Originally published at: The Enduring Legacy of Parapsychologist J.B. Rhine | Boing Boing
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Just don’t post it three times!
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It’s probably worth pointing out that this post is 100% horseshit.
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One fun thing about paradigm-shifting discoveries relating to our understanding of the natural world is that when they are legitimate phenomena they tend to transform our entire society in tangible ways.
Germ theory led to a complete revolution in how medical science came to understand and treat disease, saving billions of lives. The discovery of radio changed communication. There were only a few decades between the first primitive models of the atom and the first atomic bomb. Nobody needs to question the reality of these phenomena anymore because those first early experiments were not merely repeatable but provided a foundation for other scientists to build on—and those discoveries yielded results anyone can see whether they happen to be a statistician or not.
If precognition or telepathy or telekinesis or other forms of ESP were real then it would be a trivial matter to design and conduct a series of double-blind tests that held up to peer review.
Good science doesn’t require the person conducting the experiment to believe in the phenomena being measured.
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Even if I were inclined to believe the author’s misdirections - I wouldn’t judge the current state of science, medicine and evidence by studies done in the 1930’s.
Got any studies in the last 20 years that conclusively prove esp? The burden of proof if very high when making assertions at variance with reality. Were they replicated and published in serious journals?
And the traditional question- then why aren’t you rich?
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So basically, the legacy is Ghostbusters. Something for jokes and supernatural fiction.
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To be fair to the author; nobody could have predicted the response to his article.
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Another Gish Gallop o’ Woo. A quick search also reveals another classy posthumous attack on James Randi buried in the wall of text.
Per The Secret, a book he’s championed, he’s clearly not wishing hard enough for the “law of attraction” to kick in and deliver wealth. One can still make a good living selling books to suckers, though, especially if one is granted an otherwise reputable platform to publicise it.
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Well that was a speed bump, in blog view, i just kept on scrolling and it just kept on coming!
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That is literally how randomness works. You are going to get outliers with any probability.
Probability does not dictate outcomes, and it would be more unusual and noteworthy if everyone did end up with exactly 20%. The collective results of all participants are much more meaningful than the results from any cherry picked individuals.
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… so are we including or excluding the stuff about talking to dead people this time 
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Just like last time,
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Are you with me Doctor Wu
Are you really just a shadow
Of the man that I once knew
Are you crazy are you high
Or just an ordinary guy
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I am pretty sure I saw the infamous  in the title of this post.
Was It an illusion?
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