|
Post by hello1 on Jan 12, 2007 14:39:38 GMT
I think this is on the right thread.
Anyway, I only started being sceptical after coming on this site and reading and watching all the links, I now don’t believe in psychics BUT how the hell do they know some very personal stuff?
John Edwards for example is always coming up with things that only that person or family knows. Like they kept some glasses in a drawer or they got a special box they like to keep or something. How the hell does he know these details which NO ONE else knows about?
|
|
|
Post by aliennation345 on Jan 12, 2007 14:46:46 GMT
Hello welcome. It is the norm to anyone (including myself) I keep my Glasses in a drawer, and to be honest I have a special box I keep stuff in too so if John Edward is claiming this, it is very run of the Mill stuff. Just like when a medium says "do you know a John, Jim, James, etc", somewhere in the family or a family friend would have one of these names.
|
|
|
Post by abcde on Jan 12, 2007 15:08:05 GMT
Hello, hello1 ;D One of the techniques 'mediums' use is to state things that are true for most people and rely on the fact that people take vague statements very personally. Something like " you're concerned about the health of someone close to you" is probably true for most people but being an emotionally-charged statement, it would likely seem very personal to the person who's validating the statement. Another technique that works well is to use 'trivia stats'. i.e. generalisations that can convince people of psychic ability even though they are statistically likely to be true. Things like: Ø you have a single earring as the matching one is missing; Ø there’s a calendar in the kitchen but it’s not this year’s; Ø you have, or had, a scar on your left knee; Ø you once started learning a musical instrument but gave up; Ø there was an accident in your childhood that involved water Look out for such things is psychic readings. There are two main psychological weapons in the psychics' favour too. Confirmation Bias - where people pay a lot of attention to things that confirm their beliefs and disregard things that don't (often known as 'remembering the hits and forgetting the misses') and; Subjective Validation - where people take statements and treat them as being personal to themselves. There are other recall biases too which means that people misremember how things are communicated. It's often the client who provides the information in the reading but it's remembered as the psychic giving it! Something like:Psychic: I'm getting a health problem, something to do with the blood or circulation. Do you understand this? Client: Yes, my son is on kidney dialysis. Psychic: Yes I thought it was something like that. He doesn’t like the dialysis does he? Client: No he hates it but we’re hoping for a donor kidney soon. Will be recalled as the psychic stating that the child was on kidney dialysis – something she couldn’t possibly have known!! (note the actual flow of information from client to psychic). This is even more likely to happen if the reading was 30-40 minutes long as we can't hold so much information accurately in memory. Psychic readings are all about psychology.
|
|
gavsto2006
Glint in fathers eye
Remember, the first rule of brainstorming is to openly mock the ideas of others!
Posts: 48
|
Post by gavsto2006 on Jan 12, 2007 15:08:31 GMT
Hello and welcome.
I believe John Edwards was found to have microphones hidden in the audience, but I'm not sure on that I'll look into it. Another possibility are plants in the audience. Also special box, and special drawer are very generic. Think about how many people have a special box or a special drawer, they are actually very generic sentences.
|
|
|
Post by lowrider on Jan 13, 2007 14:55:32 GMT
Yep many of the things the Inquisitor says are true. Most people have a scar on their knee,most people have tried to learn some instrument as well as the cold reading tricks. The trick is to try and eliminate any chance for a fake to use such things. Tell them before you start that you do not wish to respond to any points and tape the reading/consultation. If they are genuine,medium or psychic they should have no problem with that.
|
|
|
Post by claire on Jan 13, 2007 15:09:38 GMT
my mother went to a medium, and claimed they were spot on, she has tape recordings of these readings, and at some point i fully intend to go through them with a fine tooth comb, and see exactly how much was actually accurate and see if i can spot the flaws. it will make for interesting listening im sure.
