I write this post with a load of skepticism, a load of “bullshit” if you will. I recently watched one of Penn and Teller’s “Bullshit,” a Showtime series about debunking, well, the title of the series.
Pretty interesting show. Some favorites include the “Bottled Water” episode where they go to an expensive restaurant and offer all kinds of fancy-shmancy bottled water to the patrons. Behind the scenes we learn that the water all came from one source: a garden hose. Hilarity ensues.
One of the episodes revolved all around psychic phenomena. It started with the Ouija board and a couple of eccentric Ouija people who probably thought they were being interviewed seriously. I tend to agree wholeheartedly with Penn and Teller here, I think the board is a load of bunk. They tested a few volunteers and blindfolded them when they were attempting to reach the actor who played Fred on “I Love Lucy.”
Of course when they asked who the spirit was and where we know it from, the device spelled TV. Unbeknown to the spirit seekers, the board was flipped upside down. Now if the spirit knew to guide the people’s hands to the appropriate message, then surely it would know to point to the words “yes” and “no” now on the other side of board. But when it was asked a “yes or no” question, the hand held medium shot straight to an empty space on the board, right where “yes” would have been.
What did you expect to happen? It’s a game made by Milton Bradley.
Another interesting part was when they did a bit on celebrity psychics to see if they were full of the cow dung as well. Here they had a very emotional segment with people dying to speak to their dead loved ones. So much in fact they’d pay for it, and believe anything.
It doesn’t take a genius to understand these tricks while they’re being used. The “psychic” “fishes” for information and watches for reactions. When the crying son was trying to contact his mother, the psychic started with “Now I have a woman standing here who’s very nervous.” She sees the bewildered look on the son’s face and totally does an about face and tries, “But that’s not like her because she’s usually very talkative and social.” Then the son smiles and nods. Whew! Nice save.
So with generalizations and fishing for info, anybody can drag information out of somebody to make them think the psychic really is contacting the dead. The funny thing, that most of the “fishing” is really failure, but the TV shows edit those parts out to think the psychic got it dead on. But the wailing survivors only focus on the right info, and leave thinking they really contacted the other side.
The best part was when they sent in a guy the psychic never met before to ask for a reading, or a contact. He doesn’t tell her any info whatsoever. Here’s how it went:
Psychic: “I’m seeing a man here.”
(wow, that fast?)
Psychic: “He’s very black and very big.”
(of course the volunteer is very big and black. The funny thing is the guy simply watches on and listens to her, but shows no body language.)
So she’s forced to finally ask: “Does this sound like anyone?”
(The guy just shakes his head no, and this seems to anger the psychic. Why it would anger the psychic is beyond me and she says:)
Psychic: “Okay fine, let’s move on. He keeps calling you ‘my boy.’ (she keeps watching for reaction, and get only mild bewilderment) “Ring a bell? Do you understand?”
The man:”Yeah I understand I just don’t know who that would be.”
Psychic: FAILED, doesn’t know what to say. It’s funny that she supposedly contacted someone big and black who calls this gentleman his boy, and this guy has no clue who it would be. So who is this ghost, lady?!
Yeah these scam artists are just out to get a buck. Quite unethically I might add, as Penn and Teller would agree. They are preying on the vulnerable emotional states of these people, and really they’re just full of shit.
Do I think psychic phenomena is real? Absolutely! I just wouldn’t believe it if I saw it on daytime television.