Saturday, October 30, 2010

Fooling fools

I am at the moment watching a show on tv, called "the power of the spirits".

In short, a man claims to have had paranormal activity in his apartment (most of the stuff rather explainable, in my opinion).

They bring in this wacky priest, who does a very obvious number of cold reading (firing off a bunch of factual questions - "I sense he is young/old/I smell tobacco/wine/have you felt thirsty/was this apartment originally two apartments" - and gets one in every 15 or so right. Every time he gets something just nearly right, the guy living in the apartment gets all awestruck. Very funny.

Then they sit down to conjure the guy to show ... nothing happens, of course, so the wacky coldreading priest "sends him across", and gives a long crazy explanation of where this assumed ghost came from.

If it wasn't so horrendous, it would be funny. If I were cynic enough, I think I'd pursue an alternative carreer. People are standing in line to be cheated.

2 comments:

Bunched Undies said...

You're right...it's like people secretly want to be cheated. It's amazing to me.

Lizelotte said...

I am amazed on a daily basis at all the crazy stuff people choose to believe in.

But then I am just a boring old skeptic and atheist ... and I don't find facts and evidence dull :-)