AndyRegs wrote:Well, it doesn't really. If it was a joke, then it makes our point...pointless.
Memory can be proved and tested. Psychics cant be proved to be any better than guess work. If thats because 'it doesn't work all the time', then surely being a psychic is pointless too, as we could get the same results by guessing.
My point, which I tried to do in a humorous way (to avoid yet another bout of people on either side getting hot under the collar), was that sceptics often like to say exactly what constitutes psychic powers and what must be done to prove them. Typical things being that they always work, work in whatever conditions the sceptics set, etc.
"Joking" wasn't a terribly accurate description on my part; I probably shouldn't have posted so late! I was really hoping that people could try to discuss the issue without taking every argument from the other side as some form of personal affront. My comment about clarity was addressed to the tone I was trying to engender.
My view is that being psychic is really a form of extremely honed intuition. That's why I don't believe in stuff like talking to the dead (well, that and the fact that dead people no longer have access to their brains, so where's all this stuff coming from?), or psychokinesis. I'd love to be proved wrong.
What I'm not sure about is whether people just fool themselves by remembering their own 'hits' and downplaying the misses. I've heard anecdotal stories of people getting so well-tuned that they can immediately tell if someone is pregnant, even if the woman doesn't know herself, so maybe it is possible to improve on 'natural' intuition.
Intuition, if it exists in the form of, say, knowing that someone is pregnant, is likely to be a bit hit and miss even if you have a strong intuitive powers. Regular ESP tests (as I understand them) aren't going to show it up. There's no way of knowing what symbol is on that card, as there's no intrinsic value or meaning to it.
It is a form of guessing, as greedo mentioned (partly in jest). However, it's (subsconciously) informed guessing.
Take a set of half a dozen pictures. Just simple line drawings, but of strong and familiar images, like a yacht, a cat, a house, a flower, etc. Get people to choose a drawing that appeals to them. You could subconsciously (or indeed consciously) make a decision about that person and I'd guess that, as long as they did as you asked, and didn't try to fool you, your hit rate for 'guessing' the drawing they selected would be higher than one in six.
And yes, my guess is an informed one (though consciously so).
I agree with what bronz said. If the powers are hit and miss, should you charge people for them? With a reading, then I'd say that people are really paying for insight and, if you do a bit of research into 'proper' readings, you'll see that this can work at a valid, psychological level. Mind you, it's also possible to c**k up their lives if you are not careful.
I suggest checking out Gene Nielsen's writings on giving readings. Incidentally, he's the guy who apparently could spot pregnancies.
I contrast readings very strongly with some spurious (to me) message from 'the other side' that comes out with vague stuff from your dead Auntie Edna.
And, if any of you had an Auntie Edna, I'm claiming a hit.
