Randi runs away
In June 1999, a Mr Rico Kolodzey of Germany wrote to James Randi and challenged
for the reputed $1 million prize. Mr Kolodzey is one of several thousand people
who believe and claim that they can live on water alone, absorbing 'prana' or
life energy from space around them.
Now this claim is, to say the least, extraordinary. It is perhaps even more
extraordinary that an individual should offer to prove this claim by submitting
himself to a controlled test.
The claim is one that most people would treat with great skepticism, and
might well run a mile from. But James Randi is not most people -- he is the
person who has publicly claimed that he has $1 million on offer to all comers
who challenge him and are willing to submit to rigorous testing, as Mr Kolodzey
has offered to do.
It should not be very difficult to arrange a test of Mr Kolodzey's claim. All
that is needed is to lock him in a police cell, under CCTV observation, with
only water to drink. If he experiences significant measurable weight loss, or
asks for food, then his claim is false. If, on the other hand, he does somehow
survive on water alone, then Randi is wrong, conventional science is wrong, and
Mr Kolodzey has won $1 million.
It ought therefore to have been a very simple matter for Randi to offer to
lock Mr Kolodzey up for a week or two. But that is not what Randi did. Instead
he ignored Mr Kolodzey entirely. When Mr Kolodzey wrote again to Randi asking
about his challenge, he received the following email from Randi (later confirmed
with a hard copy):-
Date: 6/18/99 12:03 PM
Mr. Kolodzey:
Don't treat us like children. We only
respond to responsible claims.
Are you actually claiming that you have
not consumed any food products except water, since the end of 1998? If this is
what you are saying, did you think for one moment that we would believe it?
If this is actually your claim, you're
a liar and a fraud. We are not interested in pursuing this further, nor
will we exchange correspondence with you on the matter.
Signed, James Randi.
(A hard-copy of this letter will be sent by post to you, today.)
James Randi Educational Foundation
201 S.E. 12th Street (Davie Blvd.)
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316-1815
So, now we know exactly how much confidence can be placed in James Randi's
"challenge" and exactly how Randi behaves when confronted by a real
challenger, willing to submit to rigorous scientific testing of his claims.
Randi runs away.
To see Randi's original letter click here.
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