Re: Psychics and Frauds
Posted: 09 Oct 2011, 21:15
I do have something that I would like to throw into the mix here. If you think about people who have psychic ability as having an unusual talent or gift, some of this might make sense if you compare them to child prodigies. True child prodigies are few and far between. At least the recognized ones are few and far between. For simplicity's sake, let's take musical prodigies as an example.
All across the globe there are parents who think that their little Billy is a musical genius. Trust me on this one, as I looked for a particular young man who I saw on a documentary last week only to find a load of kids who are claimed to be "the next Mozart" and they hurt my ears. Yeah, they're good for their age, and probably better than most adults on a piano but not exceptional.
This "CNN Living" article was interesting and an enjoyable read: http://articles.cnn.com/2007-12-10/livi ... =PM:LIVING
Just about anyone (but me) can be trained to play the piano. Some come by it naturally and some don't. There are very few who would be considered a child prodigy in this area. How much of a leap is it to apply this same talent to the term psychic?
There are many different terms to describe a person of talent such as gifted, bright, genius, exceptional, etc., but a true "prodigy" is a very rare occurrence.
They exist, that's for sure. We also don't know how many of them are out there in the world. If the kid ain't got no piano, there's no way to know if there's any talent or gift.
Now usually a prodigy will show other exceptional abilities in other areas such as math, science, chess, etc. It's not like they're a one trick pony and that's what makes them a prodigy rather than just extremely talented. Here's another article (not a great source but good article) about prodigies. Now I don't know too many parents that want their kid to be the next John Edwards (except for John Edwards, Sr.) as being a GREAT psychic isn't exactly considered a normal life path. Then again, the chances of someone making a good living at playing the piano is few and far between as well. However, there are countless bars and restaurants set up with a piano man complete with brandy snifter for tips to be found in this country. There's one piano man who made it to the top while the rest sink into obscurity. For you youngin's, I'm talking about Billy Joel, just so ya know. So you have a pianist sitting in a bar playing show tunes compared to a psychic sitting at a psychic fair giving readings. How many of each are going to get to the top? How many really want to get to the top of the heap? The same goes for child prodigies. It seems that the burn out rate for the truly gifted ones can be very high and people like music. Psychic talent...not so much.
All across the globe there are parents who think that their little Billy is a musical genius. Trust me on this one, as I looked for a particular young man who I saw on a documentary last week only to find a load of kids who are claimed to be "the next Mozart" and they hurt my ears. Yeah, they're good for their age, and probably better than most adults on a piano but not exceptional.
This "CNN Living" article was interesting and an enjoyable read: http://articles.cnn.com/2007-12-10/livi ... =PM:LIVING
Just about anyone (but me) can be trained to play the piano. Some come by it naturally and some don't. There are very few who would be considered a child prodigy in this area. How much of a leap is it to apply this same talent to the term psychic?
There are many different terms to describe a person of talent such as gifted, bright, genius, exceptional, etc., but a true "prodigy" is a very rare occurrence.
They exist, that's for sure. We also don't know how many of them are out there in the world. If the kid ain't got no piano, there's no way to know if there's any talent or gift.
Now usually a prodigy will show other exceptional abilities in other areas such as math, science, chess, etc. It's not like they're a one trick pony and that's what makes them a prodigy rather than just extremely talented. Here's another article (not a great source but good article) about prodigies. Now I don't know too many parents that want their kid to be the next John Edwards (except for John Edwards, Sr.) as being a GREAT psychic isn't exactly considered a normal life path. Then again, the chances of someone making a good living at playing the piano is few and far between as well. However, there are countless bars and restaurants set up with a piano man complete with brandy snifter for tips to be found in this country. There's one piano man who made it to the top while the rest sink into obscurity. For you youngin's, I'm talking about Billy Joel, just so ya know. So you have a pianist sitting in a bar playing show tunes compared to a psychic sitting at a psychic fair giving readings. How many of each are going to get to the top? How many really want to get to the top of the heap? The same goes for child prodigies. It seems that the burn out rate for the truly gifted ones can be very high and people like music. Psychic talent...not so much.