Is Your Phone Psychic an Out-of-Work Actor?

Many so called "psychic hotlines" are simply people such as out of work actors trained in the art of giving fake "live psychic readings" using a process known as "cold reading".

Here is the official dictionary definition, that anyone can read for themselves of "Cold Reading":

The Dictionary Definition of "Cold Reading"

"Cold reading is a technique used by salespeople, interrogators, hypnotists, psychics, graphologists, palmists, astrologers, con-men etc. to convince another person that they know more about them than they actually do. Generally, the cold reader will make a series of vague statements, will observe the subject's reactions, and then will refine the original statements according to those reactions. The technique is sometimes applied in order to falsely convince an audience that the reader possesses psychic abilities"

And here is why "Psychic readings" have become so popular:

* Predictions almost always use vague terms and do not lend themselves to falsification. Therefore, the prediction is never wrong, but a person's interpretation of it can always be wrong.
* Confirmation bias predisposes people to look for cases where predictions can be interpreted as accurate more than they look to find inaccurate ones.
* Consumers of fortune-telling services may also fail to realise that statements made about them might reflect reality, but would equally apply to most other people (for instance, the statement "you fought with your parents sometimes as a teenager" applies to a large majority of people). This is the Forer effect.
* Fortune-tellers usually exhibit skills at reading people and telling them what they wish to hear (the technique of "cold reading").
* A person who performs a divination for himself or herself may be using his or her reactions to the arbitrary stimuli (such as tarot cards) as a way of mentally organizing his or her own thoughts.
* Predictions can be a source of amusement and diversion.
* Predictions can reduce anxiety about the uncertain future.
* When making a decision based on incomplete information, the fortune teller or oracle can reduce the anxiety associated with guessing.
* It can be an external source of authority to invoke in support of a decision to be made, or in defense of a decision that was made.
* The predictions themselves can cause the subject to alter his or her behaviour in a way that makes the predictions become true, see self-fulfilling prophecy.
* Fortune-telling in the context of an individual's belief system has a good chance of being believed

The Bad News: Phone Psychics are Phony Psychics

So lucrative is the billion dollar "psychic industry" that these actors can make more money giving "cold readings" over the telephone, than they ever could working as an actor.

And it is not only actors.

The majority of people on psychic hotlines are probably using cold reading in some form.

To give a cold reading these people need absolutely no psychic ability, clairvoyant ability or any other psychic power whatsoever.

It really is just a clever scam to deliberately mislead people for dollars per minute, knowing that they can never really be held accountable because what they are saying cannot be easily disproven.

Innocent people are lured into calling these "psychic hotlines" by the offer a "free minutes". Psychic hotline readers are trained to make maximum use of those free minutes to "hook" the customer with promises or intriguing statements to con them into paying for the dollars per minute "service".

The operators of psychic hotline services often put considerable pressure on their employees to perform and get repeat calls, otherwise they are placed down the order of commercial importance where they receive fewer calls and receive less money.

But again, that is not to say that there are no genuine psychics at all waiting on the end of a premium rate telephone number for your call because there may well be; but even if there are, how do you know for sure which of those thousands of live psychics are really genuine?

Try phoning a psychic hotline and asking the "psychic" for 10 years of verifiable references and see what sort of answer you get! They might not react in the way you might expect!

You certainly cannot rely on those electronic testimonials, rating systems, a number of stars who have been given by people who have very often themselves been the subject of an expert cold reading or just generally told what they want to hear and feel the better for it; the "feel good factor".

And again; how can even a genuine psychic be expected to give an impromptu psychic reading or establish contact with a "deceased" person without adequate preparations?

And the fact of the matter is, genuine, talented, respected people with psychic ability, who have dedicated time to developing psychic powers such as clairvoyant or psychic medium abilities generally do not usually lurk around on the end of premium rate telephone live psychic hotlines.

Most genuine psychics and psychic mediums already have all the "clients" they could possibly wish for by recommendation alone, and they never, ever charge by the minute.

Some genuine psychics in fact do not charge anything at all, being only too pleased to use their psychic ability to help others, but those that do usually charge a reasonable price for a "sitting". Most genuine psychics however charge an amount the client can afford, if anything, for a sitting of typically 30 minutes to one hour in duration.

So what are you to do?

The Good News: Your own Psychic Abilities really do exist.

We all have powerful, natural, latent psychic powers ready to be developed for our own use

Yes! Every single human being, without exception, and indeed many animals such as cats, who are very psychic, have been endowed with "God-given" psychic, clairvoyant, telepathic and many other profound, natural but often latent inner abilities to use whenever the need arises.

There is a very big difference between developing your own natural, latent psychic abilities for your own purposes, just as the Universe intended, to purporting to offer services for others.

Everyone who understands these important matters knows that developing and using psychic powers for our own purposes is one of the best things that we can do for our lives on Earth, and that the fortune telling laws only exist to prevent indiscriminate people from distorting these facts for profit.

Everyone is encouraged to help themselves in this way, and it is totally lawful to do so, because when receiving inner-guidance by psychic means, not only is such guidance totally accurate and appropriate, it is not being used to influence the Minds of other people unlike "fortune telling".

Even better, not only is developing and using your own psychic powers totally lawful and accurate, it is also free. No more anxiously watching those dollar minutes tick by while listening to a "cold reading", the only load from which will be relieved is from your bank account.

Using your own natural psychic abilities for your own purposes by for example communicating with your Higher-Self, a personal "spirit guide" or clairvoyantly viewing, is very different from speaking with someone on the phone who might be thousands of miles away and doesn't know anything about you.

So all you need to do is to develop your own, natural psychic ability, the same psychic abilities that humans have always possessed and have access to.

By Adrian Cooper