Codezwiz >> Forums >> The Board >> Can psychics really see the past/future?

I�m sure everyone has seen the signs for �$5 Psychic Readings� in their town or while traveling elsewhere. What I wanted to discuss here were your thoughts on using psychics for more than just personal entertainment, more specifically in police and detective work.

There�s been documented cases in the past where police haven�t been able to solve a crime, at which point they turn to a psychic for help. What I find the most interesting is when the psychics they hire actually solve the case.

What are your thoughts on this? What about using psychics to help solve some of the current investigations (such as the Peterson or Hacking trials?)

I�m not an expert myself on the topic, but I�ve been learning a bit more from a new show on Court TV called Psychic Detectives. It�s on Wednesday�s at 9:30pm in case you want to watch it too.

~ Marysol

I can understand why police would go to phsychologists for profiles etc, but all this business of getting 'visions' about crimes is nonsense in my opinion.

Its a fact of life that nobody can see into the future. Sure some people can train themselves to pick up bits of information from a person and make educated guesses, but that's not paranormal. I've seen psychics at fairs, carnivals etc, and thats just where they belong.
As for the ones who set up shop in a town, they never seem to last long, and they never seem to be busy do they?

I put them in the same catagory as hypnotists.They are entertainers. What does bother me is those who claim to be able to make contact with the dead. You've probably seen them on TV, telling people how their dead relatives are looking down on them etc. That goes beyond entertainment and into the realm of fraud. People who are grieving are vulnerable, and looking for answers. They sometimes ignore the fact that there isn't one shred of evidence to support life after death, and even if there was, there's no evidence to suggest anyone could make contact with the dead.

Anyway, I've rambled off the track, lol. In short, no I don't believe in them.

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Originally posted by redhot_2oo3 @ Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:57 am:

I can understand why police would go to phsychologists for profiles etc, but all this business of getting 'visions' about crimes is nonsense in my opinion.

I agree with ya Red. I wouldnt put it past some of those people that claim to be physcics because it is impossible to actually gain knowledge of what a person has done in the past much less the future. If they were for real why would they be sending me spam to give me my future for $5 thru an email? Wouldn't the smart thing to do is buy a lottery ticket? Thats a bigger chunk of money than $5 is...lol. And as far as for crime stuff...a crimal pointing their finger at somebody who probably cut them off in traffic and they did a search on the plate number and just waiting for payback. And yes I referred to them as a criminal because if they actually had true abilities like that..why do they work at carnivals and stuff?

RedWolf

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All great points against the entertainment business of psychics. Here's one of my best inputs on the subject.
It's kinda like UFO sightings...we all see about them on TV and read about them but I for one have never seen a psychic work miracles in crime detection nor have I known anyone in 33 years who has empiricism on the subject nor do they know anyone. It's always the people that no one knows that make it to the media to publicize this stuff to unreal expectations. IMHO it is all media marketing to keep us glued to our TV's so we have to watch the commercials and to keep buying the magazines and newspapers so smarter geeks than us can make an exhuberant amount of money for nothing. Even the police shows are not immune to the marketing ploys, they hire hosts that are trained in the art of keeping our attention and to make stories sound grander than they are so we keep watching and the advertisers pay for prime time slots, it's a vicious circle of money making and the most creative wins the game at any cost...until next season

It seems like we all have a desire to reach for more than just being born, living a life and then dying. While some people look to the paranormal, others look to the bible, and some just read the daily horoscopes.
All these things have a couple of things in common. Firstly they all claim to offer knowledge, situations or insight beyone that which an individual can gain. Secondly they all have no scientific or logical credibility.
Why then are they so popular? I think the answer is doubt. We all have it, and we question our own abilitiy to banish it. We look for a point of reference, some advice or help to deal with doubt. What better solution than an invisible, totally anonymous and independant source?
It also gives us someone, or something else to blame when we don't get the results we expected. My horoscope said I was going to have a good day, but it sucked. The fortune teller said I was going to be rich, but I'm broke. But, horoscopes are still read, and fortune tellers are still taking money from people.
It's the 'just-in-case-it's-true' factor.
Small children beleive in Santa. They have no reason not to, and they are quite happy with the fact that this magical person is clearly different from everyone else in their lives. They only stop believing when they realise that society as a whole made the whole thing up. It was a hoax, to make xmas better. This news is usually a blow to kids, but, they get over it. In fact they handle and accept it far better than, say, some adults would if they were told that there is no such thing as psychic ability.

We are all looking for an answer, when I'm not even sure we know what the question is.

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That is freakin' deep man!!! <shed's tear>

Great post!

I know that 1 of Jimmy Carter's campaign promises was that he'd open the UFO Files but, after review he said, "The world isn't ready for this" and re-neged.

U guys have good insite tho.

I think that the psychics are frauds and really wish they'd take dat stupid show off of scifi. I'd rather shove hot coals up my arse than help him make a dime off of those poor peoples pain and loneliness.

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Originally posted by redhot_2oo3 @ Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:07 pm:

Small children beleive in Santa. They have no reason not to, and they are quite happy with the fact that this magical person is clearly different from everyone else in their lives. They only stop believing when they realise that society as a whole made the whole thing up. It was a hoax, to make xmas better. This news is usually a blow to kids, but, they get over it. In fact they handle and accept it far better than, say, some adults would if they were told that there is no such thing as psychic ability.

You trying to tell me that Santa does NOT exist?

lol
RedWolf

Psssttttttttt Matt....there's no Easter Bunny either...or Tooth Fairy.

Which reminds me of a funny story. My 11 year old recently pulled a tooth. Sometime during the day, he lost his tooth down the drain of the bathroom sink. He promptly came to me and said "Mom, can you go ahead and give me my $5 now since I don't have my tooth to put under my pillow?"

Guess he's not only figured out who the tooth fairy really is, but also how to get his money's worth and then some! I did end up leaving a dollar under his pillow that night. He pulled another one today. There's another dollar!

So anyway, my question is....who's fooling whom?? Are we fooling them by letting them believe in these fantasies? Or are they fooling us by letting us think they believe in them?

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Originally posted by Kelly_Hero @ Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:31 pm:

Psssttttttttt Matt....there's no Easter Bunny either...or Tooth Fairy.

Which reminds me of a funny story. My 11 year old recently pulled a tooth. Sometime during the day, he lost his tooth down the drain of the bathroom sink. He promptly came to me and said "Mom, can you go ahead and give me my $5 now since I don't have my tooth to put under my pillow?"

Guess he's not only figured out who the tooth fairy really is, but also how to get his money's worth and then some! I did end up leaving a dollar under his pillow that night. He pulled another one today. There's another dollar!

So anyway, my question is....who's fooling whom?? Are we fooling them by letting them believe in these fantasies? Or are they fooling us by letting us think they believe in them?

Hmmmmm... This is quite the day..All those friends of mine dont exist? Well you just wait till I tell my Leprechan friend on St Pattys Day while we chug a few green beers.

RedWolf

I only got a quarter when I put a tooth under my pillow. I guess I should have saved them for a few years...lol.