Re: radio psychics

[Aaron Read <aread@speakeasy.net>]

At 01:22 PM 7/22/2003, Donna Halper wrote:
>Working on an article for the Patriot-Ledger (for which I do some 
>free-lancing) and was wondering if any of you have had a psychic on your 
>station.  If so, was he or she a popular feature? Who mostly called-- men 
>or women?  And while you and I may think these folks are phonies, there 
>are people who swear by them-- anybody got a theory as to why psychics 
>remain popular?

Speaking as a person who was a psych major, I suspect belief in psychics 
functions within the mechanics of our minds similar to how belief in 
organized religion works.   As a species we seem to have this need to 
belief that there are explanations for the unexplainable.   Or the 
unexplainable-without-a-PhD, at least.  The amusing thing about it is that 
it's belief based entirely on the concept that the desire to understand is 
more important than the knowledge itself.  In fact, acquiring the knowledge 
would destroy the belief.   Can you imagine how disasterous it would be if 
someone invented a time machine and went back to videotape the birth of 
Jesus?  Or any major historical event in any religion's history?  I have no 
doubt the details, or perhaps even the big points, would significantly 
alter our current understanding of the religion in question.  No doubt 
there'd still be a lot of believers - there's lots of evidence that John 
Edwards is a total fraud yet he still gets the ratings.   But I imagine 
that it'd be an ugly time for the Vatican if we found out the truth was 
closer to Kevin Smith's "Dogma" than the King James Bible.  :-)

I suppose I'll take some flak for comparing Miss Cleo to Jesus Our Lord and 
Savior...although personally I think believing in either is a little 
strange but largely harmless as long as you don't let it get out of 
hand.   If paying $20/month makes you feel better about the world, who am I 
to say it's better to do it to a psychic as opposed to a Church of some sort?

Keeping with the broadcasting theme...I remember that WXZR / Z-Rock down in 
Groton, CT we had a psychic come out to remotes a handful of times.  I was 
just interning and never at the remotes in question...but I seem to 
remember the psychic was a woman in her mid-40's, and I think most of the 
people who came to see her were women as well.  I'd assume it was mostly 
wives and girlfriends of men in uniform...Groton is a major Naval base and 
Z-Rock was definitely targeting that crowd.   I'd assume the psychic wasn't 
all that popular or she would've been used more.


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Aaron "Bishop" Read             aread@speakeasy.net
FriedBagels Consulting          AOL-IM: readaaron
http://www.friedbagels.com      Boston, MA