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Can the cynics explain this (mediums)

259 replies

Disturbia81 · 23/01/2024 18:26

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?

OP posts:
MandyMotherOfBrian · 25/01/2024 18:25

Disturbia81 · 25/01/2024 17:39

Yes report back and I agree, drop some fake info in the interval..

What on earth would the reason for that be🤔? Are they sponsored by Pieminister (or Ginsters - delete as appropriate)?

And if you're thinking of trying to scope them out, you'd better be very good and well prepared, because they're excellent at it and they'll spot it immediately. They either won't engage at all or they'll move swiftly on to someone else - probably at the behest of an 'insistent spirit voice'......

fedupandstuck · 25/01/2024 18:44

@Coincidentally it would be more of a challenge to each write a different code word independently without witnesses and seal it away. Then the only source of information for any alleged psychic medium would be the deceased person. You'd each need a series of them, numbered, if you wanted to test out several psychics!

Windymcwindyson · 25/01/2024 18:50

Maybe he has some extras in the Pie Party fishing?

2024GarlicCloves · 25/01/2024 19:18

Windymcwindyson · 25/01/2024 18:50

Maybe he has some extras in the Pie Party fishing?

Or maybe it's just marketing - I wouldn't pay to see a 'medium' but I would for a pie supper with added entertainment 😂🥧

WhatsTheUseOfWorrying · 25/01/2024 19:42

2024GarlicCloves · 25/01/2024 19:18

Or maybe it's just marketing - I wouldn't pay to see a 'medium' but I would for a pie supper with added entertainment 😂🥧

That’s exactly what it is. Like a night out at the bingo. But with bullshit messages from beyond the grave, rather than a bingo caller: “Is there a Linda? Does ‘Linda’ mean anything to anyone?” instead of “Key to the door, 21!

Windymcwindyson · 25/01/2024 19:55

It had better be one fucking huge pie...
£6.95!!

MrsTerryPratchett · 25/01/2024 20:06

I think so too, where does that energy go? The soul?

The Physicist's Eulogy...

“You want a physicist to speak at your funeral. You want the physicist to talk to your grieving family about the conservation of energy, so they will understand that your energy has not died. You want the physicist to remind your sobbing mother about the first law of thermodynamics; that no energy gets created in the universe, and none is destroyed. You want your mother to know that all your energy, every vibration, every Btu of heat, every wave of every particle that was her beloved child remains with her in this world. You want the physicist to tell your weeping father that amid energies of the cosmos, you gave as good as you got.
And at one point you’d hope that the physicist would step down from the pulpit and walk to your brokenhearted spouse there in the pew and tell him that all the photons that ever bounced off your face, all the particles whose paths were interrupted by your smile, by the touch of your hair, hundreds of trillions of particles, have raced off like children, their ways forever changed by you. And as your widow rocks in the arms of a loving family, may the physicist let her know that all the photons that bounced from you were gathered in the particle detectors that are her eyes, that those photons created within her constellations of electromagnetically charged neurons whose energy will go on forever.
And the physicist will remind the congregation of how much of all our energy is given off as heat. There may be a few fanning themselves with their programs as he says it. And he will tell them that the warmth that flowed through you in life is still here, still part of all that we are, even as we who mourn continue the heat of our own lives.
And you’ll want the physicist to explain to those who loved you that they need not have faith; indeed, they should not have faith. Let them know that they can measure, that scientists have measured precisely the conservation of energy and found it accurate, verifiable and consistent across space and time. You can hope your family will examine the evidence and satisfy themselves that the science is sound and that they’ll be comforted to know your energy’s still around. According to the law of the conservation of energy, not a bit of you is gone; you’re just less orderly. Amen.”

NeverDropYourMooncup · 25/01/2024 21:21

Disturbia81 · 25/01/2024 14:40

True. Think I will always remain sceptical

She got a lot of comfort from it and it's helped her though, so when I see the effect it's had it's hard to think too badly about it when paying £12 once in a blue moon.

£12 x 150.

He's making at least £1800 or about £900 an hour for that show.

£15 per 60 seconds. 25p a second.

Try visualising the sound of that hitting the floor every single second and what the volume/mass of that money would be at the end of two hours of deceiving desperate punters.

15.75kg of pound coins. 2.5m long steel bar. About the weight of a five year old, but in money.

StockpotSoup · 26/01/2024 08:32

I have to believe there is something after death, or what is the point of life? We have a consciousness, where would that go? It can't just be a brain and a body or wouldn't we all be the same, or like AI's? All of us are so different etc, I just can't understand where what is inside you goes.

Why would it have to “go” anywhere? Why can’t it just die, like the physical body does?

I find the attitude that there is no point in life just because it ends one day quite sad. Why not just enjoy what we have instead of desperately hoping there is something else, something better, to come?

naysayers1 · 26/01/2024 08:34

Quite frankly, the number of people who think mediums would research possible attendees of a show, and memorise it all, and then recognise those people in the dark audience, with a spot light in their face, is just crazy. Many people have very old photo's as their profile pic or aren't even on SM. And it seems so closed down, to not accept that there could be anything in the world that goes beyond what you have experienced! I mean, I've never been able to do remote viewing, however, people did this during the Cold War. How self important would you have to be to say "well, I can't remote view, so it doesn't exist"?

