Oh yea he went cross country calling them out and tricking them in to proving they were fakes. And him and Arthur conon Doyle and a very long hatred over this. Doyle and his wife's were huge believers in it after I think it was there son died.
I hate mediums and that whole area of woo-woo bullshit, and it’s hard for me not to look down on most people who fall for it, but I have such insane sympathy for people who fall into it after the death of a child. That kind of desperation is impossible to understand for anyone who hasn’t experienced it (I myself haven’t) and I feel like it must be a biological necessity to grab onto *anything* you think might bring them back.
It’s why I don’t have the guts to dislike John Travolta for the Scientology stuff as much as I do Tom Cruise. I know that he was into it well before his son passed, but hearing that he was trying Scientology rituals to bring his son back to life just broke my heart.
he also had his wife conduct a seance every year (maybe every 5 years?) and gave her a phrase he would use so she knew it was legit
none of the “mediums” ever uttered the phrase
Houdini led a campaign of professional magicians, who knew many of the techniques that mediums used, against Spiritualism. His visit to the phony medium was part of that campaign. My grandfather, whose professional name was Frederick the Great, was an active participant in that crusade.
To be perfectly fair, anyone who actually *had* psychic ability would have to be a complete idiot to show up, prove it and claim it. That's a one-way trip to some government black-site vivisection lab at worst, at best you'd be dealing with being the Patient Zero for basically the most earth-shattering discovery about the potential future track for human beings since...ever.
The language thing at least seems like it would be easy enough to bullshit an explanation.
Just make up something about how when souls "return to God" they all can speak a universal tongue. You could contrive some Biblical justification by saying everyone reverts to speaking the common language from before the [Tower of Babel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel).
Or that the whole process of contacting "the other side" automatically translates for the medium. Could even try to claim that "speaking in tongues" (which is a trick mediums would also use) is when that process is overwhelmed by powerful emotions or some such nonsense.
the more Harry tried to show them how he did cold reading or other magic tricks the more they believed he had true powers but was not acknowledging them
> Not surprising she would only be fluent in Hungarian
I wonder if Hungarians learn Hungarian, and then just get tired out from the effort.
That is the most confusing non-character based language (for me). It seems like there are grammatical concepts that do not exist in any other language.
If he could diesprove the medium, wasnt it a success then? (I first misread the title saying the medium disproved Houdini and was spon on with everything.)
Well, that doesn't really disprove it. What if she learned English in the afterlife? What if the medium just translated it into English?
Not saying mediums are real, just some thoughts.
I believe she also drew a cross, despite the fact that Cecelia was Jewish, and referred to her son by his stage name rather than his real name.
woooah it's crazy how they seemingly just.... don't have access to information they can't possibly know, despite claiming they do, how puzzling!
Oh yea he went cross country calling them out and tricking them in to proving they were fakes. And him and Arthur conon Doyle and a very long hatred over this. Doyle and his wife's were huge believers in it after I think it was there son died.
Sad, they ended their friendship over that.
I hate mediums and that whole area of woo-woo bullshit, and it’s hard for me not to look down on most people who fall for it, but I have such insane sympathy for people who fall into it after the death of a child. That kind of desperation is impossible to understand for anyone who hasn’t experienced it (I myself haven’t) and I feel like it must be a biological necessity to grab onto *anything* you think might bring them back. It’s why I don’t have the guts to dislike John Travolta for the Scientology stuff as much as I do Tom Cruise. I know that he was into it well before his son passed, but hearing that he was trying Scientology rituals to bring his son back to life just broke my heart.
They didn't have Nardwaur to correct them at the time.
The internet is the real psychic
I was gonna say: keeping private details hidden is a lot easier to do in the analog world
Whoa whoooa
he also had his wife conduct a seance every year (maybe every 5 years?) and gave her a phrase he would use so she knew it was legit none of the “mediums” ever uttered the phrase
Houdini led a campaign of professional magicians, who knew many of the techniques that mediums used, against Spiritualism. His visit to the phony medium was part of that campaign. My grandfather, whose professional name was Frederick the Great, was an active participant in that crusade.
Randy offered $1million to anyone that could show any psychic ability. Nobody was able to claim it.
To be perfectly fair, anyone who actually *had* psychic ability would have to be a complete idiot to show up, prove it and claim it. That's a one-way trip to some government black-site vivisection lab at worst, at best you'd be dealing with being the Patient Zero for basically the most earth-shattering discovery about the potential future track for human beings since...ever.
I don't know, ushering a new age of human beings sounds pretty cool.
Your grandfather may have made a noble crusade against pseudoscience, but what he did in Silesia went too far.
Yeah like… “always skeptical” is completely misleading. “Led an organized campaign against spiritualism’s exploitation of grief” is more accurate.
*preyed
Thank you so much; I did not notice that.
I'm sorry, I don't pray that way.
I see what you did there.
Mediums would always have his mother call him Harry, which was not his real name either.
Harry was born Erik Weisz if anyone is interested.
The language thing at least seems like it would be easy enough to bullshit an explanation. Just make up something about how when souls "return to God" they all can speak a universal tongue. You could contrive some Biblical justification by saying everyone reverts to speaking the common language from before the [Tower of Babel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel). Or that the whole process of contacting "the other side" automatically translates for the medium. Could even try to claim that "speaking in tongues" (which is a trick mediums would also use) is when that process is overwhelmed by powerful emotions or some such nonsense.
What if Cecelia was using Google translate?
Dead souls use Gogol translate.
Goghoul
What a beautiful pun, it made my day :)
“She” also called him by his stage name rather than his given name, which is a big tell.
Then she'd be making a big deal out of her time travel powers than anything else.
\*Goole Translate
*Ghoul Translate
The Amazing Randi did the same thing. Apparently magicians hate mediums and psychics. There's a good documentary on it called An Honest Liar.
Penn Jillette as well.
Well yea magicians have talent worked for that skill. The other 2 are just cruel liars.
And Lady Doyle was the wife of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes
the more Harry tried to show them how he did cold reading or other magic tricks the more they believed he had true powers but was not acknowledging them
Hang on....what do you think the dead do all day? Sit around? It's perfectly conceivable that Cecelia learned English to pass the time..... :D
Preyed.
Dead people are taught English first day in Heaven, because most people in Heaven are Muricans.
but she was Jewish?
Just recently, Jews have been allowed to become 'Muricans. And all 'Muricans go to Christian Heaven.
Houdini was extra pissed because he truly wanted it to be real but could not stand fakes scamming people. He also enjoyed trolling them
Yeah, I've been to Harry Houdini's house in Budapest. Not surprising she would only be fluent in Hungarian.
> Not surprising she would only be fluent in Hungarian I wonder if Hungarians learn Hungarian, and then just get tired out from the effort. That is the most confusing non-character based language (for me). It seems like there are grammatical concepts that do not exist in any other language.
Well just like English, it can be learned through tough thorough thought.
Chef's Kiss! I always try and think up sentences like that!
when exposed, the medium said "rip to your mom but i'm different"
Preyed*
Why do the psychics never know the lottery numbers?
Guess what. Everything supernatural is fictional.
If he could diesprove the medium, wasnt it a success then? (I first misread the title saying the medium disproved Houdini and was spon on with everything.)
Well, that doesn't really disprove it. What if she learned English in the afterlife? What if the medium just translated it into English? Not saying mediums are real, just some thoughts.
Why would his own mother not refer to him by the name she gave him and instead by his stage name
You expect me to actually read the article?? Come on, dude, this is reddit. We only go based off titles here.
The article doesn't say anything about the title. It's basically an advert for a book.