About Randi's Prize the book - Randi's Prize

I'm Robert McLuhan, and this is the website for my book Randi's Prize: What sceptics say about the paranormal, why they are wrong and why it matters. You can read excerpts here.
The site also provides extra information about the topics discussed in the book, with descriptions of the academic research and links to online articles (click ‘research’ under the banner).
The blog contains selected posts first published on Paranormalia (www.paranormalia.com), commenting on books and events that relate to psi research, near-death experiences, past-life memories, etc, with special reference to scientific controversies and the wider social, spiritual and religious contexts.

About Randi's Prize the book

Randi's Prize argues the case for the existence of genuine psychic phenomena.

The 'prize' of the title is the Million Dollar Challenge offered by stage magician James Randi for anyone who passes his test for psychic powers. So far, Randi says, no one has even passed the preliminaries. This confirms the belief held by sceptics and many scientists that so-called 'psychics' are delusional or dishonest.

Randi's Prize agrees that this is sometimes the case, but sympathises with scientists who have investigated paranormal claims in depth and consider some of what they have observed to be genuinely anomalous. It pays close attention to the arguments of well-known sceptics like Randi, Ray Hyman, Richard Wiseman and Susan Blackmore. However it considers that these fall short of a full explanation.

Randi's Prize proposes that we develop a more mature and discerning approach to these hugely challenging issues.

You can read excerpts from the book on Amazon, and a chapter on near-death experiences and children's memories of a past life here.

Feel free to get in touch at robertmcluhan@gmail.com if you have comments or questions.

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SOME REVIEWER COMMENTS
‘A brisk, bracing look at this continuing controversy, exhaustively researched .. a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in parapsychology and its critics.’‘
‘‘Packed with accurate information while at the same time surprisingly engaging and fun to read.’‘
‘‘This is one book that gives a completely objective review of skeptical debunking, and spells out in detail a clear pattern of chicanery which pervades a well-funded and organized campaign against all psi research.’‘

‘These disturbing phenomena seem to deny all our usual scientific ideas. How we should like to discredit them! Unfortunately the statistical evidence, at least for telepathy, is overwhelming. It is very difficult to rearrange one’s ideas so as to fit these new facts in.’ Alan Turing, computer scientist.

‘I have noticed that if a small group of intelligent people, not supposed to be impressed by psychic research, get together and such matters are mentioned, and all feel that they are in safe and sane company, usually from a third to a half of them begin to relate exceptions. That is to say, each opens a little residual closet and takes out some incident which happened to them or to some member of their family, or to some friend whom they trust and which they think odd and extremely puzzling.’ Walter Prince, psychic researcher.

‘Science seems to me to teach in the highest and strongest manner the great truth which is embodied in the Christian conception of entire surrender to the will of God. Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abysses nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.’ Thomas Henry Huxley

When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. Arthur C. Clarke

We can always immunize a theory against refutation. There are many such immunizing tactics; and if nothing better occurs to us, we can always deny the objectivity – or even the existence – of the refuting observation. Those intellectuals who are more interested in being right than in learning something interesting but unexpected are by no means rare exceptions. Karl Popper, on the defenders of materialism.

The difficulty really is psychological and exists in the perpetual torment that results from your saying to yourself, ‘But how can it be like that?’ which is a reflection of uncontrolled but utterly vain desire to see it in terms of something familiar….Do not keep saying to yourself…‘But how can it be like that?’ because you will get…into a blind alley from which nobody has yet escaped. Richard Fenyman

If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one - the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative. Arthur C. Clarke.

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