Can the cynics explain this (mediums)

[Disturbia81]

I've always been sceptical of them and know there are a lot of charlatans.
But have heard stories from people over the years who wouldn't lie. But remained cynical

A friend and I went to a group one, there were about 150 people there. He spoke to 10.
We used fake names on the booking so no research could be done on us.
Didn't talk about anything while there.

Anyway he mentioned a surname that had come to him, it was her brothers so she put her hand up. Then he got all her family names, relationships between them, specific funny things said, how he died, even how he looked when he was found etc.
She was in shock but got so much comfort knowing her was with her still.

He couldn't have known any of this.
I want to believe but also want to see if anyone can logically explain it?

It was! Amazing thing to witness wasn't it. At least someone knows what I mean, he wasn't unsure was he? Just reeled things straight off, nothing generalised.

These days she could also track people through 'outing' posts on MN! 😂

She didn't buy anything, I bought the tickets and drinks. Private fb. And even if fb was somehow hacked, the details about his death, how he looked etc obviously aren't on there. Medical issues he had. Only known by her. We didn't talk about it within earshot of anyone.
He got all 10 people accurate like this.
There was no-one he was wishy washy about
All I can wonder then is if mediums go to big extremes like hacking facebooks and having contacts with police etc. because otherwise there is no way he could have known that.

Or if it's a Derren brown type thing then that is amazing itself. He says it's not psychic but it's something beyond normality surely? Some ethereal skill

The card details/social media stuff doesn't explain people walking into one spontaneously decades ago and having this experience.

@Disturbia81

I have been thinking about it all day long. There is no way he could know all that information.

There were too many people he spoke to with all details correct. It was fishing and he definitely wasn't unsure at all.

My friend who I went with has been to a fair few mediums but said he was very different. He also had a great sense of humour too!

wasn't fishing is what I meant

chances are various intelligence services or military would recruit them and they would be limited with their abilities etc sometimes better under the radar.

Yeah he was entertaining 😂 As a sceptic I was reading reviews all that day and he has an amazing reputation. Couldn't find anything negative

It was

Just been on grants website! I shall say nothing.

Anyway he says:

As you arrive at the venue for an evening of mediumship, you will sign in with Julie on the door, using your booking email address to collect your stamp/ticket

So he has your email address and hoping that most people use there names as there address, so a bit off research going on there.

Why not turn up with a ticket or show it on your phone. There crossing off who's turned up?

I have lost both my parents and would love to think there together but I don't think they are and hate the way people make a living from this. I don't see what getting a message from my mum, saying her and dad are together and telling me things that happened when they were alive. But if it gives someone comfort is it wrong?

@Disturbia81

my friend wouldn't tell me his full name as she wanted me to go with an open mind!!

"That told you things you already knew about, what a waste of your time why would you go to a psychic about that?"

"They told you things you didn't know about, what a waste of time, that's not a scientifically provable thing!"

And I've got to love the idea that for £12 a ticket this guy is researching everybody in his audience. After expenses like the venue cost, marketing, travel and insurance that's a shockingly poor rate of pay 😆

The evidence people present to support their opinion that psychics are all charlatans is just as funny as those who will twist anything to believe that their experience is the real deal without good cause to do so.

It's an art - nobody is claiming it's a science, stop trying to measure an art as if it's a science then exclaiming that you've proven it doesn't exist! That's not good science, nor it's it good art!

You've put it more succinctly than I have!
Honestly. We'll never know whether stuff is true or not.

Only the person who booked ie me was on the list. I bought 4 tickets, other names not requested

With the fake name.
I paid for a drink and that was in my real name on the card.
But that was literally before it started and it was my friend who had the experience

Or if it's a Derren Brown type thing then that is amazing itself. He says it's not psychic but it's something beyond normality surely? Some ethereal skill

I'm a big Derren fan. He's explained how he does his 'psychic' stuff. It's definitely a next-level skill: he can tell the words you're thinking by the tiny movements in your throat, for instance. When you think of words, your brain automatically prepares to speak. The amount the man knows about how humans work - and his precise observational power - is truly impressive.

It's more pragmatic than ethereal, though! Pure knowledge, and showmanship.

Btw, Grant Harris isn't doing it for the £12 ticket revenues. Those 'readings' are promotion for his website, which offers insights by phone, text and messenger from a small army of 'psychics'. I imagine he does private consultations as well, which would cost a hell of a lot more than £12. The real money's in the £10-a-shot remote work.

Medical issues he had. Only known by her. We didn't talk about it within earshot of anyone. He got all 10 people accurate like this

So not known by you then? So if she was subject to confirmation bias then she would have conveyed it to you as it had all been accurate. And judging by her text msg to you that screenshot, she’s already a believer. And the same goes for the other 10 people - you can’t possibly know anything about them so you have believed their take on it - and if they went there as believers then they too will have had confirmation bias.

I'm gonna watch all his stuff again thanks, truly impressive.

No she's never told us as it's too painful. But she doesn't lie. He said hard facts about what happened which I know to be true as her mum has confirmed it to me

I don’t imagine she is lying - confirmation bias would preclude it.
And the other 10 people? You have absolutely no way whatsoever of knowing that he got anything right with them for the same reason.

Also anyone paying a business via PayPal - even if you’d set up an email address without your name in it - has their details sent to the business. Including their real name associated with the bank account linked to PayPal. So anyone buying tickets to the show via PayPal is passing on their real name regardless of what burner email/fake name they used for the booking.

This.

I'm willing to bet my house the names and things he said weren't respectively Chacravorty Spivak and "The weird whale sleeps quietly in Dubai".

They pick common-ish things and enough hit that you remember it well. You are an unreliable raconteur as well because our memories are terrible.

I'll never forget the 'psychic' in Australia who told me I was homesick. No shit Sherlock, I had a backpack and a British accent.

But it would be my name he has then, not hers

@MrsTerryPratchett That medium sounds very vague and reaching, this wasn't like that.
He'd stop at certain people and reel off all names accurately and facts

Just want to say thankyou for all replies so far! Still not sure what to believe but you've come at it from all angles which is what I wanted 🫶🏼