An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural by James Randi

An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural Reviews

• 
  Stefan Mitev

  Легендарният илюзионист Джеймс Ранди почина през 2020 г., на 92-годишна възраст. Той е един от основателите на скептичното движение в САЩ и основният противник на шарлатани, твърдящи, че притежават свръхестествени способности, като например Юри Гелър. Джеймс Ранди разкрива на широката публика тайната на "гадателя" Питър Попов, а именно - малка слушалка в ухото, чрез която диктиват отговори на зададените въпроси.
  
  Джеймс Ранди оставя след себе си огромно литературно наследство. Преди време бях чел книгата му за Юри Гелър, в която обяснява как можем да огъваме лъжици и да "четем мисли" на хората без да притежаваме магически способности. Енциклопедията на твърденията и измамите има по-различен стил. По азбучен ред са подредени различни теми, които имат отношение към свръхестественото. Голяма част от нещата вече знаех, от минали книги. Припомних си малко известни концепции в изкуството на илюзията, които се използват от шарлатаните за залъгване на лаиците. Ето няколко интересни извадки:
  
  *Писателят Артър Конан Дойл е литературен баща на свръхрационалния детектив Шерлок Холмс, но в реалния живот се е увличал по спиритуализъм и мистификации. След смъртта на сина си Конан Дойл започва да посещава сеанси на медиуми, които (уж) комуникират с духовете на починалите. Известният писател става за смях след като публично заявява в истинността на няколко снимки, показващи истински феи. Бързо става ясно, че снимките са резултат от не особено добре направен монтаж, при това от непълнолетни момичета. Може сами да ги видите, ако напишете в Google - Cottingley Fairies.
  
  *Житните кръгове не са тайни послания от извънземни. Странните структури всъщност могат да бъдат създадени изключително лесно дори от хора с минимален опит. Окултните феномени достигат дори до Унгария, където ��а обявени от "експертна комисия" за дело на извънземни. Само няколко дни след това истинските автори на житните кръгове (хора от плът и кръв) показват запис на своите дейности, довели до създаване на красивите формации. Екипът от "експерти" за пореден път става за смях с липсата си на рационално мислене.
  
  *Голямата Стъпка (Big foot)/Йети/Саскуоч не съществува. Това едва ли е изненада, но все още има хора, които вярват в автентичността на запис, който уж показва косматото същество. Най-правдоподобното описание е, че филмът с лошо качество всъщност показва човек, облечен в специален костюм. Феновете на конспиративни теории не вярват в подобно обяснение, но експеримент доказва, че хората не могат да различат поведението и движенията на истински маймуни и примати от това на хора в костюми. Филмите "Планетата на маймуните" и "2001 - Космическа одисея" включват хора в костюми, които играят роля на съответните животни, но огромната част от публиката въобще и не подозира това.
  
  *Джеймс Ранди разкрива и част от триковете на илюзионистите, които често се използват при техни представления. "Четенето на мисли" не е особено трудно, ако се познават тънкостите на "студеното четене" (cold reading) и ако се използват принципите "One ahead" и "Swami gimmick". Лесно е да заблудиш хората, когато те самите искат да повярват, че свръхестественото е около нас.
  
  Енциклопедията не е за всеки, особено с азбучната си подредба. Но ако имате интерес към изкуството на илюзионистите, убеждаването на тълпата и рационалното мислене, то книгата ще ви разкрие неподозирани истини. Влезте във Фейсбук групата В реалността, където често обсъждаме подобни теми.
  
• 
  Allison

  Excellent stuff! A fascinating and funny look at so-called occult and supernatural occurrences and abilities. Provides an excellent grounding in the basics of the spiritualist movement, as well as discussions of numerous "psychic" and "unexplainable" phenomena. Randi balances his (occasionally somewhat mean-spirited--no pun intended) criticisms of the people who believe in this nonsense with a far more severe pen-lashing of the self-aggrandizing, manipulative, greedy sorts who prey upon their vulnerable audiences. Randi peppers the text with punchlines and witty asides, and it makes for a very engaging and amusing read. Also, thanks to this book, my husband has given me permission to name our firstborn Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombast von Hohenheim (more commonly known as Paracelsus), whom Randi describes as "a superstitious, argumentative, offensive braggart who alienated everyone with whom he came in contact" (seems like an excellent namesake!)
  
