Nobody really believes in psychics - everyone knows it is just for entertainment. I hear this all the time and I wish I could agree. The way that the "just for entertainment" message is delivered to me is what leads me to this conclusion.
"I don't believe in psychics, I just go for the fun of it... but... I can't explain how the psychic knew that my mother died of cancer." or "Sure, it is only for fun but you have to admit that there are some things that can't be explained. I went to a psychic and he/she knew that I had surgery on my foot when I was young. How do you explain that?"
I don't have to admit that some things can't be explained when it comes to psychics. I have offered to explain a "reading" to them - many people have tapes of their readings - but none ever seem interested in that. (If you have a psychic reading that you'd like me to "evaluate", contact me at skeptic@sarnia.com - I'd be happy to do it!)
If psychics had this "power", they'd have claimed the million dollar prize from the woo-woo* debunker extraordinaire (and Canadian, I must add), James Randi.
This post wasn't to be about debunking psychics or exposing the frauds that they are, it is to give credit where credit is due. Psychics are important - very important. With such marginal (non-existent) success rate at predictions, they make meteorologists feel good about their jobs.
*I promised James and Sean that I would, from now on, use the proper spelling of "woo-woo". The hyphen is required. We encourage you to use the term also.
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