4 ms·

I listened to the first episode of the Telepathy Tapes, but then I read this article[0] and watched this video[1] of someone using a spellboard with their child

by mtlynch 11mo ago

I listened to the first episode of the Telepathy Tapes, but then I read this article[0] and watched this video[1] of someone using a spellboard with their child and felt like Telepathy Tapes had deceived me. I hope the people facilitating communication in the podcast aren't faking the communication as obviously as in that Instagram video, but the rest of the article showed specifics of the podcast where it feels like the host is using "sleight of hand" to present evidence in an overly strong way. [0] https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/the-telepathy-tapes-a-dangerous-cornucopia-of-pseudoscience/ https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/the-telepathy-tapes-... [1] https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_-ln0iO6i6/ https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_-ln0iO6i6/

ch4s3 11mo ago
FC is always fake even thought the facilitator usually believes earnestly that it is real. It works partially through the ideomotor effect where the facilitator subconsciously makes physical queues to the letter they are thinking of next. There are plenty of tests where the facilitator is blind to a piece of information that the subject of facilitation can see and the FC always fails this test.
- robocat 11mo ago
  I would guess it is hard on facilitators once they're caught out. Nobody likes their beliefs to be shattered, especially when it is so brutally caring.
an0malous 11mo ago
Are you serious? That video is nothing like the tests in the telepathy tapes, they have kids who don’t need to be touched at all and spell completely independently. I hate this whole “skeptic” culture so much, it’s just as religious as the people who believe things without evidence. You have a preconceived agenda about things you were told are wacky and you don’t even bother to review the evidence before drawing a conclusion. There is more rigorous peer-reviewed, published evidence for psychic abilities than most sociological and biological fields. The Ganz experiment has been reproduced 78 times by 46 different researchers, but sure it’s all fake and a blogger and an one obviously fake strawman instagram video are suddenly enough evidence for the skeptics who constantly demand the highest standard of academic rigor from the other side. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11134153/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11134153/
- wredcoll 11mo ago
  > There is more rigorous peer-reviewed, published evidence for psychic abilities than most sociological and biological fields. If this proved that such things were real, there would be a corporation exploiting it by now.
  - an0malous 11mo ago
    That is folk logic, not rational thinking. First, the US and Russian governments did spend decades researching these abilities and in the US they CIA, DIA, Army, and other agencies all used psychics. Perhaps they are still using them, or maybe they found satellites and drones easier to work with. The other issue is that psi seems to have strong statistical significance but low effect size. It’s not a crystal ball, the inconsistent results make it inconvenient for things like stock markets and espionage. Finally, maybe people do use psychic abilities but they lack the introspection abilities to recognize it. Where do your thoughts really come from? If you’re a stock trader and you have a hunch or insight about an opportunity, where did it come from? Sure you likely gathered data and evidence to support your investment, but didn’t you first have a hunch or a fuzzy idea that seemingly came from nowhere? We have much to learn about consciousness. I’m not asking anyone to accept psi on faith, but this culture of skepticism boils down to “psi isn’t real because psi can’t be real” and I believe it’s holding back our understanding of reality to be so close minded.
    - wredcoll 11mo ago
      > First, the US and Russian governments did spend decades researching these abilities and in the US they CIA, DIA, Army, and other agencies all used psychics. Perhaps they are still using them, or maybe they found satellites and drones easier to work with. Yeah, and they all stopped using "psychics" because, shockingly, they were worse than useless. (Please don't tell me the US military has somehow managed to keep actual psychics a secret for multiple decades despite people like trump being involved). > but this culture of skepticism boils down to “psi isn’t real because psi can’t be real” No, it boils down to asking for proof when people make claims. And extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs. Like, you can believe that stock brokers use psychic powers to get stock tips all you want, people believe in gods and demons and all sorts of things, but if you want this to actually be useful you need to find some way to demonstrate it in a repeatable way.

by mtlynch 11mo ago

ch4s3 11mo ago

FC is always fake even thought the facilitator usually believes earnestly that it is real. It works partially through the ideomotor effect where the facilitator subconsciously makes physical queues to the letter they are thinking of next. There are plenty of tests where the facilitator is blind to a piece of information that the subject of facilitation can see and the FC always fails this test.

robocat 11mo ago
I would guess it is hard on facilitators once they're caught out. Nobody likes their beliefs to be shattered, especially when it is so brutally caring.

an0malous 11mo ago

Are you serious? That video is nothing like the tests in the telepathy tapes, they have kids who don’t need to be touched at all and spell completely independently. I hate this whole “skeptic” culture so much, it’s just as religious as the people who believe things without evidence. You have a preconceived agenda about things you were told are wacky and you don’t even bother to review the evidence before drawing a conclusion. There is more rigorous peer-reviewed, published evidence for psychic abilities than most sociological and biological fields. The Ganz experiment has been reproduced 78 times by 46 different researchers, but sure it’s all fake and a blogger and an one obviously fake strawman instagram video are suddenly enough evidence for the skeptics who constantly demand the highest standard of academic rigor from the other side. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11134153/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11134153/

wredcoll 11mo ago
> There is more rigorous peer-reviewed, published evidence for psychic abilities than most sociological and biological fields. If this proved that such things were real, there would be a corporation exploiting it by now.
- an0malous 11mo ago
  That is folk logic, not rational thinking. First, the US and Russian governments did spend decades researching these abilities and in the US they CIA, DIA, Army, and other agencies all used psychics. Perhaps they are still using them, or maybe they found satellites and drones easier to work with. The other issue is that psi seems to have strong statistical significance but low effect size. It’s not a crystal ball, the inconsistent results make it inconvenient for things like stock markets and espionage. Finally, maybe people do use psychic abilities but they lack the introspection abilities to recognize it. Where do your thoughts really come from? If you’re a stock trader and you have a hunch or insight about an opportunity, where did it come from? Sure you likely gathered data and evidence to support your investment, but didn’t you first have a hunch or a fuzzy idea that seemingly came from nowhere? We have much to learn about consciousness. I’m not asking anyone to accept psi on faith, but this culture of skepticism boils down to “psi isn’t real because psi can’t be real” and I believe it’s holding back our understanding of reality to be so close minded.
  - wredcoll 11mo ago
    > First, the US and Russian governments did spend decades researching these abilities and in the US they CIA, DIA, Army, and other agencies all used psychics. Perhaps they are still using them, or maybe they found satellites and drones easier to work with. Yeah, and they all stopped using "psychics" because, shockingly, they were worse than useless. (Please don't tell me the US military has somehow managed to keep actual psychics a secret for multiple decades despite people like trump being involved). > but this culture of skepticism boils down to “psi isn’t real because psi can’t be real” No, it boils down to asking for proof when people make claims. And extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs. Like, you can believe that stock brokers use psychic powers to get stock tips all you want, people believe in gods and demons and all sorts of things, but if you want this to actually be useful you need to find some way to demonstrate it in a repeatable way.