Thread: Are psychics real?

Do you believe in ESP? Are psychics real?

Why don’t we see the headline everywhere, all the time: Psychic Wins the Lottery!

It seems to be one of those things that you either believe in, or you don’t.

The prediction of the world ending November 2012. A lot of people believe in that.

Do you need proof to believe in it? Or does your gut just tell you ESP is real. I’m sure we’ve all had some sort of a feeling that something in-particular is going to happen, and then when it does, you start to wonder what it all means. Like... the other day, I thought the phone was going to ring... and then what do you know... "RING RING!" ;0)

I would like to believe, but I’m not so sure. I have many friends and family who believe in psychic abilities. My ex’s mother and I went to see Silvia Brown because she was obsessed with her. And I went with some friends to see John Edward. It seemed like it could have been legit with the way people were responding to them. But who knows how much of that is for show.

I’ve had my palm read, and the girl told me I had 3 children! I have no kids, and when I advised her of that, she then proceeded to tell me I would have between 1 and 3 children in the future to cover her bottom.

What do you think on the subject?

You mean Psychics, not Physics, right?

I don't, no. There has never been a single person who could reproduce something which could be construed as ESP under reasonable laboratory conditions, and that's the end of it.

Quite a few of my family members believe in it (Mum, sister, girlfriend) and to be quite honest I find it hard to stomach, but it's a harmless belief most of the time, so I don't mind as long as they're happy.

However, curiously, I don't believe that people believe in the Supernatural. Not that I think that they're lying, but I simply can't empathise with somebody who believes in anything. When my girlfriend talks about vibes and how her Dreamcatcher protects her, there's always a large part of me that suspects that she can't really think that; she might like to think airily, but I find it hard to accept that people actually think that Supernatural phenomena exist. I'd quite like to hear from somebody that does, because I find it fascinating.

ESP is simply allowing your subconscious tell you things which your conscious mind isn't able to pick up. We all project messages about ourselves, and visual projections accounts for a majority of our communication. Fortune tellers, palm readers etc merely seek to tap into these nonverbal communications.

Spectacular world ending predictions are a daily event, and the world hasn't come to a spectacular end yet. South Australia was supposed to have been eliminated in 1999 (astroid from memory). Well Google maps still shows it, so assuming that Google isn't cut'n'pasting....

There's a fun card experiment I learned from a book by The Amazing Kreskin.

In it he advises you to lay down six playing cards, face up, spaced evenly apart. You have someone sit across from you and think about one card. Tell them to imagine the card glowing, or on fire, so it stands out visually in their mind.

Then, watching your own hand, you moved your hand slowly over the cards, back and forth, in a sweeping motion. Clear your mind, relax your muscles. Try not to influence anything.

If there is such a thing as psychic abilities, your hand will slightly "dip" lower over the person's card when your hand moves over it.

Is it genuine? That's for you to decide. But why not give it a try? I had some fun with it.

Originally Posted by felix

You mean Psychics, not Physics, right?

Ha Ha... I'd like to say it was a typing error... but apparently I just don't know how to spell!!! Lol

And, I don't know why, but it seems like girls believe in this stuff more than guys do. I used to believe in my dreamcatcher when I was a little girl. I guess I never really thought of that being a supernatural thing.

My ex's mother, however, did ask me one time if I believed in vampires and werewolves because I enjoy supernatural stories so much!!! ha ha ha... Ummmm... no, not so much!! But that's a different subject all together I suppose.

Originally Posted by KyleColorado

There's a fun card experiment I learned from a book by The Amazing Kreskin.

In it he advises you to lay down six playing cards, face up, spaced evenly apart. You have someone sit across from you and think about one card. Tell them to imagine the card glowing, or on fire, so it stands out visually in their mind.

Then, watching your own hand, you moved your hand slowly over the cards, back and forth, in a sweeping motion. Clear your mind, relax your muscles. Try not to influence anything.

If there is such a thing as psychic abilities, your hand will slightly "dip" lower over the person's card when your hand moves over it.

Is it genuine? That's for you to decide. But why not give it a try? I had some fun with it.

Sounds fun. Did your hand dip lower?

And, what you said kind of reminds me of the ouija board we used to play with as kids. I remember we'd just move the letters to where we wanted it to go anyway... even though we'd deny it to each other!! ha ha

I was too chicken to ask it scary questions though, and I made sure no one else did either. It was always the same questions. "What's the boys name I'm going to marry?" Too bad I didn't remember that one!!! Lol

You might be right about women believing more than men. Perhaps not, but I don't know a male who believes in Supernatural phenomena of any kind.

And believing in ESP requires the same mental processes as believing in Werewolves and Vampires. You can lump it all into one bundle fairly easily, merely because a person who believes in one can hardly say, 'Oh sure, ESP makes all kinds of sense, but Vampires? Pfft.'

Seriously? You think so?

I know a lot of people who are firm believers in ESP, but would vehemently deny the existence of supernatural beings such a vampires and werewolves. Wouldn't that also be bringing the whole lot into the mix; fairies, goblins, unicorns, pegasus, and hell, why not add a tiny green leprechaun!?! Lol

Yes. In order to believe in ESP you must disregard so many logical lines of thought that the door is open for anything else. Unfortunately, people don't get to pick and choose what makes sense and what doesn't. If you don't believe in the Supernatural, then that's that, but if you do then you have to assume that several of the laws of Physics are false, and that unquantifiable occurrences do indeed happen. If you accept that they do, then you can't disregard any form of unquantifiable occurrence, because there's no reason to other than the fact that you 'don't like the idea', which is a ridiculous manner in which to form a perception of reality.

