Psychics

[Dan_Dare]

I just read this piece on psychics in today's Guardian:

 

According to her website, Sally Morgan is "Britain's best-loved psychic". She is certainly a very successful psychic – she has just released her third book and is currently filming the third series of Psychic Sally on the Road for Sky LIVING. But an incident that took place a few days ago may cause a few of her fans to wonder whether Morgan is deserving of their adoration. Could it be that, like so many self-professed psychic superstars in the past, Morgan is nothing more than a self-serving con artist?

 

Let me describe what happened so that you can make up your own mind. On Monday 12 September, a caller named Sue phoned the Liveline show on RTÉ Radio 1, an Irish radio station. Sue said that she had attended Morgan's show the previous night at the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin and had been impressed by the accuracy of the readings she made in the first half of the show.

 

But then something odd happened. Sue was sitting in the back row on the fourth level of the theatre and there was a small room behind her ("like a projection room") with a window open. Sue and her companions became aware of a man's voice and "everything that the man was saying, the psychic was saying it 10 seconds later."

 

Sue believes, not unreasonably, that the man was feeding information to Sally through an earpiece attached to her microphone. For example, the voice would say something like "David, pain in the back, passed quickly" and a few seconds later Sally would claim to have the spirit of a "David" on stage who – you'll never guess – suffered from back pain and passed quickly.

 

A member of staff realised that several people near the back of the theatre were aware of the mystery voice and the window was gently closed. The voice was not heard again.

 

Sue speculated, again not unreasonably given the history of psychic frauds, that the man was feeding Sally information that had been gathered by engaging members of the audience in conversation in the foyer before the show began. This is a technique widely used by psychic fraudsters, as audience members will naturally discuss with each other who they are hoping to hear from "on the other side", how their loved one died, and so on.

 

Subsequent callers to the radio programme supported Sue's account.

 

The theatre's general manager, Stephen Faloon, claimed that the voice heard by the audience was actually the voices of two members of staff working for the theatre, not someone supplying information to Sally. Sally Morgan Enterprises also denied that the medium was being fed information during the show.

 

This episode is reminiscent of the exposure of faith healer Peter Popoff by James Randi in 1986. Popoff would wow his audiences by giving specific and accurate details of their medical problems before claiming to cure them with his divine powers. This information was, according to Popoff, provided to him directly by God. It was certainly an effective technique, as at this time Popoff was raking in around $4m per month (tax-free) from his poor, sick and uneducated followers.

 

Randi, with the assistance of investigator Alexander Jason, convincingly demonstrated that Popoff was actually receiving the "divine" information from his wife via a hearing aid. Following his exposure on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Popoff declared bankruptcy in 1987.

 

In a more rational world, that would have been the end of Popoff's career as a faith healer. Sadly, we do not live in a rational world. Popoff is back, earning more than ever by fleecing his flock using exactly the same techniques that Randi exposed, plus a few new ones, such as the sale of "Miracle Spring Water". According to ABC News, Popoff's ministry received more than $9.6m in 2003 and more than $23m in 2005. In that year, Popoff paid himself and his wife a combined total of almost a million dollars (not to mention two of his children receiving more than $180,000 each).

 

Since the heyday of mediumship during the Victorian era, exposure as frauds has typically done little to diminish the popularity of alleged psychics in the eyes of their followers.

 

It is important to realise that many self-professed psychics, possibly the majority, are sincere in their beliefs that they possess a "gift". Such practitioners are probably unintentionally using some of the same techniques used by so-called cold readers to convince themselves and their sitters that they are tapping into some paranormal source of information. Because the cold reading technique is not being exploited deliberately and systematically, such readings are usually unimpressive to anyone except hardcore believers.

 

But con artists can use cold reading to convince complete strangers that they know all about them. It relies on the clever use of language, careful observation, intelligent guesswork, and the production of vague and ambiguous statements that the sitter interprets (and remembers) as being more specific than they actually were. In a skilled practitioner, cold reading can produce much more impressive results than the rather amateurish readings produced by most psychics.

