gasmonso's Challenge!

[gasmonso]

Ok, here's the deal...

I have spoken with my sister and told her about the grilling I (rightfully) received here. In addition, we spoke to great lengths about the Ouija, psychics, and people who see dead people.

My sister's friend at work apparently see's and speaks with dead people....ok stop laughing. In addition, she has a good psychic friend here in town here. So what we've decided to do is this...

I will visit the psychic if she still is doing readings. I would like people on here to advise me on how to approach it so she has as little info as possible. I don't want her to know anything about me, etc.

Next, I will visit my sisters friend who can see dead people. I'd like to hear from all of you on how to test this... any idea, thoughts, etc..

Finally, we are going to get a Ouija board and attempt to contact whomever... hopefully Z. We still have to find a place to use it since my sister, mom, and my wife won't allow it in their homes. Again I would like thoughts, ideas, etc to do a good test.

I know what you're all thinking....gasmonso is a super freak and has some really weird family and friends. Well I guess that true to an extent. But please refrain from personal insults as I will cry

I hope this will push me to back my claims up and hopefully shed some light on the paranormal.

 

[Curnir]

first thought.

1. Get a board with a setup you are not familiar with.
2. Rigg up a camera*
3. Do it blindfolded and check results after.

Edited after spidey's post
*videocamera + audio

 

[Spidey13]

My main advice is to record (audio and/or video) everything.

 

[Blackwell]

Ok, here's the deal...

I have spoken with my sister and told her about the grilling I (rightfully) received here. In addition, we spoke to great lengths about the Ouija, psychics, and people who see dead people.

My sister's friend at work apparently see's and speaks with dead people....ok stop laughing. In addition, she has a good psychic friend here in town here. So what we've decided to do is this...

I will visit the psychic if she still is doing readings. I would like people on here to advise me on how to approach it so she has as little info as possible. I don't want her to know anything about me, etc.

Next, I will visit my sisters friend who can see dead people. I'd like to hear from all of you on how to test this... any idea, thoughts, etc..

Finally, we are going to get a Ouija board and attempt to contact whomever... hopefully Z. We still have to find a place to use it since my sister, mom, and my wife won't allow it in their homes. Again I would like thoughts, ideas, etc to do a good test.

Hey there Gasmonso,
Good for you on attempting a test. Your post is a little confusing, though - are you attempting to make 3 seperate tests? Or do your three suggestions tie in together some how? Maybe you can start with just one of your claims, and the members here can help you put together an acceptible test, and then you can move on to the next claim. However, if you're trying to tie them all together, maybe you can explain that a little better.

I know what you're all thinking....gasmonso is a super freak and has some really weird family and friends. Well I guess that true to an extent. But please refrain from personal insults as I will cry

Come on - you're a Marine! You can handle it!

 

[gasmonso]

Well they are seperate, but will all be taking place within the next month. The psychic will probably be a onetime deal. As for my sister's friend who see's dead people... I can probably see her several times since she lives close by. As for the Ouija, hopefully that will be an ongoing thing.

But each event in itself is seperate. I'm going to busy I guess.

gasmonso

 

[Freethinker]

With the psychic, don't answer yes to any questions unless they are right, and don't provide more than they ask for. For example, if they say "I'm sensing someone with the letter D, do you know of someone?" Just say yes or no. Don't say "Oh yes! My dad's name was Don and he died in a car wreck last year!" You've just given them enough information to go on for a week. Don't volunteer anything.

 

[Overman]

For the second test, die and then see if she can see you!

 

[Ipecac]

Ok, here's the deal...
My sister's friend at work apparently see's and speaks with dead people....ok stop laughing. In addition, she has a good psychic friend here in town here. So what we've decided to do is this...

I will visit the psychic if she still is doing readings. I would like people on here to advise me on how to approach it so she has as little info as possible. I don't want her to know anything about me, etc.

The psychic is already tainted as far as doing readings on you. Your sister's friend may have mentioned your sister (or may mention her once you set this up) and, intentionally or not, given her all kinds of information. If the psychic even knows your sister's name that means she can dig up all kinds of information on you. Since you can't rule this out, it pretty much invalidates any hits she gets on you.

 

[Mr. Scott]

please refrain from personal insults as I will cry

Ask Tom Hanks said, "there's no crying in studying the paranormal!"

I hope this will push me to back my claims up and hopefully shed some light on the paranormal.

I saw evidence in your blog and posts that you believed there were both fake and real psychics, and that you didn't like being taken in by fakes. Right? That's were healthy skepticism comes in. Trouble is, historically, when honest researchers eliminated every fake medium, none remained. Perhaps you could think long and hard about this and explain why you feel your research is special and will be any different.

That being said...

If you are as open-minded and truth-seeking as you claim, then you need to be ready to conclude one of the following with equal likelihood:

1) That paranormal stuff is real and you've found it.
2) That paranormal stuff is real but you can't find it.
3) That you can't find paranormal stuff and it likely isn't real (and no tears).

Are you open-minded enough to accept #2 or #3 if your experiments lead you to those conclusions?

OK, good.

Please videotape your Ouija sessions and audiotape your psychic readings. I bet you will not get permission from a phone psychic to tape the calls so don't ask. Please report to this forum honestly and completely about these sessions.

If you feel that your experiments show psychic stuff is real, then go for your million dollars. Randi's money awaits your proof.