  I just had to check my use of namesake, thinking I may have used it incorrectly. To some, I have--but by OED standards, a namesake is just something with the same name as another and can be used for either the name-source or the name-recipient. Likewise for eponym. (Thanks, Wikipedia!)
  
  Ahem. Anyhow, Randi also describes Paracelsus as follows: "A natural wanderer and vagabond, this scholar managed to lose every friend he ever made, and his superiority complex soon earned him a terrible reputation . . . well earned, as indicated in the preface to one of his books. He wrote: 'In this midcentury, monarchy of all the arts pertains to me, Theophrastus Paracelsus, prince of philosophy and medicine. For to this am I chosen by God that I may extinguish all fantasies of all far-fetched, false and putative worlds and presumptuous words, be they of Aristotle, Galen, Avicenna, Mesue, or any of their adherents.'" So, yes--a fine fellow to name your child after. We'll call the kid Theo.
  
  Also, Randi notes that Pythagoras almost certainly did not create the Pythagorean theorem. Say what?! I love books like this. Also of note is the amusing easter egg entry for Martinet Jardinier of Nebra-Ska (Martin Gardner). Hee.
• 
  Sarah-Anne

  James Randi, professional magician and skeptic, has put together an encyclopedia with something for everyone. Yes, no matter who you are, unless you're a thoroughgoing atheist, Randi is bound to offend your beliefs at one point or another. As Arthur C. Clarke says in his introduction, the book "should be issued with a mental health warning, as many readers--if they are brave enough to face unwelcome facts--will find some of their cherished beliefs totally demolished." Randi is dryly sarcastic about hundreds of topics, including Catholic relics, speaking in tongues, Jehovah's Witnesses, yoga, the origins of Mormonism, dowsing, magnetic hills, UFOs, and every spiritualist of the past several centuries. A typical entry defines a nymph as: "in the real world, the immature form of the dragonfly and certain other insects, or a young woman with robust sexual interests. Take your choice." Comprehensive, exasperating and exasperated, witty, and unsparing, Randi's encyclopedia provides more debunking per page than any other resource. --Mary Ellen Curtin
• 
  Joe

  I am reading this because it is part of Scott Adams reading list.
  
  This book is very interesting, to learn about all of the various silly things that people have believed in over the years.
  
  While the author is critical of the evidence gathering ability of people who believe in these things, he does not usually use any evidence to prove that something is ineffective and comments like "which is clearly made up" "and other similar nonsense" means that he is not using the same levels of proof and evidence that he demands of others.
  
  Also comments like "but x has since been proven as a liar" with no citations or references are unhelpful.
  
  Had the author used some citations in the book this could have been 5 star.
• 
  Andrew Garvey

  Picked up in a charity shop for £1.99, I hadn't planned on actually reading this cover-to-cover but Randi's sneerily amusing dismissals of all manner of flapdoodle and nonsense are addictive after a while. Along the way, he skewers everything from crystal skulls to Hollow Earth theories, from the Bermuda Triangle to Nostradamus and all sorts of minor scams and scammers.
  
  True, his constant digs at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle seemingly every single time he gets to take a shot at spiritualists and spiritualism (which he gets plenty of opportunity to do) becomes more than a little redundant but that probably isn't a problem if you're just dipping in and out of it.
  
  At times, the entries are frustratingly brief and Randi's assertions are made with about as much evidence (though surely far more rationality) as whatever it is he's savaging, leaving some of them feeling unfinished and nothing like as authoritative as they could be. But these are minor complaints when so much of the book is as funny as it is valuable.
  
