The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is an American non-profit organisation founded in 1996 by stage magician and professional skeptic James Randi, dedicated to promoting critical thinking and investigating claims of the paranormal, pseudoscientific and supernatural.[1] The foundation is most widely known for administering the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, and converted to a grant-making foundation in September 2015 following Randi's retirement.[2]
Background
Randi had co-founded the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) in 1976, alongside founding members including Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan.[1] Following a $15 million lawsuit brought against Randi and CSICOP by psychic Uri Geller in 1991, CSICOP's leadership grew uncomfortable with the litigation risk posed by Randi's outspoken public criticism of Geller specifically, and Randi resigned from the organisation rather than moderate his public commentary.[1] He went on to found JREF in 1996 as an independent non-profit, with television host Johnny Carson among its early major sponsors.[1] CSICOP itself later merged with a humanist organisation in 1991 to become the Center for Inquiry (CFI), the organisation with which Joe Nickell was separately affiliated as senior research fellow — JREF and CFI are related in lineage and shared skeptical mission, but were always distinct, separately-run organisations.[1]
The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge
The Challenge's roots trace to 1964, when Randi, challenged during a radio panel discussion to "put his money where his mouth is," personally offered $1,000 to anyone who could demonstrate a paranormal ability under proper test conditions.[3] The prize grew over the following decades — to $10,000 under Randi's own funding, and briefly to $100,000 in 1989 when broadcaster Lexington Broadcasting added $90,000 for a television special, Exploring Psychic Powers — Live![3] In 1996, coinciding with JREF's founding, internet entrepreneur Rick Adams donated the funds to raise the prize to its final, best-known figure of $1,000,000.[3]
Applicants were required to agree in writing to mutually-negotiated testing protocols in advance, with claims first required to clear a preliminary test at odds of roughly 1-in-1,000 before proceeding to a formal final trial.[4] Over more than 1,000 applications across the Challenge's history, no applicant ever successfully demonstrated a claimed ability under agreed test conditions; each attempt either failed outright or was invalidated for deviating from the agreed protocol.[2] The Challenge was not without its own critics: some commentators, including within parapsychology, argued the statistical thresholds and public framing of the Challenge protected the prize from ever being paid out regardless of the underlying merit of any individual claim, rather than functioning as a straightforwardly neutral scientific test.[3]
Notable public attempts included Danish dowser Connie Sonne's 2009 on-stage test at TAM 7, attempting to identify playing cards inside sealed envelopes using a pendulum under audience-assisted randomisation.[4]
The Amazing Meeting
From 2003 to 2015, JREF hosted The Amazing Meeting (TAM), an annual conference held in Las Vegas that became one of the skeptical movement's most prominent regular gatherings, featuring speakers including Richard Dawkins, Michael Shermer and Adam Savage.[1] The foundation also produced For Good Reason, an interview podcast hosted by D. J. Grothe promoting critical thinking and scientific scepticism.[2]
Retirement and conversion
In January 2015, James Randi announced his retirement and stepped down from his position with JREF.[2] That September, the foundation's board announced it would convert JREF into a grant-making body, no longer accepting direct applications from individuals claiming paranormal ability, stating it could "no longer justify the resources to interact with these people."[2] The Challenge was formally terminated the same year, unclaimed after more than five decades.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Farewell To The Amazing Randi."Centre for Inquiry Canada.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "James Randi Educational Foundation."Wikipedia.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge."Psi Encyclopedia.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge."Grokipedia.