- 5,753
Touring MarsSaw it coming....
Ban him! ^
Should psychics be banned?
- Thread starter Touring Mars
- 40 comments
- 1,681 views
Ban him! ^
- 2,063
I think you need to be a little more careful how you're phrasing these posts chaps.
There's a vast world of difference between a fraudulent, charlatan, 'faith healer' who preys upon the weak, desperate and vulnerable and a 'psychic'. The terms are not interchangeable and mean utterly different things.
I'm about as down-to-earth as you get and whilst the 'Faith Healer' (deliberate caps) belongs in the same basket as the TV Evangelist, I won't discount that there is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to healing illnesses.
To elaborate, I'm a fairly competent martial artist and part of my training has been the development of ki (aka chi) to enhance combat, reduce pain and overcome wounds. When you first hear of it, it sounds like the worst form of mysticism you could think of ... then you use it to stick your fist through a board or throw a chap twice your size across the room from a kneeling position
. How does it work? It's your mind convincing your body that it can overcome it's limits.
Some of the 'New Age' healing techniques are very like this. Is it really magic? I doubt it. Does it work? Well, yes, it does but the things that can be cured/ameliorated are very telling. They are the sort of things that what doctors would call Positive Mental Attitude can overcome. I've yet to see someone 'heal' a broken limb but I have seen someone 'cure' Lady S's bad back. The root cause is not removed (her vertibrae are still damaged) but the pain goes away. It's akin to the placebo effect I suppose.
My point is, on the whole, don't be so quick to judge what you don't understand (does anybody
?) or tar a whole swathe of people with the same brush because of the obvious charlatanry (sp?) of a few.
Now as to psychics ... that'll have to wait for another day as it's about half past midnight here and I'd better get to bed or I won't need a psychic to fortell that I'll be late for work
.
There's a vast world of difference between a fraudulent, charlatan, 'faith healer' who preys upon the weak, desperate and vulnerable and a 'psychic'. The terms are not interchangeable and mean utterly different things.
I'm about as down-to-earth as you get and whilst the 'Faith Healer' (deliberate caps) belongs in the same basket as the TV Evangelist, I won't discount that there is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to healing illnesses.
To elaborate, I'm a fairly competent martial artist and part of my training has been the development of ki (aka chi) to enhance combat, reduce pain and overcome wounds. When you first hear of it, it sounds like the worst form of mysticism you could think of ... then you use it to stick your fist through a board or throw a chap twice your size across the room from a kneeling position
. How does it work? It's your mind convincing your body that it can overcome it's limits.Some of the 'New Age' healing techniques are very like this. Is it really magic? I doubt it. Does it work? Well, yes, it does but the things that can be cured/ameliorated are very telling. They are the sort of things that what doctors would call Positive Mental Attitude can overcome. I've yet to see someone 'heal' a broken limb but I have seen someone 'cure' Lady S's bad back. The root cause is not removed (her vertibrae are still damaged) but the pain goes away. It's akin to the placebo effect I suppose.
My point is, on the whole, don't be so quick to judge what you don't understand (does anybody
?) or tar a whole swathe of people with the same brush because of the obvious charlatanry (sp?) of a few.Now as to psychics ... that'll have to wait for another day as it's about half past midnight here and I'd better get to bed or I won't need a psychic to fortell that I'll be late for work
.
- 2,208
There's a fairly "respectable" Christian cult based on psychic/faith healing: Christian Science, or more exactly, "The Church of Christ, Scientist".
This blurb sums it up pretty well:
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Cults/science.htm
I've known several Christian Scientists over the years. They just will not see doctors, period, no matter what is wrong with them.
Whatever...
This blurb sums it up pretty well:
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Cults/science.htm
I've known several Christian Scientists over the years. They just will not see doctors, period, no matter what is wrong with them.
Whatever...
- 383
Seeing as money doesn't actually exist (it's just a concept, the same as other control mechanisms such as religion) it's quite apt that it's handed over for advice pulled out of thin air.
- 29,436
- Glasgow
- GTP_Mars
sukerkinI think you need to be a little more careful how you're phrasing these posts chaps.
There's a vast world of difference between a fraudulent, charlatan, 'faith healer' who preys upon the weak, desperate and vulnerable and a 'psychic'. The terms are not interchangeable and mean utterly different things.
I'm about as down-to-earth as you get and whilst the 'Faith Healer' (deliberate caps) belongs in the same basket as the TV Evangelist, I won't discount that there is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to healing illnesses.
To elaborate, I'm a fairly competent martial artist and part of my training has been the development of ki (aka chi) to enhance combat, reduce pain and overcome wounds. When you first hear of it, it sounds like the worst form of mysticism you could think of ... then you use it to stick your fist through a board or throw a chap twice your size across the room from a kneeling position
Some of the 'New Age' healing techniques are very like this. Is it really magic? I doubt it. Does it work? Well, yes, it does but the things that can be cured/ameliorated are very telling. They are the sort of things that what doctors would call Positive Mental Attitude can overcome. I've yet to see someone 'heal' a broken limb but I have seen someone 'cure' Lady S's bad back. The root cause is not removed (her vertibrae are still damaged) but the pain goes away. It's akin to the placebo effect I suppose.
My point is, on the whole, don't be so quick to judge what you don't understand (does anybody
Now as to psychics ... that'll have to wait for another day as it's about half past midnight here and I'd better get to bed or I won't need a psychic to fortell that I'll be late for work
There are indeed alot of techniques that involve using the mind to help overcome pain and even aid healing, but in an indirect way. You are talking about using the mind to be able to disregard pain, or using the mind to alleiviate the mental stress caused by physical injury/disease. But one thing is for sure.... this doesn't address the actual physical problem. You are merely fooling your brain into ignoring the pain/stress. You may be able to do this for long enough for the disease/ailment to fully heal, but the fact remains that your own body is doing that by itself, and your conscious mind (and more importantly, the mind of the faith healer) is literally having no effect on the body whatsoever.
Faith Healers, by and large, do not claim to be able to do the sort of miraculous things that unscrupulous healers and psychics (genuinely fraudelent ones anyway) claim to be able to do, so I agree, they do not all deserve to be treated with distain. But my point is that none of them are subjected to any sort of rigorous testing or evalution, and can pretty much claim to be able to do or to have already done anything they feel like.
One major problem I have with so-called faith-healers is that they only ever discuss, report or show off to the world their success stories... ironic really, as they had nothing to do with the 'success' (i.e. survival) of the patient, other than to claim that it was a direct result of their intervention. By not reporting the failed cases, they are akin to a football club only showing how many goals they have scored, and not allowing the publication of their goals against. By doing so, there is no frame of reference to say how good they really are... so what if they have a satisfied customer somewhere, when somewhere else a man dies in great pain (having depended solely on their faith healer) and whose family is now several thousand pounds poorer for the experience? It's like saying, "Yay, Scotland scored against Holland!" and leaving it at that, without then adding, "Oh, and then conceded six...." It makes no sense. Until we start to question these people about the stuff they didn't say/do, then the stuff they did say/do is completely meaningless.
- 2,063
A good point about the 'rigorous examination of claims', TM.
I recall a programme from a year or two back about a young Russian girl who was hailed as a great healer. The programme was actually quite fair handed and allowed her supporters their full say with multiple anecdotal 'proof' of her abilities.
Then they put her to the test and the results were inconclusive at best. They didn't ask her to 'heal' anyone but rather to identify what it was that was up with them. She got less wrong than pure chance would suggest but didn't get enough right to be convincing.
I myself don't place much store in the 'psychic healing' phenomenon, mainly because, as I said above, the things that are cured are those which will be helped by proper mental attitude i.e. the 'healer' is forming a way for the patient to help themselves. Not a bad thing certainly but no more than a competent 'ordinary' doctor should do anyhow (but seldom do).
The power of the mind to heal the body is quite extraordinary, particularly in the way that strong visualisation can beat back such things as cancer. Because of my martial arts background I'm not particularly phased by this (as in it doesn't strike me as balderdash) as it's a simple extension of things I do myself.
Sigh ... as ever, have to dash as my lift home has arrived.
I recall a programme from a year or two back about a young Russian girl who was hailed as a great healer. The programme was actually quite fair handed and allowed her supporters their full say with multiple anecdotal 'proof' of her abilities.
Then they put her to the test and the results were inconclusive at best. They didn't ask her to 'heal' anyone but rather to identify what it was that was up with them. She got less wrong than pure chance would suggest but didn't get enough right to be convincing.
I myself don't place much store in the 'psychic healing' phenomenon, mainly because, as I said above, the things that are cured are those which will be helped by proper mental attitude i.e. the 'healer' is forming a way for the patient to help themselves. Not a bad thing certainly but no more than a competent 'ordinary' doctor should do anyhow (but seldom do).
The power of the mind to heal the body is quite extraordinary, particularly in the way that strong visualisation can beat back such things as cancer. Because of my martial arts background I'm not particularly phased by this (as in it doesn't strike me as balderdash
) as it's a simple extension of things I do myself.Sigh ... as ever, have to dash as my lift home has arrived.
- 29,436
- Glasgow
- GTP_Mars
We'll still be here tomorrow 
I created a thread about that programme at the time!
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=55399&highlight=x-ray
Great documentary... 👍
I created a thread about that programme at the time!
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=55399&highlight=x-ray
Great documentary... 👍
- 3,052
Psychics should not be banned or forced to take any tests to prove that they are psychics as this would be considered an initiation of force and a severe restriction on the individual entrepreneurial spirit and the free market enterprise. [/sarcasm]
Actually, I honestly believe psychics should be allowed (even though they're evil). They feed off of the insecurities and vulnerabilities of other people in order to make a profit. In other words, they're no different from any other Fortune 500 corporation.
Actually, I honestly believe psychics should be allowed (even though they're evil). They feed off of the insecurities and vulnerabilities of other people in order to make a profit. In other words, they're no different from any other Fortune 500 corporation.
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