talkmagic.co.uk

uncle Burt wrote: "go take the nice lady and get randis 1 mill"

For some reason I read that as "go get 1 million nice randy ladies". Dunno why.......

Anyways, if you get fleeced by a fake, there are probably a lot of other legal angles which could be used such as fraud, obtaining money by false pretences etc and it would be worth a word or two with a lawyer to see what legal actions could be instigated. If the medium were fake they wouldn't know what was coming.....

All the fake psychics are working for that sky tv channel psychic interactive where gullible fools call a 0900 number charged at £1.50 a minute or similar and get told exactly what they want to hear

Jon Riggs says as soon as someone tells him that they are heavily skeptic, it gives him at least 20 minutes worth of reading...funny that innit..

Here's a hypothetical argument, if i were to say that sometimes, only sometimes i have this strange power, where i can predict what people are about to say, make them do certain things that im thinking, and also tell them their potential future...how could you prove it otherwise really?

You could say "test you", and i would say "i havent sneezed?!", and then realise i misheard you...i would then say "fine...but dont forget, its not like a switch, its not on and off, it depends on my day, how im feeling and the general vibe...but yeah, go ahead..test me baby..."

i then fail miserably, but then, one day, whilst out for a pint with me, i ask you to watch as i mentally command someone to sit in a certain chair, finish someone elses sentence and then tell you your future...

would you not just say "hey...that was a freaky bit of fun...i enjoyed that..."

or would you then pin me down and examine me vigourously...i have quite alot of body hair, and it may take some time...

in my old age, though fairly cynical, and though i dissaprove thoroughly of messing with people's bereavement and such, and would never even do a living an dead test, (unless with famous people) but when i fortold the future i gave you the biggest thing to ponder of all...

that you are incharge of your destiny/future - that this is a possible outcome, but if, when faced with difficult choices, you seek the right advice, listen to yourself and trusted friends then you will always do whats best for you...then really, at the end of the day guv'nor...

what's the real harm?

isnt it fun to even pretend for half an hour in my company i could maybe read a thought or two? that i could somehow tell you what esp symbol you are thinking of? and we make an old aged key slowly turn as i reveal the word you previously wrote down and destroyed earlier?

hmmmm...

There isn't any real harm unless the person is pretending to contact the spectators dead relatives then it could cause distress same reason you said you wouldn't do a living and dead test with people you knew personally and those psychics or mediums taking advantage of someones bereavement and desperation is obviously wrong
The other thing is if they tell their future those things might not necessarily happen but they might make them happen because they've been given that suggestion like for instance Sylvia Browne tells a woman she's not going to meet the man of her dreams for another 6 years so its likely if someone comes up before that time that she's not going to act on it but theres always a chance they could take it with a pinch of salt

I dont think anyone would have a problem with it. Its just the pretending to be speaking to a dead relative that people find hard to stomach.

Would people include headline predictions in their taboo list? Just in case they have to predict a national tragedy?

So if fake psychics gave their customers suitably upbeat and encouraging (not lying, just positive and motivational) readings it would be OK?

abraxus wrote:what's the real harm?

I'd say that was empowering and entertaining.

soooooooooo....as long as i dont talk to the dead, I'm alright?

i can even read the tarot with my caveat, and EVEN say i class myself as a thought-reader?

quality!

AndyRegs wrote:Would people include headline predictions in their taboo list? Just in case they have to predict a national tragedy?

I think people need to tread carefully with them. One example I read was of someone doing a prediction for the day (it turned out) after that tsunami hit Asia a couple of years ago. Now, you might think it best to choose a different headline, or maybe be a bit vague about the prediction, but no, this guy (apparently) got the exact headline of massive death and destruction.

In the event that I did one, I'd probably do a sports result.

yeah, sports is more modern anyway - if you've read Band of the Hand by Docc, you and adapt a handling of his to predicting a birth of a baby, with its name and weight...thats quite a nice family orientated thing...

sports injuries...england manager, how red will fergie's nose get this winter...

as would any stupid sunday sport type headline...

Sorry to bump this but I just had to post a little snippet from a psychic site that I was reading out of curiosity. With reference to Uri Geller's failed attempt to get a spoon bent online they gave this explanation:

It is a well known scientific fact that when psychic powers absolutely must be thwarted, rather than just "explained away," there is only one effective method: negative energy. Fanatical skeptics are well known for this trick. They project enough negative energy with disbelief (and just plain "not wanting it to work") that often, enough force is applied against the use of psychic powers to cause complete failure. When that happens, the skeptics smugly assert that they knew it wouldn't work--when the fact is it is they who caused it not to work!

So there you go. Obvious when you think about it.

Well I knew that. "Comming round 'ere with your bad vibes who do ya think ya are. I am trying to contact the ghost Harry Secombe."

To quote Bernard Manning:

if I ever saw him on the high way I would run him over.

Its amazing some of the claims made realy. All ways blame your specs [/quote]

It's funny how if one claims something but yet offers no proof and no one believes then this person is seen as eccentric or crazy. If you get a few people to believe you and still offer no evidence then they are seen as eccentric or crazy.
Get lots and all of a sudden you should tread carefully and respect their claims even though they offer nothing different than more numbers?
There are a lot of people in this world who want so desperately to believe in something fantasical and grasp these ideas from charlatons and fellow self deluders. Personally I find the universe far more spectacular and amazing than any con man can deliver
The path of our development as a species has always come from testing our enviroment, figuring out how it works and gaining knowledge about our universe. I truly cannot see why these people who claim such feats do not get themselves out there and make such powerful evidence to the existence of the supernatural that it can no longer be ignored.

Science as an ethos is a self-correcting one. If a theory is proven incorrect then a new one replaces it. For these phenomenia it is no different.

There is this fashion of distrusting science and knocking it as 'It has gotten things wrong' or some other type of scare mongery nonsense that just so happens to be an incorrect judgement into what science is. The people who then bash this at the same time advertise their psudeo science which offers everything amazing but neglets to prove any of said claims.
In medicine for example a drug company has to go through years and years (10-20) of trials before a drug ever gets to market due to rigerous testings just not for safety but also for effectiveness.
This ensures that when you go to you GP the prescription you get will be one that should help your condition.
Psuedo-science has no such rigourous system. Why not I ask? If you are speaking to the dead and pinning peoples hopes on these promises you make then you be held to account to make sure what you are claiming you can do is real.
Yes, you could say these people are shining a ray of hope on to the bereaved by quelling thier grief but you just need to look at the reaction of that couple when they found out that Sylvia Browns information had been incorrect.
At the end of the day any psychic or mediumship skill can be tested for overall accuracy. Predictions are made (but in a trial under strictly monitored conditions to take out the prospect of trickery e.g cold reading, bill switches) by person with said power and by a control and all results of accuracy are measured. Over hundreds of tests a pattern will emerge and if this result is indeed above guesswork or luck AND this trial can be done by anyone, anywhere and is seen to be fair by all parties then prepare to collect your Nobel Prize and change the world with whole new branches in scientific endevours!
But, no, you wouldn't be interested.

The other day while having a jar or two with Greedo he produces. A dove ? No , A silk? No , Debbie Mcgee? nope he produces me a copy of the new scientist and gets all exctied about a smudge on a bit of black. Apprantly it is a hole in the universe, By this time i was asleep. See the thing about Mr Greedo is he loves his Science.

So he can not be swayed from cold hold fact. God bless him.

I find the whole thing strange that no matter what you claim some one , some where will take your word as gosspel ask my mates Mathew , Mark, Paul , Luke and John.

no such thing as cold hard fact I'm afraid.

Another misunderstanding in science.

I am going to bow out of this thread gracefully and calmly with two fingers raised in the air in defience

Now i didn't say which two fingers did I :