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Matter of fact, send Randi this way...
James, I want you to rub the back of a spoon as hard as you can with your thumb for 17 seconds, bend the spoon with the ease that Mr. Rohde did, and post a video of it.
I triple-dog dare you.
If someone wanted to do this convincingly, the spoon would have to be tested by an independent third party or with a vise and some weights to show it's unaltered. Then, without cuts or edits, and showing the spoon at all times, it should bend without being touched. That would be convincing. Problem is, nobody can do it because spoonbending is simply a stage magic trick.
Jamie
However, I'm not quick to discount it. Not only do I have an incredibly open mind but I have conducted my own experiments in the past that worked.
When I was about fourteen, I watched an episode of "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" concerning hypnosis used in place of anethesia for operations.
I practiced on my little brother and his friends, hypnotizing them so their hand or foot would go numb. Then I added my own special instructions and woke them with the directions that when I counted down to one they would begin to have feeling regained. That way they could test it out themselves.
You should have seen my dad and his friends trying to elicit reactions from them as they pinched their hand. "You can't feel this?" It wasn't so funny once I counted down and they could feel the pain from the inflicted wounds.
Of course kids are more believing than adults, making it easier in my opinion to hypnotize them. I tried it out on older friends and family with no success, though they did like the feeling of relaxation.
My point is that you can't achieve anything that is considered unbelivable until you can open your mind to the possibility. You don't have to throw yourself into something without consideration but to always be skeptical means that you will never see nor experience the wonders that the mind is truly capable of.
It was when i was a little younger (12, 13) and had spent an hour or so watching this uri geller special (a famous spoon bender) and became so convinced that i would be able to do it I went upstairs and practiced on a key i had in my pocket. I must've been concentrating for over an hour (a very long time for a kid!) and thought i hadn't got anywhere when i suddenly checked the key and it was twisted in a spiral shape. It was so exciting I ran down to tell my dad, but of course he played skeptic though to this day can't decide 'how' i must've done it. It was twisted so sharply in a spiral, and was a thick key, there is no way it could've been done without specialist equipment. The fact i was trying to bend it seemed irrelevant as clearly my concentration had done something, albeit not exactly what i was aiming for. Rather dissapointingly i have not been able to do this since, and as i get older it seems less and less likely to me, even though i was there and remember doing it!!
I don't know if uri geller or the bloke in the video are faking or not - but i'll tell you one thing, it is possible to do.
One question... who couldn't bend a spoon like he did? When I first watched the video I seriously thought it was a joke, and laughed at how funny it was that everyone was expecting it to just bend, but he fooled us and just bent it with his hands. I'm shocked to think that anyone could take that seriously, and think it involved some sort of "psychic" energy. WHO COULDN'T DO THAT? Spoons are incredibly weak, especially such a flimsy one like he has there (and which has a huge head to grab onto, and also after looking at it again has obvious distortions and a very strange look to it's handle just bellow the head, which are probably the result of preweakening it by bending it). My joke about ice cream is completely true. When I was younger we had a big spoon like that that we used for an ice cream scoop, and it bent all the time with very little force at all. This video is a joke, intentional or not.
One slight flaw though. You used your hand to bend it..... it's quite obvious when you actually grab hold of it with your other hand and start twisting it around?
It's like me saying i can move a pencil with my mind.
1. look at it for a bit and pretend to 'meditate'
2. put my left hand close to it and look like i'm concentrating hard.
3. then suddenly stick my right hand out and flick it across the room with my index finger...
WTF .... this is so much bullshit. :$
Sorry, just had to say it.
The only 'mystical' thing here is that given how easy it is to fake such things using video (such as doing a better job of "pre weakening" the spoon) why this video was so bad. In fact, it's so obviously fake I'm wondering whether this was supposed to be ironic humor and I just missed the sarcasm.
Folks, if you honestly believe that this video shows a man bending a spoon with his MIND rather than with his THUMB then you are only fooling yourself.
But hey, it looks cool
> with something so mundane as simple physics and/or
> mere trickery he should be able to do the same thing
> with a crowbar or an I-beam, n'est-ce pas?
