Hey Erin -
Thanks for the reply. For one, it was snooty of me to mention peer-reviewed journals, as if I go about trying to verify all my experiences by referencing peer-reviewed journals.
I've read quite a few books on psychic phenomenon (including Sylvia Browne's!) and some of them have the ring of truth, while others don't do it for me. I haven't sought out scientific papers that proclaims the validity of psychic abilities because I just assumed (possibly incorrectly) that if a credible source proclaimed such a thing, it would be the story of the century. Anyways, to balance what I've read on psychic stuff, I've read a good deal of sceptic stuff, including James Randi's ("The Amazing Randi), and I think the guy is sincere in trying to protect the public from hoaxes, and he's uncovered a lot of very flawed scientific explorations of the paranormal, and I wonder if some of it is being used as proof despite it being discredited. Oh, the drama between James Randi and Sylvia Browne is great entertainment too.
Regardless, I respect your position that you need no further proof than your direct experience, and my personal experience w/the supernatural reflects I see to the extent that I'm willing to see.
I haven't seen John Edward in person, and to be honest, I haven't seen much of him on tv -- his voice and facial expressions make me cringe. I'm not particularly sensitive to that type of thing, and there's only maybe one other famous person whose speaking fashion makes me feel like that (George W...). I probably assumed too much to parallel John Edward w/Sylvia Browne, who you didn't even mention.
I would love to connect w/my mom, who developed a mental illness that eventually made her take her life, but I would be very mad if someone said they were communicating w/her when they were really just putting one over on me. Maybe that's why J. Edward and S. Browne make me feel so defensive.  |