Proof of Life After Death!!

[Foster Zygote]

Being that I know just as much if not more about the tricks fake mediums use the reason you should seriously examine (and you do need to read ALL the comments for the full picture) my experience with John Edward is the fact that I ACTUALLY had a reading with him whereas I'm guessing most here have not. I have the knowledge of what to look for in a fake medium AND all my experiences with mediums(lots... including James Van Praagh) and in my opinion they were all fake. Except for John Edward. You have the knowledge minus the actual personal experience with John Edward which makes me a more qualified judge.

I'm well aware of the techniques used by self-styled mediums and psychics as well. I've never seen anything that would indicate that Edward is any different from any other fraud who exploits the pain of other's losses for profit.

Now suspicious, O'Neill recalled that while the audience was waiting to be seated, Edward’s aides were scurrying about, striking up conversations and getting people to fill out cards with their name, family tree and other facts. Once inside the auditorium, where each family was directed to preassigned seats, more than an hour passed before show time while “technical difficulties” backstage were corrected.

Link

 

[Garrette]

Communicating with those who have crossed over is not the same as talking to someone on your iphone with a crystal clear connection...and that has been explained in more detail in the comment section of my blog...which is why I will respectfully ask you and all on this thread to ACTUALLY read my blog and ALL the comments because many if not all of your points have ALREADY been addressed there. Then perhaps we can discuss and cover some new ground.

And we have dealt with those concerns numerous times before your arrival. If you doubt us, then pick out tge most salient comments and post them here. I began reading your comments; many are skeptical of your claims and have no effective counter that I saw. I am not in the business of doing your work for you. You have a claim so support it.

 

[Robin1]

And I am sorry if I didn't follow the proper etiquette on this thread..it is new to me.

 

[Garrette]

There's a good P&T BS episode about psychics; in one scene a man realizes that a reading he received about his lost mom from Rosemary Altea was, well, BS.

It's a good touch when Mark Edward points out the tricks in Altea's little schtick.

And in that person's eyes the reading was just as convincing as Robin believes hers to have been.

 

[Garrette]

And I am sorry if I didn't follow the proper etiquette on this thread..it is new to me.

No problem. And most of us here are not as rude as we often appear. We are simply more direct and doubting than many who come here are used to. You and your belief are welcome. Simply understand that we will not take your or anyone at your word (for the most part).

 

[Foster Zygote]

Communicating with those who have crossed over is not the same as talking to someone on your iphone with a crystal clear connection...

I did read your blog. Thus I know that, while the "spirits" who confide in Edward have great difficulty communicating their own names, they seem to have no difficulty with other words like, "refrigerator".

 

[Jack by the hedge]

...Robin's two main points seem to be that JE knew that she had just bought a refrigerator and that JE mentioned a connection between her brother and Valerie Harper (the brother had tickets to that night's Broadway show starring Valerie Harper).

If you'd read further down into the comments you'd see that her brother posts too, explaining that he hadn't bought tickets, he'd agreed with a friend that they would buy tickets.

So, while Robin's credit card info might reveal the fridge purchase, the Valerie Harper connection would have to be gleaned by some other technique - likely something overheard by a stooge in the queue.

I have no idea how hard it is to get info on someone else's CC purchases, but one of the early commenters is adamant that his son could do this easily. I imagine this is not lawful, so it's a risky thing for them to have done.

 

[Gbob]

Robin,

The reason so many people are dismissive of your experience is that the human mind in phenomenally bad at recalling events. This is one of the reasons why eyewitness testimony results in false convictions. It's the reason why a couple can argue violently over memories of events in the pass, and both believe themselves to be correct.

I used to work doing fortune telling in Orlando years and years ago. I used classic cold reading, with some hot reading tossed in. (In defense of charlatans, I actually did believe that I had the ability to do readings, even when I was using fraud to get results. It's amazing the ability of the human brain to hold two diametrically opposed views at the same time.) I can tell you first hand how the experiences went down.

Most people don't realize how much information they give when they're talking to someone else. They also don't realize how little of any given conversation they actually remember. I would tell them that I sensed they lost someone close to them recently (a statement that applies to everyone. No matter how much time has passed, we always view the death of a loved one as being "recent".). Many times they would reply with "yes, my Grandfather" or name some other loved one. I would nod and say "yes, it's your Grandfather. I sense it was a problem with his heart or lungs?". You get the idea. Broad guesses, with additional information being provided by the client.

Every single one of them would come out of the readings saying "it's amazing. He knew it was my Grandfather and that he died of a heart attack. How could he know that information if he wasn't psychic?".

These were not stupid people. I gave readings to doctors, lawyers and all sort of folks. Being smart and educated does not free you from the bias of our minds. I have no doubt that you tried to view the encounter skeptically, and to the best of your knowledge the events you relate are exactly as they occurred. It's hard for us to admit that our perceptions can be flawed, and that's why so many people fall for frauds.

Edwards is a fairly decent cold reader, with enough personal charisma to pull it off. He's also known for using audience plants, and for getting information from audience members waiting to get into his shows.

I hope you will have enough of an open mind to read up on cold reading, and the history of mentalisim.

 

[Robin1]

Not less intelligent just less informed about the tricks of the trade of fraudulent mediums.
And way more trusting.

 

[Robin1]

Thanks for reading! And what about "Tooth Guy!"

 

[Garrette]

If you'd read further down into the comments you'd see that her brother posts too, explaining that he hadn't bought tickets, he'd agreed with a friend that they would buy tickets.

So, while Robin's credit card info might reveal the fridge purchase, the Valerie Harper connection would have to be gleaned by some other technique - likely something overheard by a stooge in the queue.

I have no idea how hard it is to get info on someone else's CC purchases, but one of the early commenters is adamant that his son could do this easily. I imagine this is not lawful, so it's a risky thing for them to have done.

First, it is important to reiterate that JE did not say "you have (or will buy) tickets to Valerie Harper's show;" rather, he said there is "a Valerie Harper connection." More than one thing could fit that, and so it is not accurate to imply that JE knew about the tickets. (I am not saying you are doing this).

Second, it is important to know that there is no transcript, so we don't really know what JE actually said. It matters.

Third, since JE is known for hot reading and for having aides in the queue, there seems to be little real mystery here.

 

[Robin1]

Thanks for your response...I have done the research AND i know that my story is SO convincing that the only way for some people to explain it away is by saying I am not remembering it correctly or exactly as it happened. I know I can't convince you everything happened that night as described. But...it DID!

 

[Garrette]

Not less intelligent just less informed about the tricks of the trade of fraudulent mediums.
And way more trusting.

Yet they thought they were informed enough and savvy enough just as you do. How can you be certain that you are not just slightly better informed so that you can rule out some of the frauds but not so well informed that you can rule them all out?

This isn't intended as a snarky or insulting question; I ask it legitimately. How do you know that your specific level of knowledge and your specific level of trust or non-trust is sufficient?

 

[Garrette]

Thanks for your response...I have done the research AND i know that my story is SO convincing that the only way for some people to explain it away is by saying I am not remembering it correctly or exactly as it happened. I know I can't convince you everything happened that night as described. But...it DID!

I don't doubt that you believe it to be true, but forgive us for doubting.

There are two levels of difficulty here. First, you are almost certainly remembering something wrong, regardless how certain you are of your memory. Second, it doesn't matter if you have relayed the events with great exactness; they are still unconvincing given the alternate ways to accomplish this separate from being a real psychic/medium.

GBOB's excellent post is merely a start.

 

[Robin1]

No, all I was trying to say was that being a librarian OF COURSE I would have thoroughly researched a topic I was so interested in.

 

[Foster Zygote]

Thanks for your response...I have done the research AND i know that my story is SO convincing that the only way for some people to explain it away is by saying I am not remembering it correctly or exactly as it happened. I know I can't convince you everything happened that night as described. But...it DID!

And yet there are thousands of people who feel the same way about numerous other prominent psychics, mediums and faith healers, including ones whom you no doubt number among the fakes you've mentioned.

 

[Robin1]

But, Chicken Little, sometimes the sky IS falling!

 

[Resume]

If I am so personally invested and so then cannot use my critical thinking skills properly why then do I believe that ALL the other mediums I've been to are fakes?

If it had been Van Praagh, Altea, etc., that would have been the cold/hot reading you would have believed.

 

[Jack by the hedge]

Robin, can you be completely certain that none of your party mentioned anything to do with the Valerie Harper show at any time while you were queuing for the John Edward show?

And just out of curiosity, did you happen to purchase tickets for the JE show using the same credit card you used to buy the refrigerator? As I said, I don't know anything about gleaning info from someone else's card, but being a vendor who has a legitimate charge to the card would be an obvious foot in the door.

 

[Robin1]

O'Neill's description is the total OPPOSITE of what I experienced that day as well as any other John Edward event that I have ever, ever been to!