I interviewed James Randi on the phone. Nothing about him was making fun of others. He is an educator. He is far more concerned about frauds that bilk people out of their life savings because they claim to be Shaman or whatnot. People like these "psychics" you see on TV that LITERALLY charge thousands of dollars to "talk" to your dead grandma. He's not making fun of those that believe it, because the people that believe it just aren't aware of the tricks... as a former magician, he educates people about the tricks. Also, I have to be a bit grateful to Randi as it was HIS book, "Encyclopedia of claims, frauds, and hoaxes" that first planted a seed of doubt about JWs. It was this book that told me about how the organizations beliefs were actually founded... by measuring pyramids.
The reason no one has won the million dollar challenge is because supernatural phenomena, if real, would still work under scientific observation with controls in place. For example, a person claiming that they were able to conduct a seance where the table was raised by spirits, wasn't allowed to bring their own table. The control table wasn't able to be tipped by usual means by a fraudster, so the individual failed, because they couldn't press the edge of the table or fit their toe under a leg. Others have genuinely believed they had powers, but were disproven as well. One in particular I always remember was a person that believed that they could mummify flesh with a touch, and they would hold a piece of chicken and sit it on the counter only to find that it had dried out in a few days... the person didn't take into account that they lived in a dry desert climate. They made jerky.
Also, Randi still holds that there is always the possibility that there are supernatural events that take place, but, they need to be real and observable. Even Houdini held this belief while exposing fraud spiritualists. Some people say that it brings hope and closure to loved ones left behind... but that only opens the door for frauds to take advantage and suddenly grandma can't pay her rent since she gave away her pension. These people are no better than those IRS frauds that called people saying that there was a warrant out for their arrest if they didn't pay several thousand dollars. It plays into fear and exploits the vulnerable.
As I said before, I had at one time THOUGHT I had observed supernatural phenomena. In particular in a place I worked, in one particular part of the building. Turns out, the weirdness that was happening was due to very old wiring. Its often called a "fear cage," where the electrical fields can cause individuals to experience phenomena often associated with being near "spirits." I've also experienced "hagging," which scared the living daylights out of me as a kid, but after learning the mechanics of sleep paralysis, I haven't had it since. I also believed at one point I was being followed by the spirit of a cat, I would catch things out of the corner of my eye... nothing more than shadows and lack of sleep. I've seen photos taken by friends that say "look at this face!" and it's wood grain, nothing more than Pareidolia. I've seen "shadow men videos" many are obviously doctored to the point I can see pixels in the images. I also work with photoshop, so I know what to look for with edges and blurring... Most photos are modern cottingley fairies type situations, people goofing around and then it goes viral and they have to stick with their story as it goes viral. Even the creator of a Loch Ness photo came out and exposed his own fraud.
And for a kicker... I was married on the Queen Mary, the "most haunted" ship etc... I asked the guy that worked for them for marketing and events about the ghosts. He rolled his eyes. "I made a lot of those up myself"
But haunted things make for good tourist attractions...