Who said it has nothing to do with something so mundane as simple physics? Were you responding to me? I said no such thing, so if you are, you're responding to something that wasn't really said. Simply stating the obvious fact that rubbing metal with your thumb isn't enough to make it "limp" is in no way, shape or form saying it must be "magic". And by and large, I don't see where he claimed that it is. I see him saying it's "mind over matter", but not in any sense other than the same sense that makes people able to lose weight or do 200 pushups, things like that. Now I -do- see where he says he believes he can -learn- to bend it by telekinesis, and that has yet to be proven. But I don't see where he claims anything really all that spectacular or unbelievable about this particular video.
However, bending a spoon with your hands rather than with your mind is terribly dissapointing.
What I do know is that one of the skeptics must have a video camera and a flimsy spoon.
Let's see some demonstrations of how this is faked.
feel the fork shannan...
How thick was the spoon?
The question is simple: how thick was the spoon that you bent in the video posted at the top of this blog entry?
Can you answer simply and directly?
Your fingers in the video appear to be about 1/2 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick. If the spoon in the video was actually 3/8 inches thick as you say, it would appear almost as thick as your finger. But it's clearly not.
The tip of the handle appears to have approximately the same width as your fingers, but again, the thickness is clearly no more than a small fraction of the 3/8ths inch that you claim.
Do you understand the meaning of the word "thickness", Mr Rohde?
Should be NO problem, right?
have a good one!
I suggest (I made this suggestion above) that everyone reading this spend several bucks on a variety of cheep spoons, and “have at them.” You’ll be surprised at the results.
This is, of course, the usual bull. It's just sleigh-of-hand. And not especially well done.
Thank you for your reply..
While you're at, why not take and post a clear close up image (JPG will do) of that spoon. Show the decoration "crease" in relationship to where the spoon bent. Uhhun.
http://www.mtsu.edu/~studskl/hd/learn.html
and a quiz to see which one you are
http://www.web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm
The fact that you are so hell bent on discounting the idea of possibility, could prove to cause some tension/anxiety and health problems down the road. Opening oneself up to ALL of their senses and beyond provides a wonderful foundation for experiencing and enjoying all aspects of life! You probably had this ability as a child.. until "they" stole it away from you. Go back mary!!
This video is not THAT amazing.. it is simply focusing energy into energy. Very doable by a great many people.
This might sound easy or ridiculous, but try it yourself. At that time I was a kid and my dad was a weightlifter, and I showed him this "trick" I learned. He got a straw and pulled it... he could stretch it out until it was almost twice its length, but he couldn't snap it cleanly in half.
I'd be curious to know other people's results with this trick. Perhaps it's nothing special, but I always thought it was strange that neither my dad nor my brothers could do it. They thought I was snapping the straw with a fingernail or some other trick, but I honestly wasn't. All I was doing was concentrating and visualising the straw snapping in half.
as you'll read above.. its not difficult to bend metal.. its all simple work and practice.. and a little showmanship...
and we all bend forks spoons etc that are much thicker than yours...
feel the fork...
And, uh, I was wondering, do you know what the actual brand of spoon you used for the video was? Many spoons can be bent like that without the use of psychic powers, but it would help me immensely if I knew exactly what kind of spoon you were using.
Thanks.
Thank you for your comment and peace and light be apon you...
My mother is a Wiccan, for Christ’s sake, this isn’t about intolerance, this isn’t about putting people down. It’s just that, when I saw the video, knowing something about spoon bending tricks, I realized that this could easily be done by simply bending the spoon without psychic powers. The experiment doesn’t demonstrate what it’s supposed to. And, rather than bow to faith, (which is ironically the diametrical opposite of open mindedness), I simply think that the experiment should be re-conducted, using a protocol something like this:
A)The spoon should be left in its package and opened on video
B)It should be demonstrated to be rigid (to make sure that no prior weakening took place) in the following manner: You hold the spoon by the very end of its handle, and hit it VERY hard a table top, with the bowl of the spoon impacting the table
C)You should try to soften and dent the bowl of the spoon. If this isn’t possible, then a rather thick spoon should be used and bent in the manner you did in the video (the thicker the spoon, the better).
D)At no time after the demonstration of the spoon’s rigidity should it leave the camera’s view – either by being obscured by an object, or by leaving the frame.
E)And, even better, a metal bar should be used (the thicker the better!), which is demonstrated as being rigid in the same manner as the spoon (and all other protocol applies to the bar).
And, to throw the question I asked out there again: what’s the brand of the spoon? I have found that some spoons are much harder to bend than others (duh), but the video’s value as evidence hinges on how easily the type of spoon you used can be bent. And I’m nerd enough to hunt down the brand, if you give it to me.
