I dont understand these people who believe in these mediums and go to their shows or watch them on tv or who want these 'readings'.Why is it so hard for them to understand that all this is about as real as the flying spaghetti monster.
Your dead relatives dont hover around you 24/7 in spirit form waiting for these frauds to give you a reading and pass on messages.Neither do they suddenly come through to some auditorium in Bristol when beckoned by a 'medium'.
They are buried safe under the earth where they rest peacefully for eternity. They are not trying to tell you anything. You dont have to be wondering about what they are doing in their afterlife or if they are concerned about you from beyond the grave or if they are happy about your new dog.THEY ARE DEAD. Leave them alone and cherish their memories...
Sheeesh...Why are some people so stupid...
because they're people of faith who are desperate to have their beliefs affirmed. Not for nothing will you find mediums flourishing in poor northern christian communities, where there is poverty and faith - giving a plentiful supply of terrible tragic stories born out of poverty and hard labour and crime, combined with unquestioning religious faith. They're fish in a barrel. The "mediums" are scum.
And its the faith in the mediums that make them "work" With that Hollyoaks guy that kept getting misses, He got one bit of "info" correct in that the guy's grandmother was dead and he seemed thrilled and said how accurate it was. Actually the chances of him having at least one grand parent dead are pretty high, so as a guess its a pretty good one to go to.
Strange how the only information that he could get was either very vague or anything that you could find through google. And of course your backout is if anything doesnt hit, blame the spirits, afterall they cannot argue.
I;d be more impressed if he could go to someone totally randomly, tell them he has a messasge from a dead relative, and that message be something so totally personal, like a reference to a past holiday or event. Something that wouldn't becommon knowledge.
As for the trips to the bathroom, could be either nerves, or he finds it easier to contact the dead after knocking one out.
"Is that, (pointing to pantomime horse) the horse there?"
There were some good lines in that, and this sort of person is always ready to front up - any publicity is good publicity to these charlatans, absolutely shameless.
Sadly there will always be a steady supply of naive, gullible individuals, and as ever, plenty willing to take advantage.
They may well call themselves Mediums but I would imagine their bank balances are extra large.
My heart went out to the lady ("Pam"?) who had lost her sister. Her feelings were completely ignored and dismissed. OK, so she may have been taking part in an experiment, but she was genuinely grieving and vulnerable. The way the guy sort of "gave up" on her and turned on Derren was so insensitive....right in front of her, too. It was as if she'd served her purpose, failed to give the result the guy wanted, and now she didn't matter any more.
The thing that really gets me is when they get it wrong and say "I'll leave that with you...maybe something will come to you later." So, those poor troubled people are left trying to make sense of something else, perhaps torturing themselves even further. If there's one thing these people don't need, it's more of this sort of stuff to agonise over!
Hubby picked up on that straightaway...maybe to have a quick nose around....rosary hanging on the wall...'I'm getting the Pope'...never!!!
I'm willing to bet if you asked all the people he has done readings for they will all say the same too.
Infact, looking back at the programme, I think that is the reason why Derren asked for the loo when he first went to Joe's flat. I think it was a subtle sly dig at him.
i like the way he was sahying oh no im definitely getting paul or wotever name he conjured up-have a think about it like he wasnt wrong the other person was!
Hubby picked up on that straightaway...maybe to have a quick nose around....rosary hanging on the wall...'I'm getting the Pope'...never!!!
A lot of people also keep medicines in the loo. A quick peek in the cabinet wouldn't do his readings any harm. Ulcer tablets? I see someone with a stomach problem... and so on...
I don't know why you're rolling your eyes at me. If it isn't clear in my posts: I don't believe in mediums/psychics at all. I'm not religious, I don't believe in anything.
So you dont believe but you still write things as fact.
I'd just heard Gordon Smith had stumped a few people, and when I saw him live with 2 other mediums he was dishing out far more indepth facts than them (and Joe) ever did. However, I remain completely skeptical.
Anecdotes from memory mean nothing.
Just for the record he is as fake as the rest.
A lot of people also keep medicines in the loo. A quick peek in the cabinet wouldn't do his readings any harm. Ulcer tablets? I see someone with a stomach problem... and so on...
It also gives him the chance to see more of the house. If the loo is upstairs in the bathroom, for example, then he is able to walk up the stairs/landing, catch site of photos, mementos etc and just generally get a sense of the person and their life. People are so familiar with their surroundings that they forget how much material is out there for others to see.
Sorry, I see someone made this very point on the previous page.
Why would you go see a medium in the first place? Do you really believe they can communicate with dead people?
in my short-ish lifetime I have lost an unusally high amount of family, when you are overcome with grief you will do anything to try and believe that those that have gone are ok, esp if they died unexpectedly.
For the record, I am a normal, wife, mother, I am well educated. My motto is "you cant kid a kidder" but I dont care what anyone says..........you will try anything.....if you've been there then you would know.
Looking back over my sitting with Joe, I even got the tape to listen back to, I can think of many instances where he could have been giving cold readings.......but.......he did not know my surname prior to the evening......he was only told my first name and add....like-wise my mum came along too...he didnt even know her name (until that night) or add. Me and my Mum had made a pact before hand to give only yes or no answers, which we did for most of the reading.
I have lived in this house for 10 yrs, before that I lived in another town. It was in the other town that I lost my brother.
He gave me and my Mum my brothers name and the details of how/where he died. Along with some personal details.
I got Joes number from a relative...she was due to take part in last nights show and was filmed by CH4, as far as I know the reading went very very well.........BUT, CH4 contacted her and told her they would not be using the footage after all.
So really, Im non the wiser,Im under no illusion that he could be a fake, but I really cannot make sense of how he knew my brothers name and personal details.
.......but.......he did not know my surname prior to the evening......he was only told my first name and add....like-wise my mum came along too...he didnt even know her name (until that night) or add.
With your address he can find out your surname. Any investigation on you would have included your mum (he'd need to know if she was dead or not).
Why would you go see a medium in the first place? Do you really believe they can communicate with dead people?
It's because the dead have such incredibly interesting, useful and highly specific things to say. What could be more interesting, useful and specific than having one's dead sibling coming through and telling you what you already know?
Interesting? Yes, it's interesting the dead sister got the number of siblings wrong. This tells us the dead can't count.
Useful? Yes, it's useful to know the dead are all fine, and of course love us. This tells us the dead are self-confident, and comfortable with their feelings.
Highly specific? Yes. They're all specifically dead, and therefore lack the neurons and brain chemistry necessary to form coherent thought, have feelings or memories - and therefore certainly aren't communicating with Joe Power or any other self-appointed 'medium'. This tells us so-called 'mediums' lack ethical standards, and are willing to take advantage of grieving people prepared to grasp at straws in an effort to gain a personal sense of comfort.
I dont understand these people who believe in these mediums and go to their shows or watch them on tv or who want these 'readings'.Why is it so hard for them to understand that all this is about as real as the flying spaghetti monster.
Your dead relatives dont hover around you 24/7 in spirit form waiting for these frauds to give you a reading and pass on messages.Neither do they suddenly come through to some auditorium in Bristol when beckoned by a 'medium'.
They are buried safe under the earth where they rest peacefully for eternity. They are not trying to tell you anything. You dont have to be wondering about what they are doing in their afterlife or if they are concerned about you from beyond the grave or if they are happy about your new dog.THEY ARE DEAD. Leave them alone and cherish their memories...
Sheeesh...Why are some people so stupid...
Mediums try and say they're in your 'aura' so they're with you all the time. I think Derren completely exposed him last night, I thought the documentary was fascinating.
If there is any person out there who can proove this is bull shit its Derren Brown, go on lad he cracked that scouser big time and he could not handle it.
He gave me and my Mum my brothers name and the details of how/where he died. Along with some personal details.
I'm sorry for your loss. I suppose none of us can know for certain whether Joe is a complete fraud - I only believe he is fake because I've seen nothing to make me believe he's for real.
For anyone he's booked, Joe could easily sign up for geneaology websites or research into registers to find out about surnames, as well as births and deaths in a family. As for personal details, for the woman who we later found out lived next door to his sister - even if she had never met him and had lived in a remote country side, Joe could have found out about the Catholic information, and the seemingly personal info about her mother's strong faith, etc, from finding out that they went to the local church - then, just by an educated guess he could assume that the specific date he mentioned would have been an important date for them, obviously, as religious people. The pea and ham soup -- the woman didn't specifically say "Oh my mother was always feeding us pea and ham soup!" she just seemed to nod and agree, not specifically to the soup he mentioned, but to the general idea of her always wanting to feed people. Joe could just have been making a guess that most mothers always want their children to eat up and eat healthily, thus it didn't matter what specific food he mentioned, the point would still ring true to the woman.
absolutely everything he said to that woman was true of almost any catholic old woman in liverpool. It's like asking if there's a Jimmy in the family. 90% of the time, there will be.
Details of how/where someone died can easily be divined by cold reading. Just look at the Gordon Smith articles on badpsychics.
I'm sorry for your loss. I suppose none of us can know for certain whether Joe is a complete fraud - I only believe he is fake because I've seen nothing to make me believe he's for real.
For anyone he's booked, Joe could easily sign up for geneaology websites or research into registers to find out about surnames, as well as births and deaths in a family. As for personal details, for the woman who we later found out lived next door to his sister - even if she had never met him and had lived in a remote country side, Joe could have found out about the Catholic information, and the seemingly personal info about her mother's strong faith, etc, from finding out that they went to the local church - then, just by an educated guess he could assume that the specific date he mentioned would have been an important date for them, obviously, as religious people. The pea and ham soup -- the woman didn't specifically say "Oh my mother was always feeding us pea and ham soup!" she just seemed to nod and agree, not specifically to the soup he mentioned, but to the general idea of her always wanting to feed people. Joe could just have been making a guess that most mothers always want their children to eat up and eat healthily, thus it didn't matter what specific food he mentioned, the point would still ring true to the woman.
Joe told me things only my mum knows, not even big brother knows the things Joe came out with ! he is cool !
So, with such a glowing review coming from the immense intellectual titan that is Brian Belo, a man who thought Shakespeare was a movie director, he has to be the real thing doesn't he? :rolleyes:
1: That ESP, whatever it is, is not terribly amenable to tests or experiments as it operates in a way that cannot easily be subjected to rigorous methodology. Which, of course, means it is an unproveable proposition and so rightly remains scientifically contentious.
2: That Randi is an astute businessman and knows that his money is safe (though I know several people have offered to try but cannot fulfil the requirements then set for what proof would be accepted).
Point 1. The foundation is not interested in "how"; in fact, it states in the conditions for the challenge (my word) that you don't tell them the methodolgy. All it wants to see is measurable results, of even a subset of the paranormal poweres claimed.
Point 2. The foundation does not set requirements for the test. It attempts to reach agreement with the applicant over:
a) a testing method which will eliminate any suggestion of fraud,
b) a definition of "success".
If agreement can't be reached on these, then their application fails. Obviously, if people feel they can't meet a definition of success, then that suggests their "powers" don't exist.
Comments
Plenty about him on this site:
http://badpsychics.co.uk/thefraudfiles/search.php?query=Gordon+Smith&mid=2&action=showall&andor=AND
....and overweight!
Your dead relatives dont hover around you 24/7 in spirit form waiting for these frauds to give you a reading and pass on messages.Neither do they suddenly come through to some auditorium in Bristol when beckoned by a 'medium'.
They are buried safe under the earth where they rest peacefully for eternity. They are not trying to tell you anything. You dont have to be wondering about what they are doing in their afterlife or if they are concerned about you from beyond the grave or if they are happy about your new dog.THEY ARE DEAD. Leave them alone and cherish their memories...
Sheeesh...Why are some people so stupid...
Strange how the only information that he could get was either very vague or anything that you could find through google. And of course your backout is if anything doesnt hit, blame the spirits, afterall they cannot argue.
I;d be more impressed if he could go to someone totally randomly, tell them he has a messasge from a dead relative, and that message be something so totally personal, like a reference to a past holiday or event. Something that wouldn't becommon knowledge.
As for the trips to the bathroom, could be either nerves, or he finds it easier to contact the dead after knocking one out.
"I knew it was bull**** because I'm psychic."
"Is that, (pointing to pantomime horse) the horse there?"
There were some good lines in that, and this sort of person is always ready to front up - any publicity is good publicity to these charlatans, absolutely shameless.
Sadly there will always be a steady supply of naive, gullible individuals, and as ever, plenty willing to take advantage.
They may well call themselves Mediums but I would imagine their bank balances are extra large.
Hubby picked up on that straightaway...maybe to have a quick nose around....rosary hanging on the wall...'I'm getting the Pope'...never!!!
The thing that really gets me is when they get it wrong and say "I'll leave that with you...maybe something will come to you later." So, those poor troubled people are left trying to make sense of something else, perhaps torturing themselves even further. If there's one thing these people don't need, it's more of this sort of stuff to agonise over!
I'm willing to bet if you asked all the people he has done readings for they will all say the same too.
Infact, looking back at the programme, I think that is the reason why Derren asked for the loo when he first went to Joe's flat. I think it was a subtle sly dig at him.
wot a horrible little man
I'm getting something starting with 'D...' Is there a 'Domestos' in your life? No? A 'Duck'? 'Toilet Duck?' Something connected with bleach?
He's pbviosuly a fraud but God, 40 quid a session, he's not exactly Goldman Sachs is he?
