John Edward - The Real Deal?

[Southwind17]

I briefly watched John Edward for the first time on TV last night. I say "briefly" because even if I wasn't anti-mediums the trailer I kept seeing, to me, showed him as the most obnoxious of "entertainers". That smug, condescending face he makes when his "victim" suddenly recalls a detail that initially eluded them, despite Edward's initial insistence as to its relevance and importance. I just happened to flick onto the channel towards the end and endured it for around 10 minutes.

But that said, I can't help wondering whether he, and those like him, actually believe in what they're doing. Is it possible, I wonder, whether he somehow naturally acquired his cold reading skills, as opposed to being taught them or consciously learning them, and, therefore, honestly believes he has some rare, special skill that he genuinely interprets as communicating with the deceased, but is unable to explain it. Is that possible?

I struggle to see how a charlatan can so willingly and overtly expose himself to the mass media, or does he take sufficient comfort in knowing that the people who fall for his antics are those who desperately want to believe in him, and that they're seemingly in the majority, thereby affording him "safety in numbers"?

Maybe he can simply sleep soundly at night feeling that, although he knows he's a fake, he feels he's nonetheless helping people come to terms, a kind of "human placebo".

 

[Empress]

There are "psychics" who genuinely believe that what they're doing is real, and as a result, probably do think they're helping people.

I, personally, do not put JE in that category. I think that he, like Sylvia Browne and so many others, are well aware of the fact that they're charlatans. After all, they refuse to sit for the MDC. If they really believed they were psychic, why not go for it and prove to the world that they do genuinely have a gift? They refuse, because they know they can't pass, and there goes their living, up in smoke.

How do they sleep at night? They lack a conscience.

 

[Southwind17]

How do they sleep at night? They lack a conscience.

As much as I despise mediums and psychics I'm not sure I agree. All of the people who featured on the show that I watched part of seemed to take great comfort in what JE "did for them". Obviously, if they somehow later realized that what he's doing is fakery then that could be even more disheartening for them, but that doesn't seem likely to me. He's convinced them that their dearly departed are still "around", and they desperately want to continue believing that, so why should they go out of their way to challenge that belief? I'm sure they'd happily pay him handsomely for another reading. It's not so different, in principle, from a guy frequenting a knocking shop and paying good money for sexual gratification, is it (provided he doesn't have a partner who he's deceiving)?

 

[JoeEllison]

He has to know he's fake, based on the alleged amount of editing it takes to produce one of his rather poor television performances.

 

[GoodGuysEatPie]

As much as I despise mediums and psychics I'm not sure I agree. All of the people who featured on the show that I watched part of seemed to take great comfort in what JE "did for them". Obviously, if they somehow later realized that what he's doing is fakery then that could be even more disheartening for them, but that doesn't seem likely to me. He's convinced them that their dearly departed are still "around", and they desperately want to continue believing that, so why should they go out of their way to challenge that belief? I'm sure they'd happily pay him handsomely for another reading. It's not so different, in principle, from a guy frequenting a knocking shop and paying good money for sexual gratification, is it (provided he doesn't have a partner who he's deceiving)?

It is possible that Edward has some sort of rationalization to tell himself that what he is doing is good, but I rather doubt it. Only a very select few in his audiences get chosen for testimonials. The rest of the audience payed for their ticket and sat for hours watching him miss and miss and miss. The performance is edited to include the bits favorable to him. Maybe a few people come out feeling a fleeting sense of hope, but for tv, Edward needs that audience of witnesses. I think he knows full well what he is doing and chooses not to feel guilty for swindling so many people for complicity. Conjurers and mentalists do the same tricks, but they don't pretend to be doing any public service.

~ggep~

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

As much as I despise mediums and psychics I'm not sure I agree. All of the people who featured on the show that I watched part of seemed to take great comfort in what JE "did for them". Obviously, if they somehow later realized that what he's doing is fakery then that could be even more disheartening for them, but that doesn't seem likely to me. He's convinced them that their dearly departed are still "around", and they desperately want to continue believing that, so why should they go out of their way to challenge that belief? I'm sure they'd happily pay him handsomely for another reading. It's not so different, in principle, from a guy frequenting a knocking shop and paying good money for sexual gratification, is it (provided he doesn't have a partner who he's deceiving)?

