Psychic/Mediums!

Canis Lupus · 12-06-2014 12:10AM

Splendour · 12-06-2014 12:25AM

My niece went to a medium a few days ago and was told things that didn't make sense at all to her until she related this information to my mother and my mother explained what it meant.

She (the medium) also mentioned a specific name to my niece and was spot on with her information about this person.

I understand the cold reading thing but how can you get information out of a person which they themselves don't know?!

urabell · 12-06-2014 12:33AM

Splendour wrote: »

My niece went to a medium a few days ago and was told things that didn't make sense at all to her until she related this information to my mother and my mother explained what it meant.

She (the medium) also mentioned a specific name to my niece and was spot on with her information about this person.

I understand the cold reading thing but how can you get information out of a person which they themselves don't know?!

Sounds like you really don't understand cold reading

Jeefff · 12-06-2014 12:35AM

Splendour wrote: »

My niece went to a medium a few days ago and was told things that didn't make sense at all to her until she related this information to my mother and my mother explained what it meant.

She (the medium) also mentioned a specific name to my niece and was spot on with her information about this person.

I understand the cold reading thing but how can you get information out of a person which they themselves don't know?!

I'm getting a J.. Ja.. Jane ah it's Janet..
Does that name mean anything to you? If not go ask your mother, if not pop into your neighbour, if not ask your grocer ffs

COYVB · 12-06-2014 12:44AM

Splendour wrote: »

I understand the cold reading thing but how can you get information out of a person which they themselves don't know?!

You don't. You throw out general stuff, and hope something sticks, then progress with it from there. In this case, she threw out stuff that wasn't working, but the person getting the reading went and told people about the reading. Chances are that at least one person would know someone dead by that name.

Watch as I read your spirits:

I see someone elderly, at least I think they're elderly, they have very light white or silver hair. They seem happy and are looking over you. They're giving me an m... mary or maeve I think.

Okay, now I guarantee you that if you don't know someone by that name, but tell enough people, youll most likely find someone who knew an old maeve or mary, with light white or silver hair. I guarantee it

hairyprincess · 12-06-2014 12:46AM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I have a jar of tasty reggae sauce in my fridge. I know it will give me more runs than Brian Lara but I still put it on my salad this evening.

Psychic or stupid?

I also had a salad this evening...spooky!

B.A._Baracus · 12-06-2014 12:49AM

How do you know a Psychic/Medium is pulling a con? ... They stick their palm out.

Ba da dish? :pac:

Splendour · 12-06-2014 12:50AM

COYVB wrote: »

You don't. You throw out general stuff, and hope something sticks, then progress with it from there. In this case, she threw out stuff that wasn't working, but the person getting the reading went and told people about the reading. Chances are that at least one person would know someone dead by that name.

Watch as I read your spirits:

I see someone elderly, at least I think they're elderly, they have very light white or silver hair. They seem happy and are looking over you. They're giving me an m... mary or maeve I think.

Okay, now I guarantee you that if you don't know someone by that name, but tell enough people, youll most likely find someone who knew an old maeve or mary, with light white or silver hair. I guarantee it

General stuff is one thing and I get that; as a teen I went to a 'fortune teller' and this was how she operated. However, in my niece's case she didn't understand what the medium was saying to her as my niece had never heard of the incident that was mentioned.

The Diabolical Monocle · 12-06-2014 12:52AM

Hitchens wrote: »

but in all fairness Candie, would you spend a winters night alone in a haunted house?

be honest now!

I would.

Well, if there was some incentive or reason to bother.

The results are either (1) cold boring night alone (see incentive). or (2) appearance of ghost and positive confirmation for myself of supernatural/afterlife.

Imagine that, you actually see/interact with a real ghost, and know yourself to be lucid and not tripping or dreaming.

(And not being the victim of a Japanese game show)

Life has completely changed for you, the dreary shadow of death that haunted your life with ... one of those egg timer things....has now been replaced by a disco-ball.

I'd like to think that if myself or anyone out there publicly claiming (for profit) to possess psychic abilities that they would go to great efforts to attract the attention of scientists.