|
|
|
Post by shazzz on Jan 13, 2007 15:12:50 GMT
would be cool if you could make a transcript of them claire
|
|
|
Post by abcde on Jan 13, 2007 15:16:10 GMT
my mother went to a medium, and claimed they were spot on, she has tape recordings of these readings, and at some point i fully intend to go through them with a fine tooth comb, and see exactly how much was actually accurate and see if i can spot the flaws. it will make for interesting listening im sure. That's what's needed - recordings of these readings. That's the only way that the information flow in the reading can be scrutinised. People often credit the psychic with providing a load of information that 'they couldn't possibly have known'. Only on examination of the reading it's quite obvious that it was the client who gave the information to the psychic.
|
|
|
Post by lowrider on Jan 13, 2007 15:18:53 GMT
I did have one and it was taped. I have gone through it a few times. I also said i would send it to Jon but i don't have a tape to tape machine or any tapes. Plus i can never get my arse in gear to try and borrow a machine and find some tapes.
|
|
|
Post by abcde on Jan 13, 2007 15:27:19 GMT
I have a tape of a Tarot reading that I have yet to transcribe.
The reading is so abysmal that I can't face doing it.
It is just an endless series of questions by the psychic, pre-emptive excuses for failure and inaccuracy, wild guesses and vague predictions.
Near the end, after many wrong guesses the psychic comes up with the name Brian. This was the name of the woman's ex-husband. Amazing!!!
The woman thought the reading was great and accurate. She was going to go for another one but I don't know if she ever did.
What is amazing is just how incredibly bad the psychic was and yet the client still thought the reading was good.
I would always advise anyone who goes for a psychic reading (of any kind) to go to one who records it - then at least you can examine it in the cold light of day.
|
|
|
Post by shazzz on Jan 13, 2007 15:30:19 GMT
and take the tape with you immediately afterwards and dont let them send it you as they have time to alter things and edit the tape then
|
|
|
Post by abcde on Jan 13, 2007 15:33:14 GMT
Good point Shazz.
A cassette tape recording does not need processing - it should be available immediately the reading ends.
|
|
|
Post by lowrider on Jan 13, 2007 15:39:09 GMT
You mean they have stopped using reel to reel 6 inch tapes now. I'll get my Arc ;D
|
|
|
Post by abcde on Jan 13, 2007 15:46:18 GMT
They're probably doing them on MP3 players these days! ;D
Or is it MP4 now....?
|
|
|
Post by lowrider on Jan 13, 2007 16:08:25 GMT
Bloody Shazz mucking with my posts Plus is spelt with a K
|
|
|
Post by alfie on Jan 13, 2007 16:09:11 GMT
Inquisitor wrote: well thats me summed up then, I can take all of that !! ever thought of becoming a medium It's specifics thats needed, things that only the person alone could know.
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Jan 13, 2007 16:20:39 GMT
I did have one and it was taped. I have gone through it a few times. I also said i would send it to Jon but i don't have a tape to tape machine or any tapes. Plus i can never get my arse in gear to try and borrow a machine and find some tapes. Yes get your arse in gear mate
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Jan 13, 2007 16:21:16 GMT
my mother went to a medium, and claimed they were spot on, she has tape recordings of these readings, and at some point i fully intend to go through them with a fine tooth comb, and see exactly how much was actually accurate and see if i can spot the flaws. it will make for interesting listening im sure. Well if you can transcribe it, or even digitise it, then we can have a look at it. The only way to educate people is to give them real examples of how mediums work
|
|
|
Post by claire on Jan 13, 2007 17:46:51 GMT
il pester her for it when i next see her, which wont be for a while tho
|
|
|
Post by abcde on Jan 13, 2007 18:31:54 GMT
well thats me summed up then, I can take all of that !! ever thought of becoming a medium I've tried it! Only to try out Cold Reading of course, but I was successful. Something that doesn't show up in recordings is the immense amount of visual feedback you get whilst giving a reading. The amount of head nodding and shaking combined with other facial and bodily expressions let's you know exactly where you're going even without the verbal feedback.
|
|