Psychic readings

takman

Jagraf wrote: »

My mil is a spiritualist, my sis in law is hindu, my folks are Methodist, I am c of e, my husband is agnostic, plus we have athiests in the family. They would all react differently and I would leave them to it. Their decision. Who am I to question their beliefs? I'm no superpower who can go round telling them I must be right.

I actually think that your reply to what I said makes you seem like an awful person. You wouldn't care that your family are being told lies that upset them and you would "leave them to it", that is awful!.

This reminds me of when I went shopping with my grandmother to Currys. She was looking to purchase a freeview box that could record (her first one). The salesman started to recommend that she bought a HDMI cable around the £50 mark to connect it up. He then went on to explain that it would give and improved picture quality over other cables because it was gold plated (which he seemed to truly believe). I stopped him in his tracks and explained to him the difference between analog and digital signals and how it would be impossible for this cable to improve the picture quality of a digital signal.
I saved my Grandmother £50 and hopefully stopped him using that technique on other customers. I did this by challenging his incorrect beliefs.

I would like to think that all families would do this for their relatives, especially elderly ones. The thought of vulnerable people being taken advantage of due to people's incorrect beliefs really get to me.

If you really would not challenge someone's belief like this in a similar situation that makes you a bad person, just think about that.

Jagraf

Person_one wrote: »

What's your argument here? You're all over the place! Are you arguing that psychics could be genuine, or that its ok if they aren't because it doesn't do any harm, or that its ok if they do harm as long as there's a disclaimer on their website?

My argument is that people are entitled to think what they like. I don't have a strong belief one way or the other. People have a right to think differently from me.

I do have experience of a very close relative being a spiritualist. My mil is an intelligent, happy 83 year old who truly believes in the afterlife, in an extremely positive way, and she always has. I don't necessarily, but I respect her beliefs.

melanzana

To me psychics and palm readers and fortune tellers etc. are all charlatans.

But they give comfort to many people who hear things they want to hear, and leave happier. What's wrong with that?

I'm not going to dictate to anyone. Everyone's money is the same colour.

Each to their own.

ripplyuk

I went to a psychic some years ago. Actually she called herself a clairvoyant. It was me and my sister and a couple of friends, really just for a bit of fun. She told me something about my partner that I just dismissed as nonsense. I went home and told my partner and he also just said it was a load of rubbish.

However, almost a year later, he told me it was true. He was just worried about telling me in case I judged him. This was something very personal (which I won't disclose on here), and I had no idea about it, and never would have guessed.

I always wonder how on earth this woman knew. I still believe there must be a rational explanation but I can't find one yet.

Person_one

Jagraf wrote: »

My argument is that people are entitled to think what they like. I don't have a strong belief one way or the other. People have a right to think differently from me.

I do have experience of a very close relative being a spiritualist. My mil is an intelligent, happy 83 year old who truly believes in the afterlife, in an extremely positive way, and she always has. I don't necessarily, but I respect her beliefs.

I have no issue with anybody believing what they want to believe, as long as they do no harm to others because of it.

The problem comes with the profiteering and the exploitation.

onomatopoeia99

Person_one wrote: »

The disclaimer on her website is pretty damning, entertainment purposes only, no guarantees as to the accuracy of any information provided etc etc.

I think you will find the disclaimer is required by the professional indemnity insurers. But feel free to be outraged anyway.

Person_one

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

I think you will find the disclaimer is required by the professional indemnity insurers. But feel free to be outraged anyway.

Why is it required do you think? Could it be because if she was ever in a position where she had to back up her claims of being psychic and providing psychic services, she'd be up a certain creek with no paddle?

Why are you not outraged? Do you think its ok to behave this way? To con people out of their hard earned money by pretending you can do something you can't? Something that unashamedly targets the bereaved and vulnerable? Everybody should be outraged!

