Deb Webber sees missing child in a ditch

[AndyD]

I know this has been discussed in the Sensing Murder thread but it deserves to be single out as current news.

After appearing on NZ breakfast radio, self-professed psychic Deb Webber has apparently inserted herself into the case of missing child, Aisling Symes.

This is the same Deb Webber who was exposed years ago on TV when she managed to contact some of a journo's non-existent dead relatives.

Perhaps the best summary of the intrusion so far is this one at stuff.co.nz.

There are many reasons why people believe in psychics. They may, for example, be thick. They may be extraordinarily gullible, in which case I have an exciting Nigerian investment opportunity they may be interested in. Or they may be mired in grief, and willing to suspend their judgment in exchange for the hope of hearing one last time from someone they have loved and lost.

I don't blame anyone for believing in psychics, any more than I blame myself for having once believed in the Easter bunny. But it's a different matter when our state broadcaster stops treating psychics with any degree of scepticism.

 

[Burning Beard]

Here's the video of her chat on "Breakfast".

http://tvnz.co.nz/content/1380062/video_popup_windows_skin

Note her very waffly comment about skeptics:

you get the odd person who will never change and that's just their belief system, they're too scared or they don't understand it and someone actually said to me a few weeks ago... they're the ones that need the help, they've got something within themselves that's stopping them from believing in something magical... all skeptics should have healing... why do they have do judge someone else... takes one to know one...

 

[Burning Beard]

*edit*

delete this post, I screwed up

 

[Riayn]

This poor kid was found in a drain near her grandmother's house. Hands up who thinks the psychic will take credit for getting this right as a ditch is similar to a drain.

 

[Burning Beard]

Hands up who thinks the psychic will take credit for getting this right as a ditch is similar to a drain.

They already have

 

[Chris H]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/6210344/aisling-psychic-prediction-slammed/

 

[Safe-Keeper]

On the psychic quoted in Burning Beard's post:

you get the odd person who will never change and that's just their belief system

As our man himself says further down, takes one to know one indeed.

I still don't get this one. Sure, nonbelievers can be just as stubborn as believers, but on the one hand, we have people who believe this stuff without question, and on the other hand, we have those who demand evidence before they pay up... and the latter are the blind ones?

they're too scared or they don't understand it

On the contrary, we understand it better than most believers. Not that there's much to understand, a primer on confirmation bias is all you really need. All the fancy details and terms are of secondary importance.

and someone actually said to me a few weeks ago... they're the ones that need the help, they've got something within themselves that's stopping them from believing in something magical...

Yes, we do. We sure do. It's called scepticism.

all skeptics should have healing... why do they have do judge someone else...

I love how this self-contradicting sentence is immediately followed up with "takes one to know one".