A lot of people also keep medicines in the loo. A quick peek in the cabinet wouldn't do his readings any harm. Ulcer tablets? I see someone with a stomach problem... and so on...
So you dont believe but you still write things as fact.
Anecdotes from memory mean nothing.
Just for the record he is as fake as the rest.
It also gives him the chance to see more of the house. If the loo is upstairs in the bathroom, for example, then he is able to walk up the stairs/landing, catch site of photos, mementos etc and just generally get a sense of the person and their life. People are so familiar with their surroundings that they forget how much material is out there for others to see.
Sorry, I see someone made this very point on the previous page.
in my short-ish lifetime I have lost an unusally high amount of family, when you are overcome with grief you will do anything to try and believe that those that have gone are ok, esp if they died unexpectedly.
For the record, I am a normal, wife, mother, I am well educated. My motto is "you cant kid a kidder" but I dont care what anyone says..........you will try anything.....if you've been there then you would know.
Looking back over my sitting with Joe, I even got the tape to listen back to, I can think of many instances where he could have been giving cold readings.......but.......he did not know my surname prior to the evening......he was only told my first name and add....like-wise my mum came along too...he didnt even know her name (until that night) or add. Me and my Mum had made a pact before hand to give only yes or no answers, which we did for most of the reading.
I have lived in this house for 10 yrs, before that I lived in another town. It was in the other town that I lost my brother.
He gave me and my Mum my brothers name and the details of how/where he died. Along with some personal details.
I got Joes number from a relative...she was due to take part in last nights show and was filmed by CH4, as far as I know the reading went very very well.........BUT, CH4 contacted her and told her they would not be using the footage after all.
So really, Im non the wiser,Im under no illusion that he could be a fake, but I really cannot make sense of how he knew my brothers name and personal details.
With your address he can find out your surname. Any investigation on you would have included your mum (he'd need to know if she was dead or not).
as for your brother im niot sure but research can be done on these things its not impossible
It's because the dead have such incredibly interesting, useful and highly specific things to say. What could be more interesting, useful and specific than having one's dead sibling coming through and telling you what you already know?
Interesting? Yes, it's interesting the dead sister got the number of siblings wrong. This tells us the dead can't count.
Useful? Yes, it's useful to know the dead are all fine, and of course love us. This tells us the dead are self-confident, and comfortable with their feelings.
Highly specific? Yes. They're all specifically dead, and therefore lack the neurons and brain chemistry necessary to form coherent thought, have feelings or memories - and therefore certainly aren't communicating with Joe Power or any other self-appointed 'medium'. This tells us so-called 'mediums' lack ethical standards, and are willing to take advantage of grieving people prepared to grasp at straws in an effort to gain a personal sense of comfort.
Mediums try and say they're in your 'aura' so they're with you all the time. I think Derren completely exposed him last night, I thought the documentary was fascinating.
For anyone he's booked, Joe could easily sign up for geneaology websites or research into registers to find out about surnames, as well as births and deaths in a family. As for personal details, for the woman who we later found out lived next door to his sister - even if she had never met him and had lived in a remote country side, Joe could have found out about the Catholic information, and the seemingly personal info about her mother's strong faith, etc, from finding out that they went to the local church - then, just by an educated guess he could assume that the specific date he mentioned would have been an important date for them, obviously, as religious people. The pea and ham soup -- the woman didn't specifically say "Oh my mother was always feeding us pea and ham soup!" she just seemed to nod and agree, not specifically to the soup he mentioned, but to the general idea of her always wanting to feed people. Joe could just have been making a guess that most mothers always want their children to eat up and eat healthily, thus it didn't matter what specific food he mentioned, the point would still ring true to the woman.
Details of how/where someone died can easily be divined by cold reading. Just look at the Gordon Smith articles on badpsychics.
Thank-you luvinluka.....sadly I think your right.
So, with such a glowing review coming from the immense intellectual titan that is Brian Belo, a man who thought Shakespeare was a movie director, he has to be the real thing doesn't he? :rolleyes:
Point 1. The foundation is not interested in "how"; in fact, it states in the conditions for the challenge (my word) that you don't tell them the methodolgy. All it wants to see is measurable results, of even a subset of the paranormal poweres claimed.
Point 2. The foundation does not set requirements for the test. It attempts to reach agreement with the applicant over:
a) a testing method which will eliminate any suggestion of fraud,
b) a definition of "success".
If agreement can't be reached on these, then their application fails. Obviously, if people feel they can't meet a definition of success, then that suggests their "powers" don't exist.