Karen Stollznow is an Aussie skepchick and a friend of mine. She is an active skeptic– someone who walks the walk, going out and investigating extraordinary claims. She writes for the Australian Skeptic Journal, and has a website too.
She looked into a particular phone psychic — you know, those scammers who pretend to be able to read your aura or sense your chi or some other nonsense, and then charge you outrageous sums for the privilege (when even one penny is infinitely more than it’s worth). Her article about the experience is quite good and worth a read.
Good thing Miss Cleo is already off the air. She wouldn’t want Karen on her case.
Tip o’ the tin foil hat to Rebecca for reminding me I told Karen I’d write about this!
April 11th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Pretty impressive story…maybe she can try astrolgy next
Pete
April 11th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
My wife works a lot with horses (she’s a farrier and saddlemaker) and the equine world is just full of woo-woo “animal communicators” and other idiots. A couple of months ago, a lady came to visit us and met my big lunky draft horse (the mighty P-nut!) and was cheerfully explaining to Katrina that she was an animal communicator. As she walked up to P-nut she started in with “oooh, what a handsome boy… heya cutie… what’s his name?” Without missing a beat, my wife says, “you tell me.”
Priceless.
Of course if anyone could actually read a dog’s mind enough to collect his name it’d probably be something like, “good boy!” or “whoah, damn it!”
mjr.
April 11th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Of course do phoney… eh.. phone psychics know who’s calling, they have one of those Caller ID things.
April 11th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Why don’t they just call up people and tell them stuff?
They should know which people would like that pro-active service.
There’s real money to be made there.
To quote a famous book “A fool and his money are soon parted”
April 11th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
I live in Chicago and WGN hsd s great overnight talk show host by the name od Ed Swartz. He called a psychic one time and would not give him his name or what he wanted. He insisted that she tell him what he wanted. She kept saying we don’t work like that. Ed said, Well, you’re suposse to be a psychics then tell me who I am and what I want. The conversation ended with the “psychic” hanging up on him. One of the funniest things I had heard. And it just proves the point that they are con-men and women.
April 11th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Bill Whittle is back, taking on moon-hoax conspiracy theorists, and a whole lot more:
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000140.html
April 11th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I got spam E-Mail from Miss Cleo once.
April 11th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I was most surprised at the “email reading”. I didn’t know they had that. I can’t possibly see how a person could believe a psychic could give a reading over email. At least if you go to a psychic in person they can see your aura or some mumbo jumbo like that. If you spend money on an email reading, you are especially dumb.
April 11th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
But psychic powers are not limited by distance or by time. Supposedly.
I received a reading on audio tape, from my brother and a couple of his friends, as a surprise. Yes, I had no idea it was done until the tape arrived. Long distance, with no contact from me. No, there was nothing surprising or illuminating in the tape.
April 11th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Breaking news
Kurt Vonnegut has died.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/books/11cnd-vonnegut.html?ei=5124&en=c44942aa6c6fb22f&ex=1334030400&adxnnl=1&partner=digg&exprod=digg&adxnnlx=1176350608-aWJJuoJ0nUg7K7L0+Vbxyg
April 11th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
She tried very hard to be a “good” psychic and got the job. They claim they only hire a small percentage of applicants. What if someone tried very hard to be a *bad* psychic? I’m thinking a George Costanza level of incompetence. Would he have been hired as well?
April 12th, 2007 at 1:53 am
If I was a Psychic I would try to predict useful things, like say winning Lotto numbers. Clearly if you could see the future then this would be a much easier way to may a living than charging twits $2.99 a minute. Plus It would mean I could avoid talking to twits
April 12th, 2007 at 2:35 am
I am still wiping tears from my eyes! that was funny and enlightning at the same time. Every once in awhile I like to read the horoscopes in the paper, that would be on low news quality days, they are great entertainment but don’t hold a candle to this. They, the real “psychics”, should have known from the start that she was a fraud, hmmm. of coarse the fine print probably says, “for entertainment puposes only” so as not to fool anyone. Yeah Right! thanks for the great start to a day Phil!
April 12th, 2007 at 3:37 am
I’m a psychic, send me $100 and I will tell you your future. How if you believe such crap you will end up in a poor-house. I predict the Sun will rise tommorow, how’s that.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:13 am
I do insurance investigations and we recently nailed a phone psychic for insurance fraud. His comment when he was arrested was, “I never saw this coming.”
April 12th, 2007 at 5:16 am
Karen is a prolific skeptic whose quality and quantity of work forever remind me what a skepti-slacker I am. Her Pope Tart makes me laugh everytime I say it.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:44 am
My favorite part by far was channeling the spirit guide; the bastard son of Henri VIII. I thought that was going too far, but she completely bought it.
The question is, I guess: did they hire what they thought was a real psychic, or what they knew was a skilled fraud in on the scam? I have my guess, what’s yours?
April 12th, 2007 at 6:45 am
Call me now! (Jamaican accent)
April 12th, 2007 at 9:22 am
>>> I’m a psychic, send me $100 and I will tell you your future.
I predict a small financial loss, followed by a dawning realization.
April 13th, 2007 at 1:11 am
[…] THE PSYCHIC SKEPTIC: A skeptic applies for a job as a telephone/chat room psychic and is offered the job. Interesting peek into the process. (via) […]
April 13th, 2007 at 5:34 am
Absolutely brilliant. Amazingly enough, they didn’t see it coming!
April 13th, 2007 at 5:41 am
A friend’s sister once got a job as a telephone “psychic”. The company gave her a manual with with what to ask and based on the callers response what next to say and ask the caller.
April 13th, 2007 at 7:22 am
Wonder why it is, when someone points out errors and logical inconsistancies to psychics, they complain they’re being picked on? Must have something to do with actually being forced to use their brain for something besides a hat rack,,,
GAry 7
April 15th, 2007 at 11:20 am
“Unfortunately, 94.3% of most applications are turned away. Ask around, we’re not kidding!†”
You’d think the 94% wouldn’t bother to apply, given that they must know they’ll be rejected. Right?
April 18th, 2007 at 8:28 am
Are you sure Ms. Cleo is really of the air? Or have they transformed into another equally monsterous entity. Why not get all the facts before you publish an article stating a company no longer offers services when they actually do under a pseudonym.
April 18th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Miss Cleo was “off the air” then. The article is a few years old. Of course, these people lay low for awhile…
September 5th, 2007 at 8:28 am
Not all psychics are phonies there are a great many genuinely gifted individuals. You have to weigh the good with the bad and in essence we are all psychic to some to degree it is a matter of weeding out the charlatans and phonies.
September 10th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
If we’re all psychic how can anyone be a charlatan or phony?
Nice bit of advertising for you there…