Alessandra's Fishbob

Rather than lay down yet another argument for why Stanley's hatred of smart television is a terrible thing, I am just going to assume you allready agree, or at least are willing to pretend that you do for the rest of your life. This allows me the space I need to indulge in the blogging tradition of hammering at a piece of misinformation until it bleeds.

In this case, I'd like to focus on the opening statement that forms the crux of Stanley's attack.

Anyone who thinks it’s a good sign that “Lost” is back has not spent enough time at the Web site of James Randi, a skeptical scholar of the pseudoscientific and the supernatural.

A fan recently posed this question online at randi.org: “Is a fascination and increased belief in the supernatural a sign of social decline?”

The answer came as categorically as the words under the Magic 8-Ball: “Yes. Absolutely.” [NYT excerpt by Alessandra Stanley]

The link Stanley provided leads to Randi's Website, but not to the forum she is refering to. Luckily, the site has a search function that leads to the only forum post that matches up with the quotes provided.

Stanley had to wait for twelve responses for her categorical answer, but once given, it seems pretty clear. Fishbob hates superstition almost as much as he hates misplaced apostrophes. You might know Fishbob better as James Randi himself. In all likelihood you'd be wrong about that, but Stanley's article certainly implies that Fishbob at least speaks with the voice of Randi. It's entirely possible she knows something about him I don't.

Of course, Fishbob wasn't talking about the third season of Lost. For one thing, this recent conversation took place in March of 2006. Also, it's not in the "Entertainment" thread, where one can find a 16 page thread devoted to Lost. Stanley's quote is located is in the Politics, Current Events, and Social Issues subsection of "General Academics." Fishbob might hate it when people are fascinated with supposedly supernatural events in the real world, but he's not saying much about television.

I wonder why this particular quote was even chosen. There has to be better quotes to steal out there, and I'd imagine they'd be easier to find than a year old forum post. How did she even know this existed? Perhaps a year ago, she was investigating what sort of person would bother asking what James Randi fans thought about the supernatural, and the lines stuck with her. I'd honestly like to know.

Still, it makes for a nice misleading quote for the insufficiently skeptical. I'm sure that's the sort of thing Randi's all about, when he isn't unbending spoons with the power of his mighty beard.

Of course, it's possible there really is a Q & A with a LOST-hating Real James Randi on the site, and I'm just unable to find it. This is why reporters are supposed to attribute their quotes. This prevents people like me from asking, "Your magic eight ball of truth is some guy called Fishbob?!" Instead, I'd be forced to ask why she claims to hate magic so much, but didn't even mention Jack Bauer and his magical teleporting car.