<p>Does anyone have an experience using a psychic before? I am considering using one just for fun. I really want to have peace that several loved ones have found happiness and I would like to see what my future holds. I have heard of several such as Sylvia Browne and Mrs. Cleo that are said to be frauds. I was just wondering what everyone’s thoughts were on the subject.</p>
<p>They’re all frauds who will tell you exactly what you want to hear, in exchange for paying them a bunch of money.</p>
<p>Seriously, you don’t actually believe that anyone can “see the future,” right? Psychics are as fake as professional wrestling.</p>
<p>Think about it for 10 seconds. Anyone who was actually psychic would make billions of dollars in the stock market, not waste time charging schlubs on the street $50 to have their “fortune” told.</p>
<p>My mom’s friend is really into that stuff. She’s really nice, but has some problems with an attachment to an abusive relationship, so I think she’s just looking for something to cling to.</p>
<p>No…</p>
<p>But wouldn’t it be fun if this stuff really worked??</p>
<p>They’re all frauds - you’d be wasting your money unless you think you’re getting adequate entertainment value from it but in your post you indicate you’re trying to get some serious information regarding your loved ones and your future and none of these so-called ‘psychics’ can tell you that. They’re really only after your money - something they can ‘predictably’ achieve if you’re naive enough to give it to them.</p>
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I read all the books to figure out what they use to pick up information on people, then when I show up, I create subtle hints that I’m really a time-traveling Teddy Roosevelt.</p>
<p>(Not really, but I think I will now.)</p>
<p>I don’t think that all so-called psychics are consciously trying to deceive people (although there certainly are some outright frauds out there). But the skills of people who believe they are psychic are probably mostly psychological. Look up “cold reading.” I think a lot of people who think they’re psychic are actually doing cold reading without realizing it.</p>
<p>I so enjoy going to a good psychic and love a good tarot reader. No, they cannot tell you the future for certain. If you can go with a fun attitude and interest, it is just that, fun and interesting.
An ethical psychic will not tell you what to do or give bad news. Mainly, it is just food for thought and encouraging. I have gone on occassion for 30 years. The best reading was in the 1970’s. It was taped (usually are). I was no where near being married --another 5-6 years–and had not met my husband. He said I would have two children and that he was confused because he only saw me pregnant once. He actually started the reading over and wanted to reassure me that nothing bad was connected but that he was confused. Neither of us thought about adoption. Six months after my son arrived from Korea I came across the tape and was stunned and amused, as I had forgotten all about that reading. The second best was a 12 month Tarot reading that was totally correct for 9 of the next year–including which month I would and did become pregnant. So fun, not to be taken too seriously, but can help one to process and understand at times. NOT something to be afraid of at all.</p>
<p>“Ethical psychic” that’s an oxymoron. They are all frauds and they prey on the weakness of others
Read this instead [Amazon.com:</a> Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time (9780805070897): Michael Shermer, Stephen Jay Gould: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805070893/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0716733870&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0AA3TH74SWBB4AAZ22B5]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805070893/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0716733870&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0AA3TH74SWBB4AAZ22B5)</p>
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I’m willing to accept that some of them actually believe the stuff themselves.</p>
<p>Most of my family is inclined this way, and while they don’t specifically use psychics, do rely on astrologers, numerologists, and such, whereas I’ve been an agnostic since my teens to the extent that I don’t even “believe” in the true sense anything in science either. Since my sister had many books on palmistry, I was familiar with some of the terminology - heart- and head lines, and mound-of-this or that, and some rudimentary knowledge based on my sister’s analysis.</p>
<p>When I first came to the US for college some 35+ years ago, my family had packed some “sacred” ash for good luck. I used to mix it with water and spread it on peoples’ (young ladies sans boyfriends) palms which highlighted the lines, and would examine the hands, squeeze the bumps, and move my fingertips along the lines on their palms. I would give my thoughts based on what I remembered, and made up the rest. It was generally well received, and there were some skeptics, and few were absolutely amazed by the analysis. </p>
<p>When a few guys and I were joking about it, one of them suggested that I should basically state the exact opposite of what my sister and her books had said, but maintain the same positive tone - so instead of “you’re a very analytical” don’t say “you’re NOT…”, but say “you’re very artsy”. </p>
<p>Needless to say his thought process was dead right - if someone said things about you in a couple of dozen different areas, just by chance, some would be dead on while others would be totally off, and many that could go either way. Those who wanted to believe seemed to choose to ignore the ones that were off badly and totally zeroed in on the areas that were right, and by sensing this, I was able to give them what they wanted to hear. </p>
<p>I don’t know if there are any psychics who can see something from beyond, but a trained person can certainly see a whole bunch of things, especially in the person’s demeanor, that can used to provide a lot of satisfaction to the client.</p>
<p>Can’t you get the same thing from personal prayer?</p>
<p>I don’t generally believe in metaphysics.
I do believe that some people are very good at reading visual clues & I believe that those who want to believe are great at communicating what they want to hear.
If a psychic tells you things about yourself that you already know but want to hear it from someone else, then no harm is done unless you go off the deep end paying out money.
A good therapist could do the same thing, but a therapist is more likely to guide you to self understanding, rather than use a tarot deck.</p>
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Isn’t metaphysics a branch of philosophy?</p>
<p>I was thinking of metaphysics as - astrology- tarot cards and similar ways of explaining the world, not that I don’t believe in Plato.
;)</p>
<p>Psychics will the predict the future now and then, just as chimps make a fortune in the stock market now and then. I think those who take people’s money by representing that they interact with dead loved ones are cruel and unethical and that, if there is a hell, they will have first hand experience.</p>
<p>In the last 10 years ago, so-called gypsy fortunetellers have sprouted up at streetlevel all over Manhattan, offering to tell your fortune for $5 or $10. Just for fun and entertainment value, I once paid my $5 and asked the so-called psychic if she could discern something unusual about my past (never mind the future!). She had no clue. Some psychic.</p>
<p>No, but I did use a tea leaf reader. He basically told me an advice and it’s worth the money I paid (I don’t remember how much).</p>
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<p>Two thoughts - 1) if the end result is the patient/client ends up happier/better is it still bad, and 2) if the guy doing it believes it is so, is it still unethical?</p>
<p>Some of us view many aspects of organized religion as similar, but clearly there’s more of 1) and 2), but the cost charged in terms of money and behavior is much higher too.</p>