One of the many activities of the James Randi Educational Foundation is the study of the supernatural. Last summer, dowser Connie Sonne agreed to be tested in public. This video can now be seen on YouTube.
Most of us are raised with at least a latent belief that there is “something” beyond that which we can experience directly. That belief is not false. Electricity, magnetism, radio waves, X-rays… are things that we cannot actually see or directly experience, but we can experience their effects in a demonstrable and predictable way. Therefore, we know that they are real.
These powers are now so well understood and used in such predictable ways that no sane person still doubts their existence, and when we say that there must be “something more” this is not what we are talking about. We are referring to the “paranormal” or the “supernatural”. These are usually defined or described in vague and loose terms and that makes testing them not an easy task.
This is one of the tasks the James Randi Educational Foundation specialises in. In order to motivate people to come forward to be tested by them, the Foundation is ready to award one million US dollars to any person who can demonstrate any psychic, supernatural or paranormal ability under satisfactory observing conditions.
The hard part here is to set up a test protocol that excludes as much as possible the potential influence of powers other than the one to be tested (including mere coincidence) while at the same time giving the person who is to be tested a fair chance to demonstrate her/his powers.
The challenge is taken in two steps. First, there is a preliminary test. If that test is successful, the final test is done. Both these tests are done in accordance with a test protocol set up by the Foundation in agreement with the person who is to be tested. Proposals go back and forth until both the Foundation and the candidate are in complete agreement that the protocol is both practical and fair.
Last summer, dowser Connie Sonne agreed to be tested in a way that was a first for the Foundation: in the presence of an audience of around 800 people. This is what the first video is about. To be honest, the video is about as exciting as a slow motion of drying paint, but it is nevertheless more than worth watching, because it shows how a proper test is done.
Before watching the video of the test, it is a good idea to look up the protocol as it was agreed between the James Randi Educational Foundation and Connie Sonne.
People who desperately need the paranormal to exist have often accused James Randi of faking it all and not playing it fair, setting up tests in such a way that failure is the only possible outcome. For these people, the test video is definitely worth seeing, for it will be very clear that this was a fair test.
Although the test protocols are set up in complete agreement with the testees, these usually change their lines after having failed the test and they tend to come up with all types of rationalisations of why the test was unfair to them or why it failed. Connie Sonne was no exception to this as can be seen in the video of the press conference that was held mere minutes after the test, but she certainly remained
The video of the press conference is hard to follow because a simple technical problem (no cables!) had forced them to record the sound of the speakers at the press conference, but it is worth listening to for it has quite a bit of information on the procedures the James Randi Educational Foundation follows to screen applicants and test them.
The fact that Connie Sonne failed the test does not prove that paranormal abilities do not exist. It does not even prove that she has no paranormal abilities. It does prove, however, that these abilities utterly failed her during this test.
If you are interested in learning about how a proper test of paranormal abilities is set up, both these videos are worth your time.
