I have a lot of respect for Montel Williams, but he really needs to quit backing Sylvia Browne.  She’s just a waste of time.

Having done a bit of this stuff in my 20s I know that possibilities exist.
At the time I was too blown away by the potentials of the ‘power’ but more so by the responsibilities that came with this power to continue on the path to … practice makes ‘perfect’.
I knew I was a destructive ratbag and if I was let loose with power like that it would drive me into the hole and self-destruct, taking as much of what I could with me.
I was never concerned about destroying me, that was a given – but part of me still retained a certain Noblesse Oblige toward others … even though another part of me only saw others as only something to step on during my journey.
As it turned out, I did ‘drive into a hole’ but it was of my own choice with my physical and mental eyes wide-open and without causing as much pain as I could have caused others.

One of the things I did learn was that when money becomes the central issue one loses one’s ‘centre’ as well as one’s ability to focus.
That could mean, and be, the centre of power but not necessarily.
In any case one becomes a common amoral materialistic sincerity-faking whore.
I’d love to think I got past that. 

If people weren’t so hung up about the word ‘physicic’ they would do what they do with every other profession, look at their track record.  I don’t care if they call themselves Muffin worshippers, psychics, gerbils in human form, Vegans or just really smart people.  If they are right almost all the time, I’ll pay attention to them.  If they’re wrong, I’ll stay away from them.  It’s really that simple, and when you get right down to it, these people are mostly wrong.  They have just enough luck to be able to put their unspectacular successes in their advertising to sucker more people, but when you scratch the surface, that’s all they have.

lol @ at the “gee, she didn’t appear” subtitle

There are no psychics.  Full stop.  Anyone saying they have such powers is deluded or lying, and possibly both at the same time.

If there were people with such powers, they would be richer than Croesus with all the buried treasure, stock and business deals that they foresaw.  The only way these people get even modestly rich is by appearing on TV fleecing ordinary people.  Disgusting. 

dufus-a-roo

If anyone out there does believe in psychics, I recomend you at least get them to tell you stuff specific enough to you to prove that it’s not a cold reading before believing them - i.e. your father’s name, your favourite TV show, etc.

Don’t trust someone until you know you can - whilst I won’t dismiss the possibility that true psychics might exist, there are certainly fakes. If a fee is involved or a donation is expected, I would recommend staying well clear, a genuinely decent person wouldn’t expect anything back and certainly wouldn’t exploit.

Also I should say that if they were a genuine psychic but also a bit of an asshat in day to day life, I would expect they could well misinterpret or miss parts of the message because it would be beyond their emotional scope of understanding

I would be curious if any claimed psychic could teach me so I could see if it really does work for myself, but there is the risk though of seeing only what you want to see, and that may be what cold readers exploit

I wish I had something really meaningful to say, but shit, I can’t even feel sorry for the people she’s duped. The fact that you can be so desperate as to use psychics as a basis for anything is remarkable.

Really, who’s going to know better; an investigator familiar with the case, or a lady in a chair who is totally unfamiliar with the situation?

I don’t discount the possibility of the paranormal, just as I don’t discount the possibility of the supernatural. I do have common sense enough that I don’t make investments based on either.

Wow!  What a bitch…

There are no psychics.  Full stop.  Anyone saying they have such powers is deluded or lying, and possibly both at the same time.

If there were people with such powers, they would be richer than Croesus with all the buried treasure, stock and business deals that they foresaw.  The only way these people get even modestly rich is by appearing on TV fleecing ordinary people.  Disgusting. 

dufus-a-roo

I agree about the psychics - con-artists all, Randi would have given away his award by now if they existed.  As a post script for for Croeseus...he meddled with psychics (at Delphi), then lost his kingdom, and his life due to their nebulous advice.

My boyfriend’s sister Allison has recently come to the opinion that she’s psychic, and she invited us to attend her first seance last month even though she knows John and I think it’s all bullshit. She always struck me as a bit...off, but I wasn’t expecting her to go so far off the deep end. Needless to say, she’s now an avid admirer of the likes of John Edward and Sylvia Browne, and that makes me take great pity on her.

Patness: I can’t even feel sorry for the people she’s duped

The parents of lost children I could feel sorry for - you would do absolutely anything that might help you find them. Knowingly exploiting people with issues as serious as that is about as evil as you can get

As for the regular cases - well I used to be over-trusting and I can’t honestly say that I’ve never been excited by possibilities like that

LJ: One of the things I did learn was that when money becomes the central issue one loses one’s ‘centre’ as well as one’s ability to focus

I agree, when everything goes to pot you can do without the added pressure of paying the rent, it’s difficult to think your way out when worried. Money also means a great deal in terms of security - you havn’t lost everything as long as you have the food to survive

SS - I wonder sometimes what makes people believe they’re psychic, it could be correlation between thought and events, but when someone wants to believe something they unknowingly look out for evidence to support their case - I admit I’ve done it before and I believe it’s why cold readers can be wrong more times than right and still believed - people only see the bits they want to.
Then again if she’s seeing / hearing stuff it could be schizophrenia (Donnie Darko’s my favourite film). It’s possible that what schizophrenics see could exist, and it could be the rest of society that’s off

Here’s a quote that made me laugh:

When you speak to god you’re praying, when god speaks back you’re labelled schizophrenic

shes a loser and also I like your signature swordsbane, I’m going try that right now.

I just posted an analysis of Sylvia’s 2006 predictions on my blog.  I found the predictions on StopSylviaBrowne.com.  This is the second year in a row that I’ve tracked her accuracy - if you can call it that.

Summary:

2006 percent correct predictions: 4.9%
2006 hit rate : 3.33%
2006 false alarm rate: 96.67%

Bottom line: she tends to throw a lot of crap at the wall, but only about 5% of it sticks.  When she makes a positive prediction (saying, “event X will occur"), she’s batting just 3 in 100.

My conclusion, she should hang up her cape, and quit the superfriends, because her “powers” aren’t that super.

Oops - my bad.  I actually found the predictions at the bottom of this post.

I am amazed at how many people believe sylvia brown. It is only out of desperate hurting and want so much to(know) something that there is no answer for. Just listen to her, If you have any sence at all you know she full of crap! It may be that someone may be able to (know) the past or future but she isn’t one of them!

Sylvia powers are real, but her body is fake. She is Santa Claus, who gets bored when he is not giving out presents at christmas, so he shaves off his beard and talks crap on montel for fifty weeks of the year. By november sylvia has a bushy beard, ready for december. It is disguised with make-up and stuff. Why do people have to give Santa a hard time.