3/08/06 (PMP) Laying the Groundwork: A Primer
In order to understand what will be presented in the remainder of the series, it may be helpful to have a basic understanding of the types of paranormal activities that may relate to missing person’s cases:
Channeling: the ability of a spirit to enter the body of a living person to communicate through them
Clairaudience: the ability of a psychic to hear things that cannot be heard by a typical person, such as voices of the dead
Clairvoyance: the ability of a psychic to see things that cannot be seen by a typical person
Divination: the claim that one can foretell the future by interpreting omens, such as tea leaves and sacred stones
Dowsing: using a rod, stick or other device to locate objects, such as underground water, buried money, and missing persons
ESP or extrasensory perception: the ability to know things that do not come to us as a result of using our senses
Intuitive: a person who claims to have psychic abilities
Medium: a person who claims the dead communicate through them
Mentalist: a person who creates the illusion of having special powers
Paranormal: an event that appears to defy scientific explanation
Remote viewing: claimed ability to be able to see places, persons and actions that occur out of sensory range
Trance (Automatic) writing: includes writing that is directed by a spirit or spirits
Also important to the series is a brief description of the common methods used by psychics to convince their victims that they have paranormal abilities.
Cold Reading: a method used by psychics to get their victim to react in a specific manner and to believe the psychic has paranormal abilities. It is highly recommended that you read this article for more detailed information:
http://skepdic.com/coldread.html
Hot reading: a method used by psychics to gather information used in a reading beforehand without the victim’s knowledge
Recommended reading: http://skepdic.com/hotreading.html
Shotgunning: a cold reading method in which several pieces of information are given to the victim in rapid-fire succession in an attempt to find a match to the victim’s own data
Warm reading: a method used by psychics in which they convince the victim of their paranormal abilities by using common descriptions which could apply to most persons
Next in the series: The First of Many
This series will be presented each day Monday-Friday, until its completion, unless urgent matters or posts pre-empt it. All posts in the series will be noted in the title with “PMP”, which stands for “Psychics and Missing People.” This way, you can easily identify other posts in the series by looking to your right in the “Previous Posts” section.
I’d also like to warn our readers that some of the stories presented, including my own, contain graphic descriptions of violent acts which may be disturbing to you.
The disclaimer you see below will be included at the bottom of each new post. We must make it clear that we are not in the business of proving or disproving claims made by psychics or those who are convinced that it is ALL real and true. We exist to assist families of the missing.
We understand that many people believe that psychics are effective in solving crimes and finding missing people. Please keep in mind that the goal of this series is to help families understand techniques used by persons making these claims and make better decisions about the use of psychics.
Project Jason and its volunteers cannot act as a clearinghouse for persons claiming success in using paranormal means to locate missing persons. We will be unable to respond to emails or other correspondence sent to us from persons making these claims or persons offering information about or referrals to psychics.
We instead invite those persons to present their evidence to the members of the James Randi Education Foundation. They have a forum available for you to discuss your claims. http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7
Jump to the next story in the series:
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2006/03/31106-pmp-first-of-many-part-i.html
Channeling: the ability of a spirit to enter the body of a living person to communicate through them
Clairaudience: the ability of a psychic to hear things that cannot be heard by a typical person, such as voices of the dead
Clairvoyance: the ability of a psychic to see things that cannot be seen by a typical person
Divination: the claim that one can foretell the future by interpreting omens, such as tea leaves and sacred stones
Dowsing: using a rod, stick or other device to locate objects, such as underground water, buried money, and missing persons
ESP or extrasensory perception: the ability to know things that do not come to us as a result of using our senses
Intuitive: a person who claims to have psychic abilities
Medium: a person who claims the dead communicate through them
Mentalist: a person who creates the illusion of having special powers
Paranormal: an event that appears to defy scientific explanation
Remote viewing: claimed ability to be able to see places, persons and actions that occur out of sensory range
Trance (Automatic) writing: includes writing that is directed by a spirit or spirits
Also important to the series is a brief description of the common methods used by psychics to convince their victims that they have paranormal abilities.
Cold Reading: a method used by psychics to get their victim to react in a specific manner and to believe the psychic has paranormal abilities. It is highly recommended that you read this article for more detailed information:
http://skepdic.com/coldread.html
Hot reading: a method used by psychics to gather information used in a reading beforehand without the victim’s knowledge
Recommended reading: http://skepdic.com/hotreading.html
Shotgunning: a cold reading method in which several pieces of information are given to the victim in rapid-fire succession in an attempt to find a match to the victim’s own data
Warm reading: a method used by psychics in which they convince the victim of their paranormal abilities by using common descriptions which could apply to most persons
Next in the series: The First of Many
This series will be presented each day Monday-Friday, until its completion, unless urgent matters or posts pre-empt it. All posts in the series will be noted in the title with “PMP”, which stands for “Psychics and Missing People.” This way, you can easily identify other posts in the series by looking to your right in the “Previous Posts” section.
I’d also like to warn our readers that some of the stories presented, including my own, contain graphic descriptions of violent acts which may be disturbing to you.
The disclaimer you see below will be included at the bottom of each new post. We must make it clear that we are not in the business of proving or disproving claims made by psychics or those who are convinced that it is ALL real and true. We exist to assist families of the missing.
We understand that many people believe that psychics are effective in solving crimes and finding missing people. Please keep in mind that the goal of this series is to help families understand techniques used by persons making these claims and make better decisions about the use of psychics.
Project Jason and its volunteers cannot act as a clearinghouse for persons claiming success in using paranormal means to locate missing persons. We will be unable to respond to emails or other correspondence sent to us from persons making these claims or persons offering information about or referrals to psychics.
We instead invite those persons to present their evidence to the members of the James Randi Education Foundation. They have a forum available for you to discuss your claims. http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7
Jump to the next story in the series:
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2006/03/31106-pmp-first-of-many-part-i.html
posted by Kelly Jolkowski at 2:28 AM
1 Comments:
This is an awesome idea, Kelly! I've always felt many of these people were causing more harm than good.
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