Jul 10 2008
A Psychic By Any Other Name
Is still a fraud.
Laura Day is a psychic, although she calls herself an “intuitionist.” What’s an intuitionist? Well, it’s someone who can access information not available to the senses. On Day’s website she offers advanced intuition techniques that include telepathy and clairvoyance. In other words – she’s a psychic.
The only difference is in marketing. Day’s clientele are not the middle-class moms who want a quick tarot card reading. They are not the desperate parents who turn to the chain-smoking Sylvia Browne for a glimmer of information on their missing child. They are not the new-age types who go in for crystals and head scarves.
Day caters to corporations and celebrities. So she attires herself accordingly and calls herself an intuitionist instead of a psychic – to give a bit of cover to executives who might be a little embarrassed about making business decisions based upon magic. The scam works – she claims she gets 10k a month per client and holds down five clients at a time, raking in millions.
The fact that she is a somewhat attractive woman probably has something to do with her success. I suspect she has some charisma and is good at slinging the BS. At least those are far more plausible explanations than what she claims – intuitive powers.
Now, I have nothing against the notion of real intuition – our brains can process information without us being consciously aware of it. Sometimes we make leaps of logic we cannot fully explain. The pieces just fall into place, the picture becomes clear, the pattern emerges – all apparently without our conscious effort. But this amounts to an extrapolation from available information. The human brain is particularly good at pattern recognition – including recognizing abstract patterns, patterns of ideas or cause and effect. This is real intuition.
Day may be employing some of this. She may be good (like any salesperson or cult leader) at sizing people up and making shrewd observations about them. People who are astute observers of the human condition can often make their way on their talent – using it either for good or for evil. None of this gives day supernatural powers nor makes her qualified to give advice about subjects on which she has no knowledge or expertise.
You might say, so what? She’s being paid to make observations, and maybe she’s good at it.
Well, I would have no problem if she sold herself as a consultant – an outside observer who can help executives identify problems of interpersonal working relationships or the like. But she doesn’t. The con is in selling herself as an intuitive, someone with special access to hidden knowledge that will give her clients an edge. Everyone knows she’s a psychic (wink, wink, nod, nod, you know what I mean), no matter what she calls herself.
The secret of Day’s success lies largely in favorable media coverage. Like Sylvia Browne, she had a media angel to propel her into her millions. The favorable coverage continues. This CNN article, written by the entertainment reporter, Lola Ogunnaike, is a disgustingly gushing and credulous report. There isn’t a hint of journalistic skepticism. Even though this is just the entertainment reporter, Day still gets to splash on her homepage that she was featured in a CNN article – chaching!
55 Responses to “A Psychic By Any Other Name”
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I was disappointed recently to learn that my company had hired her (for in “inspirational speaker” type of affair) a year or so ago. Newsweek ran an article recently about her that revealed some of the embarrassing details. Like the CNN article, the Newsweek article was gushing, credulous, vapid, and lacking any amount of journalistic integrity. I really hated that the guy quoted Michael Shermer from his book Why People Believe Weird Things, but only to include a statistic indicating that most Americans believe in psychics!
Regarding Day being somewhat attractive, the pictures on her web site look air-brushed to me.
I worked for a County-level MH/SA/DD agency (for about 17 years before I couldn’t take it anymore) where we were frequently offered access to woo purveyors the County had contracted. Represented nonsense included reiki, reflexology, therapeutic touch, and Myer-Briggs personality profiling. I submitted a written complaint for each offering, to no avail of course. Then things changed a bit. Some of these ‘trainings’ actually became mandatory. Being myself a clinical supervisor and very familiar with the clinical hierarchy, with near-daily contact with them all, I couldn’t imagine which of us would order these nonsense events to be ‘mandatory’, especially at a time when the ‘evidence-based therapies’ push was ongoing in earnest.
Long-story short (too late, DA!), the ‘mandatory’ order came from the very top of the MH/SA/DD hierarchy, a nonclinical, adminstrative type who apparently harbored some pretty extreme woo beliefs. We mid-level supervisor types banded together with the staff psychiatrists and successfully fought off the ‘mandatory’ aspect. It took another two years – surrepticiously working with the local newspaper to publicize the utter waste of taxpayer money on these clowns – to get rid of them altogether.
The offending human services head was later fired for spending taxpayer money to fund her own Oprah-like talk show on local public access TV, and for using taxpayer money to pay those same woo purveyors to appear on it.
The scariest aspect was the fact that these nonsense therapies were actually defended by a surprisingly large number of counselors, nurses, and therapists, a couple psychologists, and a psychiatrist.
I am often embarrassed by the nonsense that is entertained by my own field, by a disturbingly large number of clinicians willing to risk the well-being and sometimes the very lives on their unfounded, unevidenced woo therapies and notions.
That should have read:
I am often embarrassed by the nonsense that is entertained by my own field, by a disturbingly large number of clinicians willing to risk the well-being and sometimes the very lives OF PATIENTS on their unfounded, unevidenced woo therapies and notions.
*sigh*
DevilsAdvocate,
I commend you for your good work.
Also, a practical demonstration that a dedicated rationalist and sceptic can make a real difference, at least locally.
