47,8% believe in 'psychic' (Norway)

[Strazdas]

Well and i though norwegiants were smart. i am dissapoint.
Me nor my relatives do not believe in psychics, altrough the older generation are faily religiuos (not the crazy type) so thats a downside. my mom started to believe in homoephathia however and iscuring colds with vitamins now, im scared to where that could go with a more seriuos disease.

As long as people aren't claiming that psychic treatment is more effective/and or more likely to work than medicine, you have nothing to worry about.

except that they do....

 

[Syzygy23]

Globally, there are more impoverished people with little education than any other group. So I'd say more than half of Earth's population believe (at least to some degree) in some of the supernatural phenomena such as clairvoyance, telepathy, ghosts/spirits, aliens, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, or the Theory of Atlantis.


I'd like to put some qualifiers on some of the preceeding.

"little education" - Educated does not mean smart. It only means you have some knowledge. It says nothing of your ability to use it.

aliens - I mean the redneck-probing, saucer-flying martians from 50's pop culture. I am not saying that non-human life does not exist anywhere in the Universe. That's a statistical impossibility.

Bigfoot - I refer to anything currently living and leaving footprints, not to any possible missing-link.

Statistical improbability you mean. There's either other life in the universe besides humanity or there isn't.

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Must... not... say it...

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BOTH ARE EQUALLY TERRIFYING ahhhhhhh damn it.

 

[Gennadios]

In order to understand something, you must first respect it. Then see it from their point of view.

...

Good scientists respect the fact that they could be wrong (It's part of the scientific method), and good philosophers respect the improbable.

For all we know those people could be seriously experiencing some sort of mental and/or emotional effect that causes a placebo/and or other effect to take place which makes them feel better.

The thing is, learning to respect scam artists, and seeing things from their point of view will lead to the same conclusion.

Placebo is a well documented phenomena and you won't find a doctor or pharma rep that's willing to dismiss it. However, in the US, and probably europe, it's illegal to sell a placebo as a cure.

This man claimed to have healed 50,000 people at one point, before the media circus engulfed him. Not only can he not produce those 50,000 people, but now that he's famous and people are contacting him for healing, hes conveniently "losing his powers due to old age."

Win-win scenario for him, claim to have done stuff in the past, claim that you're losing your powers so you have a good explanation as to why your miracles aren't as working as well as advertised, sit back and earn royalties on your autobiography.

 

[ScaryAlmond]

44% of US citizen belief in Young Earth Creationism.
I'd take 90% belief in psychics any day compared to that.
People believe crazy things and as long as it doesn't hurt anyone besides themselves I'm happy
What is the worse than that is the large group of people that believe in Autism caused by vaccines.
If people give up their medicine because they are idiots that's fine by me Darwinism can always use the help but when they don't give their kids vaccines that is truly depressing.
No I believe in coincidence and if it suits me that's great but I'm a smart person the universe does not revolve around me it does not revolve around humans and certainly does not revolve around the earth we are just slaves to good old Physics.

 

[Filiecs]

In order to understand something, you must first respect it. Then see it from their point of view.

...

Good scientists respect the fact that they could be wrong (It's part of the scientific method), and good philosophers respect the improbable.

For all we know those people could be seriously experiencing some sort of mental and/or emotional effect that causes a placebo/and or other effect to take place which makes them feel better.

The thing is, learning to respect scam artists, and seeing things from their point of view will lead to the same conclusion.

Placebo is a well documented phenomena and you won't find a doctor or pharma rep that's willing to dismiss it. However, in the US, and probably europe, it's illegal to sell a placebo as a cure.

This man claimed to have healed 50,000 people at one point, before the media circus engulfed him. Not only can he not produce those 50,000 people, but now that he's famous and people are contacting him for healing, hes conveniently "losing his powers due to old age."

Win-win scenario for him, claim to have done stuff in the past, claim that you're losing your powers so you have a good explanation as to why your miracles aren't as working as well as advertised, sit back and earn royalties on your autobiography.

There is a difference between a scam artists who doesn't believe in what he claims to do and someone who truly has faith in their practice. I was talking psychics in general, not scam artists.
The question was not about this particular guy who is obviously a scam, it was about psychic and paranomal beliefs in general.

 

[ZyntaxError]

He is an old man that believes he has powers.

Remember that there are illnesses that reside purely in the headspace, and if you believe hard enough, and get the right trigger, you can be better.

Fact is, he is harmless compared to "real" faith healers (By real i mean its their job), as well as some religions. Mainly Scientology and other "modern" religions designed only to sell their product (faith) to its customers (believers). I would bet everyone can see the value in Faith, some people just also see the monetary value in it.

-GA

 

[Yopaz]

44% of US citizen belief in Young Earth Creationism.
I'd take 90% belief in psychics any day compared to that.
People believe crazy things and as long as it doesn't hurt anyone besides themselves I'm happy
What is the worse than that is the large group of people that believe in Autism caused by vaccines.
If people give up their medicine because they are idiots that's fine by me Darwinism can always use the help but when they don't give their kids vaccines that is truly depressing.
No I believe in coincidence and if it suits me that's great but I'm a smart person the universe does not revolve around me it does not revolve around humans and certainly does not revolve around the earth we are just slaves to good old Physics.

Thanks for cheering me up. Finding out that almost half my country believe in this was harsh. I am hoping this is an exaggeration, but I might be too hopeful here.

 

[Faulty Turmoil]

I don't know if anyone's posted this yet...
I'm with Dara on this one. Though so long as they're not refusing real treatement for anything then it's okay I guess.

My aunt believes in angels...so much so that even when she is quite financially crippled, she shelled out 100 bucks on a f**king angel decoration to protect her...

She also believes in Fairys because of the existence of Fairy Forts...*facepalm*

I love my aunt but she is insanely superstitious, if I went up to her and said I saw an angel/ghost, she would believe me instantly.

You think that's bad? My aunt actively denies the possibility of aliens in the universe, just simply because there is no place in God's plan for them. The sheer arrogance of that statement boggles my mind.

Your avatar is one of the best I've ever seen!

Captcha: "end of story" Yes! The great Dara has spoken!

 

[Thyunda]

I'm psychic. Well. Psychic empathy.

I hope you're not being serious..if you are:

A worrying number of people believe they are an 'empath', an especially worrying proportion of my immediate family. Are you by chance also religious?

The two seem to go hand in hand in my somewhat limited experience of people I know claiming it(4 out of 4)..can't imagine why.

I ask this as a person capable of being physically crippled by empathy/sympathy, to the point where it was deemed a symptom contributing to mental illness, and can and will seize and have massive cramps as a result thereof. Anybody who knows me will know that I will tell them I cannot cope with crying or people who would make other people cry, or arguments and drama in general.
Yet still I in no way believe myself or any of those people to have anything but a severe under appreciation for their own senses and purely physical awareness.

I am quite ready to believe that there is more going on than we see/understand/know, quite ready to accept that I can't disprove the idea of a God or Gods, as much as I might want to(If only for the sake of having a solid answer). But going from that to "mental super powers must exist" is just beyond my ability and comprehension.

Edit: While it's on my mind, my grandfather recently announced that my two dogs are also capable of psychic empathy.

I'm an atheist. Mental superpowers are irrelevant, it's not that. You're deliberately exaggerating. Psychic empathy is not like regular empathy. Psychic empathy goes both ways. Physical empathy is what you suffer horrifically from. Psychic empathy levels the playing field, so to speak. Like, it brings your conversational partner to your level. You understand them and they understand you.

I am notorious for stopping drama. I'm calm and I'm patient and it's infectious.

 

[dogenzakaminion]

I feel ashamed of my country, but I do think that those figures are iffy. The tabloids have a long history of not making stuff up, but using poor research methods to get the results they want.

I don't believe in that stuff. I really don't care either. People will put their faith in him, people will be let down, whatever. I won't let anyone close to me not seek medical attention (if they refuse then they're no friends of mine), the rest can do what they want.

 

[Batou667]

Psychic empathy levels the playing field, so to speak. Like, it brings your conversational partner to your level. You understand them and they understand you.

I am notorious for stopping drama. I'm calm and I'm patient and it's infectious.

So... your "super power" is being able to empathise with people, talk with them, and get to the point where they understand what you're thinking and you understand what they're thinking?

There's a term for the phenomenon you just described. It's called a "conversation".

Sorry to burst your bubble, man. Yes, there's a lot of communication which is nonverbal and people tend to unconsciously body-mirror and match the pace of their conversation partner but there's no need to assign anything magical or mystical to that. People often describe me as having an "aura of calmness" around me, but I don't take that literally and flatter myself that I'm magical. It's just another way of verbally and/or nonverbally influencing the mood of people around you, and that's something public speakers, comedians and politicians have been doing for millennia.

 

[Pinkamena]

"Studies" done by newspapers are rarely a reliable source of information. Just putting it out there...

 

[Spakka]

Sadly the number of people with cancer/HIV etc. who stop their proper medications and then present with metastatic disease/very high viral load + spread to their partners etc. means that people like this are extremely harmful. Along with homeopaths/'natural' healers/herbalists etc.

If only people weren't so gullible.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Seriously? 47.8 per cent? That has to be some kind of joke!" (BTW, I'm Norwegian)

Well, I would say that, but I have more than once experienced awkward conversations when I assume people don't believe in stuff like that, only to have them start talking about it. I usually don't assume such things, but when you're talking to non-religious, fairly down to the earth people, it does come as a surprise when I realize that they do believe it, and it doesn't help that I'm openly skeptical. My grandmother and I once watched a TV-series about psychic children, and I was complaining about how the parents used their children to gain reputation, to which she replied; "Well, they need someone to help them control their powers." She wasn't joking, and she is one of the most down to the earth people I know about.

So, actually, the number might be more legit than it seems, people just hide it or doesn't talk about it.

I don't believe in stuff like that, would be cool if it was true, but I need some real proof in order to believe it. If people do believe in it, well, perhaps they see something I don't, or like getting tricked, either way it's their money.

 

[Not Matt]

honestly. I believe the reason snåsamann said that is because he was sick of people calling him and ask about healing and the future. For example. Three people I know)(one being my grandmother) have called him about NOTHING!! One to ask what would happen to one of their ladders that he'd been standing up against a wall late at night and HAD been stolen. When he said "you'll find it" and smashed the phone down the idiot believed it. And when the neighbor found the stupid ladder. This moron on a mission decided to believe that it was joralf that had telepathically guided the neighbor to the ladder and that he had always known where it was. Do not believe in any psychic powers because of these morons I hang around praise everyone who says they have a "power". I do not wish to be a part of that community and neither does snåsamann. I mean think about it. How many times haven't he been in the media telling people to leave him alone

 

[Frankster]

Chances are my mum would be one of them had she participated in the poll :/

Im actually wearing an ionic wristband atm that is meant to like make my energy flow positively or something, i dont have the heart to tell my mum that according to my brief net search its a big scam. I guess people latch on to these beliefs because it reassures them or makes them feel they have more control over what happens around them, aswell as making the world a little big magical.

 

[thisbymaster]

You need to take a intro class to poll taking and statistics. If you pole only the people who call in and/or take the time to come to you about a subject then you are only polling a group that is not representative of the general population. Like if you polled people voting republican for their IQ you would think that everyone in the US had a IQ below 50 points.

 

[Arakasi]

I deride those who seriously believe that 'psychics' are harmless.
Even if there were one psychic who did all their services for free, didn't charge (aka scam) anyone, didn't say anything that could turn out to be harmful or time wasting, their leading people into the practice leaves the poor victim vunerable to the more showy, flashy, take all your money and leave you on the streety variety of psychic. Not to mention leaving them open to every other variety of bullshit you can think of, from homeopathy to faith healing.

I seriously think that promoting belief in that which has no actual evidence is one of the most harmful evils in our society. Children need to be taught critical thinking skills, not this 'tolerance and acceptance' bullshit.

 

[Thyunda]

Psychic empathy levels the playing field, so to speak. Like, it brings your conversational partner to your level. You understand them and they understand you.

I am notorious for stopping drama. I'm calm and I'm patient and it's infectious.

So... your "super power" is being able to empathise with people, talk with them, and get to the point where they understand what you're thinking and you understand what they're thinking?

There's a term for the phenomenon you just described. It's called a "conversation".

Sorry to burst your bubble, man. Yes, there's a lot of communication which is nonverbal and people tend to unconsciously body-mirror and match the pace of their conversation partner but there's no need to assign anything magical or mystical to that. People often describe me as having an "aura of calmness" around me, but I don't take that literally and flatter myself that I'm magical. It's just another way of verbally and/or nonverbally influencing the mood of people around you, and that's something public speakers, comedians and politicians have been doing for millennia.

Sorry blood, but I don't need to say a word to understand them. I meet someone and I see right through them. I know people before really knowing them. I know when someone's planning something, I know when they lie, and I always know when they've fucked up.
Nobody needs to say a word to me. I'm special. Could be that you are too. Maybe it's actually nothing special at all. I see no reason why not. Maybe everyone can do it, just some of us decide to do it more than others.

Your attitude helps none. Public speakers learn techniques to capture an audience. They learn how to smile, and how to make their eyes sparkle just right. My cousin is a parody of this. His smile...is more like a snarl yet he seems painfully oblivious. The teaching is evident, the learning not so much.

Now I ask you a question. How could it be that I recognised my ex-girlfriend's 'aura' online despite the fake age, nationality and different screenname? And despite the fact she never said a word? This name came up - it was Midnight-something or other, I don't really remember, but it was nothing I'd associate with my ex. Automatically my brain has assigned my ex's name to this character. I told my friend in another conversation about my suspicion, to ensure I didn't accuse myself of retrospective identification, and then proceeded to interrogate the visitor till I found out that yes. It was her. No, sorry, she insisted it wasn't her and was in fact her cousin/friend. The story changed the second time she told it.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

So yeah, there you have it. I shudder to think of the proportion here...[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure science has never disproved something like telepathy or psychic abilities.