# are psyhics like john edwards and sylvia brown for real? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 15, 2002, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432 "2002-03-15T06:28:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![secretkeeper78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@secretkeeper78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/secretkeeper78)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/1 "2002-03-15T06:28:56Z")
does anyone here believe in phychics like sylvia brown and john edwards? anyone had a reading by them? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/2 "2002-03-15T06:34:05Z")
They are just a real, as psychics that is. as the Easter bunny. Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. ---
**Author:** ![secretkeeper78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@secretkeeper78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/secretkeeper78)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/3 "2002-03-15T06:38:04Z")
but do you not believe in psyhic abilty. or those people’s psyhic ability? ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/4 "2002-03-15T07:15:37Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/5 "2002-03-15T07:24:58Z")
… you might want to do a google search on “Cold Reading”. Here is one link, from James Randi: > **[Home](https://web.randi.org)** > > JREF > [@](#): > > The currently-popular “psychics” like Sylvia Browne, James Van Praagh, and John Edward, who are getting so much TV space on Montel Williams, Larry King, and other shows, employ a technique known as “cold reading.” They tell the subjects nothing, but make guesses, put out suggestions, and ask questions. This is a very deceptive art, and the unwary observer may come away believing that unknown data was developed by some wondrous means. Not so. > > Examples: “I get an older man here” is a question, a suggestion, and a guess by the “reader,” who expects some reaction from the subject, and usually gets it. That reaction may just be a nod, the actual name of a person, or an identification (brother, husband, grandfather), but it is supplied BY THE SUBJECT, not by the reader. “They’re saying, ‘Bob,’ or ‘Robert.’ Do you recognize this person?” is another question, suggestion, and guess. If there’s a Bob or Robert, the subject will amplify the identification. But if there’s no Bob or Robert immediately recognized, the reader passes right on, after commenting that Bob is there alright, but not recognized right now. If any Bob is remembered later, that is incorporated into the spiel. You should observe and listen to a video of a reading. In one such by Van Praagh, prepared by the “48 Hours” TV program, a reading that lasted 60 minutes, we found only TWO actual statements made, and 260 questions asked. Both actual statements–guesses–were wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/6 "2002-03-15T08:05:34Z")
I suppose the best standard to apply is good ol’ Occam’s Razor; the simplest solution is probably the right one. I can imagine three ways an allegedly psychic statement could be made. This list isn’t exhaustive, I’m sure. 1- The psychic is faking, using knowledge gathered from observation or investigation and presenting it as insight; 2-The psychic is deluded, believing in his or her own ability and merely making an accurate statement through chance; and 3-The psychic is actually communicating with the dead. (1) and (2) are much simpler in that they don’t require additional theories and cases of fakery or delusion are adequately established by precedent. In order for me to accept (3), so far with _no_ established precedent, I’d have to see some pretty compelling evidence. So far? None. I’d probably be a bit less skeptical (or at least more entertained) if the psychics came out with negative messages from the “other side”. No more of this “your father wants you to know he loves you” crap. I want to hear “your father wants you to know that your pot roast recipe _sucked_ and every time you made him try it, he felt like hanging himself. He thanks God every day that train killed him on the way to your dinner party or he might have had to force down another mouthful of that putrid sewage you call cooking.” I might not believe the message, but I’d be cheering the messenger. ---
**Author:** ![secretkeeper78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@secretkeeper78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/secretkeeper78)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/7 "2002-03-15T08:41:00Z")
lmao that’s funny bryan ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/8 "2002-03-15T15:03:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\* > I’d probably be a bit less skeptical (or at least more entertained) if the psychics came out with negative messages from the “other side”. No more of this “your father wants you to know he loves you” crap. I want to hear “your father wants you to know that your pot roast recipe _sucked_ and every time you made him try it, he felt like hanging himself. He thanks God every day that train killed him on the way to your dinner party or he might have had to force down another mouthful of that putrid sewage you call cooking.” > \*\* 😃 Yeah… or if during a “past life regression” the subject kept coming up with generation after generation of peasants who died young with _nothing_ to say to us. But then again… we already _know_ that was the lot of a majority of people who ever lived… ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/9 "2002-03-15T15:13:26Z")
Performing cold reading is an age-old magician’s trick. If these “psychics” are actually performing their shows by channeling spirits, then they’re doing it the hard way! ---
**Author:** ![Janx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Janx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Janx)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/10 "2002-03-15T15:59:44Z")
Oh man Bryan that was way to funny 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/11 "2002-03-15T16:32:23Z")
