Has any skeptic out there actually investigated the truth for themselves?

Question

....with regards to mediumship and psychism.
Reading many of the replies to questions about whether mediumship is genuine or not - you often see many comments denying the possibility, and I'm just wondering to those that insist its not possible and it's really a load of 'crock'. Have you investigated 'yourself' to find out the truth or do you reply on what you've read in newspapers or watched on hollywood films.

I only ask as I was once skeptical - and trusted what was written and heard. But by sheer coincidence I found myself at a Spiritualist Church with a friend, and I was amazed at the detailed information given to myself and my friend from the medium. Curiousity got the better of me and this led me to investigate fuller the claims and after 12 years being involved - the evidence that we survive death is over-whelming.

so skeptics - have you done your research?

ps. don't respond with 'cold reading' techniques as this only shows that you haven't a clue how mediums really work.

My comment regarding about not replying with cold readings as I was illustrating that cold reading do not answer the question 'Is this what all mediums do".
So please stop stating the obvious un-informed responses and answer the question - and admit you haven't a clue!

Yoda Greene - how interesting, you attempt to deny any such powers yet, you call yourself 'Yoda', a character that had such powers.... a rather strange personality trait?

Answer 1

i`m not sure if i`m a sceptic or not,i can`t seem to make up my mind.I don`t think reading books would convince me but a few times people who i know wouldn`t lie or imagine things have told me about something strange that happened to them one of them being my young daughter who couldn`t have made up what she said Anyway i`m keeping an open mind
the saying "theres no smoke without fire is old but true "and most things have some truth if you can find it .

Answer 2

I was a spiritualist for 12 years and worked with a medium who has since become world famous. to summarise i would put it this way
1. There is a lot of phenomena out there.
2. A good genuine medium will amaze you with the stuff they can pick up from people.
3. Look at the evidence with a cold scientific approach.
4. In the end, the evidence does not support the view that communication with the dead is possible.
5 There are all sorts of interesting back waters that look fascinating at a first glance.
6.Go back to point 3.

Answer 3

LOL!
I see that you've already cut on the ONLY true way to test something like this. You don't want 'cold reading' huh? Gee I wonder why?
ROTFLMAO!!!
Could it be because ALL such "powers" are nothing but parlor tricks and imagination? Yes, of course it is.
After all, James Randi has a standing reward of 1 million dollars and NO one has been able to claim it. Despite the fact that he's lowered the standards of testing no fewer than 3 times.
All I need to know about so-called Psychics, is that NONE of them has ever been able to prognosticate the lottery numbers, but they seem to have no trouble fleecing moronic sheep looking for simple answers...
That counts as gin buddy, you lose.

Edit, nice cop-out there buddy.
Tell you what, you claim to be a psychic (rolls eyes) then go ahead and take James Randi's challenge. Should be no problem for someone like you with REAL powers right. And there is a cool million up for grabs. Not only will you get the money, but the interest is used to give scholarships to skeptics. So you'd deny them the ability to go to school or further de-bunk your so-called powers.
So, what are you waiting for hmmm?

Answer 4

Why does everyone so desperately want everyone to believe the same thing. I am not a skeptic and come from the point of view that all things are possible. If someone absolutely does not believe then why would they waste their time investigating it. If you have found something to believe in then great.

I have been to many spiritualist churches and had some amazing experiences however for me it doesn't actually prove anything other than that I got a message. I am so busy living my life I do not have time to worry about what will happen when I die, I will find out soon enough. In the meantime the best thing to do is live a good life, be kind to others, don't criticise and gossip and leave everyone to enjoy their own set of beliefs.

Answer 5

I've had tarot readings, palm readings and once visited a medium with other members of my family. I found the whole lot to be bunkum - and I did want to believe way back when. My experiences turned me off to mediumship and so called psychics.

The medium - who is very well-known locally - had obviously done his homework into our family, and claimed he was speaking to my dead cousin and knew a little but couldn't be clear when asked to be specific. He also told my sister she was pregnant , and told me I could expect to start a family soon (I already had a 3 months old son). Obviously he did more research than we had but not enough to be believable.

My feeling is that these people are good at manipulating, good at reading people, and even better at research themselves. The internet and government records must make their lives easy nowadays. There is a standing award of milloins of pounds availalbe to anyone who could prove this hokus-pokus and to this day none have stepped forward - I wonder why ?

