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Recommend test parameters

Azrael 5

Philosopher
Azrael 5
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Messages
6,106
On another forum I post on a member has claimed psychic,mediumship abilities and is able to create spirit drawings! She has agreed to a test by me so whats a good simple one.Obviously if she read me Id be able to stop any cold reading but what about double blind and spirit drawings test? I plan on getting a small group of people :)
 
Is spirit writing/drawing the same today as it was back in Houdini's day or is this something different? What is the exact claim? Could you copy and paste their claims from that forum?
 
I think it is important to get a solid definition of what it is they are claiming to do down on paper. Something you both can agree on that is understandable and testable. Then we can go from there on how to draw up a solid test.
 
Biscuit said:
Is spirit writing/drawing the same today as it was back in Houdini's day or is this something different? What is the exact claim? Could you copy and paste their claims from that forum?
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HEre we go in full:
I'm a fully trained natural remedy healer of 6 years with the ability to do Mediumship,Psychic Reading,Tarot and Spirit Drawings. I have helped friends and family over come loss, anger/emotional issues including health problems and anxiety. Worked on Spiritual circles on a few occasions to which I have picked up on a series of events linking to strangers I've never met. How do I Know? They say they don't believe fully but then crumble and break down once im honest about a situation in their life, I help by reassuring and nurturing good people. Yes I'm a full blown Psychic
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The only thing even vaguely testable I can see in there is the claim that she can be "honest about a situation in their life", which I assume means she can tell something unique about a person's current life situation, despite having never met them before. At least that is what I would guess by the "picked up on a series of events linking to strangers I've never met" comment*.

You could try the old routine of handing her photos of people, and having her describe (or draw?) some of these events she has picked up on, and see how accurate they are. A few historical people who have well documented lives, but are generally not known by their appearance, could be used as controls, I suppose.

* - What about acquaintances she's never met, or strangers she has met on multiple occasions? :D Something about that phrase always makes me feel snarky.
 
At the risk of upsetting the mods (I did so once with a similar comment), I think someone should review her medication.

I tend to think when people claim this spirit thing, the only ones they have been in contact with have come out of a bottle labelled “Strong Rum”.
 
Azrael 5 said:
She claims shes a medium and a full blown psychic,why is that not testable? :confused:
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Well a medium talks to/with/for the dead? A psychic can read people's minds/ tell the future/ predict events?

Which does she want to test and has she proposed a test yet?
 
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If she's producing readings of some kind then the usual test is to get her to produce say five readings for five different people (with whom she should not communicate in any way) and then give copies of all five readings to all five subjects and ask each to pick out the one they think is theirs. You'd expect one in five to pick the right one by chance, but at least 3 to do so if she has genuine powers. If she can achieve at least that success rate consistently then she's ready to apply for the MDC.

ETA: here's a thread describing the protocol JREF used to test a psychic

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118952
 
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Here's a test I came up with for Limbo (seeing his current thread in RandP) for remote viewing. It wouldn't meet true scholarly standards but it's okay for just playing around on an internet forum.

I have a unique architectural feature in two of the upstairs bedrooms in my house here in Germany. I was going to take pictures of said features and send them to three judges of our agreement on the forum. He claimed he wouldn't need to know exactly where I live, only the general area of Germany. He would tell everyone what the feature was and then the judges would open the e-mail and determine if he was close. He then said my negativity and skepticism would block his viewing. I told him I was spending a few days in France and would be far enough away that my negativity would not impact. He said my negativity would linger and block him. Then he put me on ignore.

There are obvious flaws when doing this over the internet but if everyone involved is present, you could use sealed envelops, security tape and serialized postal seals to keep the picture from being known by anyone other than the person who took it.
 
That sounds like wrestling with a pig. You both get dirty and only the pig enjoys it.
 
Hi guts was hoping for an in person kind of experiment ,seems she is backtracking somewhat here is thread,i find this comment of hers amusing.
http://purpleport.com/group/general-off-topic/40143/psychics-tarot-etc/page/9999999/#last

Nothing related to the following: Lottery numbers, when am i going to die and how, what is the name of my aunties dog from seven years ago who is now dead. It is child's play and I do not tend to involved myself in anything I feel is a little immature
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Liek predicting the lottery and becoming a millionaire every week is sooo immature :D
 
Craig4 said:
Sound similar to what I did with Limbo. When we defined the test parameters he just decided the effort was it worth his attention.
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Seems to be heading that way,she claims to be only able to work with living energy ,using tarot cards. SO how me typing on a screen relates to that Im baffled ;)
 
A simple test could be to take ten pictures of willing forum members and have them each write a short biography. Then she could try to match the bio with the picture.

Spirit viewing seems easy enough. Put five objects in a room from an agreed upon list of, say 20 objects. Ask her to choose which five are in the room.
 
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