Prof challenges psychic’s mystique
Think of a two digit number Make it easy —
keep it below 50. Only use odd-numbered digits and
don't repeat numbers like 11 or 55.
You were thinking of 37 Or maybe 39.
"It looks like you have a lot of choice,”
chuckles Ray Hyman, University psychology
professor. "But actually you are restricted a lot."
He points out the choice has to be an odd,
two-digit number and since the numbers one and
five were mentioned you would be unlikely to
choose them. This only leaves 37 or 39.
Hyman says many magicians and so-called
psychics use techniques like this one to let people
think they have a free choice, but they are actually
working in a very structured situation.
For example, when a magician asks you to
draw anything, perhaps a simple figure, statistics
show that 80 to 90 percent of people draw a flower,
house or ship Magicians also know what the most
popular numbers are and the most picked cards for
card tricks (the ace of spades)
Hyman notes there are thousands of ways to
force a person to pick the correct card. To illustrate
this, he tells of how the Mystic Seven, a group of
magicians in Baltimore, were fooled by member Hen
Fetch
The group met at a member s home Fetch
gave the cards to the group, asked them to make
sure they were all different, select one card, show
everyone and replace it in the deck When they
were done, he came back into the room and asked
someone to say the name of the card — seven of
spades Then, he threw the deck at the window
shade The blind rolled up and after the cards
dropped to the floor the seven of spades remained
stuck to the window — on the outside
None of the magicians could figure out the
trick Actually, Fetch had entered the house earlier
in the day and placed five different cards around
the room Then he put only five cards in the deck,
figuring a group of magicians wouldn't check
carefully
"You can fool any group if you determine how
their minds work,” Hyman says. Another group
might have checked the cards more carefully,
because they would be suspicious
"It's the hardest to tool children," Hyman adds,
because their minds are not predictable ”
But Hyman isn't totally disbelieving of all
psychic phenomena because of the self-fulfilling
prophecy — if a person believes it will work then it
probably will.
Hyman points to the case of Jamil, a Eugene
psychic who used to meditate in his bathtub about
people's contracts and business deals “What
would have been different if he hadn't meditated for
them?” queries Hyman “I asked him if he thought
that their belief in him just gave them more courage
and more confidence.”
Hyman pauses "He said he would buy that ”
Hyman attributes people s gullibility to
Ray Hyman
Photo by David Coray
ignorance aDout tneir minas ana the way they work.
For example, there are many parts of the memory
which are inaccessible to each other. This can lead
to feelings of reincarnation, split personalities and
deja vu.
Deja vu is “probably due to a familiar clue to a
place Perhaps a tree is bent in a certain way that
gives you the feeling the scene is familiar although
there is no way of having been there before,”
Hyman says Other psychologists attribute the deja
vu feeling to one half of the brain being slightly
ahead of the other
Predictions like those made in “National
Enquirer" and like magazines are also easily
explained, says Hyman A study done at Harvard
had students make predictions about what would
happen in the following year. The students ended
up with a higher percentage of right answers
because psychics always “throw in a few far out
ideas that probably won’t be true. . . ’’
Magicians' ability to find hidden items is not
mysterious, Hyman says “People unwittingly give
away clues " For example, when looking for an
object in a studio, the magician will hold onto the
person and by clues given by their response —
increased pulse rate, resistance to the wrong way —
will be able to narrow down the area to find the
object
Palm reading is somewhat more complex.
There are certain basic conclusions that can be
drawn from just the lines on the hand, but specific
details are tilled in by the subject who tries to fit
what the psychic says to their own lives.
“When I read palms I let the clients know I
know what I’m doing,” Hyman says. “I define the
situation and let them know it must be a cooperative
effort Most people who go to a palm reader already
have a problem and they want help. They are open
to make whatever I say fit their situation. They make
themselves believe it."
Two psychic phenomenon have a physiological
explanation, according to Hyman. During
meditation, many people feel like they levitate and
leave their bodies. But sitting still for a long time
causes the nerves to adapt and no longer send
signals to the brain. This can bring a feeling of
levitation.
Some people also claim they see auras. Hyman
explains that looking at something for a long time
can cause an afterimage to appear to the side of the
object. Both of these conditions are actually felt or
seen, says Hyman, but there is nothing occult or
mysterious about them.
Hyman belongs to the Committee for the
Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal,
which publishes “The Skeptical Inquirer,” a
quarterly magazine.
He does feel bad about destroying the
“romance” of life for many people. “I hate to take
away their Santa Claus,” he laments. “But maybe
they'll learn something about themselves.”
By Sandy Johnstone
f
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