After all the “discussion” on the post Spoon bending instructions and pictures and the skeptics requiring from Shannan to record a video of him bending a spoon, here it is. Shannan has recorded the video, sent it to me and I’ve uploaded it to YouTube. Watch the video, decide for yourself if it’s for real, and write in the comments. By the way, the original video is higher quality 640×480 pixels, but YouTube only allows 320×240.
Further discussion on spoon bending is in the forums at Spoon bending discussion.
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?