Thanks for your time, Mr. Rhode (by the way, that’s a cool name).
Where did you get the idea that this is intolerant? There's a great episode of South Park, "The Death Camp of Tolerance," that deals with this. Acceptance and tolerance are two different things. I'm very critical in what I accept -- but, if you must know, I'm an "anarchist" in the philosophical sense, believing in no government restraints and total freedom -- to believe in whatever one wishes (yes, even spoon bending
"Soon the human potential will become undeniable to every one of us. Then who will be left behind?" What potential? For someone who is supposedly so open minded, you seem to be very, absolutistically certain of yourself and your supiriroity over "skeptics."
And, finally, what does any of this have to do with whether or not Rhode can really bend a spoon psychically?
On an unrelated (well, I guess sort of related) matter, I'm rather new to this whole "blog" deal, and are all of the comments on here seem so hostile. Almost every comment on here is like that. Is this just a misunderstanding, or are we all really that angry? Something to think about.
There is no way to tell if the bending of the handle involves any sort of PK or not -- as it is quite easy to bend a spoon handle like this, as I discovered myself.
Im able to control my energy and send it to anypart of my boby. i can also make energy balls, but i don't know how to make my energy move somethings or bend them.
Try focusing your PSI Balls into the spoon when holding on to it. The PSI Balls will warm the spoon enough for it to bend. Let me know how this works for you, I really hope you achieve this. When you do it for the first time, you feel like Superman and you can do anything. it is a real Confidence builder.
Good Luck and and may the ultimate intellegence Bless.
(As an active Spiritualist some of say ultimate intellegence)
Nice work Shannon!
Peace and Love to you.
Also, would you please let the spoon bend by itself, rather than you twisting it with your hands?
That is, would you please just hold it by the end of its handle, & let it bend by itself?
I'm not asking for it to twist around & around of course.
"The fact that you are so hell bent on discounting the idea of possibility, could prove to cause some tension/anxiety and health problems down the road."
Bent spoons open up great health possibilities!
Nothing is so useful as a bent spoon.
Every home should have at least a hundred or so.
I personally am never without two or three in my car.
"This video is not THAT amazing.. it is simply focusing energy into energy. Very doable by a great many people."
Yes, yes, yes. Focusing energy into energy.
With practice, love and the healing energy of the Great Woo, it is then possible to move beyond just focusing energy into energy. The next level is focusing milk into milk and then sand into sand etc.
"Bending spoons is doable by a great many people".
But why stop at spoons!
Hear the clarion call of quality cutlery!!
The electric carving knive in a kitchen near you awaits.
Just start with bending the electric cord and then move on from there.
Imagine, if only more people could learn to twist thin metal objects by merely holding them.
It would change science as we know it.
The term "meta-physical" or "meta-physics" is meaningless. "Meta-Physical" means, literally, " that which is beyond what can be grasped by the senses." Anything that cannot be grasped by our senses, is therefore, "non-sensical".
Hey, wait a minute. That means metaphysics is nonsense.
(wink)
Angel_ghost_spirit@yahoo.com
I compliment you on your ability to handle the public onslaught.
Plus, the simple fact that you aren't offended that some don't believe you leans towards truth of word.
Laughable.
http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCESoft/CCA/CCA2/MAIN/MEMORYM/CD2R1.HTM
google it
depending on the molecular design, if you heat it up, or cool it down it becomes very malleable. its quite rigid when at a "normal" temperature, but can easily bend, frames for glasses are made out of a similar material.
the main point of this "power of the mind" jibba-jabba is the proof of "people hacking" or social engineering(google it). if you pretend you yourself believe something, and have the right audience, you can sell ice to eskimos, sand to iraqi's. anyone who has had to convince a person over the phone that this specific software patch will fix their problems, but they need to get off the phone while doing it, knows exactly what i mean.
skepticism and broad knowledge is a virtue.
And to those still arguing about this, in all reality it doesn't matter, he made a video, he claims he can bend the thing with his mind. So what? I'm Batman. Do you care? Really?
I'm not hellbent on discounting anything. It's up to people who make claims to prove their claims, not up to others to disprove them. I am simply suggesting that the likelihood that you bend the spoon with your mind alone is vanishingly small. It's also a common stage magic trick to do this.
