Psychic Detectives

[anatta]

I watch a lot of those crime shows on cable. One is called "Psychic Detectives" on Court TV. As the name suggests, the cops are baffled by a crime, so they call on a phychic who supposedly sees things and provides clues which are instrumental in solving the case.

So what is the deal with this? Do you guys think psychic powers exist? It seems strange that detectives would spend time working with a psychic if its all a sham.
They must call on psychics all the time since they have a show about them where they are right all the time, and we don't see the times they are way off the mark.

I am skeptical, but I don't really know. What do you guys think?

[Reef]

It's about as real as the love between bachelor/bachelorette type reality show contestants

[lu_hawk]

south park has dealth with this very accurately.

[eric5148]

Actually, I have psychic powers.

I predict that there will be several smartass replies about psychics in this thread.

[Alobar]

If there really was anyone with psychic powers, they would accept the james randi $1 million challenge. not only would it give them a million bucks, but it would give them legitimacy.

yet none of them do. Especially that hack sophia brown who the cops use sometimes. She goes so far as to do everything she can to AVOID even talking about the challenge

[razor]

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If there really was anyone with psychic powers, they would accept the james randi $1 million challenge. not only would it give them a million bucks, but it would give them legitimacy.

[/ QUOTE ]

You do see the problem with this challenge don't you?

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

It is pure crap. I am still astonished that a part of the US gov't pays tax payers money to use these frauds. If anything they get in the way of real investigations.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

[ QUOTE ]
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If there really was anyone with psychic powers, they would accept the james randi $1 million challenge. not only would it give them a million bucks, but it would give them legitimacy.

[/ QUOTE ]

You do see the problem with this challenge don't you?

[/ QUOTE ]

I see no problem. Clearly anyone who can prove they are phsycic or paranormal in anyway should jump at the offer.

[razor]

Spend some time thinking about it...

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

[ QUOTE ]
Spend some time thinking about it...

[/ QUOTE ]

Done. I still see no problem. Would you care to enlighten me?

[PhatTBoll]

If you were really psychic,

a) Winning a million bucks wouldn't be necessary
b) Would you really want everybody to know?

Not saying I believe in that stuff, but that's why the challenge is bogus.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

[ QUOTE ]
If you were really psychic,

a) Winning a million bucks wouldn't be necessary
b) Would you really want everybody to know?

Not saying I believe in that stuff, but that's why the challenge is bogus.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is flawed.
a) yes. Donate it if anything.
b) yes, unless you have malitous intent.
c) the challenge is open to ALL paranormal activity. This includes seeing/proving the existence of ghosts, telekenisis, seeing into he future etc.

[razor]

webster on Psychic

2 : lying outside the sphere of physical science or knowledge : immaterial, moral, or spiritual in origin or force
3 : sensitive to nonphysical or supernatural forces and influences : marked by extraordinary or mysterious sensitivity, perception, or understanding


Seems to me pyschic powers, if they exist, might be hard to prove and quantify.

James Randi wants to use methods suitable for the study of the physical world to prove something that is, by definition, not of the physical world.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

How else would you go about proving it? Taking their word?

If you can predict the future or read my mind, it can be shown and proven in the real physical world.

Now if someone calims to see ghosts... well, they are SOL.


"James Randi wants to use methods suitable for the study of the physical world to prove something that is, by definition, not of the physical world."


i dont understand. do you suggest he uses psycic readers to prove it?

[razor]

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How else would you go about proving it? Taking their word?

[/ QUOTE ]

no... some things are simply unknowable... I assume anyone who claims psychic powers is a charlatan but I don't discount the possibility that such powers exist.

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If you can predict the future or read my mind, it can be shown and proven in the real physical world.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are making assumptions about that nature of psychic powers that may not be valid.

An example, someone claims to have had a dream about something that later happened... psychic power or coincidence? People that dispute the existence of psychic powers say that since not all dreams come true it is only a coincidence. But, who says it has to be this way? Why couldn't it be possible that every so often, for whatever reason, a person has a dream that is predictive? This of course, makes the whole thing pretty much unproveable, how would that person know if his/her dream was a regular or predictive dream? even if the person had a strong feeling about the type of dream what kind of success rate would make Randi, you or me happy that psychic powers exist?


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i dont understand. do you suggest he uses psycic readers to prove it?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm simply suggesting that his challenge is silly.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

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An example, someone claims to have had a dream about something that later happened...

[/ QUOTE ]

I personaly had one of these. I had a dream that i went to work and got fired. The next day i got fired. On the drive home i was baffled. I belive this was neither coincednce OR pyscic ability. I subconciously knew i might get fired sooner or later, and had a dream about it (i guess it was a bit of a coincedence taht i had it the night before).


[ QUOTE ]
Why couldn't it be possible that every so often, for whatever reason, a person has a dream that is predictive? This of course, makes the whole thing pretty much unproveable, how would that person know if his/her dream was a regular or predictive dream?

[/ QUOTE ]

Simple. If you have a predictive dream, or any other prediction, WRITE IT DOWN. Write down NAMES/DATES/PLACES/ETC. Noone in recorded history has EVER made an ACCURATE, SPECIFIC prediction of the future.

James Randi's challenge may be silly. But if anyone had any of these provable "powers", im sure they would jump at the offer.

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I don't discount the possibility that such powers exist.

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While i dont discount the possiblity either, id say its quite the long shot.

[razor]

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Simple. If you have a predictive dream, or any other prediction, WRITE IT DOWN. Write down NAMES/DATES/PLACES/ETC. Noone in recorded history has EVER made an ACCURATE, SPECIFIC prediction of the future.

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What if a person doesn't know if the dream is predictive or not? What if the person does know, how would we know if this was the result of psychic powers or the subconscious?

What if a person has 100 dreams over the course of 5 years that s/he deems predictive and 10 actually happened? One would clearly take anything that person said with a few grains of salt... but it doesn't prove the existence or non-existence of psychic powers.

I don't think such perceptions work in the same manner as our other senses, if they did I don't think there would be much doubt of their existance... but then they really wouldn't be 'extra-sensory' either, would they?

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

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What if a person doesn't know if the dream is predictive or not? ...What if a person has 100 dreams over the course of 5 years that s/he deems predictive and 10 actually happened?

[/ QUOTE ]

well, then you start to WRITE THEM DOWN!!! if you can ACCURATELY predict the future once or more in a dream, i think its safe to say you have some ESP.

[razor]

or the subconsious is at work...

that said... Jame Randi isn't gonna pay off if one person one time writes down one dream that turns out to happen.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

[ QUOTE ]
or the subconsious is at work...

that said... Jame Randi isn't gonna pay off if one person one time writes down one dream that turns out to happen.

[/ QUOTE ]

If the person names a place, person, event, time, date and or thing to a certain degree of accuracy then he sure as hell will.

James Randi is a very intelligent and wise man. He would want to be the first to know of such paranormal happenings.

Not to mention the prize money is not his own personal money, and his organization is entirely non-profit.