2008 Woodie Awards
Forseeing the future
Both the skeptics and psychics present their cases to answer
Alia Orra
Issue date: 2/2/04 Section: Arts & Life
Whether it is through ancient Greek oracles or late-night television psychics, people seek the same thing: to know their fate. They are seeking the answers to questions of their future, love, money, power - and to have foresight into these aspects of the human existence has been considered the ultimate gift and the ultimate debate: Are these powers a reality or a myth?
Gallup Polls said today half or more Americans believe in the power of psychic ability. At the beginning of the 20th century, the public was enamored with them, using them as mediums to communicate with the dead, as entertainment or as serious advisers. Harry Houdini entertained an obsession with psychics, challenging them even in death by having his wife attempt to contact him through a medium, and people still attempt to reach him today.
"We tend to look for answers," said Dr. Paul Sheldon, a psychology professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania who has studied parapsychology. "People want answers; we're desperate for them. And you see the belief in psychics go up in times of stress."
Sheldon speaks from the viewpoint of a skeptic, of which there are many, particularly in the arena of science. The idea of the psychic has been the subject of research for decades, and though scientific proof does not exist, according to Sheldon, many people feel alienated because of their public claims to their abilities.
"I first discovered [my ability] because of dreams," said Charlie Brown, editor at the "Psychic Eye News," a local publication which, when it was established in 1969, Brown said had to be kept discreet because of the stigma that surrounded it. "When I first started doing it, we wouldn't even put the 'Psychic Eye' in the phone book."
Now, anyone who can get air time on television and a 900 number advertising the ability, gives way to a pop culture phenomenon that both psychics and critics alike are against. While it discredits those who are running legitimate practices, it draws the criticism of the scientific world and the call to lab research.
Gallup Polls said today half or more Americans believe in the power of psychic ability. At the beginning of the 20th century, the public was enamored with them, using them as mediums to communicate with the dead, as entertainment or as serious advisers. Harry Houdini entertained an obsession with psychics, challenging them even in death by having his wife attempt to contact him through a medium, and people still attempt to reach him today.
"We tend to look for answers," said Dr. Paul Sheldon, a psychology professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania who has studied parapsychology. "People want answers; we're desperate for them. And you see the belief in psychics go up in times of stress."
Sheldon speaks from the viewpoint of a skeptic, of which there are many, particularly in the arena of science. The idea of the psychic has been the subject of research for decades, and though scientific proof does not exist, according to Sheldon, many people feel alienated because of their public claims to their abilities.
"I first discovered [my ability] because of dreams," said Charlie Brown, editor at the "Psychic Eye News," a local publication which, when it was established in 1969, Brown said had to be kept discreet because of the stigma that surrounded it. "When I first started doing it, we wouldn't even put the 'Psychic Eye' in the phone book."
Now, anyone who can get air time on television and a 900 number advertising the ability, gives way to a pop culture phenomenon that both psychics and critics alike are against. While it discredits those who are running legitimate practices, it draws the criticism of the scientific world and the call to lab research.