 

Even cold reading has its limits though. If a psychic reading is full of very specific and accurate details, produced on the basis of very limited interaction with the sitter (as in Popoff's case), it is more likely to be the result of "hot reading" – information collected prior to the start of the reading.

 

While the activities of performers like Popoff, who deliberately and knowingly exploit their vulnerable followers and are motivated by nothing more than personal greed, would be condemned as immoral by most reasonable people, the moral issues are not quite so cut-and-dried when it comes to deluded but sincere psychics who may not even charge for their services.

 

The fact is that many bereaved people are comforted to receive "evidence" that their loved ones are waiting for them "on the other side". Some may feel that even if Morgan is deliberately conning her audience with fraudulent techniques, this is outweighed by the comfort that she brings. However, given that tickets for her sell-out Dublin show cost €40 each and there were reportedly brisk sales for her books and DVDs, this appears not to be her only motivation.

 

Phone-in caller Sue, who believed that Morgan had psychic powers before her experience at the theatre, described herself as being "totally disappointed" and insisted that she would not be attending such shows again. Maybe some of her friends and others sitting near her that evening will follow suit. Sadly, however, history suggests that most of Sally's followers will continue to adore her and pay the high prices demanded to see her in action.

 

It absolutely enrages me that these people should be allowed to operate their snake-oil scams in this country. They're frauds and should be prosecuted as such. Dishonest liars who manipulate the poor and desperate for lucrative financial gain.

faith healers, psychics, mediums and all the rest should be banned. Unless they provide substantial proof to their claims, they should not be allowed to ask for money. Simple.

[Paj!]

I've always been fascinated by it/the concept. I think it can be disgusting (that Popoff guy) or fairly inoffensive (as the article notes near the end).

 

Last summer was ALL about Lisa Williams. I love her show (just for the jokes. Her body shape. The fact she's british in California. Her hat/s.). She was 'good' too, at being 'psychic'.

[The Bard]

Well, serves the fuckers right for being at a fucking psychic show in the first place. What empirical evidence is there for humans being able to perform those kinds of telepathic feats? And even if they were, why would whatever spiritual medium that offers them this information, provide such banalities as "dave, the dude with a back problem"?

 

Anyway, society is full of leaches trying to scam people out of their time and money. I think of it as product testing. Except the product in this case is your brain.

[Cube]

Surely a psychic show like the one mentioned in the article is classed as "entertainment" and not a service of any kind?

[Rummy]

Chris French taught me my parapsych module at uni, very cool guy and very good in his field. I'm a big skeptic myself, and I don't like that these people are essentially exploiting people, but some people choose to believe it. If they want to, and it makes them happy, I can't argue with it.

[Grazza]

Even though I hate rip-offs, I see psychics and mediums as more "entertainment". No, I don't find them entertaining, personally, but they are providing a service people want. Perhaps people actually want to be deluded? A lot of them are desperate for relief, usually from grief, and who's to say this doesn't help with that?

 

A con is where you don't get what you pay for, but as long as people who go to see psychics get what they wanted I don't see the problem with it.

[Magnus]

What they want is to talk to the dead, so they're not getting what they want at all.

 

 

[The Peeps]

I have so much hate reserved specifically for psychics and those who believe in them. I can understand people wanting a connection with lost loved ones but to go through a 'psychic' is just stupid imo. It's just a dirty con artist pretending to talk to someone you loved and making money off it. It's completely immoral.

[MoogleViper]

It's all well and good saying that they shouldn't be allowed to operate, but then you are disrespecting people's beliefs. Some people believe in psychics, who are you to tell them that they're wrong? Would you also arrest priests for making money out of their faith and other people's beliefs in it?

[Serebii]

It's all well and good saying that they shouldn't be allowed to operate, but then you are disrespecting people's beliefs. Some people believe in psychics, who are you to tell them that they're wrong? Would you also arrest priests for making money out of their faith and other people's beliefs in it?

If they got caught faking it, then they should not be allowed to do it anymore. Simple as.

 

Some don't fake it though;

[Coolness Bears]

NO ONE TOUCHES JOHN HEELEY.

