# Ask the Psychic **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 1, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953 "2006-05-01T14:20:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/141 "2006-05-03T18:49:03Z")
Sweet dude, you’re just the type of person I’ve been looking for. Last year my mother died. She had some things that I never could find, items that should be kept in the family. After going through the house a number of times I never did find said items. Can you tell me where these items are? If you can, and I can get them back I will give you half of the value of the items from my share. See this works out for me in that I don’t have to pay someone unless they come through, and if you do come through then you’ll make some easy money. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/142 "2006-05-03T19:12:07Z")
> [@Steve Wright](#): > > Oh, and isn’t “clairaudience” supposed to be a sort of “remote hearing” thing? (By analogy with “clairvoyance”, I guess.) :smack: I’ve always gotten those two words mixed up, going all the way back to my D&D days. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/143 "2006-05-03T19:13:32Z")
> [@Edward The Head](#): > > Can you tell me where these items are? If you can, and I can get them back I will give you half of the value of the items from my share. You wouldn’t happen to live in Nigeria, would you? ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/144 "2006-05-03T21:06:18Z")
**Lord Ashtar** , since you’re just beginning to explore your psychic abilities, and since you can’t demonstrate any of them over the web, what exactly did you want to accomplish with this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/145 "2006-05-03T21:36:14Z")
**Lord Ashtar** , I may be mistaken and/or gullible, but you seem genuinely interested in exploring the nature of your abilities or lack thereof. Would you be interested in trying to create a testing regime to test your abilities, that would work over the Internet? If you’d prefer to do so in private, my email is in my profile. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/146 "2006-05-03T21:44:19Z")
Back on post #55, I asked two questions. **Lord Ashtar** has been around plenty of times since then, but as yet he has conspicuously failed to offer any answer to my original Question (1). Until he does so, there is no evidence to support the contention that he has psychic ability, which renders this thread somewhat redundant. We are entitled to regard this thread much as if it were entitled, ‘Ask the man who owns a pet unicorn, has X-ray vision and can fly just by wishing’. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/147 "2006-05-03T22:02:40Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > **Lord Ashtar** , since you’re just beginning to explore your psychic abilities, and since you can’t demonstrate any of them over the web, what exactly did you want to accomplish with this thread? I was curious as to how many people on this board were open minded enough to consider the possibility of psychic abilities. I’ve now seen that there are a few. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/148 "2006-05-03T22:05:20Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > **Lord Ashtar** , I may be mistaken and/or gullible, but you seem genuinely interested in exploring the nature of your abilities or lack thereof. Would you be interested in trying to create a testing regime to test your abilities, that would work over the Internet? If you’d prefer to do so in private, my email is in my profile. Check your email. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/149 "2006-05-03T22:06:25Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > Back on post #55, I asked two questions. **Lord Ashtar** has been around plenty of times since then, but as yet he has conspicuously failed to offer any answer to my original Question (1). Until he does so, there is no evidence to support the contention that he has psychic ability, which renders this thread somewhat redundant. We are entitled to regard this thread much as if it were entitled, ‘Ask the man who owns a pet unicorn, has X-ray vision and can fly just by wishing’. Just because you don’t like my answer doesn’t mean I didn’t answer it. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/150 "2006-05-03T23:09:58Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I was curious as to how many people on this board were open minded enough to consider the possibility of psychic abilities. What sort of questions would you expect from someone who is open minded about psychic abilities? ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/151 "2006-05-03T23:25:57Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > Just because you don’t like my answer doesn’t mean I didn’t answer it. You are attempting a rhetorical shift away from what I actually asked about, namely evidence, to something that is entirely irrelevant, namely what I may happen to like or not like. Nice try, but it won’t work. I think you’re punching above your weight here, to be honest. This isn’t about what I like or don’t like. My likes and dislikes are irrelevant and don’t come into it. What matters is the evidence available to support the contention ‘Lord Ashtar is psychic’. That’s what I asked about, in an open and non-pejorative manner. You haven’t come up with any evidence. First you tried the ‘What sort of evidence would you accept?’ gambit. The onus is not on me to define the evidence that you should offer. You’re the one making the claim. It’s up to you to offer whatever you’ve got by way of supporting evidence. If the evidence backs up the claim, so be it, and you’ve gone a long way to establishing your bona fides. If it doesn’t, then you haven’t. That’s all. Since then, you haven’t offered any evidence at all for consideration. This doesn’t mean you aren’t psychic. For all I can know about it, you may be the most psychically-gifted person who ever lived. I’m just pointing out that until you do manage to offer some good evidence, capable of supporting the contention, then your claim is precisely on a par with someone claiming they own a pet unicorn, have X-ray vision and can fly just by wishing. It’s also on a par with my claim that I own a piece of paper, signed by you and legally notarized, wherein you state that you are not psychic, but that you intend to pretend to be in order to try and deceive gullible and ignorant people so that you can try to scam large sums of money off them. If I were to make this claim, you would quite rightly be indignant and defy me to produce the evidence. Well, I don’t have any to offer. Jut as you don’t have any to offer that you are psychic. You see? Anyone can make a claim. Anyone can make a claim about anything. What matters is the evidence available to back up the claim. You don’t have any (or at least if you do, you have elected not to share it). This is worth pointing out, just in the spirit of fighting ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/152 "2006-05-04T00:00:14Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I was curious as to how many people on this board were open minded enough to consider the possibility of psychic abilities. I’ve now seen that there are a few. Well I’m certainly open minded about the subject. You are yet to put anything that amounts to more than hot air into the opening in my mind. I suspect what you really mean is that there are a few who are prepared to swallow nonsense without thought. > [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I haven’t yet developed any clairaudience abilities, so I can’t see it. My guess is that it’s not an American coin, but that’s just a WAG. Nice one. You’re either a studied or a natural cold reader. Note that you say you are guessing. Note that you are only prepared to take a very wide stab. If **Czarcasm** says it is an American coin you’ll say “Oh, well it was just a guess, so that disproves nothing”. If it isn’t an American coin you’ll say “See, I’m psychic”. Except of course now you won’t because I just posted this. > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I only came to his defense because I interpreted his “Ask the…” thread to be one he was trying to offer to people who believe in psychic phenomena and have questions he can answer, i.e. how does he feel about it, what his experiences have been, etc… I don’t think he meant it as an offer to “perform”. Pfft. An “Ask the…” thread is just that. The single most interesting aspect of “psychics” to many, many people (as this thread proves) is why the heck they believe they are psychics, why others believe they are psychics, and whether they are psychics. Deal. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/153 "2006-05-04T01:04:19Z")
I think the disconnect here is that most people have a completely distorted idea of what “being psychic” really means. It ain’t a case of going _“whooo whooo whooo I see Willie Nelson swimming the English Channel in 2008.”_ Psychic powers are very elusive, and rarely reliable. To make matters worse, charlatans like John Edwards and Miss Cleo perpetuate that kind of myth, and self-serving hucksters like James Randi also perpetuate it. Skeptics like **ianzin** will NEVER believe in psychic abilities, it’s too challenging to their world view. And even if **Czarcasm** really _does_ have a Bicentennial Quarter on his desk (what coin IS it, anyway??) he will merely claim I made a lucky guess. 😉 It’s kinda like how creationists have a totally warped view of evolution, and you can never convince them otherwise. Someday, when we understand Chaos Theory, we may have a better understanding of how these powers really work – you know, a series of random coincidences creating order form chaos, that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/154 "2006-05-04T01:26:38Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > I think the disconnect here is that most people have a completely distorted idea of what “being psychic” really means. So tell us what it means. Give us a theory of “psychic” phenomena which is in accord with Newtonian laws of physics. It ain’t a case of going _“whooo whooo whooo I see Willie Nelson swimming the English Channel in 2008.”