A Voice from Beyond or an Age-Old Sham?
Contributed By - Gayathri Pattabhiraman
Are psychics for real or is there yards of wool being pulled over your eyes? How many of you have been curious by the sight of trippy signs, dark rooms, incense and the flowing robes of the psychic medium? Does it conjure up visions of Whoopi Goldberg from the movie Ghost? The never ending commercials on late night TV touting psychic readings… is this the biggest scam of the century? Let’s take a look at this with sharp eyes and a keen mind.
What is psychic ability? What are mediums? What is clairvoyance? According to Dictionary.com, ‘a psychic is a person sensitive to influences or forces of a nonphysical or supernatural nature.’ Mediums, soothsayers, clairvoyants are different names given to the same. Psychics are people who claim to communicate with the deceased or can foretell the future. While the jury is out on the authenticity of this claim, it comes as a shock that nearly $2 billion are spent by folks like you and me on this industry. Almost every day we hear about people losing all they have got in their quest to learn more about themselves or their loved ones. This is just from the Psychic hotline industry which deals with phone calls to a psychic medium. Then there are the kiosks and storefront psychic businesses dotting the city.
Former psychic hot line worker and author of "Psychic Blues," Mark Edward, says he's blowing the whistle on his former industry. He says that anyone with an ounce of intuitive skills and the gift of the gab can become a psychic. After all, human tendency is to communicate and when you have a listening ear and a kind voice to lead you on, there’s no limit to what information can be extracted.
Extensive research done by psychologists have revealed a basic site of linguistic and psychological formulae that psychics use when conducting a séance or a reading. Picture a stage with impressive props like books, crystal ball, dim lights and music. First, they call out names. Imagine you are in a venue with 50 other people, mostly Caucasian. What are the odds of finding a Bob, John, Jason, Erica or Cathy in the crowd? Once a potential “target” is identified, the psychic goes into the second phase, namely validation. If the psychic claims to be communicating with a deceased loved one of Jane, the psychic may narrow down on the cause of death or location of the deceased. Then comes the third phase - making more generalized statements about an item of clothing or jewelry that might strike a chord with the subject. Remember that the subjects are all willing believers and are ready to make the connections however far. And the psychic can always change things based on the facial and body language of the subject and claim that the messages from the supernatural side is not very clear. Once the authenticity and credibility of the psychic is established, the rest is easy. By posing open ended questions or statements that will evoke a feeling or a response, the psychic continues to provide advice or predictions that are vague generalizations using subjective words. If a person is wanting to know about his stress at work, the psychic may respond with something generic like wearing a certain color when going to important meetings. Chances are 1 in 5 that he will feel comfortable in one of those meetings. Pure chance? Absolutely. All of a sudden, a generalized guess becomes a correct prediction!
The Smithsonian Institution conducted a thorough research and came to the conclusion that by creating the illusion of a comfortable and personal connection with the subject, by projecting a personality that exudes understanding and sympathy, by extracting information from the client and by appealing to the authority of ancient wisdom and the power of the unknown, 3 out of 5 so called psychics have been taking gullible people on a wild ride and lining their pockets in the process.
Now that the threads of this industry have been laid bare, the next time you come across someone who claims to be a mind reader or one who communicates with the other dimension, look for the signs discussed above and clutch your wallet tightly. Better yet, leave your wallet behind and maybe the psychic can help you find it with the help of your fairy godmother speaking to you through the medium.
Or, maybe you’ll find a person who really communicates with the beyond and turn everything you read so far on its head.
… to be continued