Yes, I was confused when I saw a picture of someone holding his hand up over a keyboard. I thought there was some sort of low-level brainwave superscience going on here.
The video shows the lady running his finger pretty quickly over the keyboard. It’s ridiculous. He’s barely even looking at the screen.
How anyone could watch that and agree with the conclusion is beyond me. Suddenly Weekend at Bernie’s doesn’t seem so implausible.
James Randi has a very finely attuned BS detector. Love the guy.
Oh fuck, it’s FC? Biggest crock of horseshit, ever. And now it’s gone viral.
H.
edit: Good lord, that’s the most blatant example I’ve ever seen. She’s knocking out like 10wpm on the keyboard for a guy who is COMPLETELY PARALYZED.
Disgusting.
I think they just invented the ouija board.
But… but… but… it’s a miracle! After watching that video, it’s very clear that the facilitator is tapping out the letters on behalf of the individual. Couldn’t they use that brain thingy that they showed off on House instead?
You’d think at the very least she’d have typed slowly; made a struggling, dramatic show of it.
But, but, clearly this shows we have to put Schiavo’s tube back in!
Aside from the issue of FC, whether I was actually a vegetable or just paralysed, I would rather die. Sounds awful either way.
Exactly. I don’t think that someone holding my finger could feel which letters I was urging her towards that quickly, and I’m pretty sure I’m not vegetative for most of the day. And if the finger gets pulled, well, I’m not responsible for what happens.
H.
Takes too long. What’s the point of projecting our fears & desires upon a vegetative human if we have to spend all morning at it?
With this new insight, perhaps he would have gotten that George W. Bush joke!
I would also like to state my support for the green movement, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and new research into facilitated communication.
Haha, seriously. Bernie was more believable than this.
Also, James Randi, awesome as always.
OK, but how do you “facilitate” foot movement to react intelligently to questions, as noted in the article?
Yeah, that’s the video I want to see.
Looks like the AP has added the skepticism to the narrative now.
But some say…
And the brainscan, sure - no comment on his actual state of consciousness.
But the video of the assisted typing is the opposite of convincing.
It’s possible the videos were ‘faked’ in order to portray what it’s like when he does communicate because he didn’t happen to be ready when the camera crews showed up (maybe he still fades in and out of consciousness). But yeah, it does introduce some nagging doubt.
Presumably there will be an official paper or article on him in some journal that’ll have far more detail.
Yeah, his eyes are completely closed, and it’s not even a real keyboard (it’s a touchscreen LCD), so it’s not like they can claim that he’s just an accomplished touchtypist. What a farce. “He is currently writing a book about his experience.” Oh really.
Disgusting.