Is Tyler Henry, Hollywood Medium, a fraud?

[Czarcasm]

@Kimballkid

Did you hear about the dwarf psychic that escaped from prison?

Now the cops are looking for a small medium at large.

How many non-psychics saw this one coming a mile away?

[Thudlow_Boink]

@Czarcasm

It is pretty well understood what people mean when they ask if psychics are “real”-they aren’t asking if “psychic” is a real word, or if “people with psychic abilities” would be a really cool thing to write a fictional story about.
Get real.

I wasn’t talking about the word “real”; I was talking about the phrase “by definition.” And I stand by what I said.

[terentii]

@Czarcasm

How many non-psychics saw this one coming a mile away?

My favorite episode with a psychic was a few years back, when Meredith Vieira was still hosting ***Who Wants to be a Millionaire? ***(the daytime version, dumbed down for Americans). One of the contestants was a woman who claimed to be a psychic and regularly helped her local police department solve crimes.

She bombed out on the first question. :smack:

[kaylasdad99]

@pianodave

Hi SD,

I’d like to know the straight dope on Tyler Henry, Hollywood Medium, who purportedly communicates with the dead

Yes. He’s a fraud

Thanks for setting me straight.

Dave

You’re welcome.

[42fish]

@pianodave

I could easily see him as a fraud if I weren’t still puzzled at how he seems to know these intimate details.

In addition to the cold reading and heavy editing factors that have been well covered, famous actors do occasionally get asked about their dead relatives by ‘People’ magazine and the like.

[Amateur_Barbarian]

@Shalmanese

…if Tyler Henry could really talk to the dead, he would be a hedge fund billionaire, not a medium. Since he’s not, he probably can’t.

Ethics. Religion. Altruism. The power would go away. There are *so *many reasons psychics sell $10 readings and do DVDs.

[42fish]

@42fish

In addition to the cold reading and heavy editing factors that have been well covered, famous actors do occasionally get asked about their dead relatives by ‘People’ magazine and the like.

… although after reading that analysis Czarcasm linked to, it doesn’t sound like the guy’s doing much background research.

[Sage_Rat]

Spirits are dead people, right?

Well let’s point out two facts:

1. The dinosaurs ruled the Earth for roughly 200 million years. Homo sapiens (i.e., humans as we know them) have existed for maybe 200,000 years. Homo erectus (the creatures that came before us) existed for about 1.8 million years. If ghosts exist, there’s a 1000x greater probability of encountering a dinosaur ghost than a human ghost. There’s a 9x greater probability that they’re homo erectus than homo sapiens. Even if you did encounter a human ghost, they’re probably going to be a non-English speaking hunter gatherer than anything else.

2. Humans aren’t life forms. We didn’t evolve from single-celled life forms. Single-celled life forms evolved to stick to their children. These big tangles of cellular families bundle together to form long limbs that help them roam around and compete in giant form against other cellular families. Think of us like a bunch of midgets who have glued themselves together, to form arms, legs, a torso, and a head. It’s not actually a single life form, it’s multiple life forms. And even beyond that, each cell is actually a double-life form. Cells and mitochrondria are in a codependent relationship. The cell provides a protective layer for the mitochondria and the mitochrondria breaks down food into ATP, which the cell can eat. The cell and the mitochrondria each have their own DNA and only the cell inherits from both your parents. Basically, not only are we a billion separate life forms, we’re two billion separate life forms. So…how exactly is that supposed to form a single ghost?

@Alessan

1. Would these celebrities happen to be actors? As in, people who fake emotion for a living? Yeah, I’m sure they were genuinely moved.

If it’s a show, then yeah, they’re probably hamming it up for the sake of good showmanship and a paying gig. But it probably bears noting that actors don’t make it big based on their cunning and wisdom. I’m sure that some of them are perfectly mystified and astonished.

[DrDeth]

@Chronos

They’re not all necessarily frauds. It’s possible for an effective cold-reader to actually manage to convince themself, too, in which case they might even believe that they’re really doing what they claim.

But between them, yes, “fraud” and “gullible naive fool” do completely cover the possibilities.

My Mom was a “Psychic”, and had Hollywood stars in her clientele. After she retired as a clerk, she did it only for donations. Having listened in, she basically gave really good common sense advice (common sense being something many celebrities are short on) and had a good “pain focus” technique, similar to meditation. She didnt pretend to contact the dead, however, just gave “card readings” after a interview about problems.

I wouldnt consider her either a fraud or gullible.

[Loach]

@42fish

In addition to the cold reading and heavy editing factors that have been well covered, famous actors do occasionally get asked about their dead relatives by ‘People’ magazine and the like.

And D list celebrities want their episode to air so they unlikely to yell out “You suck!”

I remember hearing comedian Jim Norton talk about his appearance on Celebrity Ghost Story. He made the entire thing up.