Do psychics exist?

In discussing psychics, there are often some who make categorical statements about the existence or ethics of psychics. This article is about bringing some sort of rationality to such discussions.

For any person to accurately say that there are no psychics, they would have to ask everybody on the planet for an honest reply – that is, free of fears of threats or ridicule – whether that person had experienced an explicit psychic experience, being one where they saw, hear, sensed an explicit future event, free of any way of knowing beforehand. Now, at this time, no one is physically capable of just asking everyone, so there is no way an unbiased person can truthfully say there is no such thing as a psychic, unless they are themselves psychic, which disproves their own hypothesis!

However, anyone who has had such an experience would immediately know that any person making such a claim is obviously making, possibly unknowingly, a false statement, and thus acting from a bias, possibly ideological or fear-based. Hence, any other categorical statements they make, on any topic, are rightfully open to being suspect of bias, undermining the veracity of those statements. Basically, any person making such statements has shown themselves to be an ignoramus, and how far that extends is subject to speculation.

Equally, beware of people who, while stating that they don't believe in psychics, then purport to make statements about how or what psychics should, or should not, be able to do, since they cannot possible know the actual means. That is, if something doesn't exist, no one can possible know anything about it. They have over-reached their self-admitted limitation. In the same way a person can use a smartphone, but have no real idea of how it works, much less explain it, a psychic may not be able to explain how they get their insights or information, but they can get them nonetheless.

Now, all this does not mean that there are no scammers, especially since there are known techniques, such as cold reading of body language in response to probing questions, by which skilled practitioners can gauge whether they are on the right track. This is not confined to just purported psychics, but any person trying to gain another person's trust in order to take advantage of them.

However, any consultant will need to ask questions, as there is always too much information, much of which may not be relevant to your concerns at the time. If going to a psychic, like any consultant providing of information and skills, you need to be clear about your expectations are, exactly what you want to know, and whether the consultant works in the way you want.

After that due diligence, if you still decide to take the leap of faith – that is, a gamble upon which you can later debate about whether you have spent wisely! – don't try to get them to prove their abilities in trivial ways. If they are what they say they are, they will fairly quickly demonstrate their abilities and skills in working with what you really want or need, and thus avoid distracting time-wasting. After all, you are paying for their time.

As with any consultant, you need to be open to other possibilities that may arise, as the benefit of a consultant is that they can see, by whatever means at their disposal, your situation from other perspectives. If they have the communications skills, they can help you see what is suitable for you, and develop strategies with you as to how you can make those possibilities happen.