Carl%20Sagan%20-%20The%20Demon%20Haunted%20World

Obsessed with Reality
you put a rubber ball in your armpit and squeeze. When Carlos's
authenticity was questioned, he was outraged: 'This interview is
terminated!' he thundered.
On the appointed day, the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera
House was nearly filled. An excited crowd, young and old, milled
about expectantly. Entrance was free, which reassured those who
vaguely wondered if it might be some sort of scam. Alvarez seated
himself on a low couch. His pulse was monitored. Suddenly it
stopped. Seemingly, he was near death. Low, guttural noises
emanated from deep within him. The audience gasped in wonder
and awe. Suddenly, Alvarez's body took on power. His posture
radiated confidence. A broad, humane, spiritual perspective
flowed out of Alvarez's mouth. Carlos was here! Interviewed
afterwards, many members of the audience described how they
had been moved and delighted.
The following Sunday, Australia's most popular TV programme
- named Sixty Minutes after its American counterpart - revealed
that the Carlos affair was a hoax, front to back. The producers
thought it would be instructive to explore how easily a faith-healer
or guru could be created to bamboozle the public and the media.
So naturally, they contacted one of the world's leading experts on
deceiving the public (at least among those not holding or advising
political office) - the magician James Randi.
'[T]here being so many disorders which cure themselves and such
a disposition in mankind to deceive themselves and one another',
wrote Benjamin Franklin in 1784 —
. . . and living long having given me frequent opportunities
of seeing certain remedies cried up as curing everything, and
yet soon after totally laid aside as useless, I cannot but fear
that the expectation of great advantage from the new method
of treating diseases will prove a delusion. That delusion may
however in some cases be of use while it lasts.
He was referring to mesmerism. But 'every age has its peculiar
folly'.
Unlike Franklin, most scientists feel it's not their job to expose
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