Why in the XXI century people still believe in psychics and mysticism, and how not to become a victim of a charlatan
'10.04.2021'
Source: Adme.ru
It seems that belief in the abilities of psychics and other phenomena that are commonly called paranormal should have remained somewhere in the distant past. However, even today there are many in the world who trust fortune-tellers and clairvoyants. Contrary to popular belief, these are not only poorly educated people: perhaps the most striking example is Steve Jobs, who refused the services of traditional medicine and turned to esotericists. The operation was nevertheless performed on him, but precious time was lost.
AdMe.ru I decided to figure out why, in our age of enlightenment and accessible information, people continue to believe in otherworldly forces.
Some statistics
According to a survey conducted by VTsIOM in 2019, 31% of Russian residents believe in the ability of individuals to predict the future, and another 27% find it difficult to answer the question unequivocally. The Russians (31%) are convinced that there are magicians who know how to cause damage and evil eye, but 22% are undecided on this issue.
In the USA, the figures are slightly different: according to 2017, only 20% of Americans believe in superpower, but more than half of them are sure that some houses can be inhabited by the souls of the dead. At the same time, the proportion of respondents who do not deny the existence of the paranormal (for example, aliens or disappeared civilizations like Atlantis) is only 25%.
Why do people believe in superpowers?
A study was conducted in the United States that involved people with the same level of education and academic performance. It turned out that, despite the similar background, the believers and the unbelievers in superpowers had one significant difference. In the former, the ability to think analytically, that is, to rely on confirmed facts, and not on a subjective assessment, if necessary to draw any conclusion, was reduced in comparison with representatives of the second group.
Illustrative in this regard is the example of Arthur Conan Doyle, who believed in everything mystical and was married to a woman posing as a medium. It is a well-known case when a writer agreed with the existence of fairies, who allegedly managed to capture on film. Moreover, his faith was so deep that he did not change his conviction even after it turned out that the photographs were fake.
The perception of reality is always affected by a set of certain cognitive distortions, to which each of us is subject to one degree or another. And the difference between those who believe and those who do not believe in various paranormal phenomena lies precisely in the awareness of such an impact. In other words, an event can either be interpreted from a scientific point of view, or (and this is much easier, since it does not require any additional effort), taken as an action of inexplicable forces.
Cognitive distortion playing into the hands of psychics
What cognitive distortions can make us believe in paranormal? The most common of them is the Barnum effect, the essence of which is that people tend to find personality traits in common phrases if they are sure that the description is made only for them. For example, “you are an introvert, but sometimes you need to communicate with friends” or “you are usually calm, but there are things that can make you crazy.” It is this “exact hit effect” that makes people believe not only horoscopes, but also various fortune tellers and palmists.
"Texas Shooter's Mistake" is the name given to the distortion by the story of a "sniper" from Texas who fired at the walls of a barn and then drew targets around the densest cluster of bullet holes. In other words, the young man tried to find a pattern in the chaos, and after the fact.
For example, everyone knows the coincidences in the life histories of the American presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, which make one believe in some mysticism, especially considering their tragic death. However, the discrepancy in their fates is not taken into account, and people focus solely on similarities, thereby increasing the likelihood of erroneous conclusions. That is, we act as a “sharp” shooter: first we find some fact, and then we adjust the whole theory to it.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc ("After does not mean due to"). One of the most common superstitions about the black cat is based on this mistake. For example, we can say, "I was splashed by a passing car because the wrong animal crossed the road." But other factors, including, for example, rain, which poured all day, are not taken into account.
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The same works with psychics: a person comes to them with a certain problem, and a "professional" takes on its solution, but on the condition that several sessions are required. Between the techniques, a difficult situation can be resolved in some completely understandable way, but the one who believes in magic will definitely attribute the successful outcome to extrasensory influence.
"Bias confirmation." This distortion is one of the best assistants to psychics. People who turn to clairvoyants come to the reception with a picture of what is already in their heads: for example, with almost complete certainty that someone had cursed them. Fraudsters, in turn, know that all their clients believe in such things, and begin to throw a lot of statements of this kind: "In your environment there is a lady of medium stature with dark eyes and long hair, which you do not like."
Of course, among the acquaintances of almost every person there is a similar woman, while it is not at all necessary that she somehow showed her dislike. But the one who is sure in advance that the cause of his troubles lies in the curse, for sure "remember" how a week ago she looked at him suspiciously. The trap slammed shut.
How it works
In fact, the secret to the success of people who ascribe unusual abilities to themselves is simple: it is almost impossible to convict them of lies, if initially there is no task to expose this or that scammer. And here clairvoyants are completely safe, because the people who come to them believe in advance in the supernatural.
In addition, before starting communication with the public, psychics warn that they see blurry pictures, the meaning of which will be obvious only to someone who came to the session. Thus, they inform in advance about the possibility of an error.
The same escape routes are also used by people who specialize in divination on cards, claiming that they do not provide specific information, but outline the situation in general terms. And this is quite enough, since the client himself will add specifics, even without realizing his actions - again, partly due to the Barnum effect.
The use of cold reading techniques helps all sorts of mediums to fool the audience. Especially when it comes to mass, including spiritualistic seances. For example, "magician" names any month of the year, say July. Someone from the audience will certainly respond: for example, they will report that it was in this month that his mother died.
And here the leader’s task is to pick up this phrase, saying: “Yes, yes, she herself just told me about it. Right now she is standing next to you, she has something in her hand. ” It’s easy to get to the point: a hand can have a watch, a bracelet, a birthmark or even a scar. And according to a person’s reaction (facial expressions, movements), a skilled charlatan will understand how true his assumption was. And then it’s a matter of technology: the viewer is ready to believe everything that the “master” says, and will surely find confirmation of his words.
However, if a person does not respond to a conditional phrase about a hand, the psychic will immediately transfer the conversation to something else and again try to guess some facts about the “experimental”. And to do this is easy, because the fraudster will play into the hands of the same Barnum effect. Having guessed, the medium will close one more target: people will forget about his miss and will only remember about hitting the target. This happens due to selective perception - another cognitive distortion, because of which we take into account only what meets our expectations and intentionally ignore the data contradicting it.
In addition to the indispensable “cold reading”, there is a certain set of tricks for those who are engaged in individual receptions. The atmosphere in the magic salons always favors confidential communication: cozy furniture, dim lights, unobtrusive music, the smell of incense, which have a relaxing effect on a person. In addition, otherworldly masters demonstrate all kinds of confirmations of their own competence: a variety of certificates, diplomas, photographs with famous people, as well as books on their field of activity and other pseudoscientific areas of knowledge.
The author of Cold Reading, Jan Rowland, writes that in a conversation with a client, a psychic concentrates on 4 main topics: love, romance and relationships; money and material goods; career and personal progress; health and well-being - in a word, on those things that interest the vast majority of people. At the same time, the conversation always begins with the same thing: the medium talks about the character traits of the client, and quite accurately (and the emphasis is exclusively on positive qualities). At least that's how the visitor looks stunned, but in reality we are again dealing with the Barnum effect.
In this way, the fraudster subconsciously inspires confidence in himself, which makes it possible to convince him of anything. Including create false memories that confirm the words "magician".
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But the most effective technique of charlatans is the hot reading technique. It is often used by the creators of programs about all sorts of clairvoyants, the characters for whom are sought in advance. "Telemag" or his assistants learn in advance information about the client from social networks or from friends, and sometimes they send their assistants home to the future victim under the guise of salesmen or people conducting some kind of survey. As a rule, a short meeting is enough to get an idea of how and how this or that person lives.
Psychics who arrange massive “readings” also love this technique. After the guest signs up for the event, the scammers will find themselves at least an email address, which is easy to calculate, for example, an account on the social network. And this is quite enough. So, at one of the sessions, the medium informed the person in the hall that he was receiving information about some kind of children's clothing. The amazed viewer said that he recently posted on Facebook an advertisement for the sale of things that became small for his children.
Moreover, as a rule, when registering for such meetings, they ask to choose a place in the hall, and sometimes even log in through social networks. Brilliant, isn't it?
Magic and the Internet
The industry of fortune-telling and other esoteric “sciences” is sensitive to the trends in society and is trying to reach the widest possible audience. Television, with its various battles of psychics and sessions of “purification” on the air, is increasingly becoming the territory of middle-aged and elderly people, and those who belong to the category “before 40” are increasingly refusing to watch TV in favor of the Internet. And all kinds of pseudo-scientific “evil spirits” follow it.
However, since the Internet audience as a whole thinks more critically thanks to access to a huge amount of resources and knowledge, fortune-tellers and other witches have to get out, they are forced to come up with new approaches to potential customers. However, this is not difficult to do: as practice shows, people inclined to believe at least something supernatural are likely to believe in any magic. Therefore, you just need to throw a suitable bait.
For example, to propose to put on a red thread on your wrist, supposedly protecting from all kinds of bad influence from the outside. Adherents of Kabbalah were the first to wear such a bracelet, among which there were many celebrities, for example, the very Madonna. Followers of the ancient mystical teachings believe that this talisman protects them from the evil eye and envy. This fashion was quickly picked up by all kinds of esoterics, far from Kabbalah, who began to advise their clients such protection from the evil eye. And the fact that world famous people tie a thread played into their hands.
Or let's take the same yoga, but not as a set of specific physical exercises, but as a system in general. In fact, this ancient Indian teaching is based on spiritual practices, which, of course, have few points of contact with science. For example, the presence of chakras has not been proven by any research and, like many of the main provisions of yoga, is more likely in the field of faith than scientific knowledge.
This is what progressive magicians use, if I may say so, broadcasting about energy flows unknown to scientists, with the help of which life can be controlled. To someone who is convinced of the existence of these kinds of things, the “specialist” can offer, for example, an adjustment of these very sources, resorting to some kind of manipulation. A person who agrees to such a “treatment” falls into the snares placed by the “doctor”, who can now easily impose anything from cleansing karma to getting rid of corruption and evil eye.
How to avoid becoming a victim of psychics
Actually very simple. One has only to answer one question: why, if psychics can actually see what is inaccessible to mere mortals, not one of them has ever won the lottery? After all, it seems to make this easy: you just need to look into the future and look at the balls with which numbers will fall out of the lottery drum.
In addition, it is worth remembering that each focus has its own secret. Even if we don’t know him yet.
