Wednesday 20 March 2013

Science Versus Miracles: Predicting the Words in a Newspaper Column Where It is Cut.


B Premanand

A Christian priest in the United States claimed he had psychic powers to know the past and future of an individual. He could also control the mind of any person. To prove his powers he would cut a newspaper column from a news paper. Then he would throw a paper ball among the audience. Whoever caught it was called on to the stage. The priest would hold the newspaper cutting in his left hand vertically with his thumb and index finger on the head lines, and scissors in his right hand, in between the newspaper cutting. He then claimed that he had control of the mind of the volunteer. When the volunteer was asked to point where he should cut the paper into two, and when the priest cut it at the exact place pointed out, the line on the top of the piece falling would be the same which he had already predicted on a piece of paper handed over to the chief guest or a respectable person in the audience, for safe-keeping.

When people were thus made to believe that he had real psychic power, they went to him to know their past and future and to help them in solving their problems. Then he charged them heavy fees and he became a billionaire.

Experiment: 105

Effect: Predicting the words of the line of a newspaper column where it is cut.

Props: Same set of two newspapers, scissors and cello tape. A piece of white paper.

Method: Cut a news column with head lines which has an advertisement at the back. Leave one line of the matter after the head lines and cut it again. Hold the cut newspaper column upside down and put a clear cello tape at the back and stick it to the heading part. Write down the lowest line of the prepared news column on a piece of paper.  This is the prediction. Where ever it is cut, let the cut portion fall down. Request the volunteer to pick up and read the first line on the piece and ask the person to check the prediction given to him and see whether they match. The audience is surprised that the first line on the newspaper where it is cut matches the prediction. Ask the volunteer to check whether the rest of the lines on the news cutting are different. He is surprised that they are different.

Experiment: 106

Effect: Restarting watches and time-pieces which have stopped working. The audience was asked to bring their stopped watches and time-pieces. Uri Geller rubbed his palms over these for some minutes and when he shook them they started working.

Props: Watches and time pieces which have stopped working.

Method: Generally due to the cold weather, the oil in them gets hardened and most of the watches stop working. By rubbing them with the palms, heat is generated and the oil liquefies. Then if one gives them a jerk they start working. Mechanically defective watches and time-pieces have never worked through Uri Gellar’s psychic power.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Share

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More