BarryBlue

LilElvis wrote: »

Another mum at my daughter's school was telling me a few months ago about having visited several psychics to try to find out whether there is another "side", whether the dead can have an awareness of what is going on with the living. Her face was shining, wreathed in smiles, as she told me how she was sure it was true. I don't believe a word of it - but she desperately needs to. She's 41 years old, she's had treatment for more than half her life for cancer, she's missing a spleen, a kidney and chunks of her liver, lungs and bowel. She can no longer have radiotherapy or chemotherapy - the only treatment option she has now is surgery. She knows it's only a matter of time. But she's a mum to 10 year old twin girls so all she wants to know/believe is that she will be able to see her daughters after her death. If a charlatan has given her peace of mind then I have no right to take that from her by telling her it's bunkum. This "knowledge", along with blood and iron transfusions, is what keeps her going and gives her the strength to continue a battle few of us will, fortunately, have to endure.

That demonstrates perfectly what I said in the quote you made. An excellent example of a vulnerable person who is desperate for reassurances that cannot genuinely be given. Yet the charlatans are queueing up to tell them what they want to hear - at a price. They need locking up, frankly.

Person_one wrote: »

I see no mention of religion on Sally Morgan's website, I do see that a disclaimer that its for the purposes of entertainment, and run by a limited company. You have to go on the T&Cs for that though, and the links for the phone and text lines are much more prominent.

I'd happily see religions stripped of their ability to profit from their followers, but at least there's a possibility that some of then do genuinely believe what they're saying. Psychics like Sally Morgan know full well they are deceiving.

Religion is only a small part of it. I do believe that many people need to believe in the afterlife because they are unable to cope with the reality of nothing after they die. But that is different from a desperate need to try and contact dead relatives.

Sally Morgan is a huge business and she is very good at what she does, which is extracting money from people for what is just a stage act, an updated version of what the Victorians did. I have no problem with groups of women from an office going along for a laugh. (It does seem to be mainly women who go for all this stuff, incidentally.) Where it gets distasteful is when the bereaved and vulnerable are clutching on every word out of a sad desperation.

Peter333

ripplyuk wrote: »

I went to a psychic some years ago. Actually she called herself a clairvoyant. It was me and my sister and a couple of friends, really just for a bit of fun. She told me something about my partner that I just dismissed as nonsense. I went home and told my partner and he also just said it was a load of rubbish.

However, almost a year later, he told me it was true. He was just worried about telling me in case I judged him. This was something very personal (which I won't disclose on here), and I had no idea about it, and never would have guessed.

I always wonder how on earth this woman knew. I still believe there must be a rational explanation but I can't find one yet.

Wow, fascinating story.. Thanks for sharing. The cynics won't believe you though.

takman wrote: »

I actually think that your reply to what I said makes you seem like an awful person. You wouldn't care that your family are being told lies that upset them and you would "leave them to it", that is awful!.

This reminds me of when I went shopping with my grandmother to Currys. She was looking to purchase a freeview box that could record (her first one). The salesman started to recommend that she bought a HDMI cable around the £50 mark to connect it up. He then went on to explain that it would give and improved picture quality over other cables because it was gold plated (which he seemed to truly believe). I stopped him in his tracks and explained to him the difference between analog and digital signals and how it would be impossible for this cable to improve the picture quality of a digital signal. I saved my Grandmother £50 and hopefully stopped him using that technique on other customers. I did this by challenging his incorrect beliefs.

I would like to think that all families would do this for their relatives, especially elderly ones. The thought of vulnerable people being taken advantage of due to people's incorrect beliefs really get to me.

If you really would not challenge someone's belief like this in a similar situation that makes you a bad person, just think about that.

:eek: Oh no, you did NOT just say that! How rude! :eek:

ripplyuk

You're right Peter333. That's why I've never told anyone else. I've thought long and hard about it but I'm still at a loss as to how she knew this. But I'm sure someday someone will know, so I won't make up an answer for something I don't understand.