Mediums as in people who can speak with the spirit of a dead person ;) Not the belief in shirts sized medium...
I have been watching a show featuring a woman who seems to have the gift. It is freaky how she is right about very specific details. Like a movie that a daughter had asked of her father's spirit to tell her or specific details of a person's death or life.
It's kinda scary, but kinda cool to think we could still be "around" keeping an eye on our loved ones.
Damn, you ruined my fun.
No, not really. I believe that there are people who are very good at reading people, and making guesses until they get the right response.
Very definitely not. Any reading is a mix of cold reading, observer bias and most of the time deliberate fraud on the part of the medium up to and including an assistant with Google, Facebook and a radio link to the mike in the medium's ear.
All mediums are frauds, it's just that some of them are honestly deluded and believe in the fraud themselves.
It's a TV show you are watching right?
Yes, and I know I should be skeptical. I do have a bit of a belief in ghosts. This also stems from that fact that I believe we all have souls.
Original Post by melkor:
Very definitely not. Any reading is a mix of cold reading, observer bias and most of the time deliberate fraud on the part of the medium up to and including an assistant with Google, Facebook and a radio link to the mike in the medium's ear.
All mediums are frauds, it's just that some of them are honestly deluded and believe in the fraud themselves.
How do you know?
Original Post by meta15:
Original Post by melkor:
Very definitely not. Any reading is a mix of cold reading, observer bias and most of the time deliberate fraud on the part of the medium up to and including an assistant with Google, Facebook and a radio link to the mike in the medium's ear.
All mediums are frauds, it's just that some of them are honestly deluded and believe in the fraud themselves.
How do you know?
He's psychic.
I have some experiences in my life that don;t allow me to completely discount the possibility of "ghost-like" presences. I also think that some people are more in touch with these presences that others. But I don't believe in the idea of communicating with the dead.
I don't make bold statements about things I can't prove. I know I've been to psychics where they knew very specific things... things you can't just "read" or "guess" from my facial expression or any other cues I may have given. I went into it skeptical and made a point to give no information and only respond with yes or no.
Yes, I believe there are many deceptive/fraudulent people on this planet. If some mediums are legitimate, odds are there are more that are not. All I know is I've experienced some pretty strange things in my lifetime, so I wouldn't be surprised.
It's odd though how this woman knows private details that only one person knew, for instance the person the spirit wants to communicate with. I'm not saying mediums are a dime a dozen, but a couple in a million? Why not?
I do believe that people have a sixth sense, I have had conversations with dead people, and pets, but I wouldn't go see a medium because I think they are playing on peoples vulnerability.
I'm extremely sensitive to under currents.
Original Post by amd_66:
I do believe that people have a sixth sense, I have had conversations with dead people, and pets, but I wouldn't go see a medium because I think they are playing on peoples vulnerability.
I'm extremely sensitive to under currents.
When you had these conversations, did it scare you? Did it give you peace?
Original Post by meta15:All mediums are frauds, it's just that some of them are honestly deluded and believe in the fraud themselves.
How do you know?
Because the supernatural doesn't exist. If it did, it would be part of nature, directly measurable, and not supernatural as such. It's a null concept.
I would love for the mystical/spiritual to be real, because then we could measure it, figure out how it works and harness it as another branch of physics.
You can't prove a negative of course. But so far, all available evidence points to the qualia of spiritual experiences and the supernatural to be artifacts of how the human mind works, and not phenomena that have existence outside of the human imagination.
Speaking as a Tolkien fan I'm kinda miffed that magic isn't real, but on the other hand, not living in the demon-haunted world of the medieval mystics does have advantages like indoor plumbing, electricity and the Internet so....
Original Post by teatoddy:
Original Post by amd_66:
I do believe that people have a sixth sense, I have had conversations with dead people, and pets, but I wouldn't go see a medium because I think they are playing on peoples vulnerability.
I'm extremely sensitive to under currents.
When you had these conversations, did it scare you? Did it give you peace?
