# Any Psychic Dopers Out There? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2002, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-psychic-dopers-out-there/116522 "2002-06-29T03:19:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-psychic-dopers-out-there/116522/21 "2002-07-06T21:29:23Z")
**Fairblue** , this is what you originally said: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fairblue \* > I do a lot of things that might be defined as psychic, but I don’t know if “psychic” is the right word. For example, I am very good at reading people- their personalities, their moods, and sometimes even their thoughts. \*\*But I don’t know if it’s correct (or advisable) to call it psychic. \*\*That word means a lot of different things to different people and the “superhero powers vs. fraud” thing can get kind of nasty at times. > > I know what I can do, but I’m not sure why I can do it. There are always subconscious clues to a persons feelings and thoughts, and it may be that I pick up on the merest twitch that gives hint to underlying thoughts. **That doesn’t explain the way that I’ve been able to sometimes read objects, though, so I don’t know- but I try to not jump to conclusions about any of it.** > > As to using this to get money- that goes against my religious beliefs. **I view this knack I have as being a spiritual thing.** It is my belief that spiritual gifts should not be traded for money. To do so mixes what is spiritual- this “intuition” that enables me to help other people with their emotions, life dreams, etc. with what is material- cold hard cash. If that just sounds like New Agey-type crap I’d like to remind you how repulsive televangelism “Send me five bucks for Jesus!” really is. Emphasis added. The bold bits sure look to me as if you’re claiming some kind of supernatural explanation for whatever you think you can do. Sure, you’ve couched it in a very cautious way, sprinkling your claim generously with “I don’t know” and “I’m not sure”. But the claim appears evident to me. It’s dishonest of you to now change your story and say: > [@](#): > > It’s that whole “fighting ignorance” thing. As others have pointed out to the OP, what appears to be psychic can be explained more easily by science than by the supernatural. My ability to read people is a case in point. It is something that at times makes me appear to be psychic, when actually **the most likely explanation (and the one that I subscribe to) is that I’m just very good at picking up on subconscious clues**. Emphasis added. Good for you for recognising a rational explanation for your ability to read people, but in your first post you said you weren’t sure why you could do it and you didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. So which is it: do you subscribe to the rational explanation, or are you not so sure? And that’s not all you said: > [@](#): > > **That doesn’t explain the way that I’ve been able to sometimes read objects** So what’s the explanation for that? Apparently none is forthcoming: > [@](#): > > I’m not answering this question because I would really like to be done talking to you. I had to shake my head and laugh when I read this in the same post with your sarcasm and name-calling. Do you really think I want to give you more information when you have demonstrated such a lack of understanding up to now? As I said, I hope this > conversation ends pretty soon. Sad. You have a remarkably thin skin if you’re upset at the mildly critical reaction you’ve received. You knew you might get flack for speaking up (“Hmmm… I wonder if I’ll get flamed for this?”). Now that you’ve been called on your claim you want to back out. Coward. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-psychic-dopers-out-there/116522/22 "2002-07-06T21:41:03Z")
What about those other times you were watching TV or listening to the radio, and the episode or song you were just thinking about _didn’t_ come on? Like **Wearia** said, people tend to remember coincidental things like “predicting” a song before it plays, and make a bigger deal about it, whereas the fifty or a hundred times before when they were wrong get downplayed and forgotten. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Fairblue_ > I view this knack I have as being a spiritual thing. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Fairblue_ > My ability to read people is a case in point. It is something that at times makes me appear to be psychic, when actually the most likely explanation (and the one that I subscribe to) is that I’m just very good at picking up on subconscious clues. I’m sorry, but these don’t jibe. Is it a knack or a perceptiveness? Is it a spiritual thing, or not? You can see why we think you’re backpedalling, right? ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-psychic-dopers-out-there/116522/23 "2002-07-06T21:42:34Z")
I take too damn long to post. :grumble: ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-psychic-dopers-out-there/116522/24 "2002-07-06T21:47:28Z")
I could really use that million dollars, but alas, I am not psychic, have never met someone who I am convinced was psychic, and am very skeptical about the existence of psychic abilities. Guess I’ll just have to stay at my job. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-psychic-dopers-out-there/116522/25 "2002-07-06T22:00:34Z")
I once read the back cover of a book that hadn’t been published, and wouldn’t be for half a year. Never did figure that one out. And I once had a cat that teleported out of a locked car going 60 mph down the Illinois turnpike. I’m not a doper, but I can’t make a definite statement about the cat. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-psychic-dopers-out-there/116522/26 "2002-07-07T10:48:02Z")
The same sort of thing happens to me, particularly about Simpsons episodes (though occasionally for other things as well). I think it’s because I’ve been watching the Simpsons for such a large portion of my life – it came out when I was in grade school, and I’m now 22. I’ve been an avid fan for all this time, and my family often brings up a Simpsons gag in casual conversation. I’ve connected Simpsons episodes to all sorts of things in life, and if I think of a thing, I’ll often connect it to something that happened on the show. For example, if I’m out driving at night and I see a pair of headlights disappear over a hill, I’ll think of Chief Wiggum and his “ghost cars”. (“Hold me!” “Only if you hold me!”) It’s only natural that occasionally these thought processes – which are easily and normally forgotten – will occasionally ‘hit’ on an episode played later that day, or week, or whatever. It’s a strange feeling but I think it’s simple coincidence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-psychic-dopers-out-there/116522.md?page=1)