You have provided a video that shows you bending a spoon made of unknown material and treated in an unknown manner. And you are clearly bending it with your hands and not with your mind. How about if you put the spoon on a table and bend it without touching it? That would be more interesting.
I've got your 640 x 800 video (thanks) but it's still not as clear as I would like. I will see if I can find some enhancing software that will work with it but it may take some time.
(1), (2) courtesy of the Institute for the Generation of Unfounded Conversational Statistics Used to Make the Speaker Sound Credible of North America (www.IGUCSUMSSCNA.org)
Seriously, the great power of our minds is intellectual, not psychic. The real world works on consistent and in many cases discernable principles. Achievement is the result of action guided by intelligence.
When you present two-handed spoon bending as a psychic phenomenon, you're not demonstrating the power of the mind. You're wasting it.
right Mr Anderson?
..... your mother's a freegan
Oh and your mothers so fat her skins transparent.
I'll bet you can't fold that spoon in half 7 times. (in half, not bend 7 times)
actually, voodoo bending would be cool. maybe you could add that to your repetoire.
........Okay, I get the picture White Tigers, Lords of Death, guys in funny suits throwing plastic explosives while poison arrows fall from the sky and the pillars of heaven shake, huh? Sure, okay, I see Charlie Chan, Fu Manchu and a hundred howlin' monkey temples, and that's just for starters, right? Fine! I'm back! I'm ready, goddammit let me at 'em! -Jack Burton
Examples..
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/260958/spoon_bending_revealed/
This is Parlor/Stage magic people...
http://www.expertvillage.com/videos/magic-tricks-telekinesis-spoon-bending-explained.htm
The people who believe this guy is bending spoons with his "PK" ability need to really have a reality check... If he can do it with his mind then why does he even hold the spoon in his hands?
I gave it a try and my numbers felt about right. Just about anybody can apply that much force. however, in my opinion Shannan does it in his video quickly and smoothly, and that's the key to this whole thing. Not that it's supernatural, just that his meditation beforehand improves his spoon bending.
Shannan, you've kept pretty cool in the face of some hostile bastards here, good job.
What people don't understand here, if I choose how to make the mood and control the energy here. I and 10 friends of mine had a bet; I told them I could do something that will make a certain result with people and reactions. Basically every action has a reaction.
Also people have been going on what other people wrote and are "Following the leader", this is something I also included on my bet with my friends. It really is fascinating how humans are just cattle and that they are conditioned to follow certain "Norms."
Over 75% of them didn't even read the post. I appreciate everybody here and there opinions.
Please, enough insults, I have a simple question I that I would like answered: What is the brand of the spoon? I think I've nailed it, based on appearance. One buck for six at Wal-Mart, right? "Stainless China" on the back of the handle, a flower pattern imprinted on it. They are not packaged with anything but tape around the handle under the bowl. Bad quality considering the 1.50 spoons beside it. Is this the type of spoon that you used? I've asked that question repeatedly. Please, I'd like an answer.
Thank you.
However, Mr Rhode if you "Understand" what the maths is describing, than you realise that this demonstration is not demonstrating anything beyond any humans normal physical capability, and as for the "quickly and smoothly" part demonstrating the mental abilities you profess, that is just a matter of PRACTICE.
Please, if you are going to make claims of this nature, demonstrate these abilities in a manner whereby the abilities are beyond doubt taking a role in the demostration.
I have also been readying about High Iron content in your blood stream will also give you "More mind Strength." This I believe is the secret to Telekinetics, expanding your Aura and focusing it with the Aura of the object.
But I'm still practicing..
http://shannan-rohde.blogspot.com
This will be my notes from my journey towards mediumship and psychic experiences I have. This blog will also be about my life growing up and my experiences. With photos and full critique.
http://www.jackhouck.com/pk.shtml
I thought he was going to bend the spoon with his mind but it looks cool anyway. Next tme try a stainless steel pipe like this guy does at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR5n_64Fbuk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efunpcgame%2Ecom%2FJokes%2FCrazy%2Dqiqong%2Dbend%2Dmetals%2Ehtml
As for your sarcastic and sanctimonious responces to your critics, I suggest you tread very carefully indeed.
To many people, this psychic stuff is a serious spiritual matter. I'm not one of those people; I'd say that presenting two-handed spoon bending as a psychic phenomenon is nonsense. Here's the deal: Their right to profess what they believe does not depend on what I or anyone else thinks of those beliefs.
