Turning skeptics into believers

[Tamazon]

Sorry, but I just had to have a little rant on something.

Almost every news piece I read or see on TV about paranormal stuff states something along the lines of how so many skeptics have turned into believers just because they went to a haunted building or saw some pyschic. Arg! It's just flat out lying or the "skeptics" weren't very skeptical to begin with to be convinced so easily. It just annoys me that they use this tact to make believers even more credulous. "Well, if the skeptics believe it, it must be true!"

A city near me is having a psychic fair this weekend and the local paper ran a very one-sided article that makes the reader assume it's all true including this paragraph:

After a lifetime of enjoying her psychic gifts which include reading tea leaves, tarot cards, palmistry and contacting the dead Jackie Stewart has seen thousands of clients turn from skeptics to believers.

Here's the whole article if anyone wants to lose some brain cells. Not sure how long the link will work though.

http://www.fortsaskatchewanrecord.com/News/264761.html

I'd write a letter to the editor to complain but I'm really not that eloquent and would need something clear and concise to get the message across without sounding like a close-minded, cynical skeptic.

 

[Bronze Dog]

I know how you feel.

 

[Tamazon]

I just re-read the quote I posted and realized I missed a big word.

Thousands!!!

Thousands!!

We'll run out of skeptics in no time at that rate!

 

[Marc L]

My opinion is that those people who claim they were skeptical, really weren't. They may have been uncertain, or just not at all concerned about the topic. They merely said they were skeptical because they thought it was the accurate word for their thinking.

Marc

 

[MichelQC]

After a lifetime of enjoying her psychic gifts which include reading tea leaves, tarot cards, palmistry and contacting the dead Jackie Stewart has seen thousands of clients turn from skeptics to believers.

Well who exactly counted the number of "skeptics" in question? Some charlatan trying to blow his own horn? Look at where this statement is coming from and you I think you can very easily dismiss it as hogwash. I would love to hear what their definition of a skeptic is.

 

[Ashles]

Of course if Jackie Stewart really wanted to convince sceptics then there is one sceptic in particular she might try contacting.

I believe he has a little challenge of some sort...

But I suspect that won't happen for some reason.

 

[Foster Zygote]

Of course if Jackie Stewart really wanted to convince sceptics then there is one sceptic in particular she might try contacting.

I believe he has a little challenge of some sort...

But I suspect that won't happen for some reason.

Whew. For a few seconds I thought it might be my hero Sir Jackie Stewart.

Steven

 

[gfunkusarelius]

notice how these thousands of skeptics were her clients...um. they weren't very skeptical if they were going to a psychic...

it drives me crazy too how tv shows and media outlets will become much less skeptical around Halloween. i think they justify it as harmless entertainment but its still irresponsible. they edit out any sort of skepticism because they dont want to spoil the spirit of the season. i think a lot of them feel like they do when they say "we spotted santa over interstate 40" on christmas even newscasts.

 

[joobz]

Again, if someone is willing to claim that they can predict what will happen to you at the quickie mart by looking at the organization of soggy plant pieces...
they aren't going to scrupple to make up claims and statistics.

Afterall, 145% of people are retarded. It's true!

 

[progressquest]

Again, if someone is willing to claim that they can predict what will happen to you at the quickie mart by looking at the organization of soggy plant pieces...
they aren't going to scrupple to make up claims and statistics.

Afterall, 145% of people are retarded. It's true!

I once heard that 85% of all people will believe 75% of the statistics that you make up.

 

[briandunning]

Hey, this is what the vast majority of the people in this country believe, why would you expect a news reporter to be any different?

 

[NotJesus]

"Skeptic" in cases like these doesn't really mean much of anything. It just means "people who didn't believe it until they did."

 

[Tanstaafl]

I agree. They just changed from credulous people who didn't believe in psychics, to credulous people who did believe in psychics.

Big deal. Other than the misleading impression it gives the public.

 

[Loss Leader]

All you need to say in your letter to the editor is that the reporting was false. The reporter has no knowledge of even a single skeptic who has been turned into a believer. And the reporter certainly could not obtain independent verification of thousands of such people. What the article should have said is:

After claiming a lifetime of enjoying her psychic gifts which include reading tea leaves, tarot cards, palmistry and contacting the dead Jackie Stewart tellls people that shehas seen thousands of clients turn from skeptics to believers.

