Since the previous poster’s question was specifically ABOUT “supernatural abilities,” however, bringing this up is really a non sequitur, whose effect is basically to gloss over and obfuscate the fact that “supernatural abilities” don’t actually exist.
Absolute bullshit. There are many frauds that claim to help the police on a regular basis, and almost all police departments hate having to put up with their publicity-seeking shenanigans.
I have become convinced that there is no value in talking to the dead. I had a very weird experience where I felt some other random unknown stranger’s death occur. What I felt was something like “It’s OK, don’t worry about what you haven’t finished, nothing matters now,” a tremendous sense of peace. From that, I have concluded that we are entirely irrelevant to anyone who is no longer living, and any advice we get to the contrary is just fabricated.
(And kanicbird really meant to say “than them”, not “then them”.)
Many people have heard the Dead playing music, too, but most of them were hallucinating.
What’s the word on the street Johnny?
I’m pretty sure she’s a fake. A few years ago a real psychic predicted that one day a Long Island woman with an “Italian type name” would get a TV show and then later be exposed by James Randi.
Not long ago, a woman who claimed to be a psychic her hometown police often consulted was on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” She blew it on the first question.
Yeah, but she knew she was going to beforehand.
My wife watches this woman for entertainment value. The family scenes are amusing. She does not allow me to comment on the “readings” anymore.
(Cold reading all the way. “How is the number 5 significant?” “What is it about frogs?” And who knows how many other open questions that end up edited out because they didn’t get a hit.)
Did you hear about the short psychic wanted by the police? She was a small medium at large.
Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for them?
Cold reading can be freaky. I have an ongoing fantasy (not precisely a belief) that one of my possible past lives was in Armenia, and I was impressed as fuck by a psychic who seemingly managed to pull that fact out of thin air. But later, after thinking about it, what she really had done was start with “Eurasia” and narrowed it down based on my unconscious reactions. (Hmm, Persia? Macedonia? No…wait, I got it!) :rolleyes:
My first reaction when seeing the thread title was that it was about Long Island Iced Tea, with half the alcohol. (Dammit, now I’m thirsty again!)
Remember, you wouldn’t be in this situation if you hadn’t traded Tommy John.
The ones that provide legitimate information as police informants will not be seeking publicity.
That’s convenient.
I’m invisible but only when no one is watching. Prove I’m lying.
Regrading communication with the dead…why is a “medium” needed? If your late Uncle Al has something important to tell you, why can’t he contact you directly? In any case, if we assume that your sensory inputs end at death, what would a guy who’s been dead for 50 years have to tell you? Maybe that you should vote for Ike? How would he know about the details of your life?
No, it’s a fact of life for anyone that shares information on crimes with the police and wants to avoid retaliation. Google my old Ask the fortune-teller thred, if you want more information on the subject. Local readers can be goldmines of information on a neighborhood and there is no constitutionally protected medium/client priviledge.
But they’re gold mines because their clients tell them all kinds of personal shit, not because they have psychic powers.
If any one person can communicate with the dead, then anyone can. But we can’t, so they don’t.
Psychics with legitimate information? That’s like “legitimate rape” – there’s no such thing. Except, rape does exist.
The party line, I think, is that the dead are always trying to communicate with us, but only “special” people with “special” channeling powers are able to establish that link. Which is good for them (the mediums, not the dead) because it creates a monopoly on their services. Heck, even if dead-speak was scientifically possible, they would still try and hold onto that monopoly. Capitalism rocks, man.
I’m pretty sure you all are misreading (ha!) Zealot. What he/she is saying is that people may confide all manner of shit to a so-called psychic that they wouldn’t ordinarily share with just anybody, and that the cops make use of that information via the cop-informant relationship, not through any ESP nonsense.