to ask if anyone has had a psychic reading that was extremely accurate?

[opheliaria]

One that could not be down to cold reading. For example, giving out very specific details such as exact dates, unusual names, basically precise facts that cannot be fished for or guessed and are not vague?

There -are- a number of real things that do seem to exist but can't be proved in a lab though. Kangeroo care is one, as I mentioned up thread. Neither can you replicate random gene mutations in a lab; but they still happen (evolution). Nor can you replicate in a lab the effects of some drug trials eg giving ondansetron to preg women. There are large scale studies, but you can't do that in a lab. All sorts of practical difficulties get in the way, one of which is that people sometime respond differently physiologically.

Things that exist outside the lab still get science'd via things like case studies. It's just never as strong proof as a double blind randomized experiment.

I still don't really believe in psychic phenomena but 'replicate it in a lab or it doesn't exist' cuts out any number of things that do exist but aren't easily replicated, black and white, steady and regular. As a reason on its own to reject psychic phenomena, it isn't enough ... unless you're going to cut out any number of other things and pretend they don't exist either.

Is Randi's test even passable? I think it has been constructed so that no matter what a psychic were to say, Randi would always be able to say that person was wrong or faking etc. I think that because Randi is a skeptic he would only accept his interpretation of proof. If a psychic were to do a reading and get 100 facts about a person right would Randi accept it was real or would he say the psychic was using cold reading etc. In my opinion Randi will always move the goal posts. How to do you prove something you can't provide physical evidence for (and gravity does conform to the law of physics) so it is provable?

Have you read anything about Randi's challenge? Most applicantsdon't even get past the preliminary stage, where the bar is set very low indeed.

When Derren Brown shows people how he does what a 'psychic' does, some of them still don't believe he's not psychic! He does a trick, and some people immediately leap to the conclusion 'he read my mind ... it's the only possible explanation'. Fictional characters like Jonathan Creek and Patrick Jane (Mentalist) show how a lot of these tricks and techniques work.

None of the examples in this thread prove anything except that some people want psychics to be real and interpret things that have been said to them accordingly. None of the examples given in this thread are anywhere near as good/accurate as some of the stuff Derren Brown does!

Hak- yes I have teenage children, and no I did't keep a diary.

My mother and I were not very close and crushes on my teachers were something that I would not even discuss with my best friend. I kept my feelings very private.
My mother had no interest in my school or education, she would not have even know the name of my teachers.
What's more she was livid with when she came outt from seeing the psychic- not sure why she would choose that moment to challenge me about these crushes.

I agree there must surely be a rational explanation, but I can't think of one.

Hak why do I think there are some genuine ones out there?
Personal experience, and the fact that agencies such as the FBI have used psycics. They're hardly going to use them if they were charlatons would they?

" the fact that agencies such as the FBI have used psycics. They're hardly going to use them if they were charlatons would they?"

NO THEY DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEITHER DO THE POLICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've heard psychics say that they could find out things like lottery numbers but it would be immoral and an abuse of their powers. Which is utter rubbish and a cop out.

My ex-girlfriend swore by this one psychic. Much like some of the stories on here. Knowing things she couldn't possibly know, predicting future events etc. I went to see her, couldn't get any names right, didn't get predictions right or my background. Absolute charlatan, yet my ex still believed she had special powers.

People dismissing the Randi challenge without actually having the foggiest clue as to what it involves is just typical. People so desperate to believe that they disregard anything that's put in their way.

The Randi challenge is very easy to pass for anyone with any kind a psychic power or paranormal ability. They just have to do exactly what they claim they can do. The only difference is that they have to do it whist being monitored by people who know all the tricks that psychics employ and thus stop them from employing them. Hence it all boils down to the power itself. Do you have it or don't you? And no one has. IN 50 YEARS! That's how long it's been going.

Even the well worn myth of identical twins being able to communicate telepathically when apart, and feeling each others pain, he been debunked. It's all just confirmation bias.

what amazes me is how many sceptics or total non believers are on mumsnet. It's like they're determined to disbelieve whatever is said. They have an answer for everything. I find it strange tbh

What amazes me is how many casual accepters or total believers are on mumsnet. It's like they're determined to believe whatever is said. They have an excuse for every logical explanation. I find it strange tbh.

Elizabeth Smart was a huge high profile case of a missing woman in America. The police received 9000 tips from psychics around the world regarding her whereabouts. None were correct. None helped.

Their are some huge, high profile missing person cases around the world. Surely one of the real psychics could solve them and find these people.