Hmmm.... Interesting thoughts, felix.

I myself, am not sure what I believe. I want to believe in many things, but I'm also a scardy pants of pretty much everything, so I usually just disregard all things I don't understand to being... Oh... I don't know.... the wind! Lol.

Ray Bradbury wrote a story about a man being hunted by the wind. The man comes to realize that the wind has become an intelligent entity after taking the lives of others. : )

I think the supernatural, and the belief in it, can vary. One can believe in ESP, but not werewolves..

Just as one can believe in Jesus Christ, but not ESP.

OOhh snap. I said it. Religion is belief in the supernatural. *strikes a gong*

Religion is belief in the supernatural.

I'm going to take that a step further. Religion is a belief in something for which there is no proof. Belief in a psychic (or tarot cards or the boogeyman or astrology or vampires or crystal balls) is a belief in something for which there is no proof.

Religion, however, is a whole different beast, so for now I'll leave that out. I've seen many, many TV shows and debates about things like this. Most notably Penn & Teller's Bullshit! (in which they seriously debunk what's-his-name...the Edwards guy. John Edwards, right? Him among several other things). Also, my dad and his ex-girlfriend went to a psychic. The ex girlfriend came home all aglow because said psychic told her that my dad was "the one."

Yeah. Notice the "ex" before the word "girlfriend" above. One other thing that psychic told her was that she'd live a long life, well into her golden years. I have two thoughts on that. One is if you truly believe in what a psychic tells you about your lifespan, it seems kind of superfluous to look both ways before crossing the street, which every smart person does. And secondly, she's actually dying of cancer. Now, there is a possibility that she'll pull through, but since this is her second bout with a brain tumor and the last year of treatment has done squat, it's not looking good.

I wonder if she still believes in psychics. Would you?

Sorry to hear about your father's exgirlfriend. Best wishes to her. I hope they find a cure for cancer one of these days.

As for psychic readings.. The art of "cold-reading" is prevalent among actors pretending to be psychics. A cold-read is when you state truisms about a person which seem profound and telepathic, divine even, to an unsuspecting mark, when in reality you are simply presenting her with educated guesses, and adjusting according to her reactions.

"Something significant happened in your life recently.."
*Woman leans forward*
"Something involving.. money.."
*Woman furrows her brow*
"No.. no.. not money.. it's hazy.. becomming clearer.. I see it now.. a person"
*Woman raises her eyebrows*
"Yes.. yes.. a person.. a man"
*Woman frowns*
"No.. no.. a woman!"
*Woman sits up straight"
"Yes.. I can see it clearly now.. Did a woman recently come into your life? Someone you now consider important?"
"OH MY GOD. YOU ARE PSYCHIC."

My friend had a deck of tarot cards and she gave me a reading once. Some of the things she said sounded accurated, others had no relation to me at all. I was unimpressed, but I still believe in the possibility that clairvoyance exists. I do not, however, believe the authenticity of anyone who charges money to see into your future.

Originally Posted by Tiamat10

One other thing that psychic told her was that she'd live a long life, well into her golden years.

I was talking on the phone to a client once, and she told me how everyone called her Psychic Cloe. I said, "Mmmm Hmmm, that's nice. But anyway...." She cut me off and proceeded to tell me that she could tell I have a very loving and caring heart. She could tell that my heart was everything to me, the way I loved with it. And then, she say's, "Which is what will kill you at a young age! You're heart is going to disease, and you will die from the very thing that makes you the lovely person you are!" I was like, "WOW! WTF did you just say to me!?" Nice of this woman to be so honest with me! Lol. I went home upset, thinking there was something to what she said. My then boyfriend knew I got upset easily, so he was good enough to tell me that I was being ridiculous to even let this nut job get under my skin. So I think all psychic's that tell you shit that you don't even ask to hear, whether they are legit or not, need a smack in the head! Lol.

And I'm sorry to hear about your father's ex. My sister's father died of a brain tumor. But I did have a good friend who survived brain cancer, not once, but twice. So it does happen. ;0)

Originally Posted by KyleColorado

OOhh snap. I said it. Religion is belief in the supernatural. *strikes a gong*

You just can't help yourself can you!?! Lol.

Originally Posted by KyleColorado

"Something significant happened in your life recently.."
*Woman leans forward*
"Something involving.. money.."
*Woman furrows her brow*
"No.. no.. not money.. it's hazy.. becomming clearer.. I see it now.. a person"
*Woman raises her eyebrows*
"Yes.. yes.. a person.. a man"
*Woman frowns*
"No.. no.. a woman!"
*Woman sits up straight"
"Yes.. I can see it clearly now.. Did a woman recently come into your life? Someone you now consider important?"
"OH MY GOD. YOU ARE PSYCHIC."

My friend had a deck of tarot cards and she gave me a reading once. Some of the things she said sounded accurate, others had no relation to me at all. I was unimpressed, but I still believe in the possibility that clairvoyance exists. I do not, however, believe the authenticity of anyone who charges money to see into your future.

That was funny Kyle. I can totally see how they would read off of a person's reactions like that. I guess I don't want to know what's going to happen to me, I'll just live it out, and see how it goes. ;0)... I was even scared to let that girl read my palm. I told her she wasn't allowed to tell me anything negative! ha ha. She said that psychic's shouldn't do that anyway. Who knows. *shrugs*

And, I guess anything is possible!

I've never believed in physics. That whole story about Newton and the apple never made sense to me.