No, it's not scary at all, I find it reassuring :)
Original Post by melkor:
Original Post by meta15:All mediums are frauds, it's just that some of them are honestly deluded and believe in the fraud themselves.
How do you know?
Because the supernatural doesn't exist. If it did, it would be part of nature, directly measurable, and not supernatural as such. It's a null concept.
I would love for the mystical/spiritual to be real, because then we could measure it, figure out how it works and harness it as another branch of physics.
You can't prove a negative of course. But so far, all available evidence points to the qualia of spiritual experiences and the supernatural to be artifacts of how the human mind works, and not phenomena that have existence outside of the human imagination.
Speaking as a Tolkien fan I'm kinda miffed that magic isn't real, but on the other hand, not living in the demon-haunted world of the medieval mystics does have advantages like indoor plumbing, electricity and the Internet so....
It's OK. A lot of people are scared of things they can't control.
Original Post by teatoddy:
It's odd though how this woman knows private details that only one person knew, for instance the person the spirit wants to communicate with. I'm not saying mediums are a dime a dozen, but a couple in a million? Why not?
Tv's most famous psychic knows how to use cold reading, Facebook, Google, and information from the show's production assistant to give the impression that he knows things he couldn't. And he's an evil evil man, telling a bereaved father that his son who died in a traffic accident committed suicide by deliberately crashing.
Even when they aren't deliberate frauds hustling the vulnerable like John Edwards but self-deluded like some of my friends who really believe in what they're doing, they're only doing cold reading.
Original Post by meta15:
I don't make bold statements about things I can't prove. I know I've been to psychics where they knew very specific things... things you can't just "read" or "guess" from my facial expression or any other cues I may have given. I went into it skeptical and made a point to give no information and only respond with yes or no.
Yes, I believe there are many deceptive/fraudulent people on this planet. If some mediums are legitimate, odds are there are more that are not. All I know is I've experienced some pretty strange things in my lifetime, so I wouldn't be surprised.
I'll add that I only left my first name when I made the appointment with the psychic.
It was pre Facebook and Google.
My Mum is a Medium...yes she can speak to the dead 
I don't actually believe in that 'side' if I am honest but I have witness things that truly have no explanation. My Mum has come across so many scam artist in her time and it is a shame because they often will take advantage of those in need, for example those suffering from a loss etc. It is painful to watch people hand over a great deal of money and watch people 'talk' to someone on the other side.
Like I said I am not a believer, but my Mum is amazing at her job. She has no access to any sort of technology (even if she did she wouldn't know what to do!) doesn't like the whole magical Tolkien thing, and is very level headed but for some reason can tell people some unexplainable things!
Original Post by ohsobella:
My Mum is a Medium...yes she can speak to the dead
I don't actually believe in that 'side' if I am honest but I have witness things that truly have no explanation. My Mum has come across so many scam artist in her time and it is a shame because they often will take advantage of those in need, for example those suffering from a loss etc. It is painful to watch people hand over a great deal of money and watch people 'talk' to someone on the other side.
Like I said I am not a believer, but my Mum is amazing at her job. She has no access to any sort of technology (even if she did she wouldn't know what to do!) doesn't like the whole magical Tolkien thing, and is very level headed but for some reason can tell people some unexplainable things!
You think she is amazing at her job, and you don't believe her? Do you not want to believe in the concept or what? This is not meant in a hostile tone or anything.
Original Post by teatoddy:
Mediums as in people who can speak with the spirit of a dead person ;) Not the belief in shirts sized medium...
D'oh! Cut off my response from the get go...*sigh*
I believe that people who claim to be "mediums" exist, but no I don't believe in communication with the dead or supernatural clairvoyance, for pretty much the same reasons Melkor specified.
Hell no!!
Mediums are like magic tricks-- all the fun is in the illusion. I have a high suspicion that most of them have some prior knowledge about who they are speaking to, or they just make very broad generalized guesses and feed off the reaction of the subject.
