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Are All Psychics & Fortune Tellers Fakes?

An empath is what Counsellor Troi was on Star Trek. Was anyone called this before 1987?
 
The term 'empath' appeared in science fiction at least as far back as the 1950's. It was used to connote someone who could perceive another's general emotional / mental state(s), as opposed to literally reading the other's thoughts in detail.

'The Empath' was the title of a 1968 Star Trek episode.
 
was on a haunted house stay with ghostcallers couple years ago, one of their guys referred to himself as an empath, when i asked him what it was and how he knew, he basically described himself as sensitive, and had seemingly decided thats what he was going to call himself ...

gimme shirley ghostman any day
*sniggers*
An empath is what Counsellor Troi was on Star Trek. Was anyone called this before 1987?

Yeah, that's the one. I find this new 'empath' thing most amusing. There are some who are 'super reader' of body language - they might be super observant and well versed in reading those cues, and there might be those who can 'intuit' emotions, which could be (for example) be a combination of olfactory information (via the Jacobson's organ) and visual information that are passed straight to the limbic brain, interpreted there to give an emotional response to a dimly perceived emotional state.

But I think it likely that most self styled 'empaths' are just sad twits who feel stuff and and haven't worked out that everyone does and you're not really special, however much you prance about like a romantic poet with the back of your hand on your forehead.
 
The term 'empath' appeared in science fiction at least as far back as the 1950's. It was used to connote someone who could perceive another's general emotional / mental state(s), as opposed to literally reading the other's thoughts in detail.

'The Empath' was the title of a 1968 Star Trek episode.

But it is derived from science fiction, yeah? It might not be that different from people who identify as Klingons or whatever pop culture artefact appeals to them.

But Coal, I would say the self-styled empaths may have their heads in the clouds, but they might also be good at cold reading. Not mutually exclusive, but one could feed the ego of the other.
 
But Coal, I would say the self-styled empaths may have their heads in the clouds, but they might also be good at cold reading. Not mutually exclusive, but one could feed the ego of the other.
I agree, from the little I've seen of this new form of charlatanism, there is 'marked similarity' to cold reading employed with some prop or claim of physic ability.
 
But it is derived from science fiction, yeah? It might not be that different from people who identify as Klingons or whatever pop culture artefact appeals to them. ...

Just so we're clear ... It is the noun 'empath' (not the overall notion of 'empathy') that emerged in SF literature at least as early as the 1950's. This noun has also been used in parapsychology circles, but I don't know whether its use in that field pre-dates its citation in SF.

More generally, the concept of 'empathy' has been a topic of scholarly concern and analysis in the field of psychology since the late 19th century, when it was originally labeled Einfühlung. The English 'empathy' was coined by circa 1900 - 1910 (though exact attributions of creator and timeframe vary).

From that point onward 'empathy' was construed in diverse ways, resulting in multiple variants for what the term denotes. These variants don't neatly align as different shades of one concept. Some of them are arguably the opposite (in one or another sense) of others.

The variant(s) at issue here - i.e., the one(s) connoting 'perceiving / sensing another's emotional or psychic state(s)' arose from post-WW2 developments in social psychology and psychotherapy addressing interpersonal / social relations. I suspect these developments (and publicity about them in the popular press) were the direct inspiration for the SF writers in the 1950's.

Here are a couple of links to overviews of the complicated and somewhat chaotic history of the concept 'empathy':

http://cultureofempathy.com/References/History.htm

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/a-short-history-of-empathy/409912/
 
This Gypsy clairvoyant can't see future for palm readers

David Broadway, better known as "Gipsy Acora", has been reading palms for more than 50 years, but now he believes this ancient Roma tradition is dying out.
He said: "There are very few travellers that come into this world and take up palmistry. So in a sense I'm the last in the line."

Gypsy and traveller groups have said palmistry has declined as communities have become more integrated with mainstream society.
New generations are now less likely to be taught the tradition or take it up as a profession.

Video: 2m10s. Filmed and edited by Patrick Clahane

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazi...clairvoyant-can-t-see-future-for-palm-readers
 
A Gypsy fortune teller, to me -

'You've just been somewhere nice, on your holidays.'

'..No...'

'You will.'

Someone trying out her psychic powers once promised me a holiday in an exotic location. 'Maybe Egypt! I can see sand, donkeys... maybe Blackpool.'
 