At least when you pay for sex, you get sex. When you pay for communications from the "great beyond", you get male-cow effluvium. So contrary to my sig, I don't know where to begin.

 

[Quinn]

Is it possible, I wonder, whether he somehow naturally acquired his cold reading skills, as opposed to being taught them or consciously learning them, and, therefore, honestly believes he has some rare, special skill that he genuinely interprets as communicating with the deceased, but is unable to explain it. Is that possible?

It is entirely possible for people to genuinely believe they're honing their "psychic" skills when all they're really doing is subconsciously getting better at the tricks of the trade of cold reading. (I believe there is at least one person on this board who has been there, and then came over to our side once she figured out what was really going on.) There are also those who start off knowingly learning cold reading, but then once they've gotten good at it and internalized the process to the point where they can do it intuitively without thinking about it, start believing they're genuinely psychic to varying degrees. (Hard for many of us to believe, but true.) So what you end up with is an entire spectrum of belief, from those who honestly believe they're the real deal, to those who believe they're mixing real psychic abilities with cold reading tricks, to those who know there's nothing supernatural to it.

Determining where any given person is along that spectrum, is tricky. But as long as we're in pure speculation mode, I would be very surprised if JE really believed he was communicating with dead people. Besides the fact of being on TV and having to make a slick and entertaining show, his mannerisms are too studied, too pat, too used-car-salesman. In contrast, I've heard from someone who knew the producer of Lisa Williams' show that she completely believes in her own abilities -- and from what little I've seen of her, that doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[Southwind17]

At least when you pay for sex, you get sex. When you pay for communications from the "great beyond", you get male-cow effluvium. So contrary to my sig, I don't know where to begin.

You see, I think you're wrong. People who go to see mediums go to receive comfort, and that's generally what they get. Yes, there's a strong inference, often explicit, that underpins it, but you just watch their faces when they're fed a reassuring snippet. I think many people just want to put an old ghost to rest, and that's what a medium does for them. Still not defending them, mind!

 

[ExMinister]

People don't pay someone to make up a story and pretend to be talking to their deceased loved one in order to feel better. What makes them feel better is believing that the medium is in fact talking to their deceased loved one.

I don't know how it would be possible to determine whether JE really believes he has abilities or whether he's acting, unless you know him personally or can catch him hot reading.

People like Peter Popoff and Sylvia Browne appear to be knowingly deceiving the public, but that doesn't mean there aren't others (maybe, as Quinn said, Lisa Williams is one) who are self-deluded but with good intentions. It would be nice to think they are all just self-deluded and not heartless enough to fake this kind of thing in dealing with grief and human suffering, but the evidence seems to indicate that just isn't the case.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

I could see his rationalization being that what he's really offering is entertainment. It's not that much different than a lot of other crap on TV.

ETA: I forgot to add: John Edward is a douche!

 

[Moochie]

Edward is a charlatan, albeit a "clever" one. He knows his market and he panders to it. He'll never put himself in a position where he could be plainly exposed, like all the rest of them, and I include all the "religious" charlatans as well -- people like Hinn, Haggard, et al. They're all part of the woo economy.


M.




M.

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

I don't know John Edward and I can't psychoanalyze him but my take is that John Edward is a knowing charlatan who occassionally comes off as sincere because he justifies it to himself as "helping" the victims.

He is out for himself first but is oblivious or in denial of the harm he is doing and refuses to believe that he is doing something bad. He's not motivated by cruelty but by lazyness, stubborness and willfull ignorance as well as ignorant indifference.

As opposed to someone like Rosemary Altea, who most likely really believes that she is psychic.

 

[Garrette]

You see, I think you're wrong. People who go to see mediums go to receive comfort, and that's generally what they get. Yes, there's a strong inference, often explicit, that underpins it, but you just watch their faces when they're fed a reassuring snippet. I think many people just want to put an old ghost to rest, and that's what a medium does for them. Still not defending them, mind!

1. The only faces you watch are the few that editing allows you to watch.

2. Your analysis of the benefit received is thin and hardly universal.

3. There is also no closure from visiting people like John Edward. Instead, the emotional pain is kept alive, and those who use mediums as their coping mechanism do not, in fact, learn to cope.