If I had psychic abilities I'd be camped outside Harvard or MIT even if it meant eating scraps, the changes it could bring to humanity would be worth the sacrifice.

And thats what the likes of tv psychics et al should be doing. Voluntarily submitting to any available conceivable related test, not getting commission on a tv psychic phone in.

Two conclusions for such folks - a)full of sht .... or ..... b)extremely self centered, could have changed the history of humanity by going to pains to conduct any reasonable test but chose to work the 2am slot on itv6.

FunLover18 · 12-06-2014 01:02AM

A couple of people I know have gone to a psychic. Regardless of whether you believe in it or not, why would you want to know anything about your future?

Also it didn't do much good, she told a friend his girlfriend would hurt him. She then told his female friend in her separate session the same thing … did either of them do anything about it? No. You either spent 50 squid on something you don't believe in or you spent 50 quid on something you did believe in and proceeded to ignore it. So … what was the point?

The girlfriend did actually cheat on him, make of that what you will, either way - waste of 50 quid

COYVB · 12-06-2014 01:10AM

Splendour wrote: »

General stuff is one thing and I get that; as a teen I went to a 'fortune teller' and this was how she operated. However, in my niece's case she didn't understand what the medium was saying to her as my niece had never heard of the incident that was mentioned.

Your neice didn't need to understand or know anything, telling people would turn a vague pitch into a solid hit eventually. I'd love to know what she was ACTUALLY told, as in, what hasn't been embellished after the mother turned it into a hit. Usually people have a habit of changing memories to suit, eg:

Medium misses with: Josephine who died in the accident says don't worry about the fight.

The mark doesn't register it as a hit so the medium moves on. Mark goes home and tells a few people, initially, what was actually said. Eventually the hit kinda fits with someone.

Third party: Your great aunt was a josephine and there was a big falling out in the camp about money before she died.

Mark rejigs memories of reading to become "psychic told me that my great aunt josephine who had the fight about the money for the house before she died said everything is okay. I never even knew I had a great aunt Josephine until I told my mother"

Which then gradually becomes more and more detailed with the retellings of the story. And the people retelling the story to others absolutely insist that that's definitely what happened, embellishing the story more themselves.

End result is that the psychic new all kinds of details that they never actually said, from what they presumed was a missed hit.

COYVB · 12-06-2014 01:12AM

FunLover18 wrote: »

she told a friend his girlfriend would hurt him...

...The girlfriend did actually cheat on him

The reader played the odds on that one. Hurt is a very broad term

Adamocovic · 12-06-2014 01:21AM

I'm just glad they choose to use their powers for good and entertainment, If I had of been blessed with the psychey I would be tempted to use it to control the world.

Riddle101 · 12-06-2014 01:29AM

Anyone remember that Derek Acorah chap? He was pretty big at one point and then he got found out and revealed to be a fraud.

Here's the story about how it occurred

In 2005, Ciarán O'Keeffe(Most Haunted), who plays the sceptic on the show told The Mirror that he had been feeding Acorah misinformation to which Acorah later responded during the filmings, such as presenting himself as being possessed by the spirit of the fictional character O'Keeffe had made up whose name was an anagram of "Derek faker

Later on Derek did a program where he tried to contact Michael Jackson after he died. I saw it shown on Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2009 or 2010(can't remember which it was)

Guy is lowest of the low I think.

Claudette · 12-06-2014 01:34AM

FunLover18 wrote: »

A couple of people I know have gone to a psychic. Regardless of whether you believe in it or not, why would you want to know anything about your future?

Also it didn't do much good, she told a friend his girlfriend would hurt him. She then told his female friend in her separate session the same thing … did either of them do anything about it? No. You either spent 50 squid on something you don't believe in or you spent 50 quid on something you did believe in and proceeded to ignore it. So … what was the point?

The girlfriend did actually cheat on him, make of that what you will, either way - waste of 50 quid

If you consider that the majority of relationships are not 'forever after' and split up at some point, it's reasonable to assume the odds are definitely in favour of the guys girlfriend being a source of hurt sooner or later. Ditto his female friend.

