[the_af]

Dudes claim all kinds of crap online. He already posted a PDF that indicated nothing of the sort.

If you will believe anything that seems true to you, because someone online said so, without any weight of evidence, and which is widely considered pseudoscience (go check)... I have a bridge to sell you.

What's with the wave of anti-intellectualism on HN of all places? Are we really trying to debate whether debunked crap like witchcraft and ESP is real? What's next, that Nigerian prince truly wants to gift you his money if only you can help him with a few dollars?

Carl Sagan must be spinning in his grave.

[lijok]

You're one of the dudes online - never forget that.

Examining something != believing it, it's step 2 in the scientific method, with which I advise you get familiar with before invoking it as much as you have in this thread.

If all you have to contribute to the discussion is thrashing around, maybe stay out of it?

[the_af]

> You're one of the dudes online - never forget that.

I never made any outlandish claims and therefore the onus isn't on me to prove anything.

> Examining something != believing it

But parapschyology has been examined and tested by scientists, and none of it has been verified in independent and controlled conditions. Unlike what the other commenter claimed, there are zero documents indicating RV works. Many of its practitioners have been shown to be frauds, pranksters or cranks (Puthoff thought Uri Geller was a psychic and was fooled by sleight of hand). What new evidence is there? RV isn't a new claim; it's an old debunked claim. Have they won the Amazing Randi prize yet? They could have, if RV was real!

> If all you have to contribute to the discussion is thrashing around, maybe stay out of it?

I'm reminding participants about how the scientific method works, which is important when discussing outlandish claims.

> Maybe stay out of it

???