Looks like the whole “Crossing Over with Jon Edwards”-style cold-reader “psychic” show is making a comeback…
“Psychic at Large”, basically a female Jon Edwards…
do these sheep still fall for this crap, geez…
the next question is What the FRAK is this doing on “The Sci-Fi Channel”, yes it’s clearlyFICTION but there is no SCIENCE involved in it…
bloody frell, scifi, give the “cold reader” show a rest, it’s a dead format, time to bury it, and pour concrete over the grave
Admittedly, part of me would be tempted to debunk this crap, show up for a reading, fix the psycho…err…psychic with a cold, blank stare, and refuse to answer any of her cold reading questions, my response would be simple “you’re the psychic, you tell me”
Derren Brown’s latest UK TV series is called ‘Trick of the Mind’. He states before every show that he uses magic, misdirection, showmanship and suggestion. (And jolly good he is too!)
The latest episode showed him collecting birthdates, hand outlines and a small object from loads of people in different countries (mainly Europe, but I’m pretty sure the US too).
Then he came back with a personality reading for each individual.
They went nuts…
“This is 99% right!”
“This man knows me as well as anyone could!”
“He’s a true psychic!”
Of course Derren then revealed he’d written one reading - exactly the same for everyone. Nice one, Derren!
Don’t forget there’s an existing Staff Report on this subject that explains some of the nuances of cold reading and the psychic industry. It was written by Dex but I helped him with it in places:
Glee refers to a recent TV stunt on Derren Brown’s TV show. Yes, it was very nicely done and made its point very well. However, just for the record, and without taking anything away from Derren’s excellent showmanship and presentation, it wasn’t his idea and he wasn’t the first to do it by a long way. I did exactly the same stunt on both British and American TV in the 90s, and other people (including, I believe, Ray Hyman and Milbourne Christopher) did it before me. Repeating for emphasis: this is not meant in any way as a criticism of Derren or how the item was produced by his TV team. Just sayin’, is all…
I’ve done it in classes and workshops, using the description I linked to, telling them it’s horoscope for their birthdate prepared by “a friend of mine” who is “really into astrology” and has “the computer program all the professional astrologers use.”
It’s always a riot, especially with teenagers. If you have the opportunity to try it, do it! It’s quick and easy. The thing that takes the longest is the prep, printinng out n copies of the personality description, labeling them with people’s names, and folding them over and sealing them. Passing them out can be a pain in a large group too, but it’s soooo worth it to see their reaction when you ask them to trade descriptions with their neighbor . . .
Well, the Fiction part of the equation is clear, but where’s the Science part?
maybe they should make a spinoff channel…
“The Gullible Sheep Channel”
put all the stupid cold reading and paranormal crap on it, crossing over, Medium at Large (hehe), Ghost Hunters, all the stuff that panders to the gullible, brain-dead sheep out there
i mean, Ghost Hunters, c’mon, they don’t use PKE Valence meters, Proton Packs/Positron throwers, Ghost Traps, nothing, how can they expect to hunt and capture ghosts without the proper equipment
Sci-Fi purists will tell you that science fiction has to be plausible, meaning if something being presented isn’t possible now, it’s possible it could be in the future, and it has to be in the realm of science, technology, and/or medicine. Things like mind reading, ghosts, magic, etc… are categorized of fantasy, which, is technically different from Sci-Fi.
Of course, for most of us, Sci-Fi and Fantasy have kind of blended together and we almost think of them interchangeably, even if that’s not technically right.
Well, the question I posed was originally posed by Isaac Asmov. Is he a purist enough?
Most SF authors and readers and critics know that science fiction is not supposed to be scientific; it’s a form of fantasy where the fantastic element is assumed to be based on “scientific” principles. Or, as Asimov further narrowed it down, it has to do with energy: If the energy comes from scientifically explained sources, it’s science fiction. In fantasy, the energy to perform the spells comes out of nowhere.
If you travel to Mars via spaceship, it’s SF. If you go there via magic spell, it’s fantasy. But ultimately the story is about what happens when you get to Mars.
And then there’s “Ghost Whisperer,” produced by James van Praagh. Except for Jennifer Love Hewitt’s exceptional bod, it’s as big a snore as one of Van Praagh’s cold readings.
I watched it a couple of times, and couldn’t help notice that none of these spirits were happy. None of these gloomy ghosts could get airtime on one of Van Praagh’s or Edwards’s live shows.