Pretty safe bet to tell them that. Psychics are all about playing the odds and safe bets.

endacl · 12-06-2014 01:35AM

I love when this topic comes up in forums where you can be honest about the subject.

Mediums. As if there wasn't enough natural stupid in the world, people have to go and make sh1t up...

Cupcake_Crisis · 12-06-2014 01:39AM

It's just a form of entertainment, albeit a fairly pandering one. My mam is fairly into it. I remember her being in my aunts while her and some friends were getting a reading by someone who would be fairly well known. My mam wasn't paying but this guy pulled her aside, ,he told her about my brothers illness (actually named him) told her he was in the midst of some serious trouble (which he was), mentioned his new tattoo (he had just gotten his daughters name tattood on is arm). He took my brothers number and rang him to give him a "reading" free of charge.

He may not have been psychic, but he was one hell of a cold reader.

Claudette · 12-06-2014 01:42AM

I wonder if people really think through what they're saying when they talk about psychics though.

"I don't believe that medium is reading my body language and my linguistic tics to determine if she or he is hitting the mark, no indeed. That's too far-fetched. What I really believe is that the free-floating consciousness of what used to be my granny is feeding information about...eh...my dogs name....to this person, via the medium of mind-melding. Because telling me my dogs name is crucial to my believing my granny is still looking after me and that death is not the end'

Makes sense.

endacl · 12-06-2014 01:42AM

Cupcake_Crisis wrote: »

It's just a form of entertainment, albeit a fairly pandering one. My mam is fairly into it. I remember her being in my aunts while her and some friends were getting a reading by someone who would be fairly well known. My mam wasn't paying but this guy pulled her aside, ,he told her about my brothers illness (actually named him) told her he was in the midst of some serious trouble (which he was), mentioned his new tattoo (he had just gotten his daughters name tattood on is arm). He took my brothers number and rang him to give him a "reading" free of charge.

He may not have been psychic, but he was one hell of a cold reader.

Or had been in the same house as ladies who were talking about their friend's son. He would have been an interesting topic, I'm sure...

Claudette · 12-06-2014 01:43AM

Cupcake_Crisis wrote: »

It's just a form of entertainment, albeit a fairly pandering one. My mam is fairly into it. I remember her being in my aunts while her and some friends were getting a reading by someone who would be fairly well known. My mam wasn't paying but this guy pulled her aside, ,he told her about my brothers illness (actually named him) told her he was in the midst of some serious trouble (which he was), mentioned his new tattoo (he had just gotten his daughters name tattood on is arm). He took my brothers number and rang him to give him a "reading" free of charge.

He may not have been psychic, but he was one hell of a cold reader.

Or eavesdropper.

Cupcake_Crisis · 12-06-2014 01:48AM

endacl wrote: »

Or had been in the same house as ladies who were talking about their friend's son. He would have been an interesting topic, I'm sure...

Claudette wrote: »

Or eavesdropper.

Tbf, from what I could gather no information was given from any of the other people there (he arrived after everyone else and there was no banter). I'm a complete skeptic, i KNOW he was just reading vibes, but he was incredibly good at it.

Kidchameleon · 12-06-2014 07:43AM

Cupcake_Crisis wrote: »

Tbf, from what I could gather no information was given from any of the other people there (he arrived after everyone else and there was no banter). I'm a complete skeptic, i KNOW he was just reading vibes, but he was incredibly good at it.

How would he have cold read the bit about the tatoo?

Splendour · 12-06-2014 07:59AM

Jeefff wrote: »

I'm getting a J.. Ja.. Jane ah it's Janet..
Does that name mean anything to you? If not go ask your mother, if not pop into your neighbour, if not ask your grocer ffs

I'm not talking names here, I'm talking about a particular thing going on in my mother's life which my niece was not privy to. How'd the medium get that through cold reading? I'm open to logical explanations.

kylith · 12-06-2014 08:12AM

endacl wrote: »

Or had been in the same house as ladies who were talking about their friend's son. He would have been an interesting topic, I'm sure...

