DP believes some psychics are real, I think he's lost it

[Dpi8]

A discussion about a documentary I watched last night descended into an argument today when chatting over dinner. It was about Derren Brown and how he tests so called psychic mediums in an attempt to prove that it's a load of old rubbish - which I agree with him on.

He got majorly arsey with me when I told him about cold reading and the other techniques they use, such as using vague statements that could apply to most people in the sitters demographic. IE, telling an elderly lady that they have a parent in the spirit world who had a dodgy knee.

I asked him for some examples from which he reached his conclusion that some are genuine but he wasn't forthcoming with anything of any substance, simply mentioning some bloke from the Ghost Adventures series who wanders around buildings 'debunking' certain things for plausible deniabily then making up shite of his own to 'prove' the contact.

This is a hill I'm prepared to die on as I will not accept that such tosh is in any way genuine.

AIBU to say that absolutely all psychics are full of shit?

I had a friend who was taken in by a couple of 'psychics',thirty five quid a pop to tell her that her father didn't think she should get a new rug for the lounge.

By the time she died they'd managed to convince her that she had psychic abilities too.

Rounding up - easier to remember how much you've spent, it's vaguely gratifying.

Lucky black cat - seeing a lovely cat is always lucky (unless you're a mouse)

Not walking under ladders - common sense, a ladder means there's somebody up there with tools/paint/fixing something that might fall off or out.

No umbrellas open indoors - they take up huge amounts of room and you're likely to knock a picture off a wall or vase off a table. Or get poked in the eye by the muppet doing it.

The poll on this is a perfect example of 50% of people being below average intelligence!

There was someone on here once who claimed she could levitate up to the ceiling.

Still more plausible than some of the troll threads we get, I guess.

It wasn't intended to be an argument and I was surprised he got so annoyed, but yes I did double down when he came back with the tosh about the ghost adventures programme, because it is so unbelievably fake it's frustrating to listen to him reference that as a basis for his argument.

I'm reminded of Derrick Accorah who not only claimed to be able to talk to people's deceased relatives, but then made a whole program about being able to contact people's deceased pets. Doctor do little of death indeed.

My mum had a friend who claimed to be a psychic medium when I was growing up. She claimed to have all these weird and wonderful powers where she could see and speak with the dead, she used to do some bizarre thing with lamps - I can't remember the details being a child at the time - but she scared me half to death. I was petrified to go in my own home after she'd convinced me that a man had died there by falling down the stairs and he was angry. She said the damp patches on the wall were him making himself known, or some crap like that.

It took me years to get past my fear of the dead and I was convinced every house we lived in until I was about 16, was haunted. It was bloody cruel.

That's my personal experience of one of these self professed mediums. Only one, granted, but I haven't seen any evidence of any of them being able to 'prove' their abilities when I looked into mediums in general.

Also, why are their messages so vague? If I was dead and wanted to get a message across to any of my children I'd say something alot more important than "I was one of five, red car"

"I couldn't really respect anyone who genuinely believed woo nonsens couldn't really respect anyone who genuinely believed woo nonsense"
And I couldn't really respect anyone who scorns anyone with a different opinion or open mind. I'm a sceptic but would never demean or belittle other people's beliefs.

Many are but I’ve had readings so accurate and so detailed the Medium could not have guessed and I know not to give any clues.

cannot explain how I have also given two readings to people ( different countries, years apart) which they each said were accurate. I couldn’t cold read them ( don’t know how) and I didn’t give them time to speak, just said what I’d “seen”. I’ve also seen people who aren’t there — though I didn’t know at the time I thought they were real. 🤷‍♀️

I don't believe in psychics, or ghosts, or god for the record.

But why are you not allowing him to have an opinion? It doesn't impact you, people can believe whatever they want.

Also, why are their messages so vague? If I was dead and wanted to get a message across to any of my children I'd say something alot more important than "I was one of five, red car"

The broader the net, the more likely it is to catch fish! Vague statements will be mentally massaged and manipulated by the credulous to fit their situation. And in their mental replay, they forget that the 'medium' actually said "someone close" and not, for example, "mother".

"There will be an addition to the family called Judy"
Why not just say Judy is a dog if they know about her?

Of course they wouldn’t say . Lol

The irony though is that being an atheist is like a belief system in itself. You strongly believe there is no higher power.

But the thing is, you don't know that, any more than somebody who strongly believes in a god. None of us have any proof or knowledge either way do we

Atheism is not a belief system. It is a lack of belief. Atheists lack a belief in god.

It's a pretty simple and uncomplicated position and in no way a 'system'.

I'm a massive skeptic about pretty much everything supernatural, to the extent that I don't believe in ghosts despite having "seen" one repeatedly over a two year period.

DP on the other hand happily believes in all manner of spooks, psychics and other woo stuff. Yes we might occasionally take the piss out of each other about our views, but only lightly, why on earth would you get into an argument over something so small?

Idk if i believe or not. Im very skeptical but id like to believe there was something. I guess there is no evidence either way. I do watch paranormal stuff on the tv, but i think whats caused so much doubt is the charlatans eg Most Haunted where they admitted it was a hoax etc. idk. Im on the fence. Ive been to a psychic night before and i had a reading but nothing came of it, nothing of significance anyway. Id like to believe there is something tho. I live in a very old terrace house and swear there is someone (nice) in the kitchen/livingroom area. I have a feeling sometimes that the kids have walked into the room and ive turned around and no ones there

🤣🤣🤣🤣

And why make contact from beyond the grave and tell people they are going to get a dog called Judy anyway? I mean, why? The obvious beyond the grave message one would imagine a dead person might want to send is one of love, and something to show they are in fact the dead loved one.

But they never say ‘This is Margaret Jones, DOB 28 Sept 1942, lived at 53 Blenheim Gardens, Birmingham, died last Feb in a car crash, and I want to talk to my younger daughter Carol, who is sitting in the fifth row in a blue coat, rolling her eyes because she doesn’t believe and got dragged along by her friend Liz.’

😀😀

I would assume at least some people are voting yabu because OP got worked up to the extent of having a row with her DH because he didn't agree with her opinion, about something that doesn't seem to actually be affecting their lives at all.

Rather than YABU because all mediums are completely legitimate, how dare you say otherwise?

It's a belief that there's no god. Again, none of us actually know either way, so both positions are beliefs.

The only sensible position is agnosticism.

Don’t make me quote Bertrand Russell on the teapot again.

Its really not that difficult.

That was just guesswork. Red was a very popular car colour at the time. It was obvious that the girls had been murdered, right from the beginning, so the shallow grave thing was hardly inspired. Kevin Wells walked past every house in Soham when he searched for his child.

Come on, you can see where the charlatan got all this from.

I definitely believe in psychic powers.

A few years ago I went with a friend to a seer. She knew I was getting married, that I’d been on holiday recently, that I’m shortsighted and that we’d driven to see her.

It was shockingly accurate.

When I had to rush back to get my car keys I’d left on the table - by the crystal ball - she even told me (for free) that I’d travel over water.

It was a lovely day. On the way back my friend complimented me on my engagement ring, my new glasses and my tan. And we drove on a bridge over a river!

I agree with him. For all the charlatans out there, there are genuinely psychic people. How could there not be.

All of that could apply to most people though surely?

Edited to say I just re read your post as I missed it the first time 😂😂😂

Exactly. That was the point of that post.
They were being sarcastic and showing how charlatans work.