Talking to the dead Essay

Psychics use manipulation to convince people that they can communicate with the deceased by claiming to be able to communicate with spirits. Some people believe it is possible to communicate with the deceased. Over the years, several people have claimed to be able to interact with the deceased. Many individuals and mediums, on the other hand, have been caught lying about their ability to communicate with the deceased. These individuals have been discovered using deception to communicate with spirits (Litman, pg 67). These people use deception to persuade others to believe in them and their ability to communicate with the dead. Alleged psychics who are believed to be having the supernatural power to talk to the dead have been there for centuries. However, these psychics do not necessarily have the power to communicate with the spirit, but they use trickery to deceive people about their fake power (Radford, pg. 34). Psychics use some methods like cold reading or hot reading to trick people on their ability to speak to the spirit which might not be true.

Cold reading is the common method used by the alleged psychics. In cold reading, the alleged psychics make sure that he gets information from a victim before the victim dies. After the victim has died, the alleged psychics makes the information that was given to him as if he got the information through talking to the deceased. In this method of cold reading, the psychics make guesses estimations that have a high probability of being true about the deceased person by reading the body language or even the appearance. When the guess is confirmed, the alleged psychics take that direction in faking the ability to speak to the dead.

Hot reading is another type of trickery used by psychics to claim their ability to talk to the dead. Hot reading happens when the alleged psychics gets information about the deceased before either through the internet or other sources or even by asking people who are very close to the victim like family members or friends (Hyman, pg 218). The alleged psychics then present this information to the victims. The alleged psychics are then viewed as having the power to miraculously speak with the dead which is not true as the alleged psychics just gathered this information from the living and the internet sources. This trickery is increasingly becoming popular due to the popularity of the social media and networking sites. The alleged psychics can also make Barnum statements concerning the deceased. These entails making statements that are too obvious, and that apply to everyone in most cases.

The other methods used by the alleged psychics to claim their ability to talk to the dead are the techniques that are aimed to ensure a hit. The alleged psychics use these techniques to increase their probability of having the hits (Hyman, pg 218). Shot gunning is an example of the trick used by the alleged psychics here. Shot gunning entails making as many statements as possible with the aim of hoping that some of the statements made are true and that the victim can at least relate to one of them. Inflating hits is also a technique used here by the psychics. Inflating hits can involve both when doing a private reading and even when doing a reading publicly like on a TV show. These two types of inflating probabilistic sources are based on how the alleged psychic’s claims are connected with the reality.

Since time immemorial, the fact that celestial bodies have the ability to determine the future of a person has fascinated human beings. However, astrologers usually fool people into believing how astrology can determine a person’s character or future. The astrologers normally use the person’s aspects of life such as the illness or difficulty which is caused by the astrological effects. Some of the examples of the difficult or illness are the not being able to marry. Astrologers claim to have also the ability to determine the type of character a person will have in future.

Astrology is the study of the celestial bodies in the sky. Some of the celestial bodies are the stars and planets. Astrologers study these bodies by determining their positions in the sky by carrying out very intricate calculations. The positions of these celestial bodies in the sky help the astrologers to inter-relate their position with various phenomena of the earth. The various phenomena include the human life (Hudson, pg 68). The principal that the astrologers use here is the fact that the positions of these celestial bodies like the stars and the planets have an influence on people. They influence the people events directly. The astrologers use this technique therefore to determine the future of a person. One live pattern can be drawn on a chart just by the use of the positions of the stars and planets when one is born.

However, astrologers usually fool people on to believing that astrology can determine the character or the future of a person by using the following methods which might not be necessarily true. Some of these methods are Earth’s wobble on its axis. Astrologers argue that the earth’s axis determines how the future of the person or even the character which is not true. There is also no substantial influence on the human beings by the gravity or light from the sun or planets.

Investigation by visiting vicinities which are known to be the habitats of ghosts is referred. Ghost hunters have been alleged of giving wrong information on the existence of ghosts by not using the ghost hunting equipment properly. In order to find the ghosts locations, ghost hunters normally use many electronic devices in look for the ghosts. Some of these electronic devices are the EMF meter, video cameras, thermometers and even the audio recorder. Some of the ghost hunters even may also use the common methods like carrying out interviews on the people living in sites where the ghosts might be found.

Ghost hunting has always been criticized since the existence of the ghosts has not been proofed scientifically. The ghost hunters normally convince people of the existence of ghosts by not using the ghost hunting equipment properly. The ghost hunters may also misinterpret the observation of the ghost hunting equipment, and thus they give wrong information to the people and even themselves about the existence of the ghosts.

The EMF (electromagnetic field) meter is one of the equipment that is used to look for ghosts by the ghost hunters that is usually misinterpreted. The ghost hunters may not be having enough knowledge on how to use the EMF meters and how to read them appropriately (Laythe, pg. 212). This leads to wrong interpretations and thus the host hunters’ end up giving wrong information about the existence of ghosts. The ghost workers then convince people about the existence of ghosts which might not be true as the wrong interpretation and reading of the EMF meter.

The EVP recording is also another equipment used by ghost hunters to search for ghosts and which is usually misinterpreted. Ghosts hunting require a high level of experience in order to listen to the audios from the EVP recorder and interpret it well. Since recordings are not always like the original voices (Auerbach, pg. 210). This thus makes EVP recording method as being not an efficient method of searching for ghosts in ghosts hunting. Furthermore, in audios, most of the original information has been omitted.

Photographs and spirits of the “spirit orbs,” may also be used by the ghost hunters to convince people of the existence of ghosts. The ghost’s hunters take photos of things which are claimed to be ghosts and use these photos and photographs. The photos may not even necessarily be ghosts as they may be other creatures. People are made to easily believe the existence of these ghosts when they see the photos presented to them by the ghost hunters.

In conclusion, alleged psychics normally use several methods of trickery for people to believe their ability to have the power of communicating with the spirits. Some of the methods are a cold reading, hot reading and shot gun approach. Astrologers have the ability to tell the character and future of a person by using the positions of the celestial bodies like the stars and planets. However, these astrologers fool people on how astrology can determine people on the basis of the earth wobbling on its axis. This is also because there is no any influence of gravity or even the light to the people from the sun. The various hunting techniques by ghost hunters are mostly misinterpreted and thus ghosts hunters giving wrong information on the existence of ghosts.

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Works Cited

Auerbach, Loyd. Ghost hunting: how to investigate the paranormal. Ronin Publishing, 2010.

Hudson, Travis, and Ernest Underhay. Crystals in the sky: an intellectual odyssey involving Chumash astronomy, cosmology, and rock art. No. 10. Ballena Pr, 1978.

Hyman, Ray. ”Talking with the dead, communicating with the future and other myths created by cold reading.” Tall Tales about the Mind and Brain: Separating Fact from Fiction (2007): 218.

Laythe, Brian R., and Kay Owen. ”A critical test of the EMF-paranormal phenomena theory: Evidence from a haunted site without electricity-generating fields.” The Journal of Parapsychology 77.2 (2013): 212.

Litman, Jessica. Digital copyright. Prometheus books, 2001.

Radford, Benjamin. ”Ghost-hunting mistakes: Science and pseudoscience in ghost investigations.” Skeptical Inquirer 34.6 (2010).