Claudette wrote: »

Or eavesdropper.

Kidchameleon wrote: »

How would he have cold read the bit about the tatoo?

Or he has access to Facebook. If you make an appointment with a 'psychic' they'll google you beforehand. If they can get a look at your Facebook, voila; they can make all kinds of 'amazing' comments about that party you were at last week, your gran's new hairdo, and the holiday your brother was just on.

You also unconsciously feed them a lot of information. They might say "I'm getting the name Mick". "That's my brother," you say. You later remember this as them knowing your brother's name was Mick.

My cousin went to one a few years ago and I was nearly convinced by them until I thought about it logically. The psychic said "John says it wasn't your fault, and he lets you know he's watching over you". Now, it just so happened that she had had a brother called John who died in an accident when he was a child, that she'd always blamed herself for even though she was a child herself. Sometimes her bed would be messed up, and her children swore that they weren't the ones doing it. So suddenly she believed that the psychic had known that she blamed herself for her brothers death, and that he was visiting her and sitting on her duvet when all the psychic had said was "John says it wasn't your fault, and he lets you know he's watching over you". Another person could have taken the same statement easily have applied it to her Grandad John, who she'd once had an argument with over who burned the spuds, and who occasionally mislaid her potato peeler.

I think it was Penn and Teller that sent some people for a reading and recorded the hits and misses. The hits were miniscule compared to the misses, but because of confirmation bias* the people were convinced that the psychic was spot on about just about everything.

* you remember the bits that were right and forget the bits that were wrong.

Alf. A. Male · 12-06-2014 08:45AM

kylith wrote: »

confirmation bias*

* you remember the bits that were right and forget the bits that were wrong.

That's not confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is starting out convinced of an idea and ignoring the evidence that contradicts it while selecting the evidence that supports it.

Splendour · 12-06-2014 08:48AM

Alf. A. Male wrote: »

That's not confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is starting out convinced of an idea and ignoring the evidence that contradicts it while selecting the evidence that supports it.

Exactly what people here are dong in the case of my niece's experience with a medium.

whitewave · 12-06-2014 08:49AM

There's something very cruel about psychics/mediums playing on peoples emotions by claiming they've contacted a loved one, then charging them through the nose for a load of bullsh1t

12-06-2014 08:55AM

Did you hear about the diminutive psychic that escaped from prison last week?

Yep. There's a small medium at large.

danniemcq · 12-06-2014 08:55AM

I see a Mary, she's older than you

I see a patrick no a Paddy. An uncle of yours.

mention fight

mention a loss due to illness (maybe drop in cancer)

Look for a ring on the wedding finger or if no ring do the fidget with that finger (recently removed so breakup)

I sense a change in your life, it will be a shock but you will get through it

mention money

mention land

You will meet the guy/girl of your dreams (you now look even harder for this person and depending on how you remember the other questions you could end up thinking that this is the love of your life and convincing yourself that this has to be the person)

new baby

these are all really simple things for someone to say to an Irish person and most will be true. With that they will be able to probe a bit more.

My ex's sister brought a palm reader to the house (I went ballistic when i heard this and refused to be around him so went to the pub) when i got back she said that he had read her palm too.

She said he had been really good and said we were happy and very much in love and all that usual bollix, how we had been away on holiday all this kinda crap.

Now this was her sisters mate remember so the guy would have been talking to her a lot and no doubt a "hows the family" question was asked. He was also in the house we rented together, that had photos up of us around the sitting room that also included holiday photos.

Same girl went to one in Scotland with her ma. and were shocked when the guy was able to give details of their trip (mentioned bodies of water etc) which is all well and good till you realise that they had given their names and address to get tickets and some newsletter before the gig.

kylith · 12-06-2014 09:28AM

Alf. A. Male wrote: »

That's not confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is starting out convinced of an idea and ignoring the evidence that contradicts it while selecting the evidence that supports it.

It is confirmation bias. They selectively forget the bits that don't support their belief that the psychic is real.

Psychic/Mediums!

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