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Q: Ever been to a Chinese fortune teller? Know anyone who has?
Always very skeptical about fortune tellers and psychics, but my wife went to one a couple of years back and it was pretty surprising how accurate he was. I know there's a technique called 'cold reading' whereby unscrupulous people will throw out vague statements and fish for information, eventually convincing the customer that something out of this world has happened, but my wife swears she didn't say a word, just kept quiet the whole time. This was in her home town, and it's not a place people come to from outside, it's only really somewhere that people leave. It's a dump is what i'm saying. Anyway this guy told her that she had a man from far away, they would marry the next year, and all manner of other stuff that I think would be imprudent to talk about on the internet, suffice to say it was remarkably accurate.
So, wob-ow-chew? Any interesting fortune teller tales to tell?
I don't personally but saw a TV show where once where a foreigner visiting Beijing did. The fortune teller told him that he is likely to have have problems in the future (which he later told the camera it was spooky because his family had a history of heart disease), and that to prevent any future complications he'd have to perform three tasks: put a note in the sea, on a mountain, and something else (might have been burn it).
Anyway the show is called an Idiot Abroad and is worth checking out for it's hilarity anyway
mArtiAn, if I wanted to give my money away I would pick a more deserving cause than some fake supernatural BS; if they (the fortune tellers) are so good why aren't they all super rich or super lucky, or both?
mArtiAn:
I'm with you in thinking the majority of these people are frauds. Like Rickie Gervais said to a gypsy selling lucky heather: "If it's that lucky why are you begging in Leicester Square?" But then who can say if it is all hokum? Didn't Einstein say that the difference between the past, present and future is an illusion? Doesn't physics suggest the possibility of time travel? I'm sure some of these guys like Einy, that wheelchair bloke, or your very own Richie Cunningham have suggested the past and the future are tangible things still existing somewhere in an around our perceived present. If so why shouldn't someone be able to take a spyglass to some of it? And i'm sure that for those that could, should they exist, riches and glory might likely be the last thing of importance to them. I knew of a healer in London who worked for free because he said that he'd lose his gift if he put it on sale. An ex girlfriend's mother went to him and she became well after doctors had not been able to help her and she was ready to die. The guy was bizarre actually, he could tell you something about the physical condition of anyone you knew. My girlfriend tried him out by saying she had a friend in Brighton with a problem and this guy said, "Yep, she has a hole in her inner ear." Right on the money apparently. "There are more wonders in Heaven and Earth than are dreampt of in our philosophy Horatio" to quote Shaking Stevens. Or was it William Shakespeare? Oh, one or the other.
Hugh.G.Rection:
The thing is with these supernatural healers, spiritualist, charlatans, conmen, call them what you will, is not one single one has ever stood up to detailed scientific scrutiny
Scandinavian:
...and the thing is with "miracles" like your ex-girlfriends mother is that the body is really good at fighting problems, most people who go see a doctor would become better just as fast by just staying home, but seeing a doctor, who pads you on the back and gives you faith will help your mind help your body.
I also believe that the mentioned smart people would all agree that time travel is possible, just only forwards, we are constantly doing it, while writing this I have traveled about 2 mins forward in time
I am married to a Chinese woman, and before our wedding she went with her parents to a fortune teller to check the best day for the wedding. Fortunately he was quite flexible with the date and we didn't have to modified our plans because of supernatural nonsense.
He also told her some generic and vague information about her future career and health that could be applied to 90% of the population. I don't trust the Chinese fortune teller anymore that I trust the western ones.
Yes I went, twice! Not intentionally mind you, but because I was traveling and chanced upon fortune-telling monks at various temples I visited and was with a bunch of curious travel companions who convinced me to try it out. To tell you the truth, the ones I visited at least, were phoneys! They take your palm, give you a very general reading (your going to travel a lot, you will experience great love etc.) and then you have to put money in their box.
I later discovered that one of the monks had an iphone with a semi-naked Chinese film actress as his screensaver!
Cold reading will seem powerful if the victim wants to believe. "A man from far away" would also have been accurate if it had been someone from the other side of the village, the next village, another province etc.
Also, the part about not telling anything up front, did perhaps her mother book this time with the fortune teller
Scandinavian:
ah yes, as per your story above, if you charge for your gift you will loose it, however, if a person did have such a gift, don't you think it would make it to at least local TV and some other well meaning people would build a shelter for the person to operate from.
In my mind, if it cannot be scientifically proven, it probably doesn't exist. This is not saying I am not open to new discoveries, but things like fortunetelling, alchemy, making water into wine, has had hundreds of years without any of those speaking for it has been able to proove anything.
