Psychic Wit & Wisdom

by Victoria lynn Weston

It is impossible to answer all of the issues that skeptics raise in an introductory discussion. We will focus on issues that are more likely to come up in casual discussions of ESP and psychic readings. (victorialynnweston)

First, we will bring to your attention a group whose main purpose consists in examining and debunking all types of paranormal claims extending far beyond simple ESP. The organization is called The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal or CSICOP for short. It includes such thinkers as astronomer Carl Sagan, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, psychologist, B.F. Skinner, and magician/sleuth James Randi. Their journal, the “Skeptical Inquirer,” is in certain respects as biased against the paranormal as is the mind of the true believers in such phenomena.

Following are some of their assertions:

• Science has not proven the existence of ESP. While much has been made of early studies at Duke University, various doctorates have been granted for parapsychological dissertations, and the Parapsychological Association has been admitted to full standing in the American Academy of Sciences. Even so, skeptics still respond that little, if anything, has been proven at all. Most of the weight of their charge rests upon what one means by prove. The simple fact is that, over the past hundred years, thousands of experiments have been performed in areas relating to the paranormal. While there were outstanding results, there were naturally some negative results. But one can set the standards for proof so high that virtually nothing qualifies as proven.

• Skeptics feel psychics have merely perfected the art of telling people what they want to hear and of dealing in such vague generalities that, no matter what happens, it can be claimed as a success. If psychic readings were all of such generalities as, “I sense you are having some relationship problems,” or such platitudes as, “each of us has to deal with our own destiny,” then the circus is a proper place for such acting. But this is simply not the case.

Audio with Victoria lynn Weston: Can You Even Convince a Skeptic?

[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/user-736297812/the-psychic-reading-what-do-skeptics-say-1″ layout=”classic” comments=”no” show_related=”yes” show_user=”no” auto_play=”no” color=”#ff7700″ width=”100%” height=”150px” class=”” id=””]

The best way to handle this charge is to introduce a model of a sliding scale of specificity to generality.

Actress Cate Blanchette uses Zener Cards to perform psychic readings in the film The Gift

While one must take the overall purpose of a reading into account, an ideal reading actually encompasses the whole range. Some of the claims are very specific, such as, “Within a year, you will discover that your trusted partner is a crook who will be convicted and sent to Ft. Leavenworth.” Some are intermediate, such as, “I think you must be having some troublesome dreams recently.” And some are general, such as, “I sense you are trying to make some difficult changes.” It is simply not true that psychics deal in nothing be generalities.

Speaking of convergence – 

What about contradictions?

If you like to play numbers, simply consult a number of the best psychics you can find and let the majority rule.

Contradictions, especially from two good readers whom you trust, also provide an important clue to the dynamic nature of your etheric plane projections and possibilities. You may not have decided, either consciously or subconsciously, which direction you will take at a particular crossroads in your life. Or the direction your Higher Self would urge you to take may not be the same as you are considering. In other words, the contradiction may reside within you, not in your readers. No reputable psychic wants to be put in the position of deciding for you. Their job is to help you see the issue more clearly and to understand the implications of either course of action.

Skeptics will say, psychics’ hits and misses will roughly cancel each other out – which is what the laws of chance would predict. If so, then who is truly psychic? When your skeptical friend presents this line of argument, get ready to establish some important distinctions and ground rules.

To begin, you will have to agree on what constitutes clear hits or misses or neutral zones. Then you will have to decide how many weeks, months or years should be taken into account. A couple of readings is not a fair test for either the skeptic or the believer. Finally, your skeptic friend would have to be prepared to make significant qualitative distinctions within the hit or miss columns you have established. A spectacular hit such as, “You will receive a check for $100,000 next month from an unknown person,” is hardly counterbalanced by an average miss such as, “You are going to have car trouble in the next two months.”

It should be evident that it would be almost impossible for the skeptic to make good on this claim in a reasonably objective manner, given the importance of many preliminary agreements that would have to be reached. However, taking the matter this far misses an important point, namely, whether your reader did you any good.

One final matter regarding hit/miss ratios deserves attention.

Skeptics often point to the high number of spectacular misses registered by psychics who play to the readership of the “National Enquirer.” From what we can tell, there are indeed far more misses than hits with these public predictions. If anything, it represents an inversion of the average 80 percent hit ratio claimed by most psychics. For money, fame or other reasons, some psychics are willing to play the game of high stakes’ predictions, perhaps hoping to make one spectacular call (which they can then fall back on the rest of their lives). Such forced calls at a distance are, by their very nature, more prone to error. But even when there are a large number of spectacular misses, the hit/miss ratio needs to be determined in light, of the total number of calls, obth public and private, over a period of several months. No one appears to have done such a detailed comprehensive study.

Earlier we discussed the charge that ESP and related phenomena h ad not, in fact, been scientifically proven. Part of the rationale underlying that charge is the deep-seated believe that such phenomena just cannot exist because they violate established models and laws which we already know to be true.

This type of skeptical attitude is very difficult to counter, because it is very close to simply refusing to believe in advance. There is no way to convince a person who really refuses to look into the matter. For some, it may be possible to enroll them directly in some project, such as a course in psychic healing, a scientific experiment in clairvoyance, or a reading with a psychic who is completely unknown to them. Personal experience can soften things up.

If your skeptic friend remains at the level of just talking about whether such phenomena are possible, rather than directly experiencing them, it needs to be pointed out that the entire history of science is filled with defenders of established theories who have had to give up in the light of new data. Isaac Newton would have rejected Albert Einstein’s views. As the saying goes, “Today’s magic has a way of becoming tomorrow’s science.”

The challenge is to develop newer and broader conceptual frameworks that will accommodate not just paranormal phenomena, but also the events covered by today’s science. The Holographic Paradigm discussed earlier is one such example, but it is by no means the only one. In the end, it may be just the level of strangeness can subside. After all, television, rockets and computers would probably be no stranger to the ancient Greeks than psychic phenomena are to many today. My prediction in this regard is that, by the year 2,000 A.D., psychic phenomena and the psychic reading will be very much a part of our scientific, personal and practical outlook on the world.

Victoria lynn Weston is a valued intuitive consultant to dozens of business owners, executives and individuals. Victoria offers insights that help develop their company brands; expand business, higher the right employee for the job. She brings to the table, an open and positive attitude with a keen sense of acumen that will help propel you and your business.

Atlanta, GA.   VictorialynnWeston