They had to have a trite "psychic" episode. Not only that but they:
+) Had EVERYBODY (even the physics professor) open to the possibility except
for the mathematician who was painted as utterly intractable, dogmatic and
close-minded.
+) Had the psychic perform feats clearly impossible via other means - thus
"settling" the issue (we're not even allowed to make up our own minds).
We're not left with a "was it a trick or did he have powers" question.
(There was one, half-hearted challenge to a test but it went nowhere.)
+) Had nearly CONSTANT arguments for being open to the possibilities
including spurious supporting facts, studies and "successful" government
programs. There was only a half-hearted, and completely futile, defense of
critical thinking.
+) Had NO mention of organized skepticism or the thousands upon thousands of
tests which have failed to prove any super-normal effects. Had no mention
of the fact that there is still an unclaimed million dollars waiting for the
first person to prove actual psychic abilities of any kind.
With so many shows on television ("Ghost Whisperer", "Medium", etc)
presenting the pseudo-scientific side it would have been so nice for a show
like "Numbers" to present the rare, fully skeptical viewpoint. Hell, I
would have been pleased enough with a straight balance - but this was an
outright polemic against skepticsm.
Just plain pissed me off.
Jim Davis
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