T'ai Chi said:
You said what I did was an "experiment". That is wrong. You have said that I did an experiment in other posts too. You were wrong there too, but somehow didn't correct yourself on your own then, as I doubt you'd have corrected yourself here if I didn't expose your mistake. The fact that you'd even call what I proposed an experiment shows you don't even grasp what it is I proposed. The fact that you didn't correct yourself until I said something is revealing.
Do you agree that I admitted I was wrong, yes or no?
T'ai Chi said:
Yeah, which apparently you believe allows you to critique statistical arguments, call me a "lousy statistician", and say some analyses are "flawed", for examples, while at the same time admitting that you know next to nothing about statistics.
You contradict yourself with your statements.
Not at all. I explained that even an amateur such as myself can see through your charade.
T'ai Chi said:
You shifted the onus on me in your first post in this thread, dude. Why did you even go there? Why not provide whoever asked some examples of transcripts? I'm not going to do your work for you. You said there is "plenty". I didn't. YOU provide the poster with them.
I merely pointed out that you had a collection of transcripts. Why not go to the very person who already has about 20 transcripts?
T'ai Chi said:
I'm not going to show my analysis, etc. until I am done with the analysis. That is SOP. If you can find one, just one, study were data was made available to anyone who asked at any time of the study, please, let me know. Just don't hold me to higher standards.
I didn't ask for your
analysis, I asked for the
transcripts. You do have them, don't you?
T'ai Chi said:
Yahweh, in another thread, already pointed out that your webpage has nothing to do with me, despite your attempts to use it in that manner. It is simply your red herring.
No, it was an attempt to see this analysis on some webpage. We don't have to wait for you to build a website. To me, it most certainly sounds as if you don't have the transcripts at all.
T'ai Chi said:
I will put things on my webpage sometime as I said. I will also put my critiques of some of the content on skepticrepork on my webpage (this will be sure to be in an extremely tiny footnote). I will put your and Clancie's ongoing post counts for all to see and evaluate. I only evaluate things in an objective statistical manner, so I will not have any emotional or humor articles as your page often does. I also will not engage in monthly self promotion of my webpage.
You'll like it..
I'm sure I will. It looks as if it will be a webpage dedicated to me and my doings. Kinda like a stalker's webpage. A
cool, calculated, premeditated, bereft-of-emotion stalker's webpage.
T'ai Chi said:
I know you'd probably rather have a psychic say: "You'll see a C. t. roseofusca (Coastal Rosy Boa) at latitude 35.2455 and longitude -120.6406, at 4:34 PM on Sunday".
Unfortunately, that is not how they work. They seem to get 'impressions' instead. Unfortunately this makes accusations of cold reading seem more plausible then they might be.
How do you distinguish between those who get "impressions" and those who throw out guesses?
T'ai Chi said:
Will you address the updated analysis?
You haven't responded to my PM yet.
Excuse me? Are you still working on your analysis?
Interesting Ian said:
But you're ignoring the fact that skeptics want cold readers to be successful. They will be anxious to confirm any hits or anything that can be construed to be a hit, because this will seem to lend credence to their contention that all such readings are cold reading.
As Ian Rowland writes, when you know how it is done, you can block it so it won't work.
Clancie said:
Exactly. If you're impressing people with your "trick", the trick should work.
A cold reading demo isn't a flop because people don't believe its real mediumship. Of course they won't believe its real mediumship, whatever info is stated. As Ian Rowland says, that's not the point.
A cold reading demo is a flop if there's little information, no interesting "hits", little that can show how cold reading really does produce accurate, identifiable information for the sitter.
But Ian Rowland did produce accurate, identifiable information for the sitters, when he did the TV show around Halloween. He had them in tears, remember?
Clancie said:
In your scenario, the comparison would be a magician who is there to saw a girl in half and...he pulls apart the cabinet...but she still appears the "same as ever". He should show the trick first..."wow!"...then expose it.
The interesting thing about Ian Rowland's cold reading example on TV was, that even though he exposed it afterwards, some people still believed he was a real medium.
Clancie said:
If you first can't show that cold reading works--that a cold reader really -can- bring some good information out for people whom he doesn't know--then it's not very convincing just to say, "Well, I can't show it to you, but, trust me. This is the way they do it."
Ian Rowland did it. Why do you deny this?
Clancie said:
I've lived here all my life and have never seen one, not even in the mountains.
That's not the point. The point is that the medium told you something that a lot of Californians would relate to. That you had to make such a stretch to make it fit only shows how desperate you are.
Clancie said:
Here it is, Part I. She first established the deceased, by name (not initial, or a string of names). She mentioned this quite important trip he and I took, and mentioned a specific destination. Third, she asked, "Did a snake come out on the trip?" and, in fact, the "Snake" was an important name (and--you'll love this, but he even did "come out" in a sense, because he had to come out to look for us 
). And, yes, that's how mediums say they work, with symbols (which, yes, I'm aware most here feel is just a way to expand cold reading possibilities).
So...not just a "snake", but a string of interrelated statements...person's name...our trip and destination...the "Snake", his son's name. Having never seen a cold reader say anything -close- to this, yes, it makes me think..."This is consistent with how mediums say they get information and...makes me think there might be something to this."
This is not correct. You are not being truthful, when you say that you have never seen a cold reader say anything close to this. You saw Ian Rowland get several hits like these on TV.
Clancie said:
Well, if it was a snake bite he got on that trip, yes, I'd have considered that a hit.
Clancie, don't you realize what you just did there? You just admitted that you are willing to fit information!
Clancie said:
And...I wouldn't have stretched that hard to make something fit. Sorry.
How do you know that for sure? You, who are so desperate to get in touch with your dead husband, and walk from medium to medium, most of them a great disappointment to you?
Clancie said:
You really think someone would find that evidential in this reading?
We have seen that there are sitters who will stretch even further than that.
Clancie said:
Hmm...She gets the name of deceased...the place we took a trip to...the special name he called his son whom we went to see.. yes...interesting!
(Ahhhh...the mind of the believer! 
)
Yes, indeed. We have heard a heavily edited version of the reading, edited by a fervent believer. Do you really expect us to just take your word for all this?
Clancie said:
I called. And, even if she saw the number,...like what?
That's all she needs, Clancie! You know how effective even a cursory Internet search can be in digging up information about people.
Clancie said:
Sure, always a possibility. You try to say very little, obviously. And, fortunately, there is a tape to listen to later to see if it sounds like building on the clues.
Can we listen to it?
TheBoyPaj said:
Even if a seemingly paranormal event requires a string of coincidences for it to occur, it's going to happen eventually and when it does.. wow!
Let's not forget that magicians also have to be prepared that unexpected things happen, and grab the opportunity to make the trick seem even more spectacular. Only Tommy Cooper can build a career from botched tricks only!