"what amazes me is how many sceptics or total non believers are on mumsnet. It's like they're determined to disbelieve whatever is said. They have an answer for everything. I find it strange tbh"

That's because, when it comes to the paranormal, there is an answer to everything!

Why don't psychics ever contact murder victims? That way, the victim could let us know who killed them?

I guess someone will be along to say that if you've been murdered, your energy forcefield isn't in harmony with the feng sui crystals so you homeopathy channel isn't open to contact!

I don't know if I believe in psychic abilities as such but I do believe in energy reading and think some people are sensetive enough to pick up on energy you are giving off, and as such sometimes I quite like the idea that someone could read my energy and tell me what's going on if that makes any sense to anyone...

I just think it's a more honed gift than what we all have when we have the ability to guess why someone is visibly happy or sad eg "you look exhausted, kids kept you up all night did they?"

there's a nice article about a psychic who claimed she was 87-90% correct in murder and missing person cases.
www.csicop.org/si/show/psychic_defective_sylvia_brownes_history_of_failure/
The research demonstrates that in 115 cases (all of the available readings), Browne’s confirmable accuracy was 0 percent.

It's throughly debunked on YouTube.

Paul Zenon was on this morning a while ago. He cold read Holly, she was astounded. He knew about a scar on her leg, her Dads initial, his job, a joke he used to make, her personality traits when she is at home alone. It was impressive to watch, yet it was fake.

The real "psychic" next to him refused to do a reading.

I would love it to be real, it would bring the human race forward to a place it's never been to. Our understanding of the universe would be enriched, life as we know it would change forever....but as someone else said forget about that I'll stick to my tent in Hull.

I'm a believer ask have had too many occurrences to explain. I don't generally discuss it unless I am in the company of someone who will discuss it rationally

"I'm a believer ask have had too many occurrences to explain. I don't generally discuss it unless I am in the company of someone who will discuss it rationally"

What do you mean by "rationally"?

There's no reason at all why the Randi test shouldn't be passable - the people whose lips are trembling at the thought of some poor, sensitive psychic handcuffed in a lab with interrogation-style lights being shone in her eyes aren't reading the application materials on the Randi website.

The self-proclaimed 'psychic'/medium/diviner/ESP person comes up with the protocol him or herself - the preliminary test involves them demonstrating their powers in a way they have chosen themselves, just at a place where a representative of the Randi foundation can travel to witness it, so it could well be in their home or workplace, assuming it's not remote. No one has ever passed even this initial test, so no one has ever progressed to anything like 'lab conditions'.

All that the applicant is being asked to do is what they usually do, eg give a psychic reading that comes up with verifiable facts/predictions that they can't have known in any other way other than paranormal powers. The difference is that they have to do it in front of a sceptical observer who isn't emotionally invested in believing that great-auntie Nora has come through with crucial information about the missing ornament.

To discuss what happened without being simply branded bonkers and deluded. That's a rational discussion about what may be deemed as irrational notions

The trouble is that any attempt to explain how "psychic phenomena" happen is immediate jumped on as calling people bonkers or deluded. You can't expect people to start from a position of belief.

I also imagine that the fact that Randi Foundation applicants have to provide at least one of the following -

A signed letter by a medical doctor, faculty member of a recognised university, or a professional non-university research scientist to say the applicant is serious and the claim merits testing

A newspaper article, tv appearance or book account (not self-published) about the power

A video of themselves demonstrating the powers

• narrows down the field of applicants.

opheliaria To convince those of us struggling to keep open minds I'm afraid you'll have to do a lot better than suggesting the Randi test isn't fair ... even the briefest reading shows otherwise, and as many have said it doesn't involve complicated scientific tests, just that the applicant does what they claim they can when properly observed

You don't even need to read about the test since there are countless clips of Randi attending a supposed "demonstration" of paranormal powers. None of them can support their claims - they hum and haw, giggle and fidget, claim that the testing conditions they agreed to are now somehow "unfair" (aha!! ) and generally make fools of themselves

I asked several pages ago if anyone could show where a crime, disappearance or whatever had actually been solved - or even provably helped long - by psychics/mediums, etc, but nobody's offered anything so far ... ??

I'd still like an explanation for those occurances that are real that cannot be replicated outside a lab or on demand. The subtle stuff, the stuff where you can't put a coin in the slot and get a shiny result every time. Doesn't have to be anything to do with psychic phenomena.

Meerka- I don't quite understand. There's a difference between saying "this works but we don't know why[yet]" and "this has been shown not to work" So a baby that's being given kangaroo care gets better. We might not know exactly why yet, although there are lots of educated guesses- but the end result is a well baby.