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| Version | Summary | Created by | Modification | Content Size | Created at | Operation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vivi Li | -- | 2022 | 2022-11-28 01:47:14 |
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Project Alpha was an effort by magician James Randi to test the quality of scientific rigor of a well-known test of paranormal phenomena. In the late 1970s, Randi contacted the newly established McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research ("MacLab") with suggestions on how to conduct tests for paranormal phenomena. At the same time, two teenage boys (Steve Shaw, later known as Banachek, and Mike Edwards) independently contacted the McDonnell Laboratory and volenteered as subjects for such tests from 1979 to 1982. They quickly proved to exhibit a range of paranormal abilities far and away better than the other subjects of the experiment. The lab began leaking reports of the pair's capabilities, which were in fact simple magic tricks. When rumors of the test subjects' connection to Randi reached Peter Phillips, head of the MacLab, he instituted tighter protocols for the experiments; the two subjects' results declined sharply. In 1983, Randi held a press conference to expose the deception In the wake of Project Alpha, there were a number of controversies about the ethics of interference in scientific research and the validity of paranormal research as it then existed. It remains a watershed event in the field of parapsychology.
References
- Dafty, Sally Bixby (March 2, 1980). "And a little child shall bend them". The Washington Post: p. F11.
- Randi, James. "The Project Alpha Experiment: Part 1 The First Two Years". Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/JamesRandiTheProjectAlpha. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- Randi, James (1982). Flim-Flam!: Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and other Delusions. Prometheus Books. pp. 137–139. ISBN 0879751983.
- Thalbourne, Michael (October 1995). "Science Versus Showmanship: A History of the Randi Hoax". Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 8: 348. http://www.aiprinc.org/para-c05_Thalbourne_1995.pdf.
- Banachek (December 16, 2018). "Banachek's Brain #18: The Amazing Randi". http://www.banachek.com/uncategorized/amazing-randi-banacheks-brain-18/.
- "Sleight of mind: Magicians con psychic researchers". The Baltimore Sun: p. A3. January 29, 1983.
- Banachek (December 23, 2018). "Mike Edwards Pt. 2 Banachek's Brain #19". http://www.banachek.com/uncategorized/mike-edwards-part-2-banacheks-brain-19/.
- Randi, James (Summer 1983). "The Project Alpha Experiment: Part 1. The First Two Years". The Skeptical Inquirer. https://archive.org/details/JamesRandiTheProjectAlpha?q=project+alpha+experiment.
- Thalbourne, Michael Anthony (1995). "Science Versus Showmanship: A History of the Randi Hoax". Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 89: 344–366. https://www.aiprinc.org/para-c05_Thalbourne_1995.pdf.
- Truzzi, Marcello (1987). "Reflections on "Project Alpha": Scientific Experiment or Conjuror's Illusion?". Zetetic Scholar: 73–98. https://www.aiprinc.org/documents/Zet.pdf.
- Gardner, Martin (Summer 1983). "Notes of a Psi Watcher: Lessons of a Landmark PK Hoax". Skeptical Inquirer 7: 16–19. https://skepticalinquirer.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/uploads/files/martin-gardner-pdfs/landmark-pk-hoax.pdf.
- RandomPosts. James Randi and Project Alpha (video). YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 12 November 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1S5CRcqJQo
- Auerbach, Loyd (April 1983). "Project Alpha: Showmanship vs Science". ASPR Newsletter 9 (2): 1–2. http://www.aiprinc.org/alpha/Auerbach.pdf.
- "Recent Adverse Publicity on Parapsychological Research". March 3, 1983. https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R001100360001-1.pdf.
- Mueller, Mandy (August 4, 1985). "Lab Gives Up Its Search For a True Psychic". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest 176248532. https://search.proquest.com/docview/176248532