 

[Starrman]

The psychic is already tainted as far as doing readings on you. Your sister's friend may have mentioned your sister (or may mention her once you set this up) and, intentionally or not, given her all kinds of information. If the psychic even knows your sister's name that means she can dig up all kinds of information on you. Since you can't rule this out, it pretty much invalidates any hits she gets on you.

This is critical - perhaps you could find a volunteer in the area unknown to your sister or the psychic, have them trained in how to not give away information and have them sit with you observing/recording. In fact, I suggest letting your sister and the psychic think it is you until the day of the test and then bring the other sitter the day of the reading.

 

[Freethinker]

This is critical - perhaps you could find a volunteer in the area unknown to your sister or the psychic, have them trained in how to not give away information and have them sit with you observing/recording. In fact, I suggest letting your sister and the psychic think it is you until the day of the test and then bring the other sitter the day of the reading.

Better yet, send the volunteer in your place, pretending to be you. Her advance information would work against her then.

 

[gasmonso]

Here's the deal with the psychic. My sister is getting the information from her friend for me. The psychic will not know what I look like, nor does my sister's friend who is giving us her info. I will schedule the appointment myself as if I just got her from the phonebook or her about her.

 

[Azrael 5]

Better yet, send the volunteer in your place, pretending to be you. Her advance information would work against her then.

Unless the psychic knows what gasmonso looks like!

Fair play for coming back gasmonso,my advice in addition to others would be to ask her to clarify her information.If he/she says "Whose got the football injury?" You say "Was it my Grandma?" or similiar.Make her commit to statements.

 

[KingMerv00]

I know what you're all thinking....gasmonso is a super freak and has some really weird family and friends. Well I guess that true to an extent. But please refrain from personal insults as I will cry

I cannot speak for everyone here but I don't think you have "weird friends".

Ignorance is not a sin. It's just a shame.

 

[RSLancastr]

Ignorance is not a sin. It's just a shame.

And it's treatable.

 

[Dunstan]

Here's the deal with the psychic. My sister is getting the information from her friend for me. The psychic will not know what I look like, nor does my sister's friend who is giving us her info. I will schedule the appointment myself as if I just got her from the phonebook or her about her.

Are you sure that your sister and her friend wouldn't conspire behind your back just to teach you and us nasty skeptics a lesson?

Ok, putting that aside. Make sure that your clothing and physical appearance gives as few clues as possible. Military guys aren't that hard to spot, so she'll probably "get" that one just based on your age, haircut, demeanor, etc. But try to give away as little information as possible, e.g. cover up any visible tattoos; don't wear any clothing or jewelry that would give away anything about you.

 

[Nucular]

Re: the person who sees dead people.

First, I'm assuming she's not a murderess or an undertaker

In order to see if there's anything that might be testable there, I think we need to know more. Anything else you can tell us or find out about that? E.g., what sort of control does she have over the phenomenon? Can she communicate with the dead people? In what form does she see them? Did she realise she had the 'ability' before or after the release of the film Sixth Sense? And so forth.

Re: the ouija board, the key really is to get it to tell you stuff the people present (hands on glass or not) demonstrably didn't previously know.

Such as, for instance, details about people posting here (Azrael and I have already volunteered ourselves as subjects for ghostly stalking), finding out the secret object in James Randi's filing cabinet, or anything else nobody present could have already known. More difficult than it sounds, even when you're talking about us - I bet there's lots you could find out with a search. But I still bet Z won't tell you my paternal grandmother's middle name, where my maternal; grandmother is from, or what colour my car is

 

[Azrael 5]

Can you make sure the ghost doesn't stalk me when I'm sleeping! I just hate being woken by apparitions!

 

[RSLancastr]

But I still bet Z won't tell you my paternal grandmother's middle name, where my maternal; grandmother is from, or what colour my car is.

The propblem with this is, what are the "spirits" supposed to be able to know?

For example, how would the spirit of a young boy from (wherever) be expected to know the things you mention?

As Randi is fond of saying, you can't ask a someone who claims to be a pianist to prove it by handing them a violin and demanding they play it.

You need to find out what the capabilities of the people are supposed to be, and design a test around THAT. This is more problematic with the Ouija board. How do you decide what knowledge a given "spirit" is supposed to have? For this reason, I think that testing the Ouija board for knowledge is pretty dicey. Stick to the "securely blidfold the sitters, spin the board" type of test.

 

[JPK]

Good evening gasmonso.

My sister's friend at work apparently see's and speaks with dead people....ok stop laughing. In addition, she has a good psychic friend here in town here. So what we've decided to do is this...


Next, I will visit my sisters friend who can see dead people. I'd like to hear from all of you on how to test this... any idea, thoughts, etc..

I hope this will push me to back my claims up and hopefully shed some light on the paranormal.

It is refreshing to see someone put their own beliefs to a test. I do agree with Ipecac, this part of your test is tainted. Your sisters friend will have info about you. This is coming from a guy who has been working on a theatrical seance now for about a year. I have asked my friends to invite someone to attend that I know nothing about. Through casual conversation with my friends, not the person unknown to me, I have always picked up on something I could use to startle the unknown person. I am sure that my friends will not remember saying what they did to me.
The best advice I could give to you, would be to read [SIZE=-1]Ian Rowland's "The Full Facts of Cold Reading". I can't think of a better book to prepare you for the way alleged psychics and spirtulist mediums work.
Good luck though. Just remember, the medium, like any actor, is always in control of the show. In a real experiment, the controls would be set, and the medium would have to follow them. In other words, you are planning on playing in their ballpark. Their ground rules. I doubt you will get them to agree to an away game. Your ground rules.
JPK
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