Thursday, February 9, 2012

Psychics: Can they really read palms and cards or are they just reading our body language and telling us what we want to hear?

Psychics have been around telling fortunes for a very long time. Now with technology as it is today you can be told a fortune in many different ways, from telephone psychics to video chat.  Many people believe them, and with these stories about different prophets like Nostradamus it is no wonder that people want to believe that some people a psychics.  For the past 5 years or so I have been going to different psychics, out of curiosity, to see if any of the different psychics were true.  The first time I went to the psychic I was surprised of how much about me she got correct.  She knew I wanted to go into a science field, she knew I was shy and I tended to get over emotional about every little thing, and I treasured the close relationships I have with my friends.  What I did not realize at the time was she got a lot of things about me wrong. 
Now the Question here is how much are psychics actually right?  When I first went to the psychic I was giving her hints about myself without even realizing it.  For example, did she know I was a shy person or did she guess that by reading my uncomfortable body language and me averting eyes from hers?  As for whether her predations about my future were right, well she said that I would meet my “soul mate” between the ages of 17 and 21.  I’m 23 now and I’m still single.   In my opinion about that prediction I think she just told me that because (in general) girls want to find their “true love” around those ages (plus or minus a few years).  Plus, if I remember correctly, I did seem interested when she started talking about my love life and then she said something along the lines of “You will marry your soul mate which you will meet within the next few years and you will have two children but the rest is unclear, if you would like for an extra $10 I could do a ‘love card’ reading which will give me more insight into your love life.”  I declined the offer because they way that she asked me was very similar to McDonalds employee asking me if I “would like to supersize it”.  
Whether Psychic readings are real or not depend on the point of view.  If someone goes to a psychic as a skeptic they are only going to remember what the psychic got wrong.  If someone goes to a psychic and believes that it is real, the person is only going to remember the things that the psychic said that were true.  Just like when I went to the psychic for the first time, I wanted it to be true.  People assume if a psychic is going to be right or wrong before they even step in the door.  Psychics do make it more believable by simply dressing up in gypsy type garb, burning incense around the room and even the decorated room of dark blues and purples will give people that mysterious vibe and gives more credibility to the mysterious powers of the fortune teller. 
I have gained a lot of different types of Information about psychics by personally going to different psychics with an open mind as well as keeping in mind that being a psychic is a type of business and they a lot of times will try to upsell (for only $10 more I could…).  One thing I had noticed was that a lot of times the psychics will say two opposite things.  For example one psychic said that I was a “shy person” but later in the cession she said that “I had a lot of confidence in yourself and I was outgoing”.  How can I be shy and outgoing at the same time?  Well if I walked into the room wanting to believe she was right I would remember only remember the part where she said I was a “shy person” or I would have even forgotten the fact that she said I was outgoing and only remember this, “You are shy…but you have a lot of confidence in yourself”.  Another thing that I have noticed was that the psychics read my body language.  Here is another example from one my many experiences, two different psychics one said I had a lot of confidence and I was more of a leader.  The other said I lacked confidence and I was a follower.  Two different psychic two different readings, how? The answer is simple, body language.  The first psychic I sat up strait, hands folded gently in my lap, and I always looked at her in the eyes.  The second psychic, I slouched, arms crossed and I always looked either at the cards she was “reading” or at my lap.  Different body language resulted in different readings, so if anyone ever goes to a psychic watch how you act as what you say to the psychic.     

1 comment:

  1. When I was younger, I used to swear by psychics. I always thought they were right and when they'd say certain things about me, I'd instantly be sold. After reading this and seeing what Professor Berg did with us in class, I'm a little bit of a skeptic now. I can't believe all the money I've shelled out over the years to be told such generic things that could fit anyone. A part of me still wants to believe in people, such as John Edward and LilyDale but I'm slowly starting to not believe in it all together. Thank you for posting about this, it was very interesting to read.

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