Anyway, on to my own experience. My Mum was into all of this stuff. She had very accurate readings, long before the internet was invented, might I add. I was a bit sceptical, until she had a reading that mentioned me by name. This was many years ago. My Mum went to the village hall medium night. It was just a drop in event, no registration, no names.

The medium said to my Mum, that she could hear someone calling out the name X (my name). Now, I can't stress enough here, that my name is VERY rare. I guarantee that 90% of people on here, will never have met anyone with my name. It's incredibly old. I was the only person in my High school with this name, and I have met maybe 2 others, in my life. So right off the bat, that's odd. It would have been easier for the Medium to say a popular name, like Sarah or Jane, but no. Anyway, she said that the person coming through wanted to pass on a message, to tell me that that everything is going to be ok. That I would be moving house and meeting a new man and would be very happy. She also said that my Mum was going to come in to the possession of a guitar in a very unusual way and that shortly after that, my Mum would win the lottery.

My Mum rang me when she got home to relay this (we lived 350 miles apart), and she was poo pooing it as rubbish, because I was happily married, and of course the guitar and lottery thing just sounded stupid.

What my Mum didn't know, was that I was NOT happy, and was planning to leave my then husband, and in fact, just that day I had been viewing houses. I had not told another living soul of my plans to divorce. I did indeed go on to leave my husband and move house shortly after that. I then met my current DH, and we are indeed very happy. Moreover, about a year after this reading, my parents were sitting in the garden one night having a late BBQ, and a guitar came flying over the fence and landed squarely on the lawn. They gave it my my son, and we still have it. A short while after that, they won £20k on the lottery.

I've posted about this before on here, and people will tie themselves up in knots trying to offer a rational explanation for this. But there just isn't one, is there?

My Mum also went to a Medium night shortly after losing twins. One lived for 4 days and one lived for 4 months (hereditary disease). This was 1973. The medium came to her immediately, and said "I can see a baby in each arm".

Another time, my Mum & Dad went to a Medium night at a posh hotel. They were sitting at round tables, as there had been a meal before the "show". She had recently lost her sister called Pauline (nickname Polly), and was grieving a lot, and crying most nights. The Medium was crap. Didn't get anything right. Anyway, as they were preparing to leave, and people at the table were putting their coats on, a lady (stranger), who had been sat with them, turned to Mum and said "Well, he was a load of rubbish, wasn't he? He was so vague. I mean, you want a Medium to be specific, and say something like.... I have your sister Polly here, and she wants you to stop crying, she's fine and you know this, you're a believer"

Obviously, Mum took that as her sister finding another way to get through. And I agree. How many Polly's do you know?!

On the flip side, my DD and I went to a psychic night a few months ago, and it was RUBBISH. We also bought tickets with cash and fake names, just in case. There were 5 mediums taking it turns on the stage, and they got nothing right for anyone. It was absolute cringe, and so awkward. You could have heard a pin drop as the people on the stage tried to grasp at straws. So, yes, there are people who are just at it. But every once in a while, I think the real deal exists.

StragglyTinsel · 26/01/2024 08:38

Why wouldn’t stage mediums research and memorise details about their audiences?

They are trying to gain financially. So they are going to put in the work of learning about their ‘customers’ so they can impress them with their psychic abilities.

StragglyTinsel · 26/01/2024 08:46

My hairdresser clearly makes notes about her ‘regular’ clients - both about their hair preferences and their lives. How else would a woman I see a maximum of 3 times a year be able to remember things like my children’s names (and ages), my partner’s name, my job etc?

It’s simply part of her providing a good service. She’s not trying to get one over on anyone; in fact, she’s putting in the effort to provide a better and more personal service.

Given that ‘research’ about your clients is pretty normal in the service industry (and not some nasty thing), why would anyone be naive enough to think that stage performers who have a financial incentive to demonstrate how well they know you (because they claim your aunt wants you to know that she was terrible for burning toast) are not doing everything they can to research their audiences. And, yes, memorising it so they can find people by getting them to put their hands up.

StragglyTinsel · 26/01/2024 08:52

Fishing for volunteers via that ‘I’ve got a spirit coming through. They are mentioning a surname - Rob… Robson.. Robinson…’ while waiting for someone to put their hand up is a pretty good indication that it is a fishing expedition.

Especially when someone puts their hand up and everyone is amazed at the accuracy that the surname Ronson came up. Because, of course, things are all so fuzzy in communication from the spirit realm that there’s a big margin for error.

Even if the performer has researched And memorised all the details, there is still a huge incentive to maintain the ‘fuzzy line to the spirit world’ framing. It helps to encourage the confirmation bias from the audience.

CurlewKate · 26/01/2024 09:03

@naysayers1 "Quite frankly, the number of people who think mediums would research possible attendees of a show, and memorise it all, and then recognise those people in the dark audience, with a spot light in their face, is just crazy."

People do much more difficult things to make a living. Some people memorise whole plays.....