_ Psychic powers are very elusive, and rarely reliable. [/quote] Almost like they don’t exist at all. To make matters worse, charlatans like John Edwards and Miss Cleo perpetuate that kind of myth [/quote] How can you tell the difference between the frauds and the real McCoys? > [@](#): > > and self-serving hucksters like James Randi also perpetuate it. No, James Randi EXPOSES it for the fraud that it is. > [@](#): > > Skeptics like **ianzin** will NEVER believe in psychic abilities, it’s too challenging to their world view. It’s not so much individual worldview that’s the problem, it’s those pesky laws of physics combined with a total lack of verifiable evidence. > [@](#): > > It’s kinda like how creationists have a totally warped view of evolution, and you can never convince them otherwise. This is an absurd comparison. Evolutionary Theory actually has- you know- EVIDENCE behind it. “Psychics” do not. There isn’t even a good scientific definition for it, much less any evidence for it. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/155 "2006-05-04T01:27:55Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Psychic powers are very elusive, and rarely reliable. Are you saying that what I call guessing and (natch) sometimes being right is what you call “psychic powers”? If not, in what way are the two distinguishable? ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/156 "2006-05-04T01:30:31Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > So tell us what it means. Hey, don’t ask me. I’m not the psychic! Ask **Lord Ashtar** , he’s the one who started this thread. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/157 "2006-05-04T01:32:24Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > I think the disconnect here is that most people have a completely distorted idea of what “being psychic” really means. It ain’t a case of going _“whooo whooo whooo I see Willie Nelson swimming the English Channel in 2008.”_ Psychic powers are very elusive, and rarely reliable. To make matters worse, charlatans like John Edwards and Miss Cleo perpetuate that kind of myth, and self-serving hucksters like James Randi also perpetuate it. > > Skeptics like **ianzin** will NEVER believe in psychic abilities, it’s too challenging to their world view. And even if **Czarcasm** really _does_ have a Bicentennial Quarter on his desk (what coin IS it, anyway??) he will merely claim I made a lucky guess. 😉 > > It’s kinda like how creationists have a totally warped view of evolution, and you can never convince them otherwise. Bingo. It cracks me up how severly people spaz over this subject. It’d be very much the same as me harassing the author of an “Ask the fundamentalist Christian thread”. It’s a tired argument and wouldn’t serve any purpose. I would leave that thread to those that are believers are who want to learn more. So, **Lord Ashtar** , if you’re still on this sinking ship, I respectfully submit the following questions based on what others are pretending they want to know (but in fact have no intention of giving any actual consideration to)… 1.How does your psychic ability manifest itself? (Do you see things, hear things, etc…?) 2.What if any practical use has it been to you thus far? (sensed there was gonna be a traffic jam and took an alternate route, veered from your usual routine for no particular reason and then ended up benefiting from the change, etc…) 1. If we _were_ in your presense, what sort of things might you do to demonstrate your abilities (not necessarily what you have complete control over, but what would you be most likely to attempt)? 2. Please give us your definition of psychic ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/158 "2006-05-04T02:27:53Z")
Heh. It cracks me up that the skeptics in this thread ask a bunch of questions of the OP in a thread specifically inviting questions, and you “spaz” over them being disrespectful, but then ask the same questions yourself. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/159 "2006-05-04T03:03:47Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Heh. It cracks me up that the skeptics in this thread ask a bunch of questions of the OP in a thread specifically inviting questions, and you “spaz” over them being disrespectful, but then ask the same questions yourself. I’m not asking the questions for my own benefit, simply phrasing them in a way that the OP might understand a bit better and be more inclined to answer; offering specific issues to address in a respectful way. I’d say that is more of an “antispaz”. If he still chooses not to, then I’ll agree that I don’t much see the point of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953/160 "2006-05-04T03:05:08Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > I think the disconnect here is that most people have a completely distorted idea of what “being psychic” really means. It ain’t a case of going _“whooo whooo whooo I see Willie Nelson swimming the English Channel in 2008.”_ Psychic powers are very elusive, and rarely reliable. > [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > So tell us what it means. > [@KGS](#): > > Hey, don’t ask me. I’m not the psychic! Ask **Lord Ashtar** , he’s the one who started this thread. They seek him here, they seek him there, That _damned_ elusive person who is prepared to actually say what being psychic means. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-psychic/354953.md?page=9)