Hey -- didn't they go over this stuff in law school?
preparing litigation? yes.
I don't know about you guys being so pissed off, I like it and I approve of Telekinetics and Mind over Matter.
I find it all fascinating and very cool, you guys are just so bored you have to try to prove him wrong.
but you can hardly blame intelligent people for being insulted by this sort of crap.
He's a great man! and you're just jealous that you can't do what he can
To anyone who's trying to convince the non-believers (myself included) why r u wasting ur time? Like with the people who post on how unhealthy it is to be a 'non-believer'. You say choosing to not believe what you do is unhealthy. This is like the mentality of Christianity... in the DARK AGES!!! Don't give people advice on how they should think! Besides, you all sound like zoned-out hippies! "Just be at ease man, free your mind and believe!"
Oh, and Shan whatever your name is. It does look fake. I don't think you did have to use mental powers. If you did, thats cool. Just a suggestion (and a real one, not fake) try and post a video of something you can do ONLY because of mind-energy-manipulation, etc. Hey, maybe you'll convince me then too. But, I can bend a spoon like that too. Not all, but some.
No wait, the FUNNIEST part is that people are responding here as if they actually believe a man can bend metal with his mind.
Because we all know that if we had such powers, we'd spend our days ruining the silverware.
So stupid.
Thanks.
Challenge info:http://randi.org/research/index.html
FAQ:http://randi.org/research/faq.html
Application:http://randi.org/research/challenge.html
Among other things, you'll find good evidence that the million dollars exists (a common complaint about it), and you'll learn a lot about the challenge procedure. For one, everyone always says that Randi has set it up in such a way that he could hide undesirable results, but that doesn't appear to be the case.
Here'a a relevant article:http://www.csicop.org/si/2005-07/randi.html
So, that's all ya need, man, and I look forward to seeing the outcome of your attempt at the million. Good luck, Shannon
just like the government
just like any "American Citizen" would have been taught growing up
Paranormal things arent real
why?
because the government says so, because skeptics say so
but of corse maby theres a couple people willing to break that "cookie cut grown up" style of life and maby believe this
i mean did any of you idiots see Sony's PK lab
they said it was positive for paranormal activity but they had to shut it down cause they couldnt incorporate anything into there games
im a 130 pounds , a fucking skinny ass white guy, im 18
i took a thick spoon, almost twice the thickness as say a Denny's resturant spoon
and gave it to my 230 pound friends (who is not a fatass mind you hes got some strength and sure he could bend maby a half inch at each struggiling attempt than hed have to reposition his hands and try more
i took that damn spoon, did my meditation, found a good emotion channeld, and bent a complete 110 degrees, almost clamshelling the bowl to the shaft part, IN ONE MOTION, i did not repostion my hands once
i hope this gives the idea of whats going on here, its not that were bending spoons and forks with are mind, is that were using are mind to help bend it, and youll find it very easy to bend things that normally people cant do.
i believe shannan no worrys man
id wish we could talk on a messenger or somehing i have sooo much to ask you
Let the skeptics out of there cages now
here comes the flame
=]
I am a parapsychologist. I believe that there is strong evidence of psi phenomena. I believe that I am open minded about any particular demonstration being an example.
There are many people who are deceivers or who are self deceived. I think that it is naive to accept everything that appears paranormal or which is claimed to be paranormal as being paranormal.
I saw nothing particularly convincing in this film of a paranormal event. That doesn't mean that there wasn't, just that it looked no different than what could be produced quite normally -- either through trickery or through self-deception.
I would like anyone who claims to see evidence of fraud to back that up -- a mark does not constitute, nor does simple rubbing with a finger, nor does the phenomena not corresponding to what you believe it would constitute if it did exist though you know it does not.
On the other hand, asking people to just believe you when you claim to be doing marvelous things is insulting and frankly, suspicious. When I do a magic trick I want people to suspend belief and enjoy the show. When I do an experiment I want them to be rationally critical.
I've seen lots of magicians do better spoon-bending tricks. That doesn't mean this was a trick -- it just means you haven't shown me anything to lead me to believe that what you did is paranormal. Some of your reactions and language are suspicious but don't really prove anything.
