Fraudulent Psychics & Mediums

[Frideswide]

, the jury found Paget guilty, by a majority, of the first count and returned a not guilty verdict on the second count. She was jailed for a year by Judge Pauline Codd on July 10 last.

Interesting. Does this reflect the quality of the evidence or a belief that she was being truthful when she said that? Or that she never said it or...?

 

[ramonmercado]

Interesting. Does this reflect the quality of the evidence or a belief that she was being truthful when she said that? Or that she never said it or...?

Ir's kind of involved, the appeal court went into some detail about the two verdicts, it's in the article at the link.

 

[Mr Bleak]

The fraudulent mediums act was replaced in May 2008 by Schedule 4 of the Consumer Protection Act targeting unfair sales and marketing practices.

Wikipedia reports that there were five prosecutions under this Act between 1980 and 1995, all resulting in conviction.

Given my limited experience with mediums and the number of them operating these days, I find that number incredibly low?

Just wondering, is there a common thread between the five prosecutions in the sense of large amounts of money changing hands ? Or the vulnerability of those who have been targeted by 'unfair sales and marketing practices' ? Perhaps both.
There has often been a show biz side to mediumship, more akin to entertainment. I really don't know at one point if at all the law should step in to protect people from their own choices, how ill advised they might seem to others.

 

[Mr Bleak]

I remember a number of years ago attending a talk by someone from 'The Good Thinking Society', based in Merseyside. I don't know if they are still going. But stumbled upon a video they made titled 'Palm reader gives identical reading to four different investigators'.
Quite entertaining if nothing else.
I am sure that when I was a teenager I found a book in the local library by the famous palm reader Cheiro otherwise not a subject I have taken much interest in.

Palm Reader

Good Thinking Society ( background to video)

​

 

[Mr Bleak]

Following on from the above post re 'Good Thinking Society where art thou' ? Found another of their videos, this time their attempt to expose the claims and practices of American televangelist & alleged spiritual healer Peter Popoff, focusing on his visit to Britain in 2015 .

Found this one quite alarming: I honestly don't know if healing can never ever work, but follow the maxim 'extraordinary claims need extraordinary levels of evidence' and find it hard to accept the statements that Peter Popoff is making in respect of his own powers.
What is more worrying is the endless targeting of his followers for money. Seems like a return to the Medieval cult of relics.

Good Thinking Society v. Peter Popoff

 

[Steven]

I had to sit through a couple of U.S. evangelistic-type videos as part of a course. I found the hyperactive, hard-sell style of the evangelists deeply off-putting - even if these people happen to be sincere and honest, their awful style made me doubt it. More swift than slick, the routines just seemed like crass showmanship (one actually used a stand-up-comedian technique). How on Earth anyone's ever convinced by all this, I don't know.

EDIT: What I especially disliked is that the actual & intended audience were young (and, naturally, unworldly) people, not even out of school. It appeared highly manipulative.

 

[Mr Bleak]

I had to sit through a couple of U.S. evangelistic-type videos as part of a course. I found the hyperactive, hard-sell style of the evangelists deeply off-putting - even if these people happen to be sincere and honest, their awful style made me doubt it. More swift than slick, the routines just seemed like crass showmanship (one actually used a stand-up-comedian technique). How on Earth anyone's ever convinced by all this, I don't know.

EDIT: What I especially disliked is that the actual & intended audience were young (and, naturally, unworldly) people, not even out of school. It appeared highly manipulative.

Indeed, but also worrying to see that Peter Popoff's actual and intended audience appeared to be people suffering from various health conditions, some quite severe. Also the endless mailshots requesting money in exchange for dubious 'benefits' is very concerning.
I think part of the reason people are attracted to such evangelism is that they desperately crave something to believe in. Nothing wrong with that in my humble opinion, but once they start abandoning critical thinking, it all becomes rather sad.

 

[escargot]

'Palm reader gives identical reading to four different investigators'.

This correlates with the Barnum Effect.

Wiki page on it -
Barnum effect

The Barnum effect, also called the Forer effect or, less commonly, the Barnum–Forer effect, is a common psychological phenomenon whereby individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically to them, yet which are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people.[

This effect can provide a partial explanation for the widespread acceptance of some paranormal beliefs and practices, such as astrology, fortune telling, aura reading, and some types of personality tests.

 

[Frideswide]

I had to sit through a couple of U.S. evangelistic-type videos as part of a course.

how did the others react? and did you get a feel on how you were supposed to react?

 

[Steven]

I think we were supposed to merely understand it rather than be persuaded...thank goodness. Nobody was impressed. I wanted to assassinate the stand-up bloke.

Seriously though, I very rarely hate, but I hated how it was slyly designed to influence the young audience; even to the point of comparing their first experiences of dating with - coincidentally enough - becoming what is apparently a totally conventional Christian i.e. strictly conservative and submissive to (dubious) authority.

 

[Mr Bleak]

This correlates with the Barnum Effect.

Wiki page on it -
Barnum effect

Thank you. Time I read up on the Barnum Effect. Certainly intriguing to see how people can personalise vague data.
I suppose that as a sceptic I am fascinated how people often crave certainty and (understandably) want the best for themselves and those close to them. If a charismatic figure comes along and offers hope and quite clear and fixed answers to life's dilemmas ( prayer, buying some charm or relic, donating money to a movement etc) then quite easy for them just to become prey for more unscrupulous parties.