A Gypsy told me in 1981 that I had just given a ring to someone. I had got engaged the previous day. Oh dear my past and future seemed to be clear to everyone - except me.
 
Our local most famous psychic told me in 1987, that I would marry a blonde woman and have six children, five girls and a boy.
At 17, I had no interest in having children whatsoever, and blondes were definitely"not my type".
I sit here now, married to a blonde (though her hair has never been its natural colour while I have known her) with a total of six kids between us... But five boys and a girl.
Complete coincidence, but it makes me smile.
 
The things I've heard about Blackpool make Egypt look like a relaxing destination.

Yup, I used to work with troubled teenagers and met some from the Blackpool area who had been horribly abused by organised groups. I keep expecting a big scandal to come out about it.
 
I made the mistake of dismissing what he told me at a subsequent reading and it lead to one of the biggest tragedies of my life.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's wondered about this, but is too polite to ask.
So I'm not asking. But I'm sorry for your trouble.
 
Our local most famous psychic told me in 1987, that I would marry a blonde woman and have six children, five girls and a boy.
At 17, I had no interest in having children whatsoever, and blondes were definitely"not my type".
I sit here now, married to a blonde (though her hair has never been its natural colour while I have known her) with a total of six kids between us... But five boys and a girl.
Complete coincidence, but it makes me smile.
That's the thing. You get odd correspondences and things which manage to be both "right" and "wrong" at the same time in an odd way that means you can't completely discount the idea that something is going on. This seems characteristic of the psychic experience - skewed or distorted information which manages to be in the right general area but also completely useless in some respects. Like a chocolate teapot - it looks like a teapot, can be nice to look at, has most of the qualities of the real thing, but just try preparing a cup of tea in it. Yet you can still eat it as chocolate, so it's not entirely a dead loss...
 
Like a chocolate teapot - it looks like a teapot, can be nice to look at, has most of the qualities of the real thing, but just try preparing a cup of tea in it. Yet you can still eat it as chocolate, so it's not entirely a dead loss...

There was a programme on R4 recently about teaching children philosophy, via the asking of questions. One question they looked at was whether it would be a good thing if it rained chocolate. They came to the correct conclusion.
 
Yup, I used to work with troubled teenagers and met some from the Blackpool area who had been horribly abused by organised groups. I keep expecting a big scandal to come out about it.
I wouldn't hold my breath escargot1 took me best part of 6 years to oust and get jailed a very violent paedophile teacher in Blackpool. Authorities did everything they could( and I do mean EVERYTHING including threatening me ) to cover up the paedo's activities. Fortunately these characters dont intimidate me at all. Blackpool is riddled and I do mean riddled with paedo and criminal activity- my advice to anyone is to steer well clear and keep any children as far from the place as possible. Humble apologies - rant over.
 
Our local most famous psychic told me in 1987, that I would marry a blonde woman and have six children, five girls and a boy.
At 17, I had no interest in having children whatsoever, and blondes were definitely"not my type".
I sit here now, married to a blonde (though her hair has never been its natural colour while I have known her) with a total of six kids between us... But five boys and a girl.
Complete coincidence, but it makes me smile.
The psychic told you what would happen and your subconscience did what it could to make it happen.
 
I'm sure I'm not the only one who's wondered about this, but is too polite to ask.
So I'm not asking. But I'm sorry for your trouble.

thank you for saying it madam snail......

peace to you and yours PeteS
 
The psychic told you what would happen and your subconscience did what it could to make it happen.
I agree that the subconscience can be a powerful influence and it would be interesting to test the experiences of people who have been convinced that psychics predictions have come true with their possible subconscience actions. In my case only one decision set in motion a nearly 20 year sequence of events predicted accurately by 3 people. I agree that this decision may (and I stress may) have been influenced by a prediction, consciously or otherwise, but the subsequent events I had very little control over. Strange but true.
 
I wouldn't hold my breath escargot1 took me best part of 6 years to oust and get jailed a very violent paedophile teacher in Blackpool. Authorities did everything they could( and I do mean EVERYTHING including threatening me ) to cover up the paedo's activities. Fortunately these characters dont intimidate me at all. Blackpool is riddled and I do mean riddled with paedo and criminal activity- my advice to anyone is to steer well clear and keep any children as far from the place as possible. Humble apologies - rant over.

Yup, I learned that the place is a well-known centre for child abuse, including filming and photography of assaults. One particular young teenager sticks in my mind for being sent far away from there in the attempt to keep her safe. She had a physical condition that made her look much younger than she was which made her a target for the child porn makers. Dunno what happened to her. After the age of about 18/19 we couldn't do much for them but she'd still be just what they wanted.

We used to tear our hair out over it all, us and the local police. The rozzers were brilliant and I have no doubt that they were on the kids' side. They really cared, unlike those of certain other forces.
 
The psychic told you what would happen and your subconscience did what it could to make it happen.

That would take a LOT of planning. You'd need to be sure enough in advance to have the right number/sexes of children and then sack off that partner and look for one with the exact matching mix to make it come true.
 
QUOTE="escargot1, post: 1688189, member: 519"]

We used to tear our hair out over it all, us and the local police. The rozzers were brilliant and I have no doubt that they were on the kids' side. They really cared, unlike those of certain other forces.[/QUOTE]
Glad you got something positive out of the local bizzies but that wasn't my experience at all- in fact they gave the impression that they couldn't give a toss. They only acted when I put them in a position where they had no alternative. When the whole episode in terms of the legal process was over I made my opinions well known to senior Police officers (actually to the extent that one told me he was scared of what I was going to do to them). Absolutely nothing has changed in Blackpool judging by the more recent experiences of others. As I said before I say when asked that people should stay away from the place.
 
QUOTE="escargot1, post: 1688189, member: 519"]

We used to tear our hair out over it all, us and the local police. The rozzers were brilliant and I have no doubt that they were on the kids' side. They really cared, unlike those of certain other forces.
Glad you got something positive out of the local bizzies but that wasn't my experience at all- in fact they gave the impression that they couldn't give a toss. They only acted when I put them in a position where they had no alternative. When the whole episode in terms of the legal process was over I made my opinions well known to senior Police officers (actually to the extent that one told me he was scared of what I was going to do to them). Absolutely nothing has changed in Blackpool judging by the more recent experiences of others. As I said before I say when asked that people should stay away from the place.[/QUOTE]

That's interesting, I hope this isn't potentially libellious and I say this without editorialising and will stick to the known facts. Seventies squeaky-clean singing siblings the Nolan Sisters were brought up in Blackpool. Subjective point - while some of them were undoubtedly head-turning attractive, there was always something "odd" about them that you couldn't really quantify. Just a hint of something not being entirely "right". You sort of felt somebody was trying too hard to project the wholesome Irish family image. Scroll forward to the early 2000's and the oldest sister breaks the silence with abuse allegations against her now-deceased father. (a man who apparently had influence in the local entertainment business - clubs, promotions, selection of artistes, et c). Reading this stuff about Blackpool and cross-referencing it - you wonder.
 
^^ Only I'm afraid a small snapshot of what happens in Blackpool. Not there aren't an awful lot of really decent people who live here- there are, but my observations over decades are that people live their lives virtually ignorant of what goes on around them, or worse, with their heads buried in Blackpool sand. Sadly the situation made worse by a Local Authority which doesn't give a damn about residents and a Police force which is largely apathetic. Really sad. Apologies for the rant but it's a subject very close to my heart. Back on topic my presence here and everything that has happened in the past 10 or more years predicted so accurately by mediums over the 10 years prior to that.
 
When racist tabloids and mediums meet...

DPp2R6JWsAA4jhU.jpg:large
 
QUOTE="escargot1, post: 1688189, member: 519"]

We used to tear our hair out over it all, us and the local police. The rozzers were brilliant and I have no doubt that they were on the kids' side. They really cared, unlike those of certain other forces.
Glad you got something positive out of the local bizzies but that wasn't my experience at all- in fact they gave the impression that they couldn't give a toss. They only acted when I put them in a position where they had no alternative. When the whole episode in terms of the legal process was over I made my opinions well known to senior Police officers (actually to the extent that one told me he was scared of what I was going to do to them). Absolutely nothing has changed in Blackpool judging by the more recent experiences of others. As I said before I say when asked that people should stay away from the place.[/QUOTE]

The police who were helpful with runaway teenagers when I worked in children's homes were in Cheshire; I had the distinct impression that the Cheshire police had made a solid effort to protect kids rather than ignore, dismiss, criminalise or blame them. Birmingham police too seemed understanding. Blackpool was just trouble.
 
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