Cold Reading, Talking to the Dead
Methods of Cold Reading
Orson Welles on Cold Reading
There are people, known as mediums, who claim to be able to communicate
with the dead. They say that they can talk with the spirits and relay
for us. This is not new; mediums were in business 100 years ago and earlier.
The technology changes but the basic idea doesn't. Highly recommended:
The Skeptical Inquirer for March and April 2003, "William S. Marrriott's
Gambols with the Ghosts." Read about a magician exposing phoney mediums
nearly 100 years ago. The story is a great read.
We watched a video parody of John Edward. It explained the technique of
cold reading, which is the method psychics use. It is an art and requires
practice and the memorization of a large number of facts. For example,
the medium might say, "I'm getting J or G. There's somebody important
to you whose name begins with J or G." The subject usually is
surprised, and names the person. What you didn't know is that J and G
are VERY common initials.
Another example has the medium looking at someone who is obviously over
60 years of age and saying "Your father has passed." If someone is over
60, that is very likely to be true! If the medium guesses this, the odds
of being right are good. Another guess was "Your father passed before your
mother." Also highly likely to be true. Not always, but the odds are good.
Video: Crossing Over with John Edward
Analyzing a Medium
We watched a medium at work. It is instructive to analyze the performance.
Everyone got a sheet of paper and divided it into three columns: "right,"
"wrong," and "question." The procedure is to watch the video and note
every time the medium makes a correct guess, a wrong guess, or asks a question.
At the end, the wrong and question columns were full. Once you are aware
of the methods of cold reading, you can spot them quickly.
An Important Point
This is very important enough. When you come up against a claim
that someone can read your mind, talk to the dead, read a person from a
photograph, or other psychic stunt, think carefully about it. Here's
how to do it.
- Consider the claim. What does it imply? Imagine what someone who
could REALLY do what they claim would actually do. You might even write
down a description of what you would expect if the claim were true.
- Observe what actually happens. Watch and listen carefully.
- Compare the claim to the performance. Do this carefully. If the actual
performance is far short of what the claim implies, you are absolutely on
solid ground if you conclude that the claim is false.
A "psychic" who asks questions, makes guesses (often wrong) and fishes for
information is NOT doing what a true psychic would do. Think about it!
Video: James Randi from
"The Search for the Chimera"
SMU Collegium
da Vinci talk (1:34:30)
We started with a piece of the James Randi lecture in which he talked
about these mediums. He described the process of cold reading. Randi
also described the psychology of the situation. The people who go to these
mediums have a deep psychological need for the medium to be right.
They WANT him to be right, to succeed. They will forgive and ignore some
extremely bad performances if a few shrewd guesses actually work.
If you are interested in cold reading, magician's suppliers sell how-to books.
We have provided a link to one below.
Our goal is simple: You will
be able to recognize cold reading when you see it, and therefore not be
fooled into thinking that the practitioner is "psychic."
Video: MSNBC Investigates -- John Edward, Gary Schwartz, George Anderson
Video: Sylvia Browne on Larry King's Show
The Sylvia Browne Clock
at James Randi's site tracks the number of days since Browne accepted
Randi's $1 million challenge. When will she submit to the test?
Video: Kathlyn Rhea
Rhea is the psychic who claims that she helped solve the Polly Klass disappearance
case. Police reported that she was actually of no help whatever and that they
finally solved the mystery with good old-fashioned police work.
- The FBI says that no psychic has EVER helped to solve a crime.
Psychic testimony is not admissible in court.
The CourtTV channel has a show called "Psychic Detectives". Is it a
good idea to schedule nonsense on a channel devoted to justice?
Video: Sonya
Fitzpatrick, the Pet Psychic (with guest John Edward!)
We note the uncritical acceptance by most media (there are some exceptions)
of the various psychics. There is no follow-up checking to see if there
is any validity to it.
See
"How Pet Psychics Work" in HowStuffWorks.
Skeptical Reporter John Stossel - One of the Exceptions
ABC News 20/20 did a segment called "More Myth-Busting" dated March 22.
John Stossel investigates 10 modern myths. Myth #7 concerns psychics
and the location of missing persons. Check this one out - it's good.
ABC Myth-Busting
TV "Psychic" Noreen Renier
- Skeptical Articles on "Psychic Detective" Noreen Renier by Gary Posner
- A Mind for Murdergate: "psychic clues" audaciously altered in new edition of Renier memoir by Gary Posner, Skeptical Inquirer 32.6 (Nov-Dec 2008): p61(2).
- These files may be 'real-life'--but is she really 'psychic'?(A Mind for Murder: The Real-Life Files of a Psychic Investigator) - Gary Posner reviews Noreen Reiner's "book"
- AMindForMurder.com by John Merrell - TV crime psychic detective and America's missing person medium Noreen Renier:
A Mind For Murder or intuitive psychic charades?
Some Resources
CSICOP (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal)
Publishes the Skeptical Inquirer, an EXCELLENT magazine containing articles that
investigate all kinds of pseudo-science. They have an excellent on-line site.
Here are some references.
Here are some more varied references.
In addition to the above web sites, also look at The Skeptical inquirer for September
and October 2003. Read the article "They See Dead People - Or Do They?" for a
description of a first-hand investigation of John Edward. (Now in our course pack!)
Here's that article.