I hereby offer indisputable intuitive evidence that she’s really Anthony Robbins in drag.
http://www.practicalintuition.com/images/lauras_pic.png
http://www.vickihayward.ws/images/anthony_robbins_picture.jpg
At least somebody does, lol. We had to keep our heads low for months while that admin went about an internal witch hunt, plus we got a lot of that “what’s the harm?” nonsense from clinicians you’d think would know better.
In the late 1980s and early 90s the MH wing of this same agency was notorious for sexual abuse accusations based on ‘repressed memories’ resurfaced by MH therapists, a thoroughly disgraced technique even at the time. The same set also seemed to being racing each other to see who could have the most “multiple personalities” on their respective caseloads. This agency’s roll of diagnosed ‘multiple personality disorder’ exceeded the nat’l per capita average by over thirty-fold.
Those familiar with personality disorders and MH treatment might appreciate our joke about “multiples”:
A ‘multiple personality’ is a borderline personality who is smarter than her therapist and doctor.
What are the legal implications of calling Laura Day a psychic when she hasn’t claimed to be one or labeled herself as such, and then making the clear inference that as a psychic, she’s not only a fraud, but is bilking her clients by operating a fraudulent enterprise?
I personally believe one can reliably conclude that her clients ARE being bilked, but when does the degree of speculation involved in such a charge leave its author vulnerable to a charge of defamation?
In the US she would have to prove that:
- I am lying
- I know I am lying
- I have malicious intent to cause her harm
- Harm was actually done
The burden of proof would be on her.
Now, I am certainly opening myself up for harassing law suits, but there is no way to avoid that. The truth is:
I am not lying
I believe what I say.
My intent is only to logically analyze claims.
I doubt I will harm her bottom line.
Also – I never claimed to have any evidence of anything or that I have special knowledge of her. I am making statements about psychics in general and speculating about her in particular. This is all protected free speech.
Also – many states have slap laws – these punish people for using libel or slander suits in order to silence free speech or legitimate criticism. So such suits can backfire.
Ah, but the weakness in all this is that she has not labeled herself (to my knowledge at least) as a psychic. And the inference is clear (as you are confirming) that the statements about psychics in general are relevant to her business activities in particular. So you could, for example, use that same technique to go after, say, Tony Robbins – and on down the line of similar characters.
So while from your perspective you have merely made an educated guess, from hers (or her legal advocates) those guesses exhibit all the earmarks of a lie. It would seem to me this is an example where someone has come right up to the line where the burden may shift to them to prove they haven’t crossed it.
I haven’t posted this as a hostile question, but as one in which I have my own reasons for concern about the answers.
That would still not shift the burden of proof. The burden is always on the plaintiff for libel and slander cases. If you follow my statements, I am saying that she probably doesn’t have telepathy and clairvoyance. I would like to see her prove that she does in a court of law.
Also – she would have to prove all the elements – not just some of them. It is pretty clear that my purpose on this blog is to educate. I have no malace toward any individuals. Unless she wants to claim that I have been blogging for a year and a half, formed a skeptical organization 13 years ago, etc. just to go after her.
Just point out that this was obviously a satirical piece, like The Onion:
“What, you actually thought this was serious? That means you think people might actually believe you are trying to pass yourself off as a psychic… Come on now, how do you think that mistake could be made!”
Ergo, she’d have to agree with the similarities and that the similarities are actually there. To which you say: “QED.”
OK, but what you also said was that she IS a psychic and under whatever guise she’s using, the inference was clear that she’s a fraud because all psychics are frauds. Using that term invokes a host of fraudulent uses of alleged powers, only a part of which are clairvoyant and telepathic. And when I speak of burden shifting, I meant that there was a good chance of her sustaining that burden to the point where it might well shift.
But I’m not an attorney, and if I’m wrong in my analysis, then it won’t be the last time.
DevilsAdvocate:
“Those familiar with personality disorders and MH treatment might appreciate our joke about “multiples”:
A ‘multiple personality’ is a borderline personality who is smarter than her therapist and doctor.”
Speaking as a mental health nurse, I can only applaud!
(and giggle a bit.)
RNC’s were the one source of sanity in that particular system. Tough job, and you deserve a good giggle.
Yeah it’s disgusting. How can anyone be stupid enough to believe in things that we know with absolute and final certainty cannot possibly be real?
Utterly vile. Modern science has discovered the absolute truth that telepathy and clairvoyance do not exist, and it’s idiotic to question these scientific facts. Anyone who claims to have these abilities should be imprisoned for fraud. The death sentence would be too lenient for these con artists.
, wouldn’t confirmation sway skeptical opinion and bolster her own business? Why put the carriage before the horses? Besides, any paranormal phenomena that can be demonstrated to be so would also guarantee a great amount of cash to start a revolution. James Randi guarantees it, and he goes to great extent to make sure the people being tested are comfortable with the testing.
The only reason not to do this (either the challenge, or looking for scientific validation if she doesn’t like the fellow) is the fear of confirming what skeptical suspect, that she doesn’t have such paranormal ability and that could only hurt her business. If she has no such ability, the fear is justified, and if I was in the business and “offering advices” to anyone, any misdirection that might bring me clients – for whatever reason – seems to be good for me.
Besides, imagine the advances in science one can make by confirming this! One can argue, from your standpoint, that she’s being selfish with the world. Isn’t it?
The idea that science can’t study the paