Psychic Abilities....fact or fiction?

[Koda]

I'm curious to find out what you believe as true or untrue. Have you ever been to a Psychic? Do you believe there are true Psychics? Or do you believe they are all fakes taking in the cash? Do you believe in Mediums and the afterlife?

Personally, I believe there are different levels of psychic abilities. I believe that many possess certain unexplained abilities, but just haven't had the right person to help them learn the tools to channel in to them. I know the majority of you are familiar with orbs and such, as I have seen those in photos taken myself. Not just on the internet, but in photos taken by people I know.

There has been so much talk about religion, heaven and hell, fear of dying, etc. I just thought I would throw in another side of the coin.

I myself do know someone that has many psychic abilities, and has proven herself to me time and time again. The first time I met her, and keep in mind there was no money exchanged, she did in fact tell me things that happened in my life that no one would ever know unless I told her. So I will be the first to say that I do believe in the afterlife, angels, and psychics. Only because of my own personal experiences. Do I think that all that claim to be psychic are real, absolutely not. But I do think there are those that are gifted, if that's the word you want to choose.

This may get moved to General Discussion which is fine. And if so, I do apologize for posting in the wrong place.

[Fate]

I don't think that Psychics exist. The future is way too big and far to predict. You never know what to expect and if someone can tell the future? Well that would be playing God and no one can do that. It's clear and obvious that no one can predict the future. That would be the impossible. The future changes too fast. What you might think will happen might turn out to be the exact opposite. Real Physics power are no more than a joke. They just simply don't exist.

[Koda]

Not all Psychics 'predict' the future though. There are several that help with unsolved murder cases regularly with local law enforcement, they are used to help find missing persons, etc. So that isn't really predicting the future.

I don't believe that anyone can 'see' into the future either. But a psychic and fortune teller are two entirely different things.

[Dimi]

To some extent, I do believe in psychic abilities and people that are able to possess these skills. I've read a few books on that a while back just out of cursiousity. They say everyone is born psychic but some are able to harness and unleash it.

There are some people that claim that they are psychic and end up being frauds like Miss Cleo. But it's hard believing on who's being real and who's being fake by then claiming they have such skills. Psychic abilties come in different forms: Telepathy, Telekinesis. Premonitions, etc.

I don't know if I would consider this psychic or not, but I've had dreams numerous times about certain events that would end up happening later on where I realize that I dreamt thing similar to this. I also get this deja vu feeling like I've been through it. Anyone ever had that feeling?

[Fate]

Have you ever seen someone with telekinesis? I haven't and I'm starting to wonder about it. I, of course, don't believe in it, but someone might've seen it. It's just too hard to believe that there are people who can move things at will. That just seems impossible!

[Dan558]

Its a funny thing, I`m not ignorant enough to say that no form of it exists but I doubt in my life I will ever believe I truly witnessed it. I adore mystical abilities but I hate alleged users of them.

Its infuriating seeing people do "magic"(kinda along the lines of Psychics) and explain it as "It`s a secret" or some bullshit. If people really had these talents and believe in it themselves they should be doing much more important things with it then set-up silly little shops or preforming yet another venue of "entertainment". If it really is some sort of phenomenon people should say how they envoke these powers, should`ve the inventors of fire kept it a secret? No, powers and abilities as helpful as they are should be shared, not horded for personal gain.

So that being said if it exists then people who have such talents are selfish and ignorant to the fact that it shouldn`t be passed off as mere entertainment. Fake ones are fun as entertainment but should more often referred to as "tricks" it dosn`t really take away from the mystery and fun of seeing them and dosn`t make the user look as much as an arrogant prick.


MERGED POSTS


Oh one example of the type of use psychics should be open to is that it is said (i donno if fact but I`ve heard it many times) that Russians have used psychics in the past for such things as military operations. This is one such example that with an open mind could be cool and somewhat respectable. It would be a shame to only use such talents for war but its nice that they have been thought of to be used in such a legitimate way of life rather then entertainment.

Oh one personal experience is that I seem to have dreams of my future life it seems and I suffer from extreme Deja Vu when they happen for obvious resons. This has happened several times but for nothing important like jumping away from an unsuspecting bus or anything but like conversations with people I hadn`t met before (until the Deja Vu convo) or other such mundane activities. They arn`t always crystal clear but several times it shocked me a lot. I don`t think my life is so monotonous or boring that it is very predictable but I can`t really tell when I really stop and think about it.