SirChenjins · 26/01/2024 09:08

CurlewKate · 26/01/2024 09:03

@naysayers1 "Quite frankly, the number of people who think mediums would research possible attendees of a show, and memorise it all, and then recognise those people in the dark audience, with a spot light in their face, is just crazy."

People do much more difficult things to make a living. Some people memorise whole plays.....

How does that work if the event is a drop in, pay at the door thing and the spiritualist doesn’t know who’s going to be there? And if they give direct information to a specific person if that information isn’t in the public domain?

CurlewKate · 26/01/2024 09:09

@naysayers1 Remote Viewing - from Wiki "The idea of remote viewing received renewed attention in the 1990s upon the declassification of documents related to the Stargate Project, a $20 million research program sponsored by the U.S. government that attempted to determine potential military applications of psychic phenomena. The program ran from 1975 to 1995, and ended after evaluators reached the conclusion that remote viewers consistently failed to produce any actionable intelligence information.[n 1][12]

StragglyTinsel · 26/01/2024 09:41

SirChenjins · 26/01/2024 09:08

How does that work if the event is a drop in, pay at the door thing and the spiritualist doesn’t know who’s going to be there? And if they give direct information to a specific person if that information isn’t in the public domain?

Edited

There are a whole range of hot and cold read techniques that can be employed to achieve that outcome. cognitive biases and social effects that can be harnessed in various ways.

Anyone seeking to make money in this way - and there can be very good money in it - is going to have multiple tools to draw upon.

Add to that the framing that it’s all very imprecise and fuzzy anyway and the audience are already primed to make allowances.

CurlewKate · 26/01/2024 09:52

@SirChenjins "How does that work if the event is a drop in, pay at the door thing and the spiritualist doesn’t know who’s going to be there? And if they give direct information to a specific person if that information isn’t in the public domain?"

To be honest, every time there's a thread like this, people explain how it works. I'm sure you've read it all before. If you want to ignore all the evidence and continue to be taken in by charlatans that's entirely your prerogative.

BeckyBloomwood3 · 26/01/2024 10:07

@CurlewKate memorising a whole play is very easy if that's all you have to do, and practice lots 😂

@naysayers1 wow that's a load of experiences.
I guess you missed my whole back and forth with PP 'tying themselves up in knots' but as you said not everything has a rational explanation.

I go with the view that you as an individual won't know if any 'medium' you see is real, if there are any. You take a gamble every time you pay for 'spiritual activity'. If that's how you choose to spend your money, fine, as long as you're aware.

What I find sad is the people who take it all too far, spend thousands on the say-so of a so-called medium and get too entangled in all that stuff. I still don't think that's a big enough reason to denounce everyone though.

Triskelled · 26/01/2024 10:11

CurlewKate · 26/01/2024 09:52

@SirChenjins "How does that work if the event is a drop in, pay at the door thing and the spiritualist doesn’t know who’s going to be there? And if they give direct information to a specific person if that information isn’t in the public domain?"

To be honest, every time there's a thread like this, people explain how it works. I'm sure you've read it all before. If you want to ignore all the evidence and continue to be taken in by charlatans that's entirely your prerogative.

Yes, how ‘mediums’ work is explained on every single thread on the subject, but the credulous are just reluctant to let go of their beliefs.

naysayers1 · 26/01/2024 10:53

So, to all of the sceptics, how would you explain :

A) A medium in 1973, knowing that my Mum had just lost 2 babies?

B) The medium telling my Mum about me moving house, the guitar and the lottery, which were three separate events, all IN THE FUTURE?

fatphalange · 26/01/2024 11:01

naysayers1 · 26/01/2024 10:53

So, to all of the sceptics, how would you explain :

A) A medium in 1973, knowing that my Mum had just lost 2 babies?

B) The medium telling my Mum about me moving house, the guitar and the lottery, which were three separate events, all IN THE FUTURE?

All very very common life events.

naysayers1 · 26/01/2024 11:05

fatphalange · 26/01/2024 11:01

All very very common life events.

How many people do you know, that have lost twin babies, come into possession of a guitar in a weird way, and have had a big win on the lottery? Genuine question. How many?

naysayers1 · 26/01/2024 11:15

And I've just remembered another one! Not medium related, but in the same vein. When my Mum was dying, she said she would send proof to us, that life after death existed. Me and my sister asked her how. She said she would knock a picture off the wall. My Mum sadly died, and a few days later, my sister came home, and a canvas in the kitchen was lying on the floor. No doors or windows were open (no breeze), and in all the years previously, that canvas had never fallen off the wall.

WhatsTheUseOfWorrying · 26/01/2024 11:20

naysayers1 · 26/01/2024 11:15

And I've just remembered another one! Not medium related, but in the same vein. When my Mum was dying, she said she would send proof to us, that life after death existed. Me and my sister asked her how. She said she would knock a picture off the wall. My Mum sadly died, and a few days later, my sister came home, and a canvas in the kitchen was lying on the floor. No doors or windows were open (no breeze), and in all the years previously, that canvas had never fallen off the wall.

Your mum’s spirit had been round my house. Several times.

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