Since I was just a little kid, I've been fascinated by magic. Yep, always had a few tricks and several times I made a concerted effort to learn magic, in fact took a few lessons. Twenty years or so ago I tried learning closeup magic with coins. My latest foray into magic was a few years ago as I attempted to learn card magic. Bought eight or ten DVDs and a bunch of cards. And, for a while practiced somewhat regularly. Any, let me get on with my story.
I said to her, “I'm psychic.”
“No, you aren't.”
“OK, I'll show you.” I shuffled the cards. Fanned them, and thumbed through them, and said, “Tell me when to stop.”
“Stop.” I showed her the card without me being able to see it.
I gave her the cards and she shuffled them.
“OK, now I want you to think of your card. And, I'm going to try to get your thoughts...yes, psychically, I'm going to tune in to you and I'll know what your card is.”
“OK, I know what it is. It's the ten of hearts. Am I right?”
“Yes, but that was a trick.”
“Are you doubting my psychic abilities?”
“You aren’t a psychic.”
“How do you know?” I said.
“Because you aren't.”
“How do you know a so-called psychic is a psychic?”
“Because they say they are.”
There is a point I'm trying to make with this story, which by the way, yes, this actually happened just as I wrote it.
My point. When someone who says they are a magician puts on a show for us, we often times try to figure how the trick is done; how the magic works. I guess that's pretty normal and of course there's nothing wrong with that.
However, when someone states they are a psychic, the believers never question what they are doing and how they are doing it. That's what keeps them as believers. Well, I guess that's true in lots of things.
The same could be said about religion, so-called alternative medicine, astrology...yep, all of that stuff. If there is a truth here, I'm guessing that they, the believers, just want to keep their delusions going, they want no one to rock their believer’s boat.
“No, you aren't.”
“OK, I'll show you.” I shuffled the cards. Fanned them, and thumbed through them, and said, “Tell me when to stop.”
“Stop.” I showed her the card without me being able to see it.
I gave her the cards and she shuffled them.
“OK, now I want you to think of your card. And, I'm going to try to get your thoughts...yes, psychically, I'm going to tune in to you and I'll know what your card is.”
“OK, I know what it is. It's the ten of hearts. Am I right?”
“Yes, but that was a trick.”
“Are you doubting my psychic abilities?”
“You aren’t a psychic.”
“How do you know?” I said.
“Because you aren't.”
“How do you know a so-called psychic is a psychic?”
“Because they say they are.”
There is a point I'm trying to make with this story, which by the way, yes, this actually happened just as I wrote it.
My point. When someone who says they are a magician puts on a show for us, we often times try to figure how the trick is done; how the magic works. I guess that's pretty normal and of course there's nothing wrong with that.
However, when someone states they are a psychic, the believers never question what they are doing and how they are doing it. That's what keeps them as believers. Well, I guess that's true in lots of things.
The same could be said about religion, so-called alternative medicine, astrology...yep, all of that stuff. If there is a truth here, I'm guessing that they, the believers, just want to keep their delusions going, they want no one to rock their believer’s boat.
There's something else going on here also, which is confirmation bias, which I hope to cover over the next couple of weeks.
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