It`s just a freaky thing that happens in my life sometimes (maybe other people get it) but I wouldn`t consider myself "a Psychic". BTW its not Deja Vu like it just happened a minute ago, the dreams come about a month or so before the events actually happen as far as I have put together/remember. I can`t control it, it dosn`t seem to be important and I don`t flaunt it (this is probably the first time I explained the whole phenomenon anywhere) so the opinion I expressed above can`t apply to me even if I wished it did.

Ha I realsied after I posted this that Twisted Arcano already posted something simular. You`re not alone! I have these weird precog dreams too!

[ecko]

Ugh...
The term most people use would be psionic...
Not psychic...
I'm not going into detail about what I know about it...
But I can tell you that statistics show by the age of thirteen, skeptical or not, most people have a peaked interest in an ideal of something extraordinary about life, be it magick, wiccanism, psionics, etc...
There will always be skeptics who, due to some life experience, religion, or whatever else, will disagree...
I'm not the best person to explain all this, but I know my fair share

[Changrules]

If psychics existed they wouldn't need commercials on t.v. to make people call them or go to them or whatever..

It just seems really dumb to believe in any kind of that nonsense..

And even if they did exist. What fun would it be to know the future...
And! if they are so psychic why would they ask your name or any other questions that they ask...

BS

[winterborn86]

Im kinda in two minds with this, i don't believe they can predict the future cos as thief said the future is big, and we make are own future through are own actions. You do get some people pretending to be physic, which is unfair to those who do believe in it, cos they are being takin advantage of.

But i do believe in mediums and the afterlife i just cant except that you live life and then die and that's its.

[Jin]

If psychics existed they wouldn't need commercials on t.v. to make people call them or go to them or whatever..

It just seems really dumb to believe in any kind of that nonsense..

And even if they did exist. What fun would it be to know the future...
And! if they are so psychic why would they ask your name or any other questions that they ask...

BS

Yes, because all psychic abilities work the way they do on TV. Good reasoning.

I don't believe in psychic or psionic abilities, nor do I disbelieve in them. Generally, I have to assume that people aren't using them, because I can't tell, but I really have no way to prove that. That's life.

[Unknown Entity]

I believe in Psychic Abilities. Psychic's or prophets have been able to predict the future for hundreds of years, my favourite being Nostradamus. There was lots of things he predicited, and all of them have become true. He predicted The Great Fire of London, the rise of Adolf Hitler (though from what I remember, he believed the name to be Hizler, or something like that - a very slight difference... O_O), both World Wars, Hiroshima, the death of Princess Diana, the attacks on the World Trade Center... many more other things that have happened.

Ha, now I know that I'm making sound like I believe in psychics because of this guy, but it wasn't just him that made me believe this stuff. A few personal experiences did. About 8-9 years ago, before my cousin was born, I had a dream that my aunt was giving birth. It wasn't the best of dreams to be having at that age, and it scared the crap out of me! So I asked her if she was pregnant the next time I saw her. She just laughed, and told me that she wasn't, and that she didn't plan on having a child for year to come. A few weeks later, she shared the good news with us. How had I known that she was pregnant, or going to be pregnant before she even knew herself? Then, she was convinced that she was going to have a girl. In my dream, she had a boy... And she did have a boy.

Now, here is something a little more creepy: The night she was giving birth in real life, I had the dream again, but thus time I remember it felling too real. I woke up, and asked my mum if my aunt had had her baby boy yet, and she told me to just go and get ready for school, and that the baby wasn't due yet. After school, I got home, and my mum rang and told me that she HAD had her son that evening.


Now, my brother has a friend, who thought it would be funny to see a Psychic, and see what they'd have to say. I remember the Psychic told him that there would be a death in his family within the next month and he will get something stolen off of him. After that, the Psychic told him not to play out until some date in October, or he will die. He left, still thinking this was some kind of joke.

Someone in his did family die, and he was mugged on the way to school one morning. Now he is scared to leave the house for anything.


So yeah, I believe in Psychic Abilities. There is too much that just can't be explained, and until this is ALL proven to be a load of crap - with I really don't think it is - then I'll believe it. I guess this is one of those things that you will only believe once you see it for your self.