Answer 6

James Randi's prize will be awarded, but it will be awarded in such a way that Randi himself will refuse to speak further about it. In other words, Randi will not only be so convinced by the practitioner's ability, the very act of persuading him will dissuade Randi from continuing his investigations, or from even providing an answer as to why he is no longer persuing his debunking.

As for those who don't believe: many do not believe because they do not want to believe, and any evidence to the contrary is simply ignored. As such, all the empiric 'proof' means nothing to them, which is as it should be. Truths are ultimately neither impatient nor concerned with the status of awareness among others. Gravity will pull us towards the center of the Earth, regardless of whether or not we acknowledge it.

Answer 7

The James Randi Educational Fund offers a One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge; Anyone who can demonstrate that they have any psychic ability can collect $1,000,000.00.

http://www.randi.org/research/faq.html

No one ever has. There is no trick done by any self-proclaimed psychic that Penn & Teller cannot do better. They are all fakes.

Will your medium take the challenge? Are they better than Penn and Teller - not.
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Khnopff71 -

re: the Randi prize

Yeah, yeah, yeah, nothing but cheap talk and no action. Don't brag about things you have not done, and cannot do.
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re: "gravity"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Jesus, man, gravity does not pull us just toward the center of the earth.

The general graviataion equation is (approximately) the square of the mass of two objects divided by the distance between the two objects - squared.

I mean, this is as simple as it gets, It is a beautiful and parsimonious little descriptive theory.

You need to broaden your knowledge a little if you want to play with the big dogs.

Answer 8

Actually, it is YOU who has to provide evidence for YOUR claim - burden of proof and all that

By the by, your claim that "I was once skeptical - and trusted what was written and heard" seems contradictory.

I, however, am still a skeptic, and have begun some research of my own:

1) Go to three seperate (locally acclaimed) psychics (in three days) to get readings: trying to be non-emotional, so as to eliminate "cold reading" (according to you this should have no effect)
2) Count "hits" and "misses" of each, as well as record predictions
3) Compute statistical viability of hits/misses against chance, and match up predictions
4) repeat in one year (with same psychics - but do not remind them of last visit)

Though admittedly a small sample size (my funding for this project is small - me), it provides me with adequate results:

Though impressed with my "readers" showmanship, it turned out that they told me no more than anyone could have by simply guessing (actually one was even low for that). As for my future, it diverges much; but all included the expected general statements based on my demographic (though were all different in this as well).

As for the following year, that is coming up soon, I'll get back to you (though I'm pretty confident that I CAN predict the outcome here)

Further, you state that skeptics get their arguments from newspapers or movies, but being a former skeptic yourself you should know better (are you SURE you were a "skeptic"?).

Skeptics simply demand evidence to any extreme claim; newspapers rarely give good evidence and movies (not documentaries) often less... NO, we want the actual study cited, documentation of some type. And there are folks out there (better funded than I) who do this (see links).

As stated in above posts: The Million Dollar challenge is for you (last link - in case you missed all of the previous posters')

NO money = NO powers... no argument


(If you feel you are "above" taking "easy money" from us poor skeptic saps, you could always donate it to a good cause)

Answer 9

I was a sceptic, then I went to one of these spiritualist churches, never ever again will I dispute these people who claim to bring messages from another realm. This lady spoke to my wife, she gave her mums name her dads,his parents and her mums parents. She described a photo that we didn't even know we had, it had been taken in 1929 and someone had put the two ladies names on that were in the photo. My wife was amazed and I thought it had been set up and she had fed her the information. Then right at the end of the service? or whatever this lady said "the lady is telling me to tell you sir to look in the loft in the box marked, beechams powders? I had never heard of beechams powders. When we got home my wife said will you go and look in the loft, we had moved into her mum and dads house it was her inheritance. Up I went and I searched everywhere there was loads of hidden treasures, I couldn't believe my eyes I found the beechams powders box. I didn't open it as it belonged to my late in laws, my wife opened the box and there it was amongst a load more photos. This lady had described the photo exactly, she said how their hair was done where they were sitting (in a park) their christian names and then amazingly their surnames. I will never doubt someone who says they have this incredible gift.

Answer 10

I won't respond with cold reading though that IS how mediums work - In fact, some pose as mediums, wow their audiences and then admit they didnt need to be psychic, its just mentalism. Have you done your research?

I'll say if any were real why not go collect James Randi's MILLION DOLLARS - which he has promised to anyone who can demonstrate psychic ability? I wonder why? Because they're all frauds and only gullible people have anything to do with them.