Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1 1988 Page 43
these facts about the object. For example, a believer will tend to accept a ―psychic‖ reading more
readily if he has given his birth date and is told that the reader is an ―astrologer,‖ than if the
reading is done with no information volunteered. In the intuition exercise, the name, sex, age,
and/or address of the subject is volunteered. This creates an individuation effect and also ensures
that there won't be an embarrassing miss on those specific points.
Since the partner who is thinking of another person must give feedback, another Cold reading
technique is available to the partner doing the reading. The receiver may be consciously or
unconsciously sensing the reactions of the sender, and may give impressions that seem to get a
verbal or non-verbal positive response. In mentalism this technique is called ―fishing.‖ As
participants practice this, they might get better at reading the reactions of their partners, and
since both partners have a large investment in making the exercise work, they will unwittingly
help each other. In a sense, the exercise provides rewards for developing cold reading skills even
if these skills are developed unintentionally.
As an example of how this works, one participant told me that the woman doing the intuition
exercise with him described his object ―pretty accurately,‖ and when the exercise was over said,
―It seems like she could be your mother.‖(15) That remark was quite surprising to him, since he
cannot recall revealing that fact to his partner. However, the description could easily have been
obtained by the techniques of fishing and unconscious cold reading, and the participant told me
that he looks a lot like his mother. The coincidence of his partner's remark was no longer
surprising to him after I explained how the exercise might work.
Pseudo Explanations for Heightened Intuition
The training implicitly supplies three types of explanation for the occurrence of .psychic
phenomena during the course: the pseudo-scientific, the pseudo- psychological and what I call
the ―honesty‖ explanation, the latter referring to the notion that we don't see this occurrence
more often because we are not honest enough.
According to my subjects, the trainers generally say that ―we use only 10% of our mental
capacity.‖ This implied rationale for how we might be able to develop ―psychic‖ ability is more
acceptable to the public today than religious, spiritual, or fantasy explanations such as, ―this
power comes from aliens,‖ or ―there are ghosts in the room who speak to us.‖ It is a pseudo-
scientific explanation of how we might be able to develop mental abilities that are usually thought
to be impossible. Participants are free to imagine that if by the end of five days they would be
able to use just II% of their mental capacity, they could become in some sense ―super people.‖
Mentalists have talked about the fact that we use 10% of our brains for many years without even
knowing if it's a true statement Mentalists often discuss the ―frontier‖ and ―vast untapped
potential‖ of the mind when they are trying to create the impression that something supernatural
or supernormal is going to happen. IM pseudo-scientific explanation lends credibility to the
performance.
Printed on a banner at the front of the room during the training is the question, ―What are You
Pretending Not to Know?‖ This question provides a pseudo- psychological rather than a pseudo-
scientific explanation. It suggests that we don't display ―psychic‖ ability all of the time because we
tend not to recognize truths that we do not have evidence to support that we cannot
―substantiate.‖ If only we could free ourselves from this inhibition, according to this line of
thinking, we would be able to realize our natural ability to be ―psychic.‖
The trainer, according to my subjects, places a high value on what he calls ―real‖ honesty. This
provides another pseudo-explanation for why we do not have ―psychic‖ experiences all the time.
We don't say some things because we are not really being honest with other people.
these facts about the object. For example, a believer will tend to accept a ―psychic‖ reading more
readily if he has given his birth date and is told that the reader is an ―astrologer,‖ than if the
reading is done with no information volunteered. In the intuition exercise, the name, sex, age,
and/or address of the subject is volunteered. This creates an individuation effect and also ensures
that there won't be an embarrassing miss on those specific points.
Since the partner who is thinking of another person must give feedback, another Cold reading
technique is available to the partner doing the reading. The receiver may be consciously or
unconsciously sensing the reactions of the sender, and may give impressions that seem to get a
verbal or non-verbal positive response. In mentalism this technique is called ―fishing.‖ As
participants practice this, they might get better at reading the reactions of their partners, and
since both partners have a large investment in making the exercise work, they will unwittingly
help each other. In a sense, the exercise provides rewards for developing cold reading skills even
if these skills are developed unintentionally.
As an example of how this works, one participant told me that the woman doing the intuition
exercise with him described his object ―pretty accurately,‖ and when the exercise was over said,
―It seems like she could be your mother.‖(15) That remark was quite surprising to him, since he
cannot recall revealing that fact to his partner. However, the description could easily have been
obtained by the techniques of fishing and unconscious cold reading, and the participant told me
that he looks a lot like his mother. The coincidence of his partner's remark was no longer
surprising to him after I explained how the exercise might work.
Pseudo Explanations for Heightened Intuition
The training implicitly supplies three types of explanation for the occurrence of .psychic
phenomena during the course: the pseudo-scientific, the pseudo- psychological and what I call
the ―honesty‖ explanation, the latter referring to the notion that we don't see this occurrence
more often because we are not honest enough.
According to my subjects, the trainers generally say that ―we use only 10% of our mental
capacity.‖ This implied rationale for how we might be able to develop ―psychic‖ ability is more
acceptable to the public today than religious, spiritual, or fantasy explanations such as, ―this
power comes from aliens,‖ or ―there are ghosts in the room who speak to us.‖ It is a pseudo-
scientific explanation of how we might be able to develop mental abilities that are usually thought
to be impossible. Participants are free to imagine that if by the end of five days they would be
able to use just II% of their mental capacity, they could become in some sense ―super people.‖
Mentalists have talked about the fact that we use 10% of our brains for many years without even
knowing if it's a true statement Mentalists often discuss the ―frontier‖ and ―vast untapped
potential‖ of the mind when they are trying to create the impression that something supernatural
or supernormal is going to happen. IM pseudo-scientific explanation lends credibility to the
performance.
Printed on a banner at the front of the room during the training is the question, ―What are You
Pretending Not to Know?‖ This question provides a pseudo- psychological rather than a pseudo-
scientific explanation. It suggests that we don't display ―psychic‖ ability all of the time because we
tend not to recognize truths that we do not have evidence to support that we cannot
―substantiate.‖ If only we could free ourselves from this inhibition, according to this line of
thinking, we would be able to realize our natural ability to be ―psychic.‖
The trainer, according to my subjects, places a high value on what he calls ―real‖ honesty. This
provides another pseudo-explanation for why we do not have ―psychic‖ experiences all the time.
We don't say some things because we are not really being honest with other people.