Of course, that's not nearly as exciting. It does, however, have the benefit of being true.

 

[Dark Jaguar]

I know how you feel.

Graven Idol, I gotta love your little Earthbound pic there. That's a great analogy even if you've never played the game, but that pic isn't immediatly explained. To anyone else who say that, the dinosaur "cage" is everything outside that village, and the people inside are convinced their enclosure is the outside world. That game is hilarious, though my favorite messed up town is still the Happy Happy cult, dedicated to blue power (wearing blue KKK outfits).

 

[Tamazon]

whaddya think, too harsh?
I haven't sent it yet.

I read Michael Spears’ article “Tips to enjoy your reading — a psychic fair primer” with disappointment. Mr. Spears may be gullible enough to swallow this tripe but he shouldn’t assume the rest of us are. I see no statements or disclaimers that say you should consider these “psychic readings” as entertainment only and not to be accepted blindly as fact. It is irresponsible and false journalism to portray such unproven powers as fact. Psychic powers have NEVER been proven to exist. If Mr. Spears has credible evidence to contrary, I would be happy to see it. The fact that this prize http://www.randi.org/research/index.html has remained unclaimed for over 60 years is proof enough that people do not have supernatural powers.

Psychics use a technique known as cold reading.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_reading

I suggest the Mr. Spears do some research (as a responsible journalist should) on cold reading and then go to the psychic fair armed with some rationality and critical thinking skills.

I’m especially troubled by the first paragraph of the article:

“After a lifetime of enjoying her psychic gifts which include reading tea leaves, tarot cards, palmistry and contacting the dead Jackie Stewart has seen thousands of clients turn from skeptics to believers.”

Mr. Spears has no knowledge of even a single skeptic who has been turned into a believer. And he certainly could not obtain independent verification of thousands of such people. Plus I don’t think the word skeptic is even properly defined in this context.

1) A rational person being fooled by some parlour tricks certainly doesn’t sound like any skeptic I know.

2) Skeptics tend to avoid going to see psychics as a general rule. If nothing else but to keep their money in their wallets instead of in the hands of the charlatans.

3) "Skeptic" in cases like these doesn't really mean much of anything. It just means "credulous people who didn't believe it until they did."

The paragraph should have read:

“After claiming a lifetime of enjoying her psychic gifts which include reading tea leaves, tarot cards, palmistry and contacting the dead Jackie Stewart tells people that she has seen thousands of clients turn from skeptics to believers.”

Thank-you

Thanks to all of you for your input. I stole some of your words!

 

[T'ai Chi]

My opinion is that those people who claim they were skeptical, really weren't.

Which raises the question of how to we know that other people claiming to be skeptics aren't really skeptics?

Or does the word skeptic only mean that one is skeptical in at least one area (and not 'I follow the lines that organized skeptical organizations do')? That would clear up the descrepancy.

 

[Marc L]

Which raises the question of how to we know that other people claiming to be skeptics aren't really skeptics?

Good point. I don't know for a fact that the people who went there truly weren't skeptics (hence my stating it as my personal opinion) any more than Mr. Spears knows for a fact that "thousands" of skeptics were convinced by this lady.

Or does the word skeptic only mean that one is skeptical in at least one area (and not 'I follow the lines that organized skeptical organizations do')? That would clear up the descrepancy.

No, I don't think so, at least not in the way I use the term. A skeptic, overall (again, in my opinion) is one demands evidence for any claim, not just a few. For instance, I wouldn't call a Christian who questions psychics a skeptic, unless he begins questioning his own faith as well.

A person who is willing to believe a single claim without evidence, in my opinion, is more willing to believe other claims. In the example of this psychic's claim of "thousands" of skeptics, I'd ask this question: Even if they say they didn't believe in psychic abilities, did they believe in any form of the supernatural (be it ghosts, gods, whatever)? If you believe in one form of the supernatural, then it's not a far stretch to include other forms. This calls into question, in my opinion, your claimed 'skepticism.'

This, by the way, is where I take my definition of skeptic (the first two definitions, especially).




Marc

 

[Luke T.]

whaddya think, too harsh?
I haven't sent it yet.

The fact that this prize http://www.randi.org/research/index.html has remained unclaimed for over 60 years is proof enough that people do not have supernatural powers.

60 years?

 

[Loss Leader]

I stole some of your words!

You didn't steal my words; I gave them freely.