About Mikael Expertise I will be happy to answer questions regarding scepticism itself, as well as to provide a sceptical viewpoint on a wide variety of subjects, from the claims of paranormal to pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. From homeopathy to near death experiences, if you've got a question, fire away.
Experience I've been a sceptic for about a decade now, a position which I gravitated towards from an earlier fascination with all things supernatural. I have a fully naturalistic worldview, which means that I don't believe in the existence of the supernatural; this includes ghosts, deities, and a whole variety of the claims of supernatural abilities . Being a sceptic though means (contrary to how many perceive scepticism) that I must first consider myself falliable, which I do. I don't hold on to any of my beliefs dogmatically, but subject all my views to scrutiny, which makes them liable to change if new evidence so demands.
Education/Credentials Several years of university studies - not on a relevant subject though. On the subject of scepticism, self educated - I don't think that's a subject for higher education! :)
Expert: Mikael Date: 7/18/2007 Subject: criss angel (mindfreak)
Question Have you watched this guy? He seems to be aligned with the devil, if there ever was one. He levitates over bldgs, above sprinklers, swallows coins that travel down his arm & then cuts them out, saws himself in half, etc. His real name & age are a mystery, but I'd imagine him to be about 40. It wouldn't surprise me if, in the future, he recovers from a mortal head wound, after achieving world fame. Sound like anyone you know? Your thoughts are appreciated.
Answer Hi Becki,
Sorry to disappoint you, but Chris Angel is just an illusionist - a clever one at that. What he does is stage magic, and further he himself claims to do nothing more. I remember Penn and Teller having asked him (Under what circumstances, I can't remember, I'm afraid) whether he claims to possess supernatural powers, to which he answered something to the effect "of course not".
He's actually done an episode where he reveals how a few of his tricks were done - just to counter the claims that he is somehow a miracle worker. Here's a clip from that episode, where he shows how he achieves a levitation trick:
He also has his critics, who claim that the people in his live tricks are often in on the act. Here's an example of one of the illusions revealed, and this one appears to require that the woman making the comments at the end is in on it:
He is definitely a great showman, and a very good illusionist in any case, and further, unlike many less talented stage magicians, he's taken the honest route of not hiding the fact that his tricks are just that - tricks made for entertainment, and not manifestations of supernatural ability.
I think there's an important lesson to be learned from the fact that despite him not claiming to posses supernatural powers, there are people who suspect that he does have supernatural powers nevertheless; at least before they are shown how the illusions are achieved.
The lesson is this: we can ALL be fooled. Me, you, everybody. Nobody, not even an expert magician or a professional con-man is immune to clever illusions - what we must do is avoid jumping to conclusions when we see something we cannot immediately explain, something that seems completely inexplicable to us; we just aren't clever enough to make the rather arrogant jump from not being able to explain something to claiming that it has no explanation, that it's "genuine magic".
There are many charlatans who use much less sophisticated trickery than Chris Angel uses, who claim to posses supernatural powers, and they always have a loyal following of people utterly convinced of their powers - they've even managed, on occasion, to fool some naive scientists. Invariably, with tricks that can often be learned in elementary stage magic literature, these charlatans can make a lot of money off of people who yearn to believe in the mystical and paranormal.
So how can you tell whether someone who claims to possess paranormal powers actually does posses paranormal powers, or whether they are just faking it, using clever tricks and illusions? Only one way, really. That is, to have them perform their feats under carefully controlled conditions, preferably conditions carefully scrutinized by professional magicians, to eliminate the possibility of trickery. Quite revealingly, these charlatans avoid such tests like the plague - when challenged, they'll come up with any excuse, not to submit to such careful testing, even when great monetary rewards are on offer for a successful demonstration. (James Randi, who used to be a professional magician, and now runs the James Randi Educational Foundation, has for decades offered a million dollar price for anyone demonstrating any paranormal ability under controlled conditions - he's money's been safe so far.)
To finish off, I'll leave you with one more clip, this time a brief and very interesting, educational report on how pride goes before the fall, and how even having a Ph.D. doesn't make you immune to trickery:
