Crossing over with John Edwards

[xlc67]

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Crossing Over...with John Edwards

Has anyone seen this show?

 

[Bubblegum *sugarless*]

Yes. Always seems to be on when I switch to the Scifi channel.

It is odd.

 

[xlc67]

This show is too real...wierds me out...

 

[Dhalgren]

Dude..

My aunt actually went to a tapping..

Her friend got a reading that was so accurate that it completely blew her away.

He told her where her uncle had hidden his will...that he buried it under the floor boards in his bedroom.

She went to his house cut into the floorboards and voila..it was there!

 

[nasty]

I think I saw bits of it. Pysicis are ALWAYS good for a laugh.

 

[Bubblegum *sugarless*]

I would be curious enough to try and throw him off during a reading, but I'd be afraid of what he might actually tell me.

It's weird though when he hits the mark exactly, but most of the time he is vague enough to let the person fill him in.

 

[xlc67]

I'm extremely sceptical, and I think this guy is real...I've watched enough of his shows that I've come to the conclusion that he is either real or the people are actors...

 

[nasty]

I go for the latter.

 

[Dhalgren]

Well then..my aunt is still waitin on her check from the producers..

 

[teresafannin]

I went to a seminar that John Edward did here in the metroplex. I am extremely sceptical, but also open minded. It was very interesting & although he didn't speak to me, he seemed to give comfort to the people he did speak to. I know a lot of people think that what he does is wrong, but after my experiences of the last 2 years, IMO he does a lot less damage than most of the televangelists out there.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

From the James Randi Educational Foundation

"The currently-popular "psychics" like Sylvia Browne, James Van Praagh, and John Edward, who are getting so much TV space on Montel Williams, Larry King, and other shows, employ a technique known as "cold reading." They tell the subjects nothing, but make guesses, put out suggestions, and ask questions. This is a very deceptive art, and the unwary observer may come away believing that unknown data was developed by some wondrous means. Not so. "

For the rest go here: http://www.randi.org/library/coldreading/index.html

 

[xlc67]

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Quote from Teresafannin:

It was very interesting & although he didn't speak to me, he seemed to give comfort to the people he did speak to. I know a lot of people think that what he does is wrong, but after my experiences of the last 2 years, IMO he does a lot less damage than most of the televangelists out there.

I really like how you think...


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[teresafannin]

Hi xlc67. I have heard from all the televangelists & people like that at some point & they are the lowest of the low. I don't know how much you know about me & what happened to me 2 years ago, but I have decided that if I have to trust someone, John Edward ultimately does a lot less damage. I am so disillusioned with most of the so-called religious people out there. I am not saying that what JE does is real, but at the seminar I attended, there were no questions asked before hand, no purse searches, etc. I have seen enough to be open minded & there are times when I would love to believe that he is real. If he isn't, I don't think that he is hurting anyone. There are far more dangerous people out there, I know, I heard from them all.

 

[xlc67]

Teresa...I agree with that logic as well, but I was referring to your observation about how he gave comfort to people and didn't seem to have any bad intent...

These are important things to keep aware of...good people see these things.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

From CSICOP

CSICOP is "The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal"

"When psychic medium John Edward appeared March 6 on CNN's Larry King Live, viewers deserved a balanced treatment of his claims, especially considering that the Larry King Live guest panel included two skeptics and a rabbi critic. Instead, quantitative and qualitative analysis of the program's transcript indicates that King and his producers offered viewers a carefully controlled and framed promotion of psychic ability.

For the rest go here: http://www.csicop.org/genx/edward/index.html

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Sorry for the cut and paste and links, but the subject is too far reaching for me to summarize. Let me just say this -- I've seen magicians who aren't half as good as me do Head Magic shows that are twice as good as Jonathan Edwards'.

 

[nasty]

Sorry. This doesn't have to do with Crossing Over

But. I sometimes watch Miss Cleo in the morning. The first clue she isn't a pysicic, "What's your first name, and your birthday?" You tell me.

 

[GuyJD]

I remember a news documentary did an investigation on him and learned that he was a typical homo looking for drama and attention. Voila..........he very own fake show.

I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait until Ms. Cleo (or whatever her name really is) gets her own show.

 

[Sweetlola]

I would be curious enough to try and throw him off during a reading, but I'd be afraid of what he might actually tell me.

It's weird though when he hits the mark exactly, but most of the time he is vague enough to let the person fill him in.

Maybe John Edwards is the devil? (jk! jk!)

I've actually seen a show where a man threw John off during a reading by going in an entirely different direction. John didn't pursue it for long. The man later admitted (in that little interview thingy they do afterwards) that John was, indeed, making sense, but John wasn't referring to the deceased person that the man wanted to hear from, so he led him in a different direction.

 

[xlc67]

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I've seen where he tells people very specific details about their home and their belongings,etc... without any prompting or help from the person he is reading at all...I'm thinking he either reads their mind (possible), actually communicates with the dead, or they are actors....

 

[Sweetlola]

xlc

Cute kitty you got there...

 

[teresafannin]

If I were to ever call a psychic & they asked my name & birthday, this would be the standard reply: "You're the psychic, you tell me." The thing I don't understand about Miss Cleo is that according to most of the folklorists, etc, you have to choose your own cards during a reading. Working at Ren faires, you meet all kinds of psychics, wanna be witches, etc. It is actually fairly easy to find out stuff about me, if someone had my real name.My face & name are periodically in the news. That fact alone, makes me fairly sure I will never seek out any kind of reading. Just to be on the safe side, when my sister & I went to the JE Seminar, she registered us under her name & mentioned nothing about me.

 

[Gilly Bean]

I saw it the other night for the first time. He made my head spin with how fast he was throwing out names, and letters, and what not. He was good for a laugh. My husband said he sounds like an auctioneer.

 

[Dhalgren]

It's extremely hard to get on John's show..

They draw Lotto numbers.


Ah..they world is filled with skeptics.
*smiles*

BTW..John is famous for debunking "fake" mediums.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I've seen where he tells people very specific details about their home and their belongings,etc... without any prompting or help from the person he is reading at all...

Cold reading doesn't require asking questions. Go the Randi site (http://www.randi.org) and look up his descriptions of how magicians do cold readings.

I can't stress this enough -- it's FAKE kids. It's not real. Not even a little teeny-tiny bit. I don't care what anyone saw at a taping or what kind of information Edwards told you directly. It's a trick. And not a very hard trick.

A point was brought up earlier that he's not as bad as most, and gives comfort, so maybe he's okay.

He's not.

For every person who gets a reading from him there are 100 who can't get to the studio, but are swayed, and go instead to a carnival clairvoyant or neighborhood sensitive and shell out money. The truly "duped" are then encouraged to return with more money to have "curses" taken off.

Years ago when I worked in a Manhattan Magic Shop I used to get people asking me for black magic removal kits. "But this psychic said they exist and that he needed $300 to take away this curse and I was hoping you'd have a kit so I could do it myself." I got a LOT of those requests. I would politely tell them they've been swindled, and then sell them a disappearing handkerchief trick or something.

Jonathan Edwards causes plenty of harm, but he isn't as much to blame as the network that puts the show on the air without the requisite "For Entertainment Purposes Only" (which Cleo has to use. By the way, Tarot reading is not divination -- she never claims to be a psychic, only a guide.)

The reason Jonathan Edawrds doesn't need to put up the disclaimer "For Entertainment Purposes Only" is because the studio audience members who are being read are not being charged. If he took a single dollar from any of his guests the network would be obliged to acknowldege that the readings aren't real.

But, he IS getting paid, and people at home ARE swayed to trust sensitives, depsite the fact that since the Fox sisters there has not been a single taker of either Houdini's or Randi's prize money offered to anyone who can prove they can commune with the dead or force an object to move with their mind under controlled conditions.

Not one.

Jonathan Edwards could make one million dollars TODAY if he were to pop into Randi's Institute in Florida. The man talks to ghosts in a brilliantly lit television studio wearing make-up, swelting under lights, with an audience and TV cameras which put him in front of millions of people -- but he WON'T sit for 30 minutes in a comfortable room at Randi's Foundation and do the same thing.

And neither will any of of the thousands of psychics that work across this country every day. They won't even try. One million dollars! Surely SOMEONE would give it a shot?

I can read your mind. I know how to do it. I can tell you things about your past. I can produce a card you're only thinking of. I can pass ESP tests. I can make a ball roll across a table in your living room. These are not hard things to do.

The hard part is to do them and not say that I'm a magician, but an actual sensitive. I'm a great showman, but a terrible liar. I could never do that. It takes balls the size of Kansas and more gall than I could ever muster to stand in front of a million people and play Elmer Gantry.

If you're really interested in the mechanics and psychology of both how to fake communing with the dead and why people believe it then click over to Randi's site and spend some time there. You'll find the site fascinating, and not at all reactionary or mean-spirited.

Randi, like Houdini before him (and me, and a few other magicians) are not interested in this to be mean, but because deep, deep down we'd actually like to bridge the gap between life and death. We'd LOVE to find an actual "crossover" sensitive. But we recognize that extraordinary claims require extraordianry proof. And Jonathan Edwards accomplishing the same thing that hundreds of two bit carny fakirs accomplish eight shows a day, ten on Saturday, is NOT good enough.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I'm curious -- those who believe the dude is real -- did any of you have any reaction to the info on the links above? DId you find it too "one-sided", or too long, or just not persuasive?

I've always been fascinated at how HARD it is to convince anyone who believes in astrology or clairvoyance or phrenology or palmistry or precognition that it's all hokum, particularly since, unlike the existance of God (which relies upon faith, and not proof), they're so easy to debunk.

Like Randi once said, people who believe in psychic powers are like rubber ducks, it doesn't matter how many holes you shoot in them, they'll still float.

So? Any curious souls do a little more research? Are you still floating? Why? (I won't pick on you - I swear to the Mythical Being.)