I don't expect that the million will ever be won, simply because there is no confirming evidence for any paranormal claims to date.
James RandiRead
Science is best defined as a careful, disciplined, logical search for knowledge about any and all aspects of the universe, obtained by examination of the best available evidence and always subject to correction and improvement upon discovery of better evidence. What's left is magic. And it doesn't work.
Interpretation
Science involves a systematic and logical approach to understanding the universe through evidence and is always open to revision.
In this quote, James Randi defines science as an organized effort to acquire knowledge about the universe based on rigorous examination and evidence. He emphasizes that science is a dynamic process, constantly evolving as new evidence emerges, contrasting it with magic, which he claims lacks the foundational basis of logical inquiry and does not yield reliable results.
In practice
In a scientific presentation, I might quote Randi to emphasize the importance of evidence-based conclusions.
I don't expect that the million will ever be won, simply because there is no confirming evidence for any paranormal claims to date.
[Psychics] use exactly the same gimmicks that we magicians do - the same physical methods, the same psychological methods - and they effectively and profoundly deceive millions of people around the earth, to their detriment.
Escapology has one thing going for it that probably made Harry Houdini such a superstar in his day and a legend in the present. Everyone wants to escape from something. Taxes, contracts, illness, work, the multitude of burdens that we chafe under are shadows from which we want to escape.
There is a distinct difference between having an open mind and having a hole in your head from which your brain leaks out.
Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue.
When somebody discovers something like the quadratic formula or the Pythagorean theorem, the convention in science is that he can't control that idea. He has to give it away. He publishes it. What's rewarded in science is dissemination of ideas.
Mathematics is not only real, but it is the only reality.
Let's get into talking about how autism is similar animal behavior. The thing is I don't think in a language, and animals don't think in a language. It's sensory based thinking, thinking in pictures, thinking in smells, thinking in touches. It's putting these sensory based memories into categories.
The ideal scientist thinks like a poet and works like a bookkeeper
As those who have seen Jurassic Park will know, this means a tiny disturbance in one place, can cause a major change in another. A butterfly flapping its wings can cause rain in Central Park, New York. The trouble is, it is not repeatable. The next time the butterfly flaps its wings, a host of other things will be different, which will also influence the weather. That is why weather forecasts are so unreliable.
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