Psychic Readings

Television is filled with psychics. We have Medium, The Mentalist, Numbers and Early Edition, complete with heroes and heroines who dream, observe un-humanly sharply, crunch seemingly magic numbers and read the newspaper the day before the headlines happen. What shows like these and others have in common is the appeal to the innate human desire, belief, hope or conviction that we can transcend the limits of our own knowledge and reach preternatural heights. Psychics present themselves in other venues as well, in paid programming or cable programming, where individuals purport to be able to respond to callers with predictions about the future or to channel the voices of loved ones from beyond.

So the question whether psychics are real is a common one.

But first, what do we mean by the question itself? Certainly, psychics are as real as grocers or clergy or postal workers – that is, there are people who believe in what they do and who make a living at being psychics, tarot readers, fortune tellers, palm readers. But what we probably mean by “real” is whether psychics are in fact able to perceive in some other dimension, to foresee the future or explain the past in ways that do not rely on the five senses or on Wikipedia.

The answer can only be a limp “sort of.” Some people are unquestionably more observant than others, to the point that their sharpness, recollection, and analytical skills make them appear to be unnaturally prescient (the premise of The Mentalist or Numbers). Some people are more empathic than others and so can “read” the little bits and pieces of information that people unconsciously broadcast and then turn that knowledge into helpful “messages from beyond” or predictions based on what the seeker has already said. When a palm reader, for example, elicits during introductions that the customer has children, it should come as no surprise that the reader will predict grandchildren.

Uncanny knowledge and insight also exist that appear to be “psychic” at times. Twins, for example, may know exactly what is on each other’s mind and instances of feeling what the other feels, even from a distance, are not uncommon. But rarely is this form of psychic closeness credited with foreseeing the future or making predictions.

The scientific answer to the question “are psychics real” has so far been “there is no evidence that they are.” No convincing laboratory or controlled tests have been able to prove psychic ability. Challenges have been issued by various people over the years to induce psychics to come forward and submit to scientific testing, but no definitive evidence in support of their powers has ever been garnered. In fact, some scientists believe that where effects were shown in a lab, they could be explained by other phenomena such as the malleability of the experimenter.

People will go on believing in psychic phenomena in any event and the concept certainly makes good television. Besides, many have found their own real-life Alison Dubois – a psychic who is able to accurately see their past, predict their future, or communicate with dearly departed. Accurate psychic readings are out there – will you find yours?