As Martin Gardner points out, it's a "heads I win, tails you loose" arguement -- no amount of evidence seems indicate to parapsychologists in general that there is no psychic phenomena, and the "you can't entirely disprove it!" arguement crops up. Similar arguements exist for God, and Richard Dawkins deals with that nicely in The God Delusion; absolute proof one way doesn't mean that a severly strong aruguement one way doesn't exist.
But like I said, I appreciate your comment, because this video doesn't represent anything unique.
"Yes this event doesn't have any particular bearing on the issue (see how even handed I am -- I'm admitting that). But I would really like to be able to draw a conclusion anyway -- I'm a rationalist which means that I should always be able to make definite statements. Therefore I'm declaring that lack of evidence should be equated in this case with evidence of lack -- QED, I win."
This is a favored argument by Randi (he is at times much more explicit about invoking it than you are here), for example. You are using the variant where you make an unsupported claim that this is "representative of the general quality of parapsychological evidence". Even if this were true it would be completely irrelevant -- to make a point you need to refute the best argument, not the poorest or even representative evidence.
I'm not saying, by the way, "you can't entirely disprove it", so stop setting me up as a straw man. If this were clearly fraudulent (which it is not) it would still only demonstrate the completely uncontroversial statement that frauds exist. Piltdown man does not disprove the existence of real fossils of archaic human ancestors.
Skeptical Inquirer is not a manual of valid critical thinking. It contains good material and bad -- the only requirement is that the "right" conclusions are reached.
And the issue is a little more complicated than you make it sound (but you do have some good points, and once I get clarification on this thing I'll answer 'em to the best of my abilities).
No reason, I guess.
And about my, I guess you'd call it a "sweeping conclusion" (would you?), I've done a fair bit of research on the topic and was drawing a conclusion from a lot of cases I've looked into (and I make my "research" sound more dignified than the actual perverse curiosity that drives most of my interests).
"Lack of evidence is not evidence of lack." True! I just suck at wording what I mean (at least the first time around). What I meant is that controlled psi experiments come up with a negative results. So that's not lack of evidence, that's more like falsification.
And while I'm talking to a real parapsychologist: all parapsychologists refer me (or people in general) to “better research,” but when I follow their suggestions, I never find this “better research,” and eventually wind up back at Geller (not cool!). My conclusion is that I’m talking to the wrong parapsychologists.
So, to get the point, in the process of learning deeper statistics, I’d like to use parapsychology to apply it – so, if I wanted really high-quality psi research, where would I turn to?
Thanks (I hope I’ve cleared up what I mean).
PS. My general conclusion is best summed up by a brief bit on parapsychology in Victor Stenger’s book “God: The Failed Hypothesis.” I think it was on page 90-93.
No, it is simply a lack of evidence, which is still not evidence of lack (a falsification). It is only a falsification of the claim that "all parapsychological experiments will produce positive evidence of psi anomalies," a claim which noone is making.
Its the positive parapsychology results which stand as a falsification of the conventional view. The prediction of the conventional scientific theories is that such results will rarely happen. In fact they frequently do even under tight controls.
Go to "http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halosim.htm" (a great site generally, by the way. There you will see many spectacular images of complex, solar atmospheric halos. According to you, if I go outside right now, a sunny day with some sign of high cirrus clouds, and I do not see the full halo display then I have "falsified" that the phenomena exist at all. In fact, the halos depend on complex, precise conditions the existence of which can only be deduced on the basis of observing a particular kind of halo (conditions like a particular range of sizes of a particular kind, out of many possible, of exceptionally regularly shaped ice crystals all aligned quite precisely.
Choosing one easily available block of evidence, you might check out Daryl Bem's Ganzfeld articles at "http://www.dbem.ws/online_pubs.html#psi". Dr Bem was a skeptical psychologist (as opposed to being a "skeptic") who was brought in by Charles Honorton to evaluate his experimental design. Dr Bem felt that the design was good enough that a positive result would be clear evidence of psi phenomena. He joined the experimental team. The results were positive, as were the replications.
Keep in mind that virtually nothing can be concluded from a post hoc analyses, unless carefully done as in a proper meta-analyses (where the analytic criteria are set before the data is looked at). Also, there is a limit to how much analysis you can do without the raw data.
Of course, if you really believe that an experiment that fails to show an effect proves that no experiment could have shown a positive result (I'm a bit unsure what the happy face meant) then you'll find a way of teasing the
Have you been able to bend the bowl of a spoon? That would be difficult to explain away.
kudos to him for diverting our attention!
