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| Real | 42% | 363 votes | Total: 871 votes | |
| Fake | 58% | 508 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWhile not 100% convinced of the legitimacy of mind-reading, I do believe that some people possess powers of extrasensory perception (ESP), so I have to leave room for the possibility of mind-reading. Much research has been done on the subject of ESP and the debate may rage on for years, but there is some compelling evidence to suggest that it a real phenomenon.
Many of us think of those late night infomercials where someone in a turban promises to tell us all about our romantic and economic future, or a fortune-teller gazing into a crystal ball offering a glimpse into the future if we only cross her palms with silver. These, in my opinion, are the fakes that give anyone with true psychic abilities a bad name.
Numerous police departments across the country have employed the use of psychics to help locate missing persons and in other criminal cases. There has been a surprising amount of accuracy and good turnout, which is why this practice is still being used. If someone as jaded and cynical as a law enforcement official can admit the possibility that there are those with powers of perception beyond our realm of understanding, then there must be something to it.
The United States military has even spent money and time doing scientific research and study into the use of what they called "remote viewers" to be used basically as psychic spies by transcending their physical bodies and somehow looking behind enemy lines without ever being there. According to an article on remote viewing on Wikipedia, "Remote viewing was popularized in the 1990s, following the declassification of documents related to the Stargate Project, a 20 million dollar research program sponsored by the U.S. Federal Government to determine any potential military application of psychic phenomena."
That same Wikipedia article goes on to say that other agencies involved in research into remote viewing include the CIA and the US Air Force. Even the USSR and China have explored this phenomenon and how it might be used in intelligence gathering and other covert operations. It stands to reason that there must have been some pretty strong data somewhere suggest the legitimacy of this phenomenon for the US government to have spent 20 million dollars on it.
If we can believe that a person potentially has the ability to perceive things that are going on miles away from their physical body, it only stands to reason that someone being able to pick up on and "read" the thoughts of others is a clear and distinct possibility.
Learn more about this author, Bruce W. Coffman.
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Fake
One simply cannot read another person's mind. That is to say that it is impossible to telepathically penetrate another person's thoughts. What IS quite possible is cold reading. Some people are even gifted in this skill, but it is still a skill that is learnable.
BODY LANGUAGE
Reading body language is a significant skill. Ask any professional card player and they will tell you that nearly everyone reveals what they are thinking and feeling by the way they hold their body and the way they hold the features of their face. Some obvious signs, for instance, that someone is lying to you is that they may look up and to the left, they may touch there face, they will force smiles. Trained interrogators know more of these features of nonverbal communication. There is nothing paranormal in this skill. It's as significant and as real as learning a card player's "tells."
NONVERBAL VOCALIZATIONS
Listen to a person's speech patterns. When they make sounds but aren't saying anything, they are actually unconsciously revealing information to an observant listener. Perhaps the person is lying, but the person may actually be trying to tell you something that he or she isn't even aware of. Watch for other seemingly distracting bits of noise making. These are subtle and sometimes allow for significant insights into a person's thoughts.
VISUAL CLUES
Look for visible clues. There a re a million little things that we normally choose to ignore. Remember how Sherlock Holmes used to figure out stuff by noticing little details? How about Monk? You can do the same thing. Is a man wearing a wedding ring? Married, duh. But what if he has a tan line on his ring finger? Perhaps he was recently divorced; look for more clues. If his clothes are slightly wrinkled, maybe musty, then perhaps he has just come out of a long term relationship where the woman did those things for him. Perhaps he's trying to hide his married relationship; look for more clues. If he is guilty-looking or unusually nervous about being recognized, that might indicate that he is cheating.
Most "sniffers" or fraudulent telepaths have a whole bag of tricks for sniffing out these kind of insights. They are, above all, observant and meticulous. The really good cheats will use microphones and ear pieces, shills (accomplices) mingling with the pigeons, computer background checks, and all sorts of low-tech means of tricking a person to reveal more about themselves that they think.
Whatever the case, since no person has ever been able to answer a truly scientific challenge of their paranormal mind-reading ability, one can rule out the supernatural when it comes to mind reading.-
Learn more about this author, John Devera.
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