Psychic Visit

19lottie82

peachyprice wrote: »

Was she local to you?

No she wasn't.

thatlemming

How people can sit and perpetuate a load of complete !!!!!!!! I have no idea. Should be ashamed.

Tropez

19lottie82 wrote: »

How does that work?

As I said, she didn't speak to him at all before she started writing.

Confirmation bias is when someone is selective in what they remember, favouring those things that support their points of view.

As an example, someone could be of the opinion that Andy Murray is not a very good tennis player. They could then cite any one of Murray's losses as evidence of their point, but selectively ignore his Olympic Gold or US Open titles.

The same logic applies to psychics, or those that visit them. People who visit psychics do so because some part of them believes in the gifts that psychics are purported to have. People who believe in the psychic abilities are more likely to ignore the times the psychic is wrong and selectively prioritise when the psychic appears correct.

This is why the previously mentioned Sylvia Browne still eeks out a living. No matter how many times she has been shown up to be wrong, confirmation bias leads her "believers" to ignore those facts in favour of the coincidences where she appears to have been right.

Confirmation bias can also be linked with a phenomena of scenario fulfillment where one is so expectant of a scenario playing out in a particular manner that they ignore all the evidence to the contrary. If an individual is certain that a visit to a psychic will be a life-changing, spiritual experience, then confirmation bias can lead to scenario fulfillment.

The_Hurricane

Tropez wrote: »

Confirmation bias is when someone is selective in what they remember, favouring those things that support their points of view.

As an example, someone could be of the opinion that Andy Murray is not a very good tennis player. They could then cite any one of Murray's losses as evidence of their point, but selectively ignore his Olympic Gold or US Open titles.

The same logic applies to psychics, or those that visit them. People who visit psychics do so because some part of them believes in the gifts that psychics are purported to have. People who believe in the psychic abilities are more likely to ignore the times the psychic is wrong and selectively prioritise when the psychic appears correct.

This is why the previously mentioned Sylvia Browne still eeks out a living. No matter how many times she has been shown up to be wrong, confirmation bias leads her "believers" to ignore those facts in favour of the coincidences where she appears to have been right.

Valid argument that you make, however have you had a psychic read?

19lottie82

Tropez wrote: »

Confirmation bias is when someone is selective in what they remember, favouring those things that support their points of view.

As an example, someone could be of the opinion that Andy Murray is not a very good tennis player. They could then cite any one of Murray's losses as evidence of their point, but selectively ignore his Olympic Gold or US Open titles.

The same logic applies to psychics, or those that visit them. People who visit psychics do so because some part of them believes in the gifts that psychics are purported to have. People who believe in the psychic abilities are more likely to ignore the times the psychic is wrong and selectively prioritise when the psychic appears correct.

This is why the previously mentioned Sylvia Browne still eeks out a living. No matter how many times she has been shown up to be wrong, confirmation bias leads her "believers" to ignore those facts in favour of the coincidences where she appears to have been right.

Confirmation bias can also be linked with a phenomena of scenario fulfillment where one is so expectant of a scenario playing out in a particular manner that they ignore all the evidence to the contrary. If an individual is certain that a visit to a psychic will be a life-changing, spiritual experience, then confirmation bias can lead to scenario fulfillment.

So you're basically saying he only believed it because he wanted to?

Again, the stuff she wrote on the paper (without speaking to him first, or knowing he was turning up in advance) was spookily accurate.

I couldn't apply that theory to this.

Tropez

The_Hurricane wrote: »

Valid argument that you make, however have you had a psychic read?

No, because my qualifications are in psychology-related fields and consequently I am well versed in how easily people can be manipulated and how fragile the mind can be with regards to coincidence.

Furthermore, the lack of supposed psychics submitting to scientific testing to prove their gifts is quite telling. Humans have conquered a significant number of limitations of our species and ideals, such as being able to fly, and we have made significant leaps in other areas, such as medicine and space flight - we might not be there yet, but we are much farther than we were two hundred years ago in virtually all sciences.

But not the majority of paranormal sciences, including psychic abilities. In fact, we haven't moved an inch and yet we have every reason to do so - governments spend billions each year on agencies trying to predict the future for the purposes of security. We spend not insignificant amounts of money trying to work out the past. It would be so much easier and so less costly if psychic abilities existed and could be verified.

Yet the psychic community has been both unable and unwilling to submit to tests, even when the rewards are substantial. It isn't just about Randi's $1m but it is about recognition and validation for the entire community. If we could prove that these abilities existed it would be as groundbreaking for our species as the discovery of electricity. It would cause the scientific community to rethink what we know about the capabilities and limitations of our species. It could usher in a new era of scientific, political, cultural and social enlightenment as we try and harness those abilities, understand them and learn from them.

Yet we have nothing. Nobody has come forward to prove it.

What we do have though is an equally old science that has proven how people can be manipulated into things, how simple vague phrases can persuade others and how what amounts to a magic trick of words can write code into a brain like a computer program.

Tropez

19lottie82 wrote: »

So you're basically saying he only believed it because he wanted to?

Again, the stuff she wrote on the paper (without speaking to him first, or knowing he was turning up in advance) was spookily accurate.

I couldn't apply that theory to this.

I'm not saying anything because I wasn't there. I was explaining what confirmation bias is.

If I was there, however, I could probably work out how the trick was pulled off.

RuthnJasper

The_Hurricane wrote: »

Valid argument that you make, however have you had a psychic read?

I have.

The man who broke my heart would come to his senses and we would marry and be happy, despite always being short of money. Nope - still heartbroken and single.

I would suffer a serious health 'blip' and my life would probably not extend much beyond the age of 35. Nope - still reassuringly alive at 38.

It wasn't helpful, to say the very least.

I DO have an open mind - and one of my friends did have an interesting reading that was eerily accurate. But, for the vast majority, I would have to say that they are fake. They are giving people ACTUAL medical advice, "information" about deceased loved ones that can permanently affect how that late individual is remembered by the bereaved, and career, lifestyle and romantic "details" or "guidance" based on something that, in the slightest most minimal way, could be, rather than factors which definitely are or are not.

If you had cancer and a psychic told you to ignore your doctor and refuse chemotherapy treatment, would you go with the qualified medical doctor or the psychic charging a fee for their "consultation"? There is plenty of evidence relating to people who have done exactly the latter and died needlessly. Not a great deal in favour of those who've gone with the psychic and been saved from the qualified surgeon's "dabbling"...

RichardD1970

For people who think there is anything to it and they can tell you things that no one could possibly know, Derren Brown does exactly the same sort of stuff, incredibly accurately with absolutely no psychic/spiritualist power at all.

Errata

The_Hurricane wrote: »

Could some possibly have a gift? .

They all do, it's the cash gift the customer hands over.