4. More acccurately and succinctly, the appearance of a few apparently relieved faces on a highly edited show does not provide any evidence at all that telling falsehoods to grieving people provides either comfort or closure.

 

[Jeff Corey]

1. The only faces you watch are the few that editing allows you to watch.

2. Your analysis of the benefit received is thin and hardly universal.

3. There is also no closure from visiting people like John Edward. Instead, the emotional pain is kept alive, and those who use mediums as their coping mechanism do not, in fact, learn to cope.

4. More acccurately and succinctly, the appearance of a few apparently relieved faces on a highly edited show does not provide any evidence at all that telling falsehoods to grieving people provides either comfort or closure.

Your response number 3 is precisely what a friend who is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in bereavement and grief consuling says. These necromancers keep the process from healing.

As to John Edward's integrity, I have heard him state baldfaced lies. At a local booksigning event, he stated that a doctor told him that his powers were due to the fact that, while most people use %10 of their brains, John actually used %15!

 

[alfaniner]

ETA: I forgot to add: John Edward is a douche!

The Biggest Douche in the Universe.

 

[tiger]

I briefly watched John Edward for the first time on TV last night. I say "briefly" because even if I wasn't anti-mediums the trailer I kept seeing, to me, showed him as the most obnoxious of "entertainers". That smug, condescending face he makes when his "victim" suddenly recalls a detail that initially eluded them, despite Edward's initial insistence as to its relevance and importance. I just happened to flick onto the channel towards the end and endured it for around 10 minutes.

But that said, I can't help wondering whether he, and those like him, actually believe in what they're doing. Is it possible, I wonder, whether he somehow naturally acquired his cold reading skills, as opposed to being taught them or consciously learning them, and, therefore, honestly believes he has some rare, special skill that he genuinely interprets as communicating with the deceased, but is unable to explain it. Is that possible?

I struggle to see how a charlatan can so willingly and overtly expose himself to the mass media, or does he take sufficient comfort in knowing that the people who fall for his antics are those who desperately want to believe in him, and that they're seemingly in the majority, thereby affording him "safety in numbers"?

Maybe he can simply sleep soundly at night feeling that, although he knows he's a fake, he feels he's nonetheless helping people come to terms, a kind of "human placebo".

Well John Edwards doesn't just do cold reading he also imposes his will on the audience member. NO your wrong this did actually happen, yes it did, yes yes it did, are just some of the ways he does his imposing manner. He knows what he's doing is crap and he has been caught at it and pinned down by reporters for it, and just sit's and smiles like the cat that ate the mouse. Make no mistake John Edwards is aware of everything he is doing and he doesn't care one bit who he hurts. And he also knows there are those gullible people that are going to bellieve in him no matter how much proof there is against him. You would think people would be so much smarter than this but alot of them just never learn. i don't believe this is a placebo more like money in the bank.

 

[juryjone]

Your response number 3 is precisely what a friend who is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in bereavement and grief consuling says. These necromancers keep the process from healing.

As to John Edward's integrity, I have heard him state baldfaced lies. At a local booksigning event, he stated that a doctor told him that his powers were due to the fact that, while most people use %10 of their brains, John actually used %15!

I fully believe that JE uses 15% of what passes for his brain.

 

[tiger]

Your response number 3 is precisely what a friend who is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in bereavement and grief consuling says. These necromancers keep the process from healing.

As to John Edward's integrity, I have heard him state baldfaced lies. At a local booksigning event, he stated that a doctor told him that his powers were due to the fact that, while most people use %10 of their brains, John actually used %15!

And heres a great point From Mr. Corey that people that actually do this to help people through the greiving process are Licensed by states. So I am curious why don't these alleged psychics, and meduims have to go through that same licensing.

 

[Empress]

As to John Edward's integrity, I have heard him state baldfaced lies. At a local booksigning event, he stated that a doctor told him that his powers were due to the fact that, while most people use %10 of their brains, John actually used %15!

I rarely do this, but: *facepalm*

 

[Jeff Corey]

I rarely do this, but: *facepalm*

I rarely, if ever do it too.
Actually never.
What the hell are you saying?