Uri Geller - What do you think?

Early eighties mach two was a piece of of poop.

Obscure reference  to Ford Mustang.

Delightfully obscure.

Early eighties mach two was a piece of of poop.

Yeah, now I get it. Went way over my head the first time though.

[Laird]

I'm not good at remembering details, but, having read Jonathan Margolis's book, Uri Geller: Magician or Mystic (Updated for 2014), and having looked at the videos of the experiments conducted by Dr. Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ at SRI (which are also discussed in the book), I came away convinced that, even if he (Uri Geller) is a showman who sometimes "bends the rules", he definitely has an underlying psychic ability.

I'm not good at remembering details, but, having read Jonathan Margolis's book, Uri Geller: Magician or Mystic (Updated for 2014), and having looked at the videos of the experiments conducted by Dr. Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ at SRI (which are also discussed in the book), I came away convinced that, even if he (Uri Geller) is a showman who sometimes "bends the rules", he definitely has an underlying psychic ability.

And, of course, the article I linked in the OP is by the same Jonathan Margolis and the article itself is taken from the book you mention.

In some way Geller's reputation is connected to if we can trust SRI.
Other acquaintances of his, like the Mossad, and by his own words, tell us he should not be trusted.
"By way of deception thou shalt do war."

The links below include scientific studies of Uri Geller and statements by magicians who say he did not  use trickery.

This is the "famous" nature article on Geller by Targ and Puthoff:

http://www.urigeller.com/scientific-para...shielding/

INFORMATION TRANSMISSION UNDER CONDITIONS OF SENSORY SHIELDING

by Harold E. Puthoff, Ph.D., and Russell Targ, Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, California.
...
Published in Nature, VOL 252, No. 5476, Oct. 18, 1974, pp. 602-607

The full article is at the link

Many many more scientfic research where Geller was a reserch subject are here:
http://www.urigeller.com/scientific-para...er-papers/


What magicians say about Geller
http://www.urigeller.com/category/testim...magicians/

“There is no way, based on my knowledge as a magician, that any method of trickery could have been used to produce the effects under the conditions to which Geller was subjected.”
Arthur Zorka (US, member Society of American Magicians – U.S.A.)

There are many more quotes about Geller from magicians at the link.




From my web site:
https://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/s...psychology

Another factor that upset the defense department was that computers belonging to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which were working on military projects at SRI, went haywire when Uri Geller was being tested on the floor below. If someone could psychically affect electronic circuits, they could interfere with any modern weapons system that used electronics.
The DARPA Debunking of Uri Geller (1972)

In late 1972, after DARPA computers seemed to have been affected by Uri Geller's psychic powers, DARPA sent the prominent skeptic Ray Hyman to debunk Geller.

Hyman reported that Geller was doing what magicians could do. However, Hyman did not test Geller under controlled conditions that would enable him to distinguish between stage magic and paranormal abilities. In his book "Uri", Andrija Puharich, a scientist who validated Uri Geller's psychic abilities, names two individuals from DARPA who started rumors that Geller's abilities were not genuine. This was exposed as a disinformation campaign when Targ and Puthoff at SRI obtained positive results with Geller under tightly controlled conditions and their research was published in the Nature article: "Information Transmission Under Conditions Of Sensory Shielding" by Harold E. Puthoff, Ph.D., and Russell Targ, Nature, VOL 252, No. 5476, Oct. 18, 1974, pp. 602-607.

What Scientists Say About Uri Geller:
http://www.urigeller.com/scientific-para...ri-geller/

“Geller has bent my ring in the palm of my hand without ever touching it. Personally, I have no scientific explanation for the phenomena.”
Dr. Wernher von Braun (NASA scientist & father of the Rocket – U.S.A.)

There are many many more quotes by scientists who studied Geller at the link

For more info see
http://www.urigeller.com/scientific-paranormal/
http://www.urigeller.com/

Free on-line books about Geller here:
http://www.urigeller.com/books/

Earlier talk in this thread about spoon bending reminded me of my own thoughts on this phenomenon. Dean Radin is someone that I think I would trust. Here is his personal account:

http://www.deanradin.com/spoon.htm

I find the account by Radin to be very persuasive, as he seems like the type who wouldn't make something like that up, and he did it himself, rather than watching someone else do it.

As for the scientists who saw Geller do various amazing things, I would much prefer magicians have studied him than scientists, as he was 100% known to use magic tricks to accomplish some of his amazing feats. A PhD does not equip one to be able to figure out a magic trick. That said, the anecdotal stories (is there good video anywhere?) of Geller's talents are impressive...

I find the account by Radin to be very persuasive, as he seems like the type who wouldn't make something like that up, and he did it himself, rather than watching someone else do it.

As for the scientists who saw Geller do various amazing things, I would much prefer magicians have studied him than scientists, as he was 100% known to use magic tricks to accomplish some of his amazing feats. A PhD does not equip one to be able to figure out a magic trick. That said, the anecdotal stories (is there good video anywhere?) of Geller's talents are impressive...

The Amazing Randi built a career out of following Geller around and showing that he could reproduce the tricks. I remember clearly in the 70's, Geller would appear on a TV show, cause a flurry of excitement in the media and Randi would appear shortly after saying he could do the same thing by trickery. As I noted earlier, could he do that under the same conditions that were imposed by the scientists? And I'm sure that the scientists must have been advised by stage magicians.

Thinking back to the 70's, I used to think that Randi was just an opportunist milking Geller's fame. All these years later, I still think that was the case.