1. Meditate
2. Get into a "mind over matter state"
3. Bend the spoon
Anything of a psychic, psychokinetic, or supernatural nature? No. And there was no claim of it either.
I can meditate, get into a "mind over matter state", and then drive my car -- my mind, by way of my hands, are controlling the vehicle, therefore Mind Over Matter.
I can and do bend spoons in the same fashion, anyone can. Now if the spoon bends like the one in the Matrix, now that would be something.
If you're going for a demonstration of psychokinesis you'll need to say so, and a few more "checks & balances" in the way of 3rd party observers. I want to believe that this can be done via PK, but I haven't seen anything conclusive.
Best regards,
J Bone
Some individuals in these other groups decided to make a distinction relevant to their view of these phenomena between the two previously synonymous terms. Generally they did not agree on exactly what the distinction was, and the distinction was most frequently introduced, not as new, but as if it were an already accepted, stamped in stone, fact.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using terms, especially archaic terms, within your community to make specific distinctions understood by that community. It happens, though, as here, that members of that community honestly don't realize that their usage is quite narrow and is not general usage.
No disrespect or criticism -- you were attempting to share knowledge, which is a very positive thing -- but there is no generally understood distinction between psychokinesis and telekinesis, and there is specifically no distinction in the community that coined both terms (except that when people talk about telekinesis it has a tendency to sound to this parapsychologist, at least, a bit like someone trying to speak King James English).
Get a bag of 2d nails, a 2x4, a hammer, a single dice, and a magnet.
Pour the nails onto the table, and with the magnet pick up at least 6 and lay them out in a row, 1 through 6.
Roll the dice and pick the nail represented by the die roll and bend it, the other 5 nails pound into the 2x4. If this is done in a straight forward manner, I don't think there would be any doubt. AND you can use both hands.
Best regards,
J Bone
if you can do that i will believe but so far you show no proof and your probably just trying to mock us Wiccans.
I, being Wiccan, and speak on behalf of the rest of 'us', feel that you accuse wrongly and make the rest of 'us' look bad by saying that. Wether the demonstration is real or not, none of this shows any proof that any faith is being mocked, least of all Wicca. You're barking up the wrong tree.
To Shannan, I've seen the video, and do not believe nor disbelieve you. It does not matter if I do either way. It only matters that you believe. Good luck with everything.
There is a difference....
Thanks for the instructions and the video. I have practiced telekinesis for years and know about psi energy and how to use it but for some reason I had trouble with spoon bending for years. No matter what I did it didnt work for me. The same day I read your page I could make a coil out of a spoon and it really turned soft in my hands. The key I guess was not looking at the spoon while starting with the first bend, I guess I owe you a big thank you for that
thanks
reza
You can use the power of your mind to first rub the spoon with your thumb, then twist it with your hands.
That is so amazing. I never knew the mind was so powerful that it can move fingers and hands.
You rule man!!
If it's not... erm... no, it's got to be a joke.
Paranormal Investigator
makes for an interesting comparison.
C'mon, you're not that stupid, are you?
I hate to discount this wonderful parlour trick, but I am a metalsmith that works with all kinds of materials- stainless steel, copper, nickel, brass,ect., and I can tell you that it's pretty fantastic what annealing metal does for it's flexibility.
Annealing is is process of heating metals to increase their flexibility. It is used when forging (shaping metal by beating the hell out of it) and scrollworking. Heating can either be done with a torch, kiln or electric heat methods. Annealing can colourize metals, due to advanced oxidization of the surface. This color change can be removed with a polisher, or through a sulphur bath. Most likely anyone who saw Lord of the Rings saw Orks annealing swords to shape.
And back on the subject. Annealing IRON can make it bend like lead; an annealed fork, a stout one of stainless steel, annealed on my stove, can be bent to 4-5 loops easily, by my weak little arms.
A fun video, however!
And it looks like Shannon has strong arms...it's simply a person bending a spoon with their hands. Easy.
He did other really cool convincing things too. I don't know about this video because...well... it's a video but it can be done.
I've done this for family members. The tricks quite easy, once learned.
I had a friend hold onto the botton of a fork -- and by rocking it back and forth, I made the prongs appear to spring outward. I made it appear as if a key bent when I stroked it. I rubbed a nail, and lo!, it developed a slight bend. I then sat it aside -- later, when looked at again, it had bent more, apparently on its own.
