Comments on: Psychic Retirement Party?

By: Eleonor Woolley

Eleonor Woolley — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:28:39 +0000

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By: Humanity Blues

Humanity Blues — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:09:17 +0000

One idea that would be helpful would be to push for legislation requiring psychics to have licenses. If they claim to have some sort of supernatural ability, good for them. They’ll have to be able to prove through an accepted form of testing that they are capable of that ability so as not to commit fraud. Then, any psychic working without a license giving readings would be violating the law.

By: MarkA

MarkA — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:23:20 +0000

I see no hope for putting psychics out of business any time soon. People (not us, of course) *like* psychics. Even some members of the audience of Montel Williams probably has some doubt of her authenticity, but it is still fun to believe it can happen.

The most productive way to combat wide-spread believe in woo will be to come up with an equally entertaining way to present skepticism. Not dry documentaries, but perhaps a mentalist who can do the Sylvia Browne schtick while making it clear that it is just carnival side-show illusion. Criss Angel is doing this very well, but we need someone on the daytime TV talk show circuit, too. I hope that the “Skeptologists” will be a positive step for the prime-time audience, too.

By: Introducing SkepticBlog « Open Parachute

Introducing SkepticBlog « Open Parachute — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:03:13 +0000

[...] Psychic Retirement Party? [...]

By: TSpencer

TSpencer — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:16:03 +0000

Why is SB retiring? If you look at how she treats her “followers” nowadays, I think she is flat-out getting sick of it. I wouldn’t start celebrating just yet, though. When one of them leaves, two more take their place. She’s been grooming her son to take her place, anyway.

I read an article recently in either the Seattle Times or the Seattle PI that talked about people’s horrible first dates, and one person they interviewed claimed to be a psychic medium and she whined about how she can never get a second date because she freaks guys out when she spends the whole first date communicating messages from their departed loved ones. What a quack…

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:47:20 +0000

“Too bad we can’t classify Sylvia’s books as fiction in libraries and bookstores.”

When i worked in a charity bookshop i saw LOTS of crappy psycic UFO, and ghost books (my “favourite” was Angel Therapy, which i actually saw someone reading the other day on the train) one of my jobs was to take old books down and put new ones up (since they where all donated if they didn’t sell in 2 weeks they where thrown out), and there was many times when i would throw out a Sylvia Browne book and feel an enourmous sense of wellbeing. Safe in the knowledge that they where all going to be turned into toilet paper (or whatever they do with old books, probably turn them into better books).

By: shonny

shonny — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:47:22 +0000

Why not do it the proper red-neck way, – put the cow out of her misery for good? Euthanasia for a good cause!
And make it into an ongoing trend for swindlers like her. They’d all leave the world a better place by their demise.

By: Chris R

Chris R — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:11:57 +0000

Too bad we can’t classify Sylvia’s books as fiction in libraries and bookstores.

By: Skeptic in Mormon Land

Skeptic in Mormon Land — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:36:48 +0000

I think it takes someone with either zero moral barometer or recurrent psychotic episodes to flood the world with all the garbage that Sylvia has, and it almost causes physical pain to think someone may take her place in the constant mental de-evolution of society.

If only we did have a spokesperson that was respected and admired and capable. If only we still had Carl Sagan.

By: JoAnne

JoAnne — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:29:07 +0000

It isn’t a trend if someone who’s old enough to retire, retires. According to wikipedia, she’s 72 years old. Not everyone wants to or is even able to work into her seventies.

Maybe some of the new psychics are in communities we don’t belong to.
Just because we skeptics, mostly white (as the population is), mostly educated, mostly web-savvy, haven’t heard of the next big thing, doesn’t mean it’s not already out there, gaining popularity where we aren’t.

One of the repositories of magical thinking is religion — if religion is getting stronger, that can take the place of out-and-out psychics. Especially the more woo-woo religious groups that see Satan lurking around every corner.

It may not even matter if there’s a replacement for Sylvia Browne. I’m thinking that irrationality doesn’t have to have a head to live. Psychics in the media are becoming more amateur, following the examples of porn and reality TV.

It’s cheap to hire a couple of presenters and have no-name people walking through houses that are supposedly “haunted.”

Check out the city closest to you and see if there’s a haunted [cityname] tour.

Check your local alternative rag and see how many ads for psychics are still listed.