Psychic Nonsense

Living TV is making a very good living with all it’s “psychic” nonsense. This weekend was “paranormal weekend” with such shows as Street Psychic, 6th Sense with Colin Fry, and The Antiques Ghost Show (which I thought was a made up name when I first read it), as well as such American fare as Crossing Over, and Beyond with James van Praagh.
Quite how we’ve got to the point where this is acceptible television, I don’t know.
Meanwhile Saturday night was “Psychic Night” on Channel 4. I only caught The Ultimate Psychic Challenge which I happened to know was going to feature James Randi. In fact it was reasonably skeptical in the first half of the programme, with some detailed descriptions of some of the fake and fraudulent activity that goes on. But quite a number of the audience seemed to be devout believers, and explanations of what they’re seeing in front of them are simply not enough it seems.
Anyway, I’m happy to report that the very same Sky One that I was so scathing about earlier, aired Secrets of Psychics Revealed. I didn’t catch the whole programme, and had evidently just come in after a demonstration of a “hot reading”, but it’s all to be encouraged. It’s just a shame that a lot of the “Psychic Secrets” were nothing more than magic tricks. Yes I know that a lot of psychic chicanery is precisely that, but I wanted more of the John Edwards variety. I did quite like the example given which detailed the tricks that these shows use interviewing people outside the studio before they go in.
But the problem is that the shows that expose this nonsense are just one-offs. In the meantime, Crossing Over and it’s ilk is on every day of the week, and gains credence accordingly.


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