Interesting article on an Indian rationalist (not quite in the same vein as lesswrong style rationalism but a worthy cause nonetheless). Impressive display of ‘putting your money where your mouth is’:
Sceptic challenges guru to kill him live on TV
When a famous tantric guru boasted on television that he could kill another man using only his mystical powers, most viewers either gasped in awe or merely nodded unquestioningly. Sanal Edamaruku’s response was different. “Go on then — kill me,” he said.
I also rather liked this response:
When the guru’s initial efforts failed, he accused Mr Edamaruku of praying to gods to protect him. “No, I’m an atheist,” came the response.
As cool as this was there is reason to doubt it’s authenticity. There doesn’t seem to be any internet record of Pandit Surender Sharma “India’s most powerful Tantrik” except for this TV event. Moreover, about a minute in it looks like the tantrik is starting to laugh. Maybe someone who knows the country can tell us if this Pandit Sharma fellow is really a major figure there.
I mean, what possible incentive would the guy have for going on TV to be humiliated?
Interesting article on an Indian rationalist (not quite in the same vein as lesswrong style rationalism but a worthy cause nonetheless). Impressive display of ‘putting your money where your mouth is’:
I also rather liked this response:
H/T Hacker News.
As cool as this was there is reason to doubt it’s authenticity. There doesn’t seem to be any internet record of Pandit Surender Sharma “India’s most powerful Tantrik” except for this TV event. Moreover, about a minute in it looks like the tantrik is starting to laugh. Maybe someone who knows the country can tell us if this Pandit Sharma fellow is really a major figure there.
I mean, what possible incentive would the guy have for going on TV to be humiliated?
Perhaps he really believed he could kill the skeptic.
Note: Most of the article is not about the TV confrontation so it’s well worth reading even if you already heard about that in 2008.