How to Avoid Psychic and Occult Scams

[SRW]

Avoid Psychics, was that so hard?

Apparently some people need more advice than what is reasonable (http://www.examiner.com/x-12989-LA-Occult--Paranormal-Examiner%7Ey2009m6d8-How-to-Avoid-Psychic-and-Occult-Scams).

Quote
In this downturn economy, there is an increased demand for psychic, occult and metaphysical services. The connection to an outside power that is immediately available for guidance is comforting in uncertain times. There are a great deal of good and respectable psychics or intuitive consultants (as some prefer to be called) that are able to help others and happen to be flourishing. At the same time, there are a few people who are using this trend to con people who are seeking help of their money. This drums up negative stereotypical images of psychics such as “Miss Cleo,” driving away people who could actually benefit from metaphysical assistance. The keys to avoiding occult scams are doing research before a consultation, knowing what you are paying for, and remembering that you have the power to walk away from a bad reading.
Endcrap/opps quote

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Avoid Psychics, was that so hard?

Apparently some people need more advice than what is reasonable (http://www.examiner.com/x-12989-LA-Occult--Paranormal-Examiner%7Ey2009m6d8-How-to-Avoid-Psychic-and-Occult-Scams).

Ah. That is so ******* useful. It's advice on how to avoid scam psychics -- with the presumption that you can actually find a real one if you follow the advice.

We share a planet with these people. :scared:

[Ashles]

Posting comments is nice and easy on that site. :)

[666]

Posting comments is nice and easy on that site. :)
You're right! :D

[Sideroxylon]

I'm going out on a limb here but I reckon "LA Occult & Paranormal Examiner" Ryan Omega might go about his investigations with somewhat less rigor than say Joe Nickell or James Randi.

[Erigena]

Funny this thread was here. I was just reading an article and shaking my head. Even when psychic ability has been debunked, believers still believe.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17284-first-twitter-experiment-probes-belief-in-the-paranormal.html

[The Platypus]

Psychic and occult scams are easy to avoid. 2 seconds of thought is all it takes.

[jasonpatterson]

As I posted in the comments on the site, this is one area in life where an abstinence only policy works best.

[HansMustermann]

Well, in the interest of gullible marks everywhere, here's my handy dandy guide to identifying psychic/occult/homeopathic/woowoo scams. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does it use one or more of the following words (or makes equivalent claims) in describing its product: psychic, occult, spirit (as in, of someone dead), clairvoyance, telepathy, hypnosis, soul, energy flow, chi, homeopathic, holistic, naturist (or "natural" in the same sense), detoxifying, quantum?

2. Does it claim to tell you the future?

3. Does it claim to tell you what's in somebody else's head?

4. Does its working depend on your belief or faith in it, in Jesus, or in anything whatsoever?

5. Does it have only individual anecdotes and endorsements instead of proper published tests to prove that it works?

6. Do its tests lack a control group?

7. Are its tests which _not_ double-blind or reproductible?

8. Does it attack the standard medicine, scientific establishment, scientific method, big pharma, academia, etc, as some kind of claim that its own product/service works?

9. Does it claim that its proponents have been oppressed, silenced, ridiculed, etc, by some establishment conspiracy/clique/etc, as some kind of claim that its own product/service works? Does its claim to glory rest largely on being the underdog, the David against the establishment's Goliath?

10. Does it claim to help against _two_ or more of the following, in a living organism: bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, cancer, auto-immune diseases, poisons?

(Solutions which claim to kill them all when you wipe your kitchen sink or floor with them, i.e., _outside_ a living organism, do not count.)

11. Does it have a disclaimer saying that actually it doesn't claim to do or cure anything?

12. If you feel a need to defend it, do all your arguments score a "yes" on the other questions above?

(E.g., you think that accusing me of being a brainwashed drone of the medical conspiracy somehow proves that your woowoo cancer cure works. E.g., you think that my lack of faith actually has any relevance to whether it's working or not. E.g., you think that some personal anecdote is sufficient proof.)

Well, if the product or service scored 1 (one) or more "yes" there, congratulations, it's a scam.

[Belz...]

How to Avoid Psychic and Occult Scams

Kill them.

[Twiler]

Kill them.

Thus demonstrating that they CAN'T see it coming.

[Ashles]

Apparently we are a bunch of "a bunch of sad little people" who have decided to "attack" "an author" regarding "an oft misunderstood topic".

I feel sad for people who "misunderstand" the topic. It's really quite easy to grasp if you have at least a tiny portion of a functioning brain.