 

He has VISION QUESTS

 

...or the desert.

[ipaul]

It's quite astounding that Psychics manage to be such big business these days. The Psychics themselves often strike me either con artists or self deluded (or both) while the people who see them often just seem desperate and deluded. I wouldn't ban the general practice outright though. If they had been found to be fraudulent then yeah sure, ban them from claiming such bullshit again.

 

I think Moogle is right really, some of these psychics clearly are sincere in their beliefs so you can't just ban them. Though personally I think that both psychics and organised religion are by and large despicable

[The fish]

Scum bags, the lot of them. Money-grabbing con artists...

[Paj!]

My favourite.

 

I just love Lisa Williams. And the 'break' referred to at the start is when she randomly goes to a card shop and stops someone to dredge up really sad memories and ruin their day.

 

I forgot how stunned I am by her hair too.

 

"I thought I was going to fall on the floor." *expressionless*

Edited September 20, 2011 by Paj!

[The Peeps]

To be a 'psychic' you have to study cold reading. You can't be a successful 'psychic' just by pure luck and guesswork. Anyone who comes across as being sincere in their belief that they're a psychic is just lying to everyone, including themselves. They know they're not psychic.

[ipaul]

To be a 'psychic' you have to study cold reading. You can't be a successful 'psychic' just by pure luck and guesswork. Anyone who comes across as being sincere in their belief that they're a psychic is just lying to everyone, including themselves. They know they're not psychic.

 

But if they're lying to themselves, maybe they have convinced themselves and have lost sight of the fact that they're not really psychic.

[The Peeps]

But if you're applying techniques you've learnt from a book or whatever, how can you be convinced it's a god-given gift or something you were born with? I don't believe anyone can truly think that they are genuinely psychic unless they are actually mentally handicapped - but in that case they wouldn't be getting nearly as many correct guesses as cold reading psychics.

[ReZourceman]

I have so much hate reserved specifically for psychics and those who believe in them. I can understand people wanting a connection with lost loved ones but to go through a 'psychic' is just stupid imo. It's just a dirty con artist pretending to talk to someone you loved and making money off it. It's completely immoral.

 

This.

 

Also people who believe in psychics are fucking retard idiot spastics.

 

 

People who pretend to be psychics are scum of the Earth.

[EEVILMURRAY]

 

The rest of the episode pretty much pisses on the idea of psychics too.

[EddieColeslaw]

Haha, I just read the article too. Psychics and their shows (didn't know they could make a production out of it...) are entertainment, whoever chooses to see it as con artistry: people who are being "conned" kind of deserve it, as long as no one forced them to pay a "psychic" for their "services". As the article notes, who knows? Maybe it made them happy, and that was worth the money.

[Supergrunch]

There's essentially no way you could correctly work out that probability, as you'd have to define a set of potentially "useable" names, which is somewhat problematic for something trying to debunk a psychic. But of course the probability would be very small.

[Emasher]

Any adult who doesn't have a mental handicap should know that its all fake. Believing in psychic powers is like believing in Santa, mentally competent people operate on the assumption that it IS fake, and for the purpose of entertainment. Should we ban everything that's not real just because stupid people think its real?

[Wesley]

I believe that there are some real psychics.

 

Most are fake though.

[ReZourceman]

Any adult who doesn't have a mental handicap should know that its all fake. Believing in psychic powers is like believing in Santa, mentally competent people operate on the assumption that it IS fake, and for the purpose of entertainment. Should we ban everything that's not real just because stupid people think its real?

 

Curiousity; How do you feel about religion?

[Dan_Dare]

Enter James Randi, mentioned in the article I posted. This video features the footage of the 'faith healer' scumbag he discredited in the mid eighties. Really worth watching for the people who are saying this is all a bit of harmless fun because Peter Popoff made millions off the people he scammed and they weren't grieving housewives after a bit of consolation, they were people with severe cancer in need of medical help who he convinced he had healed and did no longer require medicine. That's...it's just appalling, really. Utterly evil.