Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Patrycja P.:
I remember the mass hysteria in Poland that came from Russia with "dr Kaszpirowski" (Kashpirovski ;)) in the 80's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6O3kZvYOok

Loads of people attended his healing sessions and I guess loads of them believed in his supernatural powers. Then followed Nowak in the 90's who made a fortune selling bottles of his healing mineral water.

Personally, I do believe that all people would be able to act as all those mediums or healers if they knew how to use the mysterious subconscious mind. Not all "mediums" are cons - some of them may have learnt how to use it to some degree and are able to "see" more than ordinary people. We all possess energy and it's obvious it affects the people around us - either in a positive or a negative way and we are rarely aware of our own influence on others but I doubt anybody's possibilities to heal serious diseases.Patrycja P. edytował(a) ten post dnia 04.02.08 o godzinie 13:35

wow... hahaha... i cant believe that someone actually recalls this man! hahahaha... i remember his "hypnotizing" stare on my TV screen hahah... wow..
funny... couple of years ago, I came across a flyer right here in the US, that was a promo for one of his "shows" in NYC.

I've gone to a psychic once. Why? One may inquire haha... well... after 9/11 I lost my job and was unemployed for over 7 months. One day while walking around lower east side manhattan (Out of desperation, I actualy went out and got a bartending license) I came across a psychic. It was a really beautiful day and it was right across the street from where I used to reside (while living there I often wondered about the psychic lady across the street) so I figured - "Why the hell not?" right?
Hehe.. all I had was a fiver, so I asked her what can I get for that and she told me about her quick readings...

Make the already too long story short... she was completely off on all accounts...

I believe in preminision to violent events (violent not necessarily in a physical act of violence way, but also things that have a significant impact on lives of others). The "gut feeling" has saved my ass many times already... again, not a gut feeling based on facts that when put into a perspective can lead to an educated guess...

Does that count?

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

As I said, some particularly specific things were said to my mum and her friends, and as a result I have been to mediums to try them in the past.

I think I have been 3 times. 2 just didn't seem to get close with
anything, whilst the 3rd generally didn't pick up on anything except with 2 points.

Firstly she said that she could see the Eiffel Tower and thought I
would go to France.
I moved to Paris 1 year later, though my dream had always been to return to Poland. However, a job offer was there for me.

The second was that she described serious problems with a woman at
work, possible legal action, lots of stress.
Well, during my first job in Paris my supervisor started harrassing me and undermining my reputation with other bosses. In the end I went to HR to discuss it, only to find 1 week later that the HR assistant had been told by her superiors not to talk to me. It was horrible being in a foreign country with no family or close friends to support me.
It was a big pile of steaming shit, not unlike what she described.

That wonderful, progressive company was Arthur Andersen. My god how I smiled when their empire tumbled.

Not that I'm the sort of person to be vindictive and seek revenge ;)Steven H. edytował(a) ten post dnia 07.02.08 o godzinie 19:19

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Steven H.:
Does anyone here have any experience with psychics?

Yeah, I experience it every time I play Scrabble online with my long-term Scrabble partner ;)) We've shared so many games that she seems to have a knack of knowing exactly what letters I draw and hence blocking me viciously (yet very effectively! ;P)

Anyone have any amazing or uninspiring experiences with mediums?

Well, one day I was in such a good mood, that I let one stray Gypsy woman talk me into some 'fortune-telling' ;) I soon realised my mistake, but it was too late. So I underwent a series of weird rituals consisting of casting spells in gibberish, pulling out a hair, blowing behind my ear and asking for a banknote. As I started sweating, I kept my eyes fixed on her hands, while nervously clutching my bag.

'Do not fear, my child,' she said, 'I can see you're a very good person, but why are you so afraid? 'I can see a man in your life, you aren't sure if you love him, but my advice is, go for him, he is worth it. He is far away now, but if you make an effort, you will be together.' And so on and so forth.

And although I knew what she was saying was a pile of crap, I noted the following:
1. There was indeed a man in my life, who lived far away (in London) - well, I can put this down to a coincidence. He wasn't all that important anyway.
2. She told me I signed some important documents that morning (I was on my way from the Town Hall, where I had registered my business),
3. She said that in a couple of weeks time I would have a big party (well, more like 3 weeks later I was the maid of honour at my friends wedding).
And she also told me some more things of minor importance, that were strangely true.

So, when she finally let go of me (she didn't manage to milk me, as I only had a few coins in my purse, which miraculously didn't evaporate from my bag) I thought that she did a very good job of it: she managed to scare a living daylight out of me, and through the raised emotions made me believe in everything she said and kept me thinking for days. I don't think I'll ever want to go through it again, though.Sylwia Łubkowska edytował(a) ten post dnia 07.02.08 o godzinie 20:22

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

As for the Kaszmirowski or Nowak, it is proven that one of the most effective cure ever invented is placebo and I think that's it.

As for the psychics and peaple with "the gift", it is hard for me to neglect it. It makes no diffrence for me if they had it from when they were born, or they have managed to learn it, I still find it incredible. Besides we all know that we are able to use our brains in only about 6-20%, there are parts of our brain, which responsibilities we don't know, so I don't believie in supernatural powers of selected units, I trully believe in the power of human brain, and I am freakin curious what it hides from us

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Maciej Kulig:

Besides we all know that we are able to use

our brains in only about 6-20%,

It may be a bit shocking, but have a look at this:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Maciej Kulig:
As for the Kaszmirowski or Nowak, it is proven that one of the most effective cure ever invented is placebo and I think that's it.

As for the psychics and peaple with "the gift", it is hard for me to neglect it. It makes no diffrence for me if they had it from when they were born, or they have managed to learn it, I still find it incredible. Besides we all know that we are able to use our brains in only about 6-20%

It is a myth. I honestly don't know how it originated but it is plain wrong.

there are parts of our brain, which responsibilities we don't know

Fair enough, there are many neural functions we do not yet know about but I can assure you that we definitely use 100% of our brain. How much of this can be, and in fact is accessed consciously is an entirely different story :)

I trully believe in the power of human brain, and I am freakin curious what it hides from us

Personally, I doubt we can unravel its functions with the current tools we posses. The complexity of function of chemical synapses eludes us and these are, in a way, the fundamental logical gates in brain. Actually these are ion channels but let's not go too much into this :) The sheer number of them and the number of resultant degrees of freedom is vastly exceeding our potential to even start to tackle phenomena like consciousness, behaviour and practically all higher brain functions. All approaches to find "a gene for motherhood care", "a brain cell for remembering first Werther's candy" etc. are IMHO pointless. Personally I expect a major breakthrough in modeling of these functions only with the advent of quantum computation. Until then, again IMVHO, we will be only watching shadows of shadows on the wall.

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Have you heard of the new method of 'freeing' the thoughts of people regarded as 'locked in' their bodies (i.e. remaining fully conscious but paralysed and hence unable to communicate with the world). Apparently, when you implant electrodes in a certain part of their brains, a computer can read and decode their thoughts into speech with 80% accuracy.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7094526.stm

Now, I've read somewhere (can't remember where - hope I'm not making it up ;)) that there's actually no need to implant the electrodes for them to receive and translate neural signals - it's enough to place them on the patient's scalp and they'll pick up the signals remotely. And some of the devices are so potent as to be able to pick up signals from people standing up to 20 m away. Although the article says 'Reading people's minds remains a far-off prospect', don't you think this is scary?Sylwia Łubkowska edytował(a) ten post dnia 08.02.08 o godzinie 20:23

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Sylwia Łubkowska:
Have you heard of the new method of 'freeing' the thoughts of people regarded as 'locked in' their bodies (i.e. remaining fully conscious but paralysed and hence unable to communicate with the world). Apparently, when you implant electrodes in a certain part of their brains, a computer can read and decode their thoughts into speech with 80% accuracy.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7094526.stm

Yep, I knew a guy who used do this kind or research. But: "Conversation is what we're hoping for, but we're pretty far from that", and that exactly was his problem as well. Why? Because what thy all do is still derivate of classic EEG. And this is pretty inaccurate and while useful for some diagnostics it cannot (yet) be used for precise decoding of e.g. speech, olfaction or tactile perception :(

Now, I've read somewhere (can't remember where - hope I'm not making it up ;)) that there's actually no need to implant the electrodes for them to receive and translate neural signals - it's enough to place them on the patient's scalp and they'll pick up the signals remotely.

Sounds exactly like some EEG-esque approach.

And some of the devices are so potent as to be able to pick up signals from people standing up to 20 m away.

This is interesting. I haven't heard about this one. It may be possible but I can imagine the amplifier for that would be enormous.

Although the article says 'Reading people's minds remains a far-off prospect', don't you think this is scary?

I think it can't be done in the near future - the input to detect, decode and understand a waveform corresponding to a concept of e.g. need for strawberry ice cream is complex beyond our capability to decode. For now :)

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Marcin B.:

I think it can't be done in the near future - the input to detect, decode and understand a waveform corresponding to a concept of e.g. need for strawberry ice cream is complex beyond our capability to decode. For now :)

Need for strawberry ice cream.. What a suitable example ;)))

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

And some of the devices are so potent as to be able to pick up signals from people standing up to 20 m away.

This is interesting. I haven't heard about this one. It may be possible but I can imagine the amplifier for that would be enormous.

Still, Moore's Law is doing well, and before you know it...

Although the article says 'Reading people's minds remains a far-off prospect', don't you think this is scary?

I think it can't be done in the near future - the input to detect, decode and understand a waveform corresponding to a concept of e.g. need for strawberry ice cream is complex beyond our capability to decode. For now :)

I sure hope so. 'Neuromancer' and 'Brave New World' were fun to read but having this in reality would give me creeps. Something tells me that people wouldn't look out for thoughts of strawberry ice cream ;)) much as sweet and innocent they are indeed ;)

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Somebody I know back in England seems to have a particular gift. He can often tell exactly what somebody's thinking about. He certainly doesn't advertise this fact, and it seems to occasionally cause him a lot of distress.

So many people have stories they can't really (or don't want to) explain. Perhaps this isn't any sort of magic but just something science hasn't yet explained.

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Patrycja P.:

Maciej Kulig:

Besides we all know that we are able to use

our brains in only about 6-20%,

It may be a bit shocking, but have a look at this:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html

Too bad, I was hoping there is still so much to discover, thank you for the info. I will have to find a different purpose in my life

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Sylwia Łubkowska:

And some of the devices are so potent as to be able to pick up signals from people standing up to 20 m away.

This is interesting. I haven't heard about this one. It may be possible but I can imagine the amplifier for that would be enormous.

Still, Moore's Law is doing well, and before you know it...

:) I doubt it, if you ask me. Firstly it is merely a rule and a dirty one too, secondly it applies to silicon-based semiconductors and I am not sure that the amplifier needed for such task should be base on silicon technology.

I sure hope so. 'Neuromancer' and 'Brave New World' were fun to read but having this in reality would give me creeps. Something tells me that people wouldn't look out for thoughts of strawberry ice cream ;)) much as sweet and innocent they are indeed ;)

That's the thing... From Day 0 it would be obviously used for technology and financial frauds :( Just like vast majority of the net is used for spam and porn.

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Maciej Kulig:
I will have to find a different purpose in my life

If you do, let us know :)

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Patrycja P.:

Maciej Kulig:
I will have to find a different purpose in my life

If you do, let us know :)

Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations, and, finally, here are some completely gratuitous pictures of penises to annoy the censors.

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations, and, finally, here are some completely gratuitous pictures of penises to annoy the censors.

What kind of purpose is that? Trying cannot be purpose, you really are ambitious, I gotta tell you ;)

But seriously, one of my biggest dreams is to fly the glider, that's going to be my purpose. Or maybe I will write a book. The best is doing both: write a book flying glider. That's what I'm about to do :D

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Yes, definitely some people do have psychic skills [Ossowiecki]. It's beyond any doubt [Richet]. You can also develop certain set of skills [ http://dreambrowse.com ].

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

I'm going to ride on Marcin B.'s coat tails in this thread.

I looked at the dreambrowse and it's kind of fun. Thanks, Michal. :)

Temat: Mediums, clairvoyants, psychics - do some people have a...

Michal B.:
Yes, definitely some people do have psychic skills [Ossowiecki]. It's beyond any doubt [Richet]. You can also develop certain set of skills [ http://dreambrowse.com ].

The second word = 3 letters, the first you know better than anyone else here.
But still, you deserve something better. Would six be fine with you, old man?
Don't waste your time - your daughter needs you now.