...to think that clairvoyants/tarot readers etc are just a load of crap?!

[candyandyoga]

So, friend is having a tarot/clairvoyant night and asks if I want to come. When I was younger I used to really believe it all this but now, I am very cynical and think there are very very few genuine 'fortune tellers' out there - if any...

Aibu to think that this is all just a load of old shit or are there really people out there who can tell us our future?!

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

Yes, we are all entitled to our own opinions but the danger is when these opinions are instilled in the minds of children that know no better and grow up with these beliefs without questioning them.

The other danger is when people form these beliefs out of desperation or extreme grief and then become easy pickings for the likes of mediums/psychics/ tarot readers etc. It is not just a financial thing either, it is about holding such power over someone and being able to break their heart in a moment.

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

The only really 'nice' mediums I have encountered have been the worst at reading people.

[Clawdy]

My gran went to see a clairvoyant called Gypsy Lee in on the Golden Mile in Blackpool years ago. She'd lost her husband a few months ago. Gran came out of the booth,nodding wisely,and said to my mum "She just told me: "Well,love,you've lost a devil."

[CrapsWithBears]

They may not all be scum, but they are frauds. There is no evidence at all that anyone is able to talk to the dead, period, there is a huge amount of evidence to show that what they are doing is nothing more than cold reading.

[MarianaTrench]

Surely if everything lived in harmony everything would rapidly die of starvation. Or are ecosystems not present in heaven?

I fucking hate clairvoyants, reiki healers, crystals and all that crap. It's exploiting the vulnerable and should be subject to some sort of trades descriptions legislation.

[FarBetterNow]

ItsOkay: I have no idea why no one has passed the James Randi challenge.
I have never heard of it before.

Not bothered: You can change some of your future. We all have freedom of choice.
Certain key happenings in our lives are set before we are born, the rest of our lives is through freedom of choice.
The date we die is set before we are born.

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

This afterlife is going to be a very overcrowded place (imagine EVERY SINGLE THING THAT HAS EVER EXISTED in one place). Do you think it will be on a planet? Which one? Will everything have its physical form? If not, how will we know who's who? How long will we remain there for? What is the point of the afterlife?

[FarBetterNow]

Mariana: That's the point - heaven is not like life on earth.

Your hatred is the same hatred that burnt witches and wise women at the stake.

[Remotecontrolduck]

I don't like them, I think they prey on those who are vulnerable or going through a difficult time, give them false hope and charge them an extortionate amount for it.

I'm prepared to be proven wrong I suppose if there was credible evidence but I don't think there is.

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

FarBetterNow Have you always felt this way? Were you raised into a particular denomination? I always wonder about these things. I had a couple of Jehovah Witnesses in for tea a few weeks ago, they asked me to read a book they had brought with them and I agreed but they wouldn't read my recommendation. If you are so sure of your belief then testing it shouldn't be a problem.

If you want to convince people about an afterlife then you need to have facts. Saying 'heaven is not like life on earth' is vague and doesn't actually say anything at all. Remember, 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence'.

[CrapsWithBears]

FarBetterNow Actually, it was the hatred of people that believed in heaven that caused witches and wise women to be burnt at the stake.

Suffer not a witch to live.

[thebody]

They can also provide a wonderful comfort service to bereaved adults.

To call all these people scum bags is very nasty.

If people seek and need a service then they provide it.

Nothing wrong with that.

[squoosh]

I don't think the afterlife is something you could ever convice someone to believe/disbelieve in.

If you do believe in an afterlife why would you care about those who thought differently? If you definitely believe an afterlife does not exist well then why would you waste your time worrying about people who do?

[CrapsWithBears]

Nothing wrong with that at all, thebody

[Hashtagwhatever]

Each to their own I say.

If it brings comfort to somebody to be told something by a clairvoyant/ fortune teller ect.

Doesnt do any harm I dont believe

[seeker]

"That ghastly Sylvia Brown woman told Amanda Berry's mum that ah was dead. She stopped hunting for her daughter and died heartbroken.

Bizarrely, some relations have said they still belive in her and trust her even after that.

The stupidity and credulity of some people is breathtaking.

[OrlaKiely]

It's a false comfort though.

[expatinscotland]

It's a crock of shit.

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

thebody If you have a physical illness you go to a doctor whom has undergone years of training and gained an accredited qualification in order to help you recover. There is no such thing with mediums or psychics.

If you are bereaved you can go to see a medium that may or may not have had training in cold reading, Barnum statements and maybe even magic. You normally pay a sum of money to be told something that might ring a bell, might not. If it does then the grief is lifted for a short while but then you want more so pay more money and so on. It either becomes addictive for those that actually need professional help via bereavement counselling or a complete let down for those that the medium can't help thus compounding their grief.

Why aren't these mediums and psychics held accountable for the grief they cause? If a doctor gives you the wrong medicine, he can be stripped of his license, a medium just moves on to the next victim.

[OrlaKiely]

'The date we die is set before we are born.' Okayyyyy

[thebody]

Crapwithbears,

Thanks but these are extreme examples of fraudsters preying on vulnerable people. There are bad people in every profession and industry.

Doesn't mean they are all like this and definatly doesn't mean that some people need protecting from them. Just because YOU personally don't like it doesn't mean you have the right to call them all scumbags and those who use them vulnerable

Some provide a fantastic comfort to some people.

You don't have to use them do you?

[OrlaKiely]

Expat I totally agree. I remember you describing some old geezer from where you live, trying to predict the future one time - I can't remember what it was all about but he sounded like an objectionable nutter.

[expatinscotland]

'They can also provide a wonderful comfort service to bereaved adults.'

By scamming them and lying to them? No, thanks.

[notbotheredreally]

Not bothered: You can change some of your future. We all have freedom of choice.
Certain key happenings in our lives are set before we are born, the rest of our lives is through freedom of choice.
The date we die is set before we are born.

FarBetterNow and you know this how ?

[seeker]

Some are crooks and fraudsters.

Some genuinely believe they have a gift.

They are both taking money under false pretences. And even if they are doing it for free, they are still doing something dishonest.