Psychics -Is this proof they are genuine? or something more sinister?

a reply to: VoidHawk

I thought it was a well-acknowledged fact that police forces around the world have been using psychics to help in detective work since time immemorial; and indeed still do. It's hard to see why they would go to such trouble if there were not a reasonable pay-off.

That tells us nothing about how many psychics are genuine/fake or what their individual 'hit rates' are; but it does provide prima facie evidence that 'something is happening' not currently acknowledged by science.

The police aren't documentary-makers or paranormal investigators, just a bunch of people trying to solve crimes. They will happily employ the services of anyone who can assist them in this; conversely, they have no use for time-wasters.

a reply to: CJCrawley

Good points.

If they weren't real none of them would be working for over 20 years with the police force solving cases.

originally posted by: CJCrawley
a reply to: VoidHawk

I thought it was a well-acknowledged fact that police forces around the world have been using psychics to help in detective work since time immemorial;

Not really

en.wikipedia.org...

Well, since the subject is police officers and psychics,
Here is a link to a couple of chat logs with Chuck Bergman,
A former police officer, turned Medium,
who explains in the logs about working with law enforcement.

www.vanpraagh.com...

It is an interesting read if nothing else.

Everytime I think of psychics, I think of that episode of South Park where they are making fun of John Edward. I remember seeing an episode of the Kardashians (yes, i know.. ) and he told Kim that he didn't see a baby in her future. Well turns out, she is pregnant again.

Plus we all know how that deal with Sylvia Brown ended...

many people feel the vibrations of the universe...

it's what one does or how one reacts to the 'information' ...

some would prefer it was for entertainment purposes only...

when money is the exchange for information...?

a reply to: Cuervo

I swore an oath to myself and the spirits who aid me that I would never ask for money.

For me, it's like the life of a monk, you choose that life, and you live it accordingly.

If it wasn't for the fact that I need to work to make money so I can oil the machine, I wouldn't..in fact for many years I've been trying to become a hermit but these days it's not easy to just disappear.

I understand where your coming from with your comparison between artists and psychics (like you alluded to, they both take their share of creativity).

a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

What's the point of showing off ? Those of us who are initiated know better than to try and show off.

The greatest power comes from the ability to temper yourself and not seek fame..those of us who are for real anyways, which is why I don't feel the need to show off for any of you.

a reply to: threeeyesopen

I never swore an oath, but I never asked for anything until I gave a reading that I got hurt doing.
I actually did not ask, I demanded that spirit do something, or I would never do another reading ever again.
I was a sinking ship, no job, and no one hiring, then on top of that, I ended up encountering a murder in my reading, and the being behind it.

I went for months unable to shake the visions and so I finally broke down and demanded that spirit do something, because everything was falling apart. I had NEVER asked for anything before this.

The next morning, there was a flyer under my door about a job, and long story short, I got the job, and still have it almost 4 years later, and it is one of the best jobs I have ever had. I will never doubt spirit again.
I was paid by spirit, the visions stopped, and my life was able to rebound and get back on my feet.

a reply to: blackmetalmist

They're psychics not all-knowing gods. It's important that they get some important unobvious predictions correct. If they got everything correct, it would be evidence that there is no free-will.

a reply to: arpgme

You know, in the case of Sylvia Browne I have my own take on it.
When a psychic gets famous, and the pressure is on, just like anyone else, they feel obligated to say something,
and I think she felt pressured and did the one thing no psychic should ever do,
make something up to make herself look good.

This is something that comes with fame I think.

At some point, she became bigger than what she really was, and after that, she began to mix her talent with her drive for recognition, and it ruined her.

a reply to: Darkblade71

That's just it isn't it ? Ask and you shall receive..

We stare into two worlds at once everyday yet only some of us manage to make contact with the other side..it's not hard to do though.

The reason most people don't is that they refuse to believe, and believing isn't simply a matter of saying "I believe so show me"

If you act in that manner you will possibly get something you don't want, as you highlighted.

You must believe with the whole of what you are..I have felt the presence of what we call God, out there in every part of existence it exists with the sole purpose of giving us love, we just need to embrace it and believe that unconditional love really can change us.

a reply to: blackmetalmist

What about the South Park episode where the boys hire a lawyer to sue the dead, that one is great!

The great Sylvia Brown once stated on a TV show that a girl who had been kidnapped and missing for several years was dead. Last year that same girl came crawling out of a house.

Don't get me wrong I still believe in their powers to a certain extent. I went and saw Teresa Caputo when she was here in town and she had me crying my man eyes out.

a reply to: HawkeyeNation

I like Caputo,
she is fun to watch.

We used to visit the same website many years ago, and she was a really fun person to talk to.
Kind of freaked me out when I saw she became famous and had her own show.
The only reason I remembered who she was, was because of her hair, and her husband.
I wasn't sure if it was her or not, but then another person from that old website confirmed it to me one day...
Small world.

originally posted by: threeeyesopen
a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

What's the point of showing off ? Those of us who are initiated know better than to try and show off.

Who said anything about "showing off"? If someone is actually "psychic", proving so would be incredibly valuable to science.

It's clear that some police at times use psychics,
And some of these psychics have good results.
Only controversial to some people.
The problem is that as TV popularizes this subject
a lot of wannabees come along who are media hounds and learn to fake it.
Which is the state of a lot of these psychic style reality personality based pilots recently.
Fakes and Psychics have an age old association with each other.
a reply to: VoidHawk

a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

My question is how one tests it.

How do you test a dream?
How do you test a tarot reading?
How do you test a vision?

It is an illusive ability, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

The other part of that is in how one is approached over it.


There are so many factors in ESP and how it works, what it does, what it really is, and what people have perceived it to be over the years.

I have a thread here in the rant forum about ESP, and I only answered one person that asked a question because everyone else that came at me, came from a negative angle or wanted personal information and cynicism was rampant. That shuts me down. if it is not fun, I won't do it, because it won't work if I feel pressured or ill at ease.
Everyone thinks that a psychic should just know...it doesn't work that way. I don't even understand it, and I have been experiencing it for years. People also think that it means you read for people, and although I can, for myself, that is not what it is for.

For me, it is an early warning system.
Those times that it has been the strongest is when I myself was in danger which leaves me to believe it is a survival instinct.

Maybe they need to go back to hooking people up and shocking them when they get the wrong answer.
I think that was in ghost busters.

But the point is that even as somebody who has experienced it my entire life,
I have no idea how you can test it in a lab.

Back to the ESP thread, The guy asked, I answered, it happened, and he never responded, which was exactly what I had said happens when you do prove it to someone.

Over the years you learn to brush of the cynics and give what you can to the skeptics.

But as for proving it in a scientific setting,
I don't know how one could.

It is what it is.
Whether people believe it or not.

But I do hope science can some day find a way to study it objectively,
because from everything I have seen,
all people are doing, is trying to prove it does not exist,
and not that it does.

a reply to: threeeyesopen

There's always an excuse....

a reply to: Foundryman

Yup an excuse to not waste my time talking to you, bye