I stroked the handle of a spoon -- it appeared to curl upward. I've done, on several occations, an exact replica of the above Shannon Rohde trick. Not much of a trick -- I located what appears to be the brand of spoons he used (they look just the same). It turns out that they can be bent in loops like that quite easily. The video is just a guy bending a spoon with his hands.
To get back to my narrative...then, the finale! I took two spoons. I let the person hold them, and tap the bowls together, to make sure they were solid. I took one (chosen psychically, of course), and, while they held it, I rubbed it -- and it got weaker...and weaker...and eventually broke in two.
Note the qualifiers: "appeared," "apparently." It seems incredible, but it's not.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=h3X9h1WlQpA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WPxEA_cCm0o
http://youtube.com/irritatedbyGeller
I think I have it (apparently, so do some other people. I'm not the only one who's curious...).
Please, I'd very much like to know precisely what brand of spoon was being used.
Thanks.
http://www.hanklee.org/quicktime_movies/ghostspoon.mov
The significance of this (or other similar clips I could have posted) is that this comes from a magic dealer. It's a demo of a trick that anyone could buy for a few bucks and, with the proper quite mundane skills, perform. No camera tricks -- what you see is what someone there would see (if a magician who bought found out otherwise, they would demand -- and get -- their money back).
Unless you are able to control the situation and know what you are doing you cannot trust that you know what is happening. This is why use of "special subjects" in parapsychology is treated so gingerly in parapsychology -- even by those with strong knowledge of prestidigitation. Magicians fool other magicians all the time.
So, I don't think that annealing, pre-weakening, or trickery was used. Bending a spoon in loops is just plain easy!
Off-hand, I do not know whether this is done with a "trick spoon". Some "tricks" are sold that do not involve any prop -- what you are buying is the knowledge of the technique. You might also be buying a gadget ("gaff") that makes bending an ordinary spoon easier or more deceptive. Or instructions for making your own such gaff.
The point is not how this particular bending is done (it might even be PK: that it could easily have been done conventionally and that therefore we do not have good evidence that it was done using PK does not mean that it wasn't). The point is that much more convincing demonstrations can be done by trickery and you can't tell -- not by film and not in person unless you can control the situation and know what you are doing (and even then, probably not for certain).
At least he made a video and provided instructions. Don't be a jackass and make up theories because you can't do it. A lot of things in this world are unexplained..
Also, my compliments on the manner of your presentation. I like the unassuming approach and generally low-key nonshowmanship approach.
Watching you maneuver the spoon like that is impressive, whatever the force involved. The spoon looks genuine to me, plus I see little motive for this to be a fake. It's not as if you merely snapped it at a preweakened point, nor is there monetary or fame gain to be had here (at least, to my knowledge). If anything, you seem to play down the self-attention thing and seem to want to play up the "find otu for yourself" concept.
I am curious about the other psychokinetic discoveries you've made, and also if you'd made any more progress toward the telekinetic area of research.
The human mind is a powerful thing, and it would be interesting to find someone who has reached past some of the haze that most of us live behind...
So impressed by your flack-taking ability!
You are gorgeous. Good luck with practicing Telekinesis
Peaceout
My first try, failed. Second try, failed again. I would try and bend it with my hands as much as I wanted; it only resulted in sore palms and fingers, and a barely unchanged spoon. I wanted to give up, but decided I'd try it ONE LAST TIME after giving it a rest.
3rd try: I read up on Shannen's instructions, about unfocussing and tried that. The previous times I was fully concentrated on the spoon, as if I wanted to stare it into loops. This time I merely closed my eyes, breathed in and out evenly and sort of yelled for the spoon to bend bend bend. And it did! I bent it in 3 loops! It suddenly felt like rubber! (I'm bad at explaining, I know this sounds weird.)
Here you are people. I am one of the skeptics. But my judgement comes AFTER I try it for myself. You can say all you want about "someone pre-weakened the spoon, etc." but this is no joke. The spoon I was working with was pretty thick and in order to bend it with your bare hands, you'd end up with your hands being very very sore (and then I'd still doubt I'd be able to put 3 loops in it)
I guess you guys probably won't believe me, but I wanted to put it up anyway. Needless to say this little experiment resulted in renewed interest for this stuff, which I previously thought to be BS. Just give it a try people! If I can do it, you can!