While trying to reseacrh some stuff, I noticed this site at the side of my Google screen:
http://www.find-the-right-psychic.co.uk/
Now, I found the concept amusing enough, but then uncovered the following. There is a series of pages designed to 'inform' the unsuspecting public about finding a good reader, and spotting a charlatan.
Seems fair enough, right? OK. I had a read through.
To find a good psychic, they want you to consider the professionalism of the website, and confirm that you are dealing with a legitimate business by asking some questions. I would critique the questions, but the site actually disclaims them itself. It says "All these questions should help you get a good feeling about whether this psychic is right for you. The questions are not about whether the psychic is good or bad, but rather, what psychic fits your needs."
http://www.find-the-right-psychic.co...guidelines.htm
So the questions are irrelevant, and just basically keep you talking a little longer before you even get to your reading, and are designed purely to make you 'feel good' by convincing you that you did something in the way of checking out your psychic.
Then there's spotting charlatans. It starts off well with advice about generalities, cold reading, etc. Then there's this:
http://www.find-the-right-psychic.co.../charlatan.htmWhile making sure you keep these criteria in mind, it is important to always keep an open mind to a reading. Sometimes a problem with a bad reading might be blockages in you, not the reader! So, don't jump to a conclusion about a reader too early in a reading.
What this says is, if you think you have been read by a charlatan, then you probably have not, because there is something wrong with you instead. It's all your fault, and therefore there is nothing you can do about it (except of course, pay your fee). This one really boiled my blood, as it was a common tactic taken by my peers when I was wrapped up in the woo world. I had one personal disaster or accident after another for long periods, and instead of comfort and support I was regualrly told that I wasn't properly in tune with Spirit, or that my karma was being repaid for something terrible I did or was yet to do in another life.
So, I took a deep calming breath, and moved to the next section: 10 points for a successful reading.
Here are several gems of advice to ensure that you get exactly the reading you want to hear.
For example, number 3: "Try not to ask 'Yes/No' questions. These questions tend to limit the flow of the reading in the same way they would limit the flow of any conversation. Make the question specific but open ended. This will encourage the reader to give you more quality guidance."
or number 5: "If there are some general areas you want to focus on, like relationship, career, health etc, make sure you let the psychic know."
swiftly followed by number 6: "Don't try to test the psychic by withholding information. This is the best way to create the worst atmosphere in a reading. Were you relaxed when you did exams? Perhaps being under pressure may have helped you work out Maths problems more quickly, but in a psychic reading, it just makes the experience unnecessarily difficult and stressful for the psychic."
and number 8: "Validate your psychic. If the psychic is saying things that make a lot of sense to you, make sure you tell them. This helps the psychic continue down the right track."
http://www.find-the-right-psychic.co...ng-success.htm
In other words, tell the psychic what you want to hear about, ask easy questions and give the psyychic loads and loads of information to work with.
There is plenty of other nonsense, and a meditiation to do before you get your reading, to ensure your mind is as open as it can possibly get (i.e. open enough for tumbleweed). There are also recommended psychics who you can contact via the site, each with personal recommendations from the site owner who "worked with them over a long period of time. None of these psychics have paid to be on here and are only listed because they have earned the title of being some of the best psychics on the net. £"
What's funny is that several of the paragraphs end with a pound sign like this one for some obscure reason, but I bet it reveals the true nature of the site.
Wouldn't a real good psychic call you instead of the other way around?
After all they know you want to talk to them.;
d
chillzero,
You have just been nominated for a passionately and elegantly argued post!
The website is clearly an advert for Gaye Wright (what a great name!!).
I see they're using the term 'open-minded' in the traditional WooWoo sense. i.e. meaning gullible. (The Open Mind).
I like the advice of telling the psychic what things you want to hear before the reading and encouraging the sitter to ask questions (again this let's the psychic know what it is the sitter wants to hear).
Of course, any information that the psychic gives that is accurate should be validated. In other words make sure you provide feedback to the psychic.
And if the reading doesn't work after giving the psychic all that help then it's your fault for not being gullible 'open-minded' enough!
Great!
.
Perhaps we should do a version of that site, but with proper information instead of that guff.
Stuff like: "a psychic is there to provide you with information, not ask you questions" and "when a psychic says things like 'do you understand?', 'does this make sense to you?' and 'who is..?', they are asking questions to get information from you - try responding that you thought they were supposed to be telling you things, not asking you questions.
I'm sure if we woo'd it up a bit, it would be indistinguishable from the "real" thing, but just enough to make people think about how psychics operate.
Why, thank you very much, kind sir!Originally Posted by Lord Muck oGentry
:D
We could always do a spoof site complete with psychic sounding, but exaggerated, blurb.
1) For a reading to be successful, you must have an 'open mind'. Psychics do not always understand the information they are giving you so it is up to you to find the meaning and communicate this to the psychic once you've found it. This helps the psychic give you a better reading.
That sort of thing.
I want to get some articles done on Cold Reading at some point. I think it's the lack of knowledge of Cold Reading is a major reason why all of this psychic nonsense proliferates. People simply do not know how to assess it and if it appears to be real they accept it as such as they have no other explanation.
.
I was going for the angle of copying the find-the-right-psychic.co.uk site almost to the letter, but then replace the woo with facts about cold reading and how to spot it and avoid it.
(is find-the-right-psychic.com available?)
I think we've got the same idea but a different way about getting the info over.
I was thining of using exaggeration to highlight how the reading works. Then again, we could do it both ways.
That domain name has gone but there's always ways of getting very similar names.
.
If you get this idea off the ground, could I help?
I think it could be very valuable - yes we need to help people understand what to look for if they insist on going for a reading, and we can certainly be amusing about it, but we'd get more people to take notice if we could temper the cynicism with some tact. Would it be possible to design an online guide so that it pops up when people are googling for online psychics? You never know, they might just read it along with all the woo links they find. But bearing in mind that such people are going to find and use a psychic whatever we say, best we can hope for is that they read our script and take some of our wisdom away with them.
Chillzero - re your initial post here, I totally understand about the anger you feel! I have the same anger towards born-again christians - not that I was one, but I worked with some once and their faith seemed based on fear, to me.
Absolutely.
We're currently going through a bit of restructuring at UKS (mainly because we have so many new and excellent members) and we'll be deciding on what to do and how to do it in the coming few weeks.
Obviously projects need to be planned if they're going to achieve their objectives.
As for doing a "how to choose a good psychic". Well I actually proposed that very idea but after discussion we thought that it was too far removed from what we do. We're all for educating people with the best evidence-based information that we find to help them make more informed decisions about such things but the key word here is: evidence.
There's no evidence to support the idea that what psychics do is real (and plenty of explanations as to why it isn't) so in effect it would be equivalent to advising people on how to choose a good homeopath or top-notch faith healer.
.
hey!
Ah! But you're a Bad Homeopath
.
oh, you meant...
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks