23After decades of research, can
we finally discover -
0:23 - 0:26the secrets of the psychics?
-
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-
1:17 - 1:19From the earliest days,
man has believed that -
1:19 - 1:27dreams and the supernatural are
in some way real. -
1:27 - 1:30All over the world
psychics demonstrate -
1:30 - 1:32powers that their
followers accept as -
1:32 - 1:35modern-day miracles.
-
1:41 - 1:44Here, in Moscow, psychic
healers treat the sick -
1:44 - 1:48with chants and incantations.
-
1:54 - 1:57And, in the Philippines,
psychic surgeons perform -
1:57 - 2:04operations without knives.
-
2:04 - 2:06A metal spoon turns liquid
in the hands of a psychic -
2:06 - 2:10performing in Britain.
-
2:10 - 2:12This is happening.
-
2:12 - 2:14Nearly everywhere,
fortune-tellers find the -
2:14 - 2:22future in cards, crystal
balls, and palms. -
2:22 - 2:24Three out of four Americans say
-
2:24 - 2:28they've had a psychic experience.
-
2:28 - 2:33Today, you can even find
a psychic at the mall. -
2:33 - 2:35Purveyors of the supernatural
have created -
2:35 - 2:39a multi-million dollar industry.
-
2:39 - 2:43But, are psychic phenomena what
they appear to be? -
2:47 - 2:51My name is James Randi,
the Amazing Randi. -
2:51 - 2:53I'm a magician.
-
2:53 - 2:55Okay, I have here a pen...
-
2:55 - 2:58For the past 25 years,
I've been investigating -
2:58 - 3:00the claims of psychics.
-
3:00 - 3:02A psychokinetic
demonstration of a -
3:02 - 3:02supernatural nature.
-
3:02 - 3:03Watch this.
-
3:03 - 3:05Psychics often say that an
object can be moved using -
3:05 - 3:09only the power of the mind.
-
3:09 - 3:11And it moves in a miracle
fashion like that. -
3:11 - 3:13Isn't that amazing stuff?
-
3:13 - 3:15Stop!
-
3:15 - 3:17Magicians can produce
the same effect. -
3:17 - 3:21Of course, I was just
blowing on the pen. -
3:21 - 3:23But, a little suggestion
and a little distraction -
3:23 - 3:28go a long way.
-
3:28 - 3:30As a magician, there's
nothing I like more than a -
3:30 - 3:35well-executed illusion.
-
3:35 - 3:38Just look at what my
friend Jamy Ian Swiss can do. -
3:42 - 3:44There are those who use
magic tricks for more than -
3:44 - 3:45entertainment; they
convince people that what -
3:45 - 3:51they do is real, that
they have special powers. -
3:51 - 3:54Magical thinking, you
know, is a slippery slope. -
3:54 - 3:56Sometimes it's harmless
enough, but other times -
3:56 - 3:57it's quite dangerous.
-
3:57 - 4:00Personally, I'm opposed to
that kind of fakery, so I -
4:00 - 4:02have no reservations at
all about exposing these -
4:02 - 4:08people and their illusions
for what they really are. -
4:08 - 4:10I've investigated the
claims of hundreds of -
4:10 - 4:12psychics.
-
4:12 - 4:14People aren't always happy
with my conclusions, but I -
4:14 - 4:17do have my supporters.
-
4:17 - 4:21In 1986, I was honored
with a MacArthur Award. -
4:21 - 4:24Unfortunately, most of the prize
money went into defending myself -
4:24 - 4:27against a series of libel suits related to one of my
-
4:27 - 4:33earliest and most controversial investigations.
-
4:33 - 4:35The subject was Uri
Geller, a young Israeli -
4:35 - 4:41who claimed to have
supernatural powers. -
4:41 - 4:45His remarkable affinity
for metal and his psychic -
4:45 - 4:50abilities are well
documented all over the world. -
4:50 - 4:54In the early 1970s, Geller
became a superstar, -
4:54 - 4:57the most famous psychic
in the world. -
4:57 - 4:59Okay, just a second, look
at me. -
4:59 - 5:02Visualize everything that you
drew once more. -
5:02 - 5:07He claimed to read
people's minds. -
5:07 - 5:08I'm going to
show what I got. -
5:08 - 5:15Anything wrong, then I'm wrong,
but it really came very
strongly. -
5:15 - 5:19It could be two mountains
with a round thing on or -
5:19 - 5:21two people - I , uh, I...
-
5:21 - 5:22Can I show?
-
5:22 - 5:23Yeah.
-
5:23 - 5:25Am I wrong?
-
5:25 - 5:25You're right.
-
5:25 - 5:26I'm right.
-
5:26 - 5:27Good.
-
5:27 - 5:30That's what I got.
-
5:35 - 5:38He claimed to bend
keys with his mind. -
5:38 - 5:40I know you're going to think
this is a set-up, friends, -
5:40 - 5:42and old Tom has never
conned you on anything. -
5:42 - 5:46This - this guy is bending
this key by rubbing it. -
5:46 - 5:48It was bent at about, uh,
a one-degree angle when -
5:48 - 5:51you started out, and it's
coming up on 45 degrees now. -
5:51 - 5:53It's still moving.
-
5:53 - 5:53Are you thinking, "Bend?"
-
5:53 - 5:54Is that what you're doing?
-
5:54 - 5:55Yes, I'm saying, "bend."
-
5:55 - 5:56Hard, soft?
-
5:56 - 5:58I'm saying, "Bend,
bend, bend!" -
5:58 - 5:59And sometimes I
say, "Bend, baby!" -
5:59 - 6:04But, Geller was best known
for his way with spoons. -
6:04 - 6:05Hold the tip of this
spoon very, very gently. -
6:05 - 6:06Okay.
-
6:06 - 6:08What I'm doing is I'm
trying to melt the metal down. -
6:08 - 6:14It's like feeling...
-
6:14 - 6:14It's going...
-
6:14 - 6:16Yeah.
-
6:16 - 6:19I did not force it at
all in my hands.... -
6:19 - 6:21There's no force at all.
-
6:21 - 6:22Look.
-
6:22 - 6:23The whole...
-
6:23 - 6:24You see it's becoming...
-
6:24 - 6:25... fall off.
-
6:25 - 6:27It's - touch it here
where I'm stroking it. -
6:27 - 6:28There is absolutely no...
-
6:28 - 6:31That is eerie!
-
6:31 - 6:33I have a wisdom tooth...
-
6:33 - 6:36As you can see, the metal
is beginning to crack here. -
6:36 - 6:37It's breaking.
-
6:37 - 6:37Yeah.
-
6:37 - 6:40Look, it's becoming -
it's like putty wax. -
6:40 - 6:41You see?
-
6:41 - 6:42Look.
-
6:42 - 6:45And keep - keep
stroking it here. -
6:45 - 6:48You see - don't, don't you see,
the crack is becoming bigger? -
6:48 - 6:49Yep.
-
6:49 - 6:52I melt the metal
down so - so... -
6:52 - 6:55I want it to bend.
I just say, "Bend." -
6:55 - 6:55You melted it.
-
6:55 - 6:57Now, wait a minute,
wait a minute. -
6:57 - 7:01Keep stroking your keys
more and people at home, -
7:01 - 7:03want your watches to start
working, or if there is a -
7:03 - 7:06radio that is broken,
want it to start working. -
7:06 - 7:09Television broken - just want it
- all those broken things. -
7:09 - 7:09Now...
-
7:09 - 7:12What Geller was saying,
effectively, was that -
7:12 - 7:16wanting things
could make them so. -
7:16 - 7:21I felt that claim
had to be challenged. -
7:21 - 7:23The media, even some
scientists, were taking -
7:23 - 7:26the Geller phenomenon
seriously, so I decided to -
7:26 - 7:28show, for starters, that I
could at least duplicate -
7:28 - 7:31these effects using trickery.
-
7:31 - 7:33Now, a key can be displayed in
such a way -
7:33 - 7:35that it looks like it's
bending. -
7:35 - 7:38For example, just by
stroking it, -
7:38 - 7:46you'd swear that it's bending
right up before your eyes. -
7:46 - 7:49Magicians call this
process ratcheting. -
7:49 - 7:54But, to do this, the key
has to be bent in advance. -
7:54 - 7:57The hard part, of course,
is how to go about bending -
7:57 - 8:00the key without letting
them catch you. -
8:00 - 8:02Now, there's several ways.
-
8:02 - 8:04I could, for example, take it
and press the tip -
8:04 - 8:06against the top of the table.
-
8:06 - 8:07That would do it.
-
8:07 - 8:09Or, in shifting my chair
backwards or forwards, as -
8:09 - 8:12I just did, I could've
taken it and dropped it -
8:12 - 8:15below the level of the
table and pressed the tip -
8:15 - 8:16on the chair I'm sitting
on, -
8:16 - 8:19which is exactly what I just did.
-
8:19 - 8:22Did I fool ya?
-
8:25 - 8:26Mentalists have
duplicating hidden -
8:26 - 8:29drawings for years.
-
8:29 - 8:31If Mr. Geller had chosen to use
trickery, -
8:31 - 8:34he could've used any of a
number of techniques. -
8:34 - 8:36One favorite involves turning
your back and -
8:36 - 8:39covering your eyes while
the drawing is being made. -
8:39 - 8:42Now, I've always wondered
why you would cover your -
8:42 - 8:46eyes while your
back is turned. -
8:52 - 8:55But, melting metal is
something else again. -
8:55 - 9:02It's done something like
this, and it gets soft. -
9:02 - 9:11So, I say to it, "Bend,
bend, bend," and it bends. -
9:11 - 9:15Of course, it does take
a little preparation. -
9:15 - 9:18In fact, it takes a
lot of preparation. -
9:18 - 9:20Now, this isn't proof
positive that other -
9:20 - 9:23demonstrations aren't the
result of supernatural power, -
9:23 - 9:27but isn't this a more reasonable explanation?
-
9:27 - 9:30And then, of course,
there was Mr. Geller's -
9:30 - 9:32appearance on The Tonight Show.
-
9:32 - 9:36I got a call after they
booked him to appear. -
9:40 - 9:42Will you welcome,
please, Uri Geller. -
9:47 - 9:50Johnny had been a magician
himself and was skeptical. -
9:50 - 9:54I was asked to help
prevent any trickery. -
9:54 - 9:55Nice to see you.
- Title:
- Secrets of The Psychics (Part 1 of 6)
- Description:
-
Check out Supernatural drama series:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007m042Are psychics power is real or fake? This is a great documentary that try to answer that question.
Are some of us born with mysterious powers, able to move objects at will, read a person's thoughts, even cure physical ailments with the power of the mind? Follow master magician James Randi as he uncovers the secrets about psychics.
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 09:55
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