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How do psychic mediums know stuff about you

Thanks people. Do some psychics truly believe they have powers? It's utter BS
 
you can't generalize ... not everything is cold reading ... this is evidence of the existence of spirits
 
you can't generalize ... not everything is cold reading ... this is evidence of the existence of spirits

Wrong. The techniques are well-known and clearly in evidence from the e-mails AmyW has quoted. There have been well-documented experimental verifications in which fraudulent psychics relayed fabricated messages from the spirit world. The rational conclusion is that there is no credible evidence that people are able to communicate with the living after their death.

Dave
 
Another Penn and Teller sage advice item. When all else fails. - Follow the money.

Judith has contacted you and a few dozen others with a message from possibly dead mom or dad, she can't be sure yet. But her possible fuzzy message is a way to use a lot of words to not say anything at all.

If you want to know whatever it is contact Judith and pay the fee up front, play a machine gun paced game of 21,000 questions ( not give the mark time to think ) and feed her all the information she needs to tell you about possibly dead mom or dad.


Follow your money. She has it and you got told her version of what you already knew. Good deal for half an hours work.

One in Georga, USA will talk to your dearly loved deceased dog for 500 bucks. She doesn't even have to guess if it's mom or dad. And dogs being predictable creatures a narrow range of activities yo guess.
 
Do you think some mediums might have a mental illness as some claim to hear the dead.... is this delusional thinking? Hearing voices like a schizophrenic?
 
Thanks guys, I am a definite skeptic but these kinds of emails freak me out... like how did she know. Do you think her second email -
If I am connecting with a loved one who has past I ask them to give me some specific info so there is no doubt who is coming through . So if your mom. were in spirit and she wanted to come through she would need to give some kind of evidence that only you and her would know .*
Is she just suggesting that she thinks my mum had passed (guessing) but isn't saying for a fact my mum has passed?
How much information is available about you and your loved ones on Facebook, LinkedIn, various message boards? This "medium" has had enough time to do enough research about you that she probably knows things that you don't remember any more. If she actually revealed anything of substance(doubtful), then I am betting that any of us here could find out the same information online.
 
If you want something a bit lighter and more fun than reading a book or a bunch of Wikipedia entries, might I suggest watching the Season 6 episode of South Park called "The Biggest Douche in the Universe".

In that episode, the kids from the show meet John Edwards (who, if you didn't know, is/was a fairly famous psychic; even had his own TV show.) One of them becomes convinced that John Edwards really did give a message from a deceased relative, but another is skeptical, and learns how to do "cold readings".

Although the episode focused on John Edwards, the tricks that he uses can be applied to most/all psychics (including the one you mentioned in the opening post who had a message from your 'mother').

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Biggest_Douche_in_the_Universe
 
Do you think some mediums might have a mental illness as some claim to hear the dead.... is this delusional thinking? Hearing voices like a schizophrenic?
Some might have some sort of mental illness, but I suspect for the vast majority, the chief motivation is either financial, or an attempt to get undeserved attention/fame.
 
Is she doing this for free? If not-then there's your answer.

Do you think some mediums might have a mental illness as some claim to hear the dead.... is this delusional thinking? Hearing voices like a schizophrenic?

Not about mediums per se, but even some people who genuinely believe things that are provably false, charge for their time (or would if people were willing to pay them). Just like people who genuinely believe things that are true do. A physicist might well charge for their time giving a talk on physicist, doesn't mean they don't believe what they're talking about. Likewise a so-called psychic who believed they had a gift might seek to make a living that way. Or dowser, or faith healer, or whatever.

I agree that odds are that most people making a living this way are probably not deluded believers but fraudsters. But assuming 100% are seems an unwarranted assumption to me, I've read about a few who do seem to have had belief in what they were peddling. That makes them wrong, mistaken, maybe even dangerous, but they're not liars.
 
Welcome, AmyW to the Forum. You have applied some effective skepticism already, asking many of the right questions.

Some "psychics" think they have a gift and provide their guesswork for free. Some may be genuinely deluded or mentally ill. Most are fully aware that they are charlatans, frauds, and are raping people's memories of their loved ones for money.

There are no true psychics. At least, no one has proven that under reasonable testing conditions.
 
In that episode, the kids from the show meet John Edwards (who, if you didn't know, is/was a fairly famous psychic; even had his own TV show.)


It's worth noting that his TV show was composed of broadcasts of his live shows, which I believe were usually several hours in length. The TV show was an hour, including commercials. I wonder what they edited out to get the proper run time?
My mother used to be amazed by how accurate he was when she saw him on TV. Yeah Mom, that's because they edited out his mistakes and guesses.
 
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Hello All,

I have been speaking with a medium who said she has a message to give me from my mum. I don't know how she knew my mum has passed away.
I am a skeptic but how can they know things about you when they haven't met you?
She also said that she is an evidential medium and can give me evidence by giving me a message that only me and my mum would know.... pretty freaked out.
I am curious-You call yourself a skeptic, then ask how this medium can know stuff about you when said medium has yet to actually reveal anything of a personal nature yet.
 
I am curious-You call yourself a skeptic, then ask how this medium can know stuff about you when said medium has yet to actually reveal anything of a personal nature yet.

That seems a little harsh. The whole modus operandi of psychics is to give the impression of having revealed information of a personal nature without actually having done so. If it were that easy to spot, they'd be fleecing people some other way.

Dave
 
I am curious-You call yourself a skeptic, then ask how this medium can know stuff about you when said medium has yet to actually reveal anything of a personal nature yet.
She has stated that the psychic new that her mother died. If you're unfamiliar with the techniques of hot/cold reading, then that might seem like its something revealing.

We recognize it as a scam because we've been exposed to it before. Its possible that AmyW has just never had the chance to see how the 'trick' is done.
 
Do you think some mediums might have a mental illness as some claim to hear the dead.... is this delusional thinking? Hearing voices like a schizophrenic?
not that of schizophrenia is a lie of pseudo-skeptics ...

look for a medium who helps for free ok! free service
look for a spiritist center ... are you from the united states? what city do you live in ... maybe you have a spiritist center in your city?
 

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