Dear all,
Here is an interesting exchange between Sheldrake and Randi regarding the psychic dog experiment with Jaytee, which you can read about at:
http://www.sheldrake.org/papers/Animals/dogvideo_abs.html
Now here is what Sheldrake had to say about Randi's comments on the experiment. Quite interesting eh?
http://www.sheldrake.org/controversies/randi.html
"The January 2000 issue of Dog World magazine included
an article on a possible sixth sense in dogs, which
discussed some of my research. In this article Randi
was quoted as saying that in relation to canine ESP,
'We at the JREF [James Randi Educational Foundation]
have tested these claims. They fail.' No details were
given of these tests.
"I emailed James Randi to ask for details of this JREF
research. He did not reply. He ignored a second
request for information too.
"I then asked members of the JREF Scientific Advisory
Board to help me find out more about this claim. They
did indeed help by advising Randi to reply. In an
email sent on Februaury 6, 2000 he told me that the
tests he referred to were not done at the JREF, but
took place 'years ago' and were 'informal'. They
involved two dogs belonging to a friend of his that he
observed over a two-week period. All records had been
lost. He wrote: 'I overstated my case for doubting the
reality of dog ESP based on the small amount of data I
obtained. It was rash and improper of me to do so'.
"Randi also claimed to have debunked one of my
experiments with the dog Jaytee, a part of which was
shown on television. Jaytee went to the window to wait
for his owner when she set off to come home, but did
not do so before she set off. In Dog World, Randi
stated: 'Viewing the entire tape, we see that the dog
responded to every car that drove by, and to every
person who walked by.' This is simply not true, and
Randi now admits that he has never seen the tape."
Here is an interesting exchange between Sheldrake and Randi regarding the psychic dog experiment with Jaytee, which you can read about at:
http://www.sheldrake.org/papers/Animals/dogvideo_abs.html
Now here is what Sheldrake had to say about Randi's comments on the experiment. Quite interesting eh?
http://www.sheldrake.org/controversies/randi.html
"The January 2000 issue of Dog World magazine included
an article on a possible sixth sense in dogs, which
discussed some of my research. In this article Randi
was quoted as saying that in relation to canine ESP,
'We at the JREF [James Randi Educational Foundation]
have tested these claims. They fail.' No details were
given of these tests.
"I emailed James Randi to ask for details of this JREF
research. He did not reply. He ignored a second
request for information too.
"I then asked members of the JREF Scientific Advisory
Board to help me find out more about this claim. They
did indeed help by advising Randi to reply. In an
email sent on Februaury 6, 2000 he told me that the
tests he referred to were not done at the JREF, but
took place 'years ago' and were 'informal'. They
involved two dogs belonging to a friend of his that he
observed over a two-week period. All records had been
lost. He wrote: 'I overstated my case for doubting the
reality of dog ESP based on the small amount of data I
obtained. It was rash and improper of me to do so'.
"Randi also claimed to have debunked one of my
experiments with the dog Jaytee, a part of which was
shown on television. Jaytee went to the window to wait
for his owner when she set off to come home, but did
not do so before she set off. In Dog World, Randi
stated: 'Viewing the entire tape, we see that the dog
responded to every car that drove by, and to every
person who walked by.' This is simply not true, and
Randi now admits that he has never seen the tape."
