James Randi has offered million-dollar prizes in several other fields as well. To date he has never awarded any money, although he has had claimants.
Gee, the test conditions don't seem to be that stringent: http://www.randi.org/research/challenge.html The money does indeed exist, held by a third party: > 9. At the formal test, in advance, an independent person will be placed > in charge of a personal check from James Randi for US$10,000. In the > event that the claimant is successful under the agreed-upon terms and > conditions, that check shall be immediately surrendered to the > claimant, and within ten days the James Randi Educational Foundation > will pay to the claimant the remainder of the reward, for a total of > US$1,000,000. One million dollars in negotiable bonds is held by an > investment firm in New York, in the "James Randi Educational Foundation > Prize Account" as surety for the prize funds. Validation of this account > and its current status may be obtained by contacting the Foundation by > telephone, fax, or e-mail. James Randi, as a former professional illusionist, is intimately aware of the power of placebo, the power of suggestion and misdirection and it is precisely because he is such an expert in the field and sees it used so often in many areas to delude others that he does this. There is even a claim that audiophile nuts have actually killed the hobby, preventing it from ever going mainstream. http://www.randi.org/jr/121004science.html#11 I would say there is some truth to that. People who don't believe cables make a difference or do not have 5 figures+ invested in their equipment are made to feel ashamed, ridiculed and belittled for their lack of resources to devote to the hobby, for their inferior hearing abilities or for their adherence to known scientific and engineering principles. It's very intimidating for a newbie and it turns off 99% of the public at large. Which is too bad, because the public at large now believes that good sound comes from 128 kbps MP3 on an iPod or from Bose cubes. -- Mark Lanctot 'Sean Adams' Response-O-Matic checklist, patent pending!' (http://forums.slimdevices.com/showpost.php?p=200910&postcount=2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mark Lanctot's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2071 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=38902 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