  Two appendices, one detailing and debunking the Curse of King Tut and the other, in which forty-nine different 'end of the world' prophecies are dismissed and derided are great fun. Perhaps the book's biggest failing (aside from, as Arthur C. Clarke notes in the foreword, no entry tearing the utter gibberish of creationism to bits) is one even slightly of it's own making. Randi's encyclopedia of a world in which people will seemingly believe any old nonsense was published in 1995, before the overwhelming majority of people had got hold of the internet.
  
  It needs an updated second edition, desperately.
• 
  Jackson

  Many entries of interesting sorts, Randi is best when giving the historical facts, but sometimes falls into judgment [I suppose an argument could be made that simply including the subject would count that way], reminding me of the way the Skeptical Inquirer 'debunks' things. Still, entertaining and educational when one does not forget the salt. Garrett Vance?
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  Eugene Galt

  This is an interesting, amusing, and accessible introduction the subject. Unfortunately, it is marred by factual errors and by the author's failure to distinguish witty commentary from gratuitous nastiness.
• 
  Nupur

  Very entertaining and full of sarcasm
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  Katelyn

  Thorough, informative.... but somehow both dry and unnecessarily snarky.
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  Mahdi Hossain

  The most fun I ever had reading an encyclopedia
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  Johnny

  One of the best consulting material regarding supernatural myths that we can disprove easily with documented historical information about the origin of them.
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  Nancy

  This is another of those books that I was attracted to because of it's alphabetical arrangement, but the information within is fascinating--from why people are attracted to the symmetry in natural formations like crystals to the mandrake plant which is related to the potato and often grows in the shape of a human body. When it is drawn from the ground, it's supposed to emit a horrendous human-like shriek that will drive a human insane. And that's just a couple of things it covers--it also delves into witches, Sasquatch (we're familiar with him up here in the Northwest), UFOs, unicorns and so on . . . . a great book for mystics and magic lovers everywhere.
• 
  Kym Robinson

  As always James Randi has a cutting and clever style with his approach to the super natural and its many bunk artists that have both existed and still exist to this day. His intelligent and at times witty writing style makes for this seemingly 'dry' encyclopedia a fun and interesting read.
  
  Comprehensive in its broad context while also providing just enough information so as to be an introductory level read so as to help inform and inspire further reading on much of the subject matter.
  
  Whether you actually do believe in many of these exotic and extra rationale beliefs or are a skeptic, then this is a book worth reading.
  
  82 %
• 
  Ronel

  I have always been intrigued with people's fascination with the occult, the paranormal and everything that goes bump in the night. But the more I delved into it, the more I became skeptical of the of these phenomena.
  
  This book is a valuable resource and the ebook of the encyclopedia as it appears on James Randi's website randi.org. I loved the explanations and definitions.
  
  I had two gripes though: There was not an index which linked to the contends and two, I wanted more. Glutton, I know.
  
  
• 
  Leonard Pierce

  Inessential Randi; this is basically just a slight compendium of some of the more famous bits of historical buncombe. Still, it's fine if it's the only such reference you have, and Randi lets himself get nasty from time to time.
• 
  Karla

  Entertaining, enlightening, and hilarious commentary on some of the biggest examples of bullshit to make headlines. Should be in every home.
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  Greg

  Highly enjoyable, but biased and Randi's mocking comments are frequently amusing
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  Robert

  Great as a reference book or just to dip into, not really a sit and read.
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  Tim Chizmar

  Love this guy
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  Vicki Cole

  A vital resource for any scholar of any import, or a fun romp through the alphabetized bullshit that is one of societies greatest weeknesses. Only you can decide!
• 
  Patrick McFarland

  A must have for cynics and skeptics alike.
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  Jennie Lichfield

  as the other readers have suggested, an index would be a good idea. Otherwise good material and worth having as a 'look things up' kind of book.
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  Joshua

  lacklustre execution... would like it to have had more entries, more details, more "how they did it" secrets revealed... and better formatting on the kindle paperwhite
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  Marko

  I have the german edition.