[ecko]

The future's not exactly giant if you think about it...
The future could be a trillion years from now or the next second of your life...
I'm not in any way saying it's possible...
But if you think about it in smaller portions, it would seem a bit less impossible, would it not?

[Fate]

If psychics existed they wouldn't need commercials on t.v. to make people call them or go to them or whatever..

It just seems really dumb to believe in any kind of that nonsense..

And even if they did exist. What fun would it be to know the future...
And! if they are so psychic why would they ask your name or any other questions that they ask...

BS

You've got a point there. What fun would it be to know your own future. If you already know what's gonna happen, where's the fun of it? Like if the Psychic tells you that you're gonna die in 1 year, you'll just spend everyday thinking "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!" and clinging desperately to life. Then when the time comes, it turns out that you're not dead after all and you realize that you wasted a whole year of your life. I think Psychics just try to waste your life, making you believe the impossible. And if it's the opposite and you're not afraid to die, you'll live every day like it was your last one and then realize how ridiculous you were to believe such nonsense.

[ecko]

The ability to tell the future at your own will is bs for the most part anyways.
But to see certain things in a dream, and to feel deja vu, that does'nt seem so impossible.
To be honest, I have deja vu all the time.
I hate the feeling.
But some people say it's just your mind linking things to past happenings.
I've never had any events of foreseeing, but I'm good at empathy, though some people don't consider that a psionic ability.
And I've had a few spiritual experiences.

[WTFspin]

Of course Psychic Abilities are real.
=]]]]
Haven't you guys ever seen the X-Files.
=]]]]

[Cearo]

I stop in just to say a few things and shine some potential light on this subject...

The thing with some psychics is that they are looking at potential outcomes... things that could happen should someone stay on the course they are on... they are more like dedecuers... if that's even the right spelling or word, I've no idea, but they deduct what they learn from a person quickly, wether by actual speech, true power, or sheer bullshit, and use those tid-bits of knowledge to formulate a potential outcome of events.

Some are real, some are fakes... it's just like the deal with magic.. it's all on personal belief from either demonstration or word of mouth... the only person that can tell you wether it is real.... is really you. I'm a believer, in part because there are somethings that a human being shouldn't have any control over, or should not be able to do... and I have either seen or even participated in some of these things... and that's enough for me.

[Koda]

Some are real, some are fakes... it's just like the deal with magic.. it's all on personal belief from either demonstration or word of mouth... the only person that can tell you wether it is real.... is really you. I'm a believer, in part because there are somethings that a human being shouldn't have any control over, or should not be able to do... and I have either seen or even participated in some of these things... and that's enough for me.

This is very true. I too have experienced many things, and my first experience was when I was a child, 6 or 7 years old. Then again when I was 11. Mind you they weren't real pleasant experiences, but I was there, I know what I saw, and that's all I need. Throughout my life, I have felt things, seen things, and known things ahead of time. I am in no way saying that I am psychic, but I also know something about deja vu. I'm not going to go into detail, but I will say that those that have experienced it, well, it's not just your imagination. It's real. For those that don't believe in any of this, once again, we all have our opinions.

But I do want to thank all of you that have posted and those that might post after this.

[Kyo-san]

I believe in psychic ability. My grandmother is a professional Tarot Card reader (I suppose one would call it "professional" since she does it for a living...) and she is extraordinarily accurate. The only questions she requires for a reading are general questions like name and date of birth, for her records, because she typically keeps in touch with clients - they almost always come back for more.

She channels energy and emotions through the cards, which tell her what she needs to know. So... basically, from my understanding, she takes the psychic energy, and puts it to use for her. Which, I suppose, would make her an interpreter, of sorts, for her clients...? She channels pshycic energy into the cards, then the cards tell her what she requires, and she relays that information to the client. She really has a gift. But, in matters of "real-life" she can be eatraordinarily ditzy, so I guess one gives up a bit of their everyday common sense, to make room in their minds for their Gift?

She also says it tends to be hereditary... Wouldn't that be something? A queer psychic? Hahaha... I've already got the ditzy part down.

[Pete]

I'm a little torn on the subject, but I'm leaning to the side of it being bogus. I had a psych teacher in high school who essentially proved that the guy who talks to the dead is a crock. I can't remember his exact words, but I found an article that summarizes exactly what he taught us. In essence, fortune telling and the like is all based on psychology. You can manipulate minds in order to get them to see what you're leading them into.

Psychics fake spirit mediums, actually money monkeys - Sci-Tech


As much as I would love to, I'm not going to attack Edward personally. I won't mention the fact that his mother was a "psychic junkie" that took him with her to fortune tellers and hosted psychic parties throughout his entire formative years. What I am going to do is give you an outline of the technique he uses to fake talk with the dead. It's called "cold reading," the "cold" meaning that the psychic has no prior knowledge of his person. I'm not enough of a suave con artist to know how to do it to a single person, so this formula assumes you're in front of a crowd, the way Edward is.

Step One: Start with a name, and make it vague. Try guessing letters or "sounds like" type hints, and get someone to reveal their name. For instance, I know that someone whose name starts with a J is reading this article. Oh, excuse me, I mean the restless spirits of the dead wish me to acknowledge J ... Juh ... jay? I chose J because that has, in America, the widest spread of names associated with it. In your audience, there's sure to be a Jim, James, Jerry, Jack, Judy, Jennifer, Jules, Jude, or so on.

Step Two: Pick a corpse, any corpse. Well, not just any. Look at the person you've "been told to acknowledge." If they're young, say something like "the spirit looks to be an elder person." Believe it or not, the vast majority of young and youngish folks know an old person who died, be it an aunt, an uncle, a grandparent, or so on. People rarely come to hear their dead friends speak, so you're pretty solid if you assume it was a relative or spouse.

By now you should have the person convinced that their dead grandmother has asked you to pass along some important message. Otherwise, how would you have been able to pick them out of the audience by name? My suggestion for Step Three is to pick a special household object or a holiday.

Ask the person "Does December hold any special meaning to you?" or "There's something about some jewelry?" Most religious holidays are in December, but either of the people's birthdays could be in December; that could be the month of a family reunion, anything. If asking about an object, tailor it to the person you're speaking with. Women and men alike care a great deal about money, whereas men might care more about watches than necklaces, which will be prized by womenfolk.
Media Credit: johnedward.com

The exact nature of Step Four varies, depending on why you're trying to convince a sucker you speak to their dead relatives. But is always basically the same: Tie it all together and go in for the kill. If you're doing it for sheer trivia value, say "Well Jennifer, your dead grandmother wants you to know she doesn't care about the necklace" or something. On the other hand, if you're a greedy jerk, say "Well Jennifer, your dead grandmother wants you to ... wait, she's fading ... what ... well, she's gone. I can try and contact her again but gee, I sure could use a couple of hundred dollars..." Then, you know, go on and on until you've got all her money.

This 4-step plan is hardly bulletproof, but you can improve your chances of proving your psychic powers if you remember a few simple things.

1: Be vague. Never, ever, has a fortune teller walked into a room, pointed to a man, and said "Your name is Zephram, and you're here about your dead grand-uncle" unless they had previous data on the man. Pretend that the spirits are "here in the mortal plane but weakly" and just sort of throw things out to your audience. If you can't find someone whose name begins with J, grope at J-like names, such as Gerald or Gina. As an alternative, ask if that sound means anything to someone. There may not be anyone in the audience with a J-name, but perhaps one of the dead that they've come to hear from is named Jerry. Hell, maybe they drove all the way from Jersey to see you.

The vaguest ways are often the safest, though you'll need more time to convince the audience. Instead of asking about a common object or a special time of year, say something like "I'm getting an image of a building ... a low building ..." Who hasn't ever been inside a building in the past with someone who is now dead?

2: People will see what they want to see. If they want to believe that you're able to talk to the dead, you won't have to try very hard. Speak confidently and hold yourself seriously, and they'll never doubt you. At the same time, you can never, ever give them any reason to doubt your psychic abilities. John Edward gives a good example of this: After guessing wrong a couple of times about the reason a man was at his show, he began insisting the man knew a dead person who was an older man. Eventually, he bellowed out "Don't you not honor him!" and stormed off. The audience, being a bunch of chumps, believed that the man was lying to their beloved psychic and gave him dirty looks throughout the remainder of the show. Confidence is your thickest armor.
Media Credit: USA Today

3: Get a schtick going. No matter what the various religious instruction manuals say, no one is 100% certain what happens when you die. If you tell the audience that your answers are wrong because the etherial mists are clouding your vision, what are they going to do?

Leap up and tell you you're wrong? If these are the kind of people that believe you can speak with the dead, they're not going to be all that contrary to you telling them that you're guessing at "name sounds like" because the dead can only speak in pantomimes.

This is a plan for cold reading. "Hot" reading is a lot easier to do, and involves knowing stuff about your mark before you begin speaking with him. In Crossing Over, audience members are told to fill out information cards with their family tree and other personal data on it. The waiting areas have been said to contain microphones with which Edwards and his staff can hear what audience members are saying while waiting for the show to begin. Hot reading can be more subtle: facial reactions, mannerisms, the style of dress, accents, all sorts of little things scream details about a person. Anyone with any skill can use this data to score hit after hit and, more likely than not, get a wad of cash out of it in the process.

So there you have it. A 4 step plan with 3 general reminders that will enable you to convince any dupe that the grave hinders not your eloquence. Why did I lay all this out for you? I'm not naive enough to think that when this column gets published, the millions we spend yearly on psychic hot-lines will be pulled out and invested in research at CERN.

If you want to talk to a psychic for entertainment value, fine. But if you really do think someone you know can speak with the deceased, remember the plan I laid out above. You'll recognize it, or some version of it, in every psychic parlor, hot-line, and TV show you will ever come across.



At the same time, I think that horoscopes are also BS. Sure, there might be constellations that resemble the star signs, and naturally they will pass the sun or earth or whatever it is that they do. I simply find it hard to believe that all people born under certain star signs will have the same mannerisms. I also think that those people who read their horoscopes and expect things to come from a small paragraph are pretty gullible. They're written so vaguely, that if you reach far enough, you'll be bound to find something. "Why yes, I do have a business proposition today... I'll apply to a job!" "I'm having strained relations today... I can't drive worth a damn and I'm pissing people off left and right by keeping my left directional on!" or "Others may find you hard to approach because of the changing of signs... you're on your period and nobody wants to be around someone while they're pmsing.

Good day

[Chez Daja]

I'm more skeptical about this than believing.

Pete had a really good point. I actually heard about some similar techniques used by rookie Tarot readers who were in the business solely to swindle money with no regard for the customer. It was on the television a couple of years ago and I remember it pretty much influenced me to be even more skeptical than I had already been because the points it gave off were just too accurate to disprove.

I just don't find it totally logical that some people can contact the dead. I mean, prove me wrong, there possibly are a bunch of people out there who just might be able to contact the dead, but I'm not sure whether many of these would actually use this to help other people.

So my opinion is a little void because I'm on the fence, leaning more toward skeptical about whether or not these people can actually contact the dead.

[Confession]

You can't believe everything you see. Most of which are fake and not true. Besides, the X-Files are Science "Fiction!" Therefore, it's not real!

Okay, Thief this is a discussion thread, you posted in here WITHOUT providing any sort of discussion, seriously, your post count does not matter.
Also I think you use the exlamation mark a tad too much.
ALSO it's called sarcasm. Do you want me to teach you how to be sarcastic?

Sorry about that, but the post really irritated me.

When it comes to all these things about the supernatural and being a "psychic" alot of things sway peoples minds.

In some cases it seems completely and utterly insane to believe that there are such people who can do that. Do be able to read someones mind would be a very powerful thing. But with all these peoples gifts you never see them being put to any good use. Think of what these people could actually do, they could b a polygraph test that bever fails. They could find out the secrets of various people and help the community in so many ways. YET you never see these "powers" being put to good use, unless it's on some bullcrap psychic detective show.

Also you see people like Peter Powers and John Edwards exploiting their "gift" to obtain money. If John Edward could speak with the dead, wouldn't he ask Lincolin where he stashed all the gold?
And I think that it's people like Peter Powers who make it seem like a phony way to gain veiwings, as he can make control someone by clicking his fingers and saying "sleep" without any sort of concentration. IMAGINE what he could do to the world?
It is things like that which make me think there is no possible way that there are people like that.

I just think that it is fiction because all these people with these "gifts" are not wealthy and/or powerful amongst world politics as they could predict what happens next, they could stop wars, anything really.

[bosola]

I don't think I technically belief in psychics, but I suppose I could be convinced into believing that certain individuals who claim to be 'psychic' have a heightened sense of awareness. I can't believe in things like telepathy or astral projection because I haven't personally experienced them, especially without any sufficient evidence to prove that it wasn't a hoax.

