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Home , James Alcock, Ray Hyman

ALBUQUERQUE CONFERENCE SECTION

In Praise of

JAMES ALCOCK

The following remarks about Ray Hyman tagonists in the various conflicts, he allowed to mess about in these seem- were delivered by York University psychol- will bring about better communica- ingly intractable conflicts. tion and better understanding of ogy professor and CSICOP Executive issues. He might even resort to alter- Let's not quibble about the likeli- Council member in present- ing the mindsets of recalcitrant lead- hood of such a scenario, but let's focus ing Hyman the In Praise of Reason Award, ers by means of psychokinesis, turn- instead on what qualities we would want CSICOP's highest honor, at the Saturday ing them into peace-seekers and our emissary to possess in such a case. compromisers. The members of the night awards banquet at the CSICOP I've made a list: Albuquerque conference "Hoaxes, Myths, and Manias" Oct. 23-26, 2003. Ray Hyman has made truly outstanding magine, if you will, the following sce- nario—admittedly an unlikely one. contributions to the promotion of science I and the defense of reason. • A new super- has burst onto the world stage. He has amazing powers that go far beyond mere "cutlery distor- 1. Since scientific evidence has been tion" and telling people things about Security Council have become so convinced of his powers that they adduced to support claims of the themselves that they already know. arc about to name him Ambassador¬ psychic's powers, our emissary • This is a psychic whose powers At-Largc and Chief Negotiator for should be a scientist, preferably a apparently have already been tested in World Peace. social scientist, someone who knows how to conduct and evaluate re- scientific experiments that produced The Committee for the Scientific search involving human subjects; highly statistically significant results. Investigation of Claims of the Para- someone who knows how to detect flaws and biases in such experiments. • This is a psychic who has already normal is not amused by this news. personally entertained many of the CSICOP and its supporters protest 2. We need an expert in statistics, world's leaders, and impressed them loudly, and finally we are informed by the since statistical analysis was part of widi his powers. Security Council that we may send an the scientific support offered for Well, so far, this is not that different emissary—one person only—who will be the psychic's powers. from what we have seen before perhaps, allowed to evaluate the supporting 3. We need an expert in the psychology but now, suppose the following: research and to test the psychic direcdy, of belief and deception, someone and rJien present his or her findings and who knows all about how people can • This psychic has offered to use his both deceive and be deceived. powers to negotiate a lasting peace conclusions directly to that world body. amongst warring factions in the Well, this is pretty important stuff"— 4. We need someone with sound aca- Middle East, in Afghanistan, in Iraq much more important than the usual demic credentials, for credibility is and in Kashmir. He has told mem- CSICOP work. After all, if, as we sus- going to be a very important if our bers of the United Nations Security pect, this man is a phony, there is the emissary is to have an influence on Council, who gave him a private the Security Council. audience, that by being able to read likelihood of tremendous harm being the minds of the leaders of the pro- done to die cause of world peace if he is 5. We need someone with expert

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER March/Apnl 2004 5 knowledge of and mental- dedicated most of his professional career in the world, and is respected by virtu- ism, for if the psychic is using the to the study of why people come to ally all of them. magician/mentalist's craft, only believe strange things, how they can be • He is, of course, a champion someone experienced and knowl- edgeable in this craft will be able to fooled, and how some people set out to among skeptics, and one of the founders detect this. As the saying goes, it fool them. of CSICOP. takes a thief to catch a thief. • He has published books, book • He is known above all for being 6. We need someone who is experi- chapters, and over 200 articles that crit- fair-minded—so much so that on more enced in evaluating supposed psy- ically evaluate studies of the than one occasion I have been chics and the research adduced in and related domains. His article on cold approached by people at CSICOP con- their support. Without such expe- reading, so informs me, has ferences who have complained that he rience, even a very good social had gone soft on . scientist may overlook impor- tant sources of error and bias. They believed that he had "gone soft" because, rather than taking a 7. We need someone who has a debunking stance as they had track record for fairness, some- one who has gained the respect wanted, he had approached the of skeptics and believers alike, so topic of paranormal claims from that our emissary will not be the point of view of scientific seen as some son of hit man for objectivity. CSICOP and skepticism. • In terms of personality, Ray 8. We need a good communica- is able to be highly critical of tor. It is not enough just to be parapsychologists and able to show that the psychic is not really psychic at all. We without antagonizing them. need someone who can Indeed, no doubt every one of us cogently present the skeptical who has talked with Ray knows case in such a way as to have an of his warmth and charm, and impact on the members of the Security Council. knows as well that no matter how stupid or ill-informed our 9. Wc need someone who does questions might be—and I've not antagonize Others, some- James Alcock (right) presents the "In Praise of Reason" award to Ray Hyman asked my share—he never makes one whose personality and us feel foolish for having asked. charm will ease the sting of what- ever critical commentary he or she generated more requests for reprints He is always patient in his explanations has to offer to the Security Council. than any other article in the history of and never condescending. the . Ray Hyman clearly meets all the cri- Well, that's quite a list, and one that is • He is an expert in magic and men- teria in my list. I can think of no other almost impossible to fill, one might think. talism. Few people outside of magic cir- individual in the entire world who could I know of only one person in the cles are aware of just how accomplished do the same. entire world—and believe me, I am not he is as a magician/mentalist. Indeed, he The In Praise of Reason Award is exaggerating here; I really mean it—who started out by earning his living as a men- CSICOP's highest honor, and is given to measures up to all these criteria. And he talist. He is also an accomplished inven- is in our midst tonight. those rare individuals who have made tor of magical effects and routines. He is truly outstanding contributions to the Let me tell you about Ray Hyman: highly respected by other magicians, and promotion of science and the defense of • Ray earned his Ph.D. at Harvard has had die rare honor of twice appearing reason. Previous recipients include such University, where he then taught statis- on the cover of the Linking Ring, the tics, amongst other subjects. He is now stellar scientists and communicators as Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the monthly magazine of the International , , Nobel , where he taught Brotherhood of Magicians. laureate Murray Gell-Mann, and our for many years. • He has a long and unparalleled his- own outstanding editor, Ken Frazier. • He is an expert in cognitive psy- tory of investigating psychics. Some of Tonight, I take great personal pride chology. this work has been for official agencies in being able to present, on behalf of • He is an expert in statistical analysis. such as the United States Defense CSICOP, the In Praise of Reason Award • He is an expert in research design as Department and the United States to my friend and colleague Ray Hyman, applied to the study of human subjects. National Research Council. He knows from whom I—and I am sure all of us— • He is an expert in the study of personally all of the leading, and many continue to learn so much. deception and self-deception and has of the not-so-leading, parapsychologists Congratulations, Ray.

6 March/April 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER