Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions - James Randi [148]
Jumping the gun, she guessed the person was absent, and then covered all bases with a classic generalization/cop-out: "which would make me wonder if the person is either dead or if there's been some very, very bad health problems." Note that she was only "made to wonder," not know, and that this phrase implies a question that might prompt an answer but in this case failed to do so.
The host was neither dead nor absent. His back, he assured her, was excellent, nothing was wrong in the chest area, and when she tried to add a neck-upper shoulder area quickly to the reading as he revealed his good state of health, he denied that as well. As he outlined his good physical condition she mumbled an encouraging "excellent . . . fine" to cover the fact that she was dead wrong. He was neither nervous nor allergic, he continued, and had no stomach problems. Headaches and eyestrain, he assured her, did not bother him either.
But I must report that our host tumbled for one of the commoner tricks of such readings. You see, the victim is allowed and encouraged to read more into the recitation than is actually there. Smith had said, "I'm seeing the month of January here" and during his denial of the accuracy of her reading he admitted that she had determined that his birthday was in January! But she had said nothing about a birthday, particularly his birthday, since she didn't even know the bracelet belonged to him! When confronted with all this evidence, Ms. Smith explained, "The thing is that, to me, in a reading, means quick removal from a situation, which means either leaving this place, leaving the country—quick removal." Perhaps she was expressing her own desires of the moment; it certainly didn't make any sense to me. Looking at Paul Kurtz and me, she tried another tack. "Understand, I can totally see what the two of you are saying. The thing that I take a little bit further down the line is—my readings, as much as many things, can be applied to many people. Aren't there a lot of similarities in life? [There was a short, stunned pause here as we all tried to fathom what she could possibly be trying to say.] You know, we get married or we don't, we're male or we're female, we have children or we don't."
Dear reader, I leave it with you.
After this first confrontation Ms. Smith was a bit subdued but smiled bravely. She had yet to be tested with an object that I had brought along specifically for the purpose. This item was something I had owned for some time, and I knew its complete history. For a psychometry reading it was excellent material. I will reverse the usual procedure by telling you in advance all about the object and then give you her entire word-for-word reading of it. You will then be in the position I was in, and be able to do your own analysis of her accuracy.
The object was a small bisque-fired ceramic, black in color and of Peruvian origin. It measured seven inches in length and was in the form of a bird, with a spout at the top. It was a fake—a replica of a genuine Mochica grave object and had been made by a friend in Lima who is Peruvian by birth but Chinese by ancestry. He is a short man, five feet six or so, heavy, straight black hair, twenty-eight years of age, with totally Chinese features to all appearances. He is single, or was at the time the reading was made. He speaks only Spanish. His business is making accurate replicas of original Peruvian art and repairing ceramics. He gave the ceramic to me because it had broken, and I repaired it myself when I returned to the United States.