Motivational speaker and author James Arthur Ray still is a jerk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some motivational speakers just are jerks. Back on January 8, 2012 I blogged about James Arthur Ray in a post titled Don’t give a killer motivational speech. On October 8, 2009 two people (Kirby Brown and James Shore) died in a sweat lodge during his Spiritual Warrior retreat. Mr. Ray was found guilty on three counts of negligent homicide and served two years in prison. There is a 2014 web page about him at the Encyclopedia of American Loons.

 

Of course, he claims to have redeemed himself. Last year he posted a six-minute YouTube video titled A Story of Redemption - James Arthur Ray. And there also is a 2024 book by James Arthur Ray titled God Money & Sex: Understanding and Mastering the Three Human Dilemmas. Mr. Ray appeared on the late-night Coast to Coast AM radio show on December 29, 2024. There is an iHeart transcript for the first seventeen minutes.

 

In my last post I discussed the 2024 book by Jonathan N. Stea titled Mind the Science: Saving your mental health from the wellness industry. On pages 117 and 118 Dr. Stea has an interview  about how James Arthur Ray operated:

 

“In 2020, the same year that James published his redemption story, Kirby’s mother and sister co-published their own book entitled This Sweet Life: How We Lived After Kirby Died. They relay how they discovered her death, how they grieved, what it was liked to live through James’s trial, and how they survived the aftermath. I reached out to Kirby’s sister, Jean Brown, to learn more about Kirby, to renew her voice, and to illustrate some concepts related to our susceptibility to misinformation. What follows is a truncated version of our interview:

 

 STEA: What made James Ray compelling and dangerous?

  BROWN: Kirby got into his ecosystem quickly. It was the fact that he seemed so legitimate. The media legitimized him. He was in involved in The Secret, Oprah, and the Today Show. He was charming and people listened to him. At the Spiritual Warrior event, people did what he said, and the activities broke them down. They couldn’t say ‘no.’ They were told to ignore their signs of discomfort and to expect it, including heatstroke. We can see the warning signs now in retrospect. But we didn’t know them at the time. My sister didn’t know. What’s dangerous about him now is the spinning of this tragedy for his own gain, spinning reality to suit his own narrative. We can see the harm caused by people like him in the wellness industry. People may say, ‘Well, I enjoy such wellness activities and it’s good for me,’ but that doesn’t negate from the fact that it’s potentially very harmful.

 STEA: What’s your understanding of how amazing, intelligent people like Kirby fall for his grift?

  BROWN: People who wouldn’t think they are susceptible can get pulled in. We are all vulnerable. That said, some types of people are more at risk, particularly those who are in a period of change or making a big transition in their life, such as people in recovery from addiction and mental health problems, or college age people – basically, people who are motivated and open to new experiences and ideas. Seeking personal growth requires a kind of vulnerability and openness and ability to change beliefs and values. But vulnerability is not weakness. Kirby was a force of nature. No one that knew her would describe her as weak. She was determined. She was motivated to make a change in her life. That motivation makes people push through, especially when a guru or leader is telling you to keep going.

 STEA: How did James target his victims?

  BROWN: They offer free wellness events. Once you’re at an event, the comes the heavy sales pitch to sign up for the next course. At these events, you might hear about five wellness ideas. Two of them may seem okay, like good ideas that are repackaged from stuff that works, and the other three ideas are really out there and farfetched. They use other tactics too. Some of them are cult-y. Like at the Spiritual Warrior event, they first had to shave their heads. It disconnects people from their identity and creates bonding. The deprivation exercises make people weaker so they’re more at the whim of the leader. ‘Love bombing’ occurs too, which means showering you with compliments and making you feel amazing. When all of this happens, people feel like they have a transformative experience that convinces them it’s working and they need to do more and more. They’re on a high from the event.

 STEA: How would you describe Kirby’s legacy?

  BROWN: Her story is a cautionary tale. Having strong people meet their end at an event like that was so shocking to many people. She was strong, like physically strong – she lived in Mexico and was used to the heat. To have someone so strong meet her end in a physical way was shocking. She was only 38. I just really want people to know who she was. She had a zest for life. She was willing to live unconventionally. She was spiritual. She was able to hold on to all these things and was very fun, and caring, and a rock for many of her friends – someone people would turn to in times of crisis.”

 

There also is a 19-minute YouTube video by Dr. Todd Grande titled James Arthur Ray | Dangers of Spiritual and Motivational Gurus.

 

The silhouette was adapted from one at Openclipart.

 

Nine red flags of pseudoscience

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How can we tell if our research is finding just pseudoscience rather than real science? At my friendly, local public library I recently found, and am enjoying reading, the 2024 book by Jonathan N. Stea titled Mind the Science: Saving your mental health from the wellness industry. He is a clinical psychologist in Calgary. There is a preview of it at Google Books. In a section titled Mind the Takeaways on pages 200 and 201 he describes the following Nine Red Flags of Pseudoscience:

 

Explain away negative findings (i.e., overuse of ad hoc hypotheses)

“Your horoscope didn’t work this time because you didn’t think positively enough when you read it.”

 

Absence of self-correction

“Sure – maybe Scientology hasn’t changed much since L. Ron Hubbard’s writings, but it still has undiscovered potential!”

 

Evasion of peer review

“They don’t publish their results in top-tier, peer reviewed scientific journals because Western medicine has brainwashed us to believe that randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the only kind of evidence.”

 

Emphasis on conformation rather than refutation

“I don’t care if you think the Amazing James Randi has thoroughly debunked telekinetic spoon bending. Those people at the workshop swear it isn’t a magic trick.”

 

Reversed burden of proof

“No! YOU prove to ME that it isn’t an alien-operated UFO.”

 

Claims divorced from the broader scientific literature (i.e., absence of connectivity)

“Science doesn’t have all the answers! It can’t explain how past life regression therapy uses ideas about reincarnation to help treat posttraumatic stress disorder.”

 

Elevation of anecdotal evidence

“I received energy healing and happen to feel better afterward; therefore, it works.”

 

Use of science-y sounding language

“Once the diagnosis using quantum mechanics is completed, current treatments revert to biochemistry instead of using treatments involving the subtle energies that made the original diagnosis.” (From an actual published article on energy medicine that is now retracted)

 

Absence of boundary conditions

“Why, of course, detoxification diets can treat depression, anxiety, addiction, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, chronic pain, marital conflict, glaucoma, Covid-19, laziness, and heartburn – and it can do so in adults, children, infants, dogs, cats, and horses.”

 

The preceding quote is typical of homeopathy. For example, in the Homeopathic Materia Medica by William Boericke there is a web page about Natrium Muriaticum – chloride of sodium claiming that rather than just being edible salt (the shaker on your dining table) it is:

 

“A great remedy for certain forms of intermittent fever, anemia, chlorosis, many disturbances of the alimentary tract and skin.”

 

On January 4, 2016 I blogged about Will homeopathic Natrium Muriaticum reduce stage fright? How could that work?

 

An image of a red flag came from Openclipart.

 

Only you can prevent bad presentations in 2025!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For New Year’s Day I traditionally post appropriating the Smokey Bear slogan that “Only you can prevent…” and tell people to do better presentations by planning.  My first image comes from a 1794 cartoon by Robert Dighton.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A second has a portrait of orator Anna Elizabeth Dickinson from around 1860.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A third has a cartoon of Bourke Cockran by George Yost Coffin from 1896. (All three images came from the Library of Congress).

 

There is a long article by Charlotte Hilton Andersen at the Reader’s Digest on November 21, 2024 titled 50 New Year’s Resolutions You’ll Want to Keep. Her twelfth is to Do something that scares you:

 

“Make a list of things that scare you: public speaking, skydiving, holding a spider, eating Brussels sprouts, asking your boss for a raise, calling your crush. Now, pick one thing on the list and find a way to do it.”

 

There is another long article from ElegantLivingEveryday titled 76 New Year’s Resolution Ideas for a Fulfilling 2025. Number 14 is to take a public speaking course to boost confidence.

 

Last year I posted about how In 2024 only you can prevent bad presentations, and linked to my previous posts.