Lessons from James "The Amazing" Randi

If you've never heard of James Randi, he is a former professional stage magician and a well-known skeptic of pseudoscience and the paranormal.

He set up the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) in 1996 and put forth the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge. This substantial sum of money will be paid to any person who can demonstrate supernatural or paranormal activity while under scientific scrutiny and within a controlled environment. The conditions of testing and the environment will be agreed upon before the demonstration.

Since the first version of this challenge (with a smaller amount of money) in 1964, nobody has every successfully won the challenge. When James Randi retired in 2015, the challenge was officially terminated, with the money freed up for use in grants instead.

Throughout his career, James Randi applied a rational mind to the claims of the supernatural or paranormal. Despite this, he is careful to say that he does not insist that such powers do not exist at all, merely that he doesn't believe in them.

One of the reasons that he is so passionate about debunking so-called psychics and mystics is that he finds their profiteering from desperate, emotionally distraught people to be highly unsettling and, especially in cases where people are hurt or die from their trust in these people, akin to committing a crime.

I agree.

There is a difference between performing tricks or illusions for entertainment (stage magicians, street performers) and pretending to give information or hope when there is none to be had (so-called mediums, psychics). 

Sure, the seeker may be comforted in that moment but when the truth emerges or they get hurt from the information, what then?

So this is what I got from listening and watching James Randi. In order to minimise the possibility of getting conned / cheated,

1) Ask someone more experienced

If you are a scientist, you may not know how a magic trick works. If someone comes up to you and performs one that you cannot explain through your own methods of scientific observation or testing, it doesn't mean that the trick involved paranormal powers.

Ask an experienced stage magician - one who is far more likely to have experienced the trick before - and get him/her to explain how it works.

2) Stay informed of cons and scams

We often think that those who get conned or scammed are somehow stupid or ignorant. That is a dangerous mindset to have. Because you think that you are clever enough to avoid being cheated, you have a false sense of confidence and security and you become less wary and observant of 'obvious' clues because you don't think that you will become a statistic too.

Instead, stay informed. Learn how these cons and scams are performed and keep a watchful eye out.

3) Be more careful when out and about

People don't approach other people for fun. More often than not, they want something. It could be as benign as wanting to give you some information (e.g. 'your zip is down') to something that may cause harm to you (e.g. 'your money or your life!').

Con artists are usually charismatic and relatable. If they aren't, it's difficult to win your confidence (hence the word 'con'). Don't believe everything you hear or see. If you're not sure, politely decline their advance and move on. The longer you stay, the harder it gets to gets away.

Of course, I am not saying that you should ignore every person who wants to engage you. Just be more careful about whom you allow to talk to you and move on once you start feeling some discomfort. Your instincts may not always be right, but they sometimes are.

Image from Wikipedia

As March Comes Marching In

It feels like almost yesterday that it was January!

And yet, the calendar isn't lying. It's already the 1st week of March! It's already the 3rd month of the year 2017!

Time passes really quickly when your mind is occupied.

I have managed to keep up many of the habits and incremental goals that I began in January, though I have slipped up on a couple of them. Well, now that it's almost the 2nd quarter of the year, I'm going to have to review them and make updates and changes.

I started this initiative of listing down habits to keep because of a series of videos I watched on Valuetainment, a YouTube channel by Patrick Bet-David that teaches entrepreneurship and gives exercises and advice on getting your own life in order. 

A key point about this channel that I appreciate deeply is how straight-talking Patrick, the host of the channel, is. He doesn't mince words and tells you straight in the face what you need to do if you intend on running a business properly. It's not about motivation and pep talks - it's about real-life examples and how-to's.

If you haven't heard of them, I highly recommend that you get to watching as soon as possible!

Reminder: It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It

One of the larger projects I'm working on this year is as the main trainer of a collaboration between the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS) and the National Cadet Corps (NCC) of different schools in Singapore.

This is an initiative to have NCC cadets become ambassadors for a smoke-free lifestyle in their respective schools. To push this initiative forward, the Singapore Cancer Society has come up with a talk with a series of activities and projects aimed at getting these cadets ready to take on their roles.

Since different schools have different cultures and different behavioural norms, I found it important to change my delivery each time I presented the talk and run the activities. It doesn't always go smoothly at the start, but, by the end, the NCC cadets are engaged, enthusiastic and ready for the next step.

Of course, there will be a small minority that are smokers (all under the radar, of course) and these individuals will pose some challenges.

I have found that the key is to integrate them into the whole rather than make them feel ostracised by the message. To do this, I found it necessary to change my delivery of the information and steer the flow of the discussions towards a 'softer', more emotion-based engagement. The key information remains the same, of course.

This has been yet another reminder of a philosophy I stand strongly by:

It's not what you say, it's how you say it.

The Introvert Teacher - Nearing Completion

At last! The final cover art of The Introvert Teacher is completed, approved and has been sent to update all current materials.

Layout initial approval has been given and is underway for the rest of the chapters of the book.

Other little details for different parts of the book have also been submitted and everything is under production with my publisher.

I have to say that I didn't think that this phase would take so long. In my head, it was a 'OK, let's go ahead and do it' moment and everything will fall into place.

It seems that I still have much to learn about the publishing industry.

I'm glad that I'm getting to learn it now, through my first book, with helpful guidance from an experienced and professional team.

I have little doubt that if I had to do all this on my own, my book publishing won't even be halfway done.

So here's a HUGE thank you to my publishing team!