I think that the concept of commonly understood 'psychic' power is as unbelievable, to me, as the idea of magic being real: in fact, it's probably the same sort of thing. However, I wouldn't instantly claim that all psychics are tricking their audience - as I stated, it could perhaps be possible that they have heightened sense of awareness (a 'sixth sense', if you want to fall into that way of thinking). It could also be theoretically possible for psychics to merely think about things in a different way to everybody else - after all, everybody is individual and unique, and considering the numerous other anomalies that have occurred in the human race, it isn't unfeasible - and through their method of consideration, they could perhaps be able to, for example, 'predict' the future, or remember past events they rationally shouldn't be able to with only the smallest amount of evidence.

Of course, in order to honestly believe this of all psychics is a little naive: somebody with this skill should, at the very least, be using it for a more important cause than contacting somebody from beyond the grave or telling some random person what they will be doing next Thursday afternoon...

[By the way, sorry if this sounds similar to anybody else's earlier post - I have a tendency to post without reading the whole thread...]

[Cearo]

As an on looker at this point, I'd like to say that being psychic doesn't mean that you can contact or speak with the dead... granted it's not too far off, that is one particular aspect of this conversation... after all, psychic's are rumoured to be able to delve into one's mind.... granted not always in the tradtional method, that stray's from my point...

I just wish to say, for the record, that there is as much difference between a psychic that can "Speak to the dead" and a psychic that can move not only small items, but psionically push people away from themselves.... call it psionics, call it magic, call it will power if you want... that's something you can't fake.

[Clint]

I know that psychic abilities, because in a way, everybody has psychic abilities. I have had quite a few cases of déjà vu throughout my life so far. I know there's a scientific explanation to déjà vu, which says that they're mental images very similar to real-life experiences, so when those experiences occur, one recalls the dream, making it seem like the event has taken place once before, or some shit like that. Though, that doesn't explain why I can predict what people are going to say before they say it when I recall a dream as it's occurring in reality. If I can unconsciously see into the future, then how on earth am I not to believe that psychic abilities exist?

Though, that brings me to another point. If the future is set, and it is possible to see into the future, that means that it is also possible to change the future. In fact, I have changed the future, because when I was recalling a case of déjà vu as it was occurring, I said what the person was going to say before he said it, which wasn't in the original vision, and it sparked an entirely new conversation which also wasn't in the original vision. In that line of thinking, that means that it is possible to travel through time. Perhaps not physically, but if the mind can somehow see into the future, than one can travel mentally. I think that could possibly be a type of astral projection, or something.

[Totakeke777]

Psychics? Hmmm... This is a toughie.

I have had dreams of the future, and they were very detailed. I mean that I could see it like I was there. For example, I dreampt of a culdesac with Victorian-style white houses. A few months later, there was an announcement that a new culdesac in the neighborhood was to be constructed. A little while later, the newly constructed houses looked exactly the same. It was very unusual, to say the least...

I also suspect I have the power to (don't laugh) make organic objects' energy/lifeforce more intense by saying or thinking a certain word (which I shall not reveal. Sorry). The plants seem greener and the grass seem to shoot upright. I have tested this since I was in 4th grade, and still use it today. Of course, the power is not nearly potent enough to summon a plant from anywhere. The intesity is subtle but noticeable. I have shown a few people and they also see the intesifying of the lifeforce.

Anyways, I think that those unusual powers can exist, but are rare and may not even be discovered by the user. INCOGNITO!

[DarkEternal]

Psychics... I don't rule out the possibility of their presence, seeing how television shows have shown them at work... Plus, I was thinking that since humans use less than 5% (I might be wrong) of their brains, the other 95% could possibly equate to something like psychic abilities...

I'm not certain, just my guess.

[KamiKazeKenji]

Oh, yes I do believe in psychic abilities and magic...
Most of those psychics out there are probably fakers... The true telepaths are probably hiding their abilities...

I mean, think about it, if your friend could read your heart like an open book would you want to be near them?

[Furore]

I personally believe that some who claim to be psychics aren't full of shit.
But I'm wondering if their powers are actually the ability to do unusual things with little extra effort, or if it's actually that they're more aware of everything around them and can make accurate predictions based on that.

I say this as locally some feel I may be psychic as I can predict things that almost always end up happening (though rarely more than a few minutes ahead of when I predict them). I don't see myself as psychic though, it's more that I'm very much aware of how even the smaller things around me are interacting. Radom things like how small bodies of water will join to form larger ones, the effect they'll have on whatever they pass over, noises (where they are, what the material is, an approximate proximity etc) and just crap like that. It's constantly going through my mind and I make predictions based solely on things like these. It's very limited though in that it can't allow a good prediction of what a person or animal will do (as their behaviour is often far from conforming). It's more I can sense what they're doing even when out of direct sight at times.

As for anything more than predictions (I'm willing to believe that some may be able to make them very far ahead if their mind can process it and they have the ability to process the information well enough), I'm willing to believe it if I can see it. I'm yet to see someone move an object telepathically apart from in videos which are often obviously fake.

[Pete]

I'm still not sold on this. Nathan, I've had similar experiences to what you've had, but I feel that I just chalk them up to knowing how objects will react, due to experience. Personally, I'd consider it along the lines of having a keen eye for detail, and just knowing how nature acts. In essence, we're both attuned to nature, maybe moreso than others, maybe not. As for knowing the sounds generated by certain things, I also feel like it can chalked up to experience. Being that we're all adults for the most part, we've been around different materials and different surfaces and the like, to just know what certain things sound like, especially if we have experience outdoors. Now, it's one thing to know that someone dropped a plumbing pipe on the floor, but it's completely something else to know that someone dropped a copper coupling onto Indiana limestone, without seeing it.

It's almost as if we just already have knowledge of what metal sounds like, or wood, glass, etc, when it falls. We'd also have some sort of knowledge of the general layout of wherever we are. If a glass shatters on a hard surface, we can assume it's the kitchen, perhaps the bathroom. Oftentimes, it's all just a matter of how well one pays attention to little details. People tend to overlook the little things, and they usually give away the most revealing info.

At the same time, it all could just be the fact that nature is somewhat predictable, even within humans, especially when behind the wheel. I can just sense stupidity when I'm in a car, pointing things out to people that they might not realize. Oftentimes, it might be just knowing that someone will cut me off, or it could be knowing someone is gonna turn without using their directional. People ask me how I know these things, and to me, it's just common sense. I would know that these things would happen. Then again, I don't consider this psychic or even gifted, since I just assume everyone on the road is full blown retarded, and will do the dumbest thing humanly possible at any time. So for the 5 times I'm right in a day, I might be wrong 1000.

I think that it's just a matter of generating so many possible scenarios for things in your head, that when we wind up guessing right, we feel kinda good or special about it.

Also, I have a knack for getting Final Jeopardy right... before the question is even asked. For instance, one time the final category was "classic rock." Immediately, I said "Dark Side of the Moon." The question was something along the lines of "this 1973 platinum album was originally going to be called 'echoes', but the name was already taken by another band." I wound up being right.

Another time, the final category was "wonders of the world" or something similar. Before the commercial break, I said "the pyramids" and wound up being right.

I don't really consider this to be anything out of the ordinary though, but I have friends who think I'm psychic. Truth of the matter is that some categories make it easier than others to "blindfire" at. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss.

I feel the same way about psychics in general, as the article I posted months ago states.

As far as ESP and the ability to generate fire and use telekinesis, I think that's all bullshit as well. It's never been seen, never been proven, and if anyone ever focuses as intensely as they do on TV shows, then a, you'll give yourself a coronary, or b, you'll crap your pants.

[Furore]

That's basically what I was saying.

I feel some may just have a 'greater eye for detail' than others. Myself I have a aspergers syndrome and am known for my above average hearing. On the flipside while I used to have equally sharp vision (often being able to do things like spot a pin amongst blades of grass) my vision's gone shitty due to bad genetics there and I need glasses to read or play video games.

I'm near impossible to ambush unless I don't consider the sound of a person a threat (which actually bit me in the ass once) and can also hear noises further away or just softer than some can unless I've been to a party or something and have that faint ringing which does annoy me to no end through not being able to hear so well.

My main point was that some real seeming psychics mightn't be full of shit but merely more aware of the things around them (possibly not in their own mind) which leads to them thinking themselves psychic. If they think they're getting psychic information and don't realise it's just the way they're interpreting things on the go, what other good explanations may they find?

And yeah, I'm of the mind that I'll see some abilities to believe them, but as there's so many reports of them which may be based on something more concrete, so I do find it plausible that some might have such abilities. I get the feeling it may be under 1% of people making the claim for some reason.