I’ve watched the “Crossing Over” show, and though part of me would _like_ to believe that somehow the dead are ever-present and communicating with us, I just can’t imagine that they’d: [li]find it necessary to explain that it IS them by telling me things I already know (“And you have a dog…”)[/li] [li]only want to tell me they’re “okay” [/li] [li]have no interest in telling me anything about their afterlife experience[/li] [li]always be happy-go-lucky folk sending warm fuzzies[/li] If what Edwards communicates is truly what the Dead have to say, then, well…they’re all awfully boring folk. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/12 "2002-03-15T16:50:11Z")
> **[Home](https://web.randi.org)** > > JREF [www.skepdic.com](http://www.skepdic.com) If you don’t visit these sites regularly, it’s your loss. Secretkeeper…you are not going to bait anyone into a real discussion until you review the facts as presented as such sites listed above. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/13 "2002-03-15T19:21:46Z")
This isn’t the first time I’ve posted [this link](http://www.skeptic.com/newsworthy13.html), in which Michael Shermer details _exactly_ how con artist John Edward pulls off his evil, emotionally destructive scam. And I’m sure it won’t be the last time, either. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/14 "2002-03-15T22:34:59Z")
John Edward is an evil con-man not because I don’t believe in his psychic abilities but because (as I’ve gathered from observing him during interviews) HE doesn’t believe in them. I’ve known people who genuinely believe that they have psychic abilities. These people charge for readings and such, but believe that they are providing a useful service in return. One friend actually quit as a psychic phone operator due to her feeling that ‘The company doesn’t want me to help people. They just want me to keep them on the phone.’. Whether she was deluded or psychic, she was acting out of a desire to help other people. ``` Edwards, Browne and Van Praugh have always struck me as frauds. They know that they are lying to the audience. They are in the business purely to make money. The only person they want to help is themselves. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/15 "2002-03-15T23:35:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DocCathode \* > \*\*John Edward is an evil con-man not because I don’t believe in his psychic abilities but because (as I’ve gathered from observing him during interviews) HE doesn’t believe in them… Edwards, Browne and Van Praugh have always struck me as frauds. They know that they are lying to the audience. They are in the business purely to make money. The only person they want to help is themselves. \*\* Well yes, they are opportunists and frauds. But that’s gotta describe half the CEOs in America. 😛 Frankly, I put these TV shows in the category of a magic act. Mostly, everybody goes away satisfied with the show. It’s what they do **off screen** that will reveal their true nature. Do they have strings of steady private clients that they suck dry? Are they raising millions for their Psychic Research Institute, or a theme Park? Or are they snorkeling in the Caribbean, enjoying the proceeds of their ad revenues and videotape sales. I don’t really know. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/16 "2002-03-16T00:09:26Z")
Off to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/17 "2002-03-16T00:40:28Z")
At least one Doper has cited my friend Michael Shermer, and his (several) articles on John Edward in particular and cold reading (the ‘how it’s done’ bit) in general. That’s fine, but Mr. Shermer has never given a reading in his life under test conditions. I have. Rest assured, it’s just a scam. Lots more (FREE) info on cold reading is available on the ‘Beyond the Psychic’ section of my website. I also have an article about John Edward in the ‘Vault’ section of my site: [www.ian-rowland.com](http://www.ian-rowland.com) Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![mske](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mske](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mske)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/18 "2002-03-16T01:22:25Z")
Has anyone seen Marc Salem? My wife and I caught his show a few weeks ago here in Toronto, and we were amazed by some of the “tricks” he could do. And unless my wife is lying to me - he does not use plants. He is upfront about how what he does is not “psychic” or “magic” - just careful observation. A very entertaining show. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/19 "2002-03-24T12:32:55Z")
Marc Salem is indeed very good at what he does. Correct, he is not psychic and does not claim to be. Correct, he does not use plants, stoges, confederates or pre-arrangement. It’s all done by careful observation? Well, maybe maybe… but that would be telling! ---
**Author:** ![trishdish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d2c977/32.png) [@trishdish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trishdish)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432/20 "2002-03-24T15:57:21Z")
I think we’ve pretty much ascertained that the likes of John Edward are phonies. Not to say that I don’t like watching his show for pure entertainment value - not unlike watching a magician. But, here’s the next question. Do you think that anyone out there does indeed have psychic abilities? I’m sure we’ve all heard about someone’s great-aunt Gertie who “had the gift”. Actually, the one arena that has always given me a bit of the heebies is the so-called psychic connection of twins. One of my good friends is an identical twin and she has many tales of her and her sister knowing exactly what is going on with each other even they they have an entire continent separating them from each other. For her, it’s so normal, that she doesn’t even find it all the fascinating. So, is it that actual psychic abilities are non-existent or that the likes of John Edward et al don’t possess them? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-psyhics-like-john-edwards-and-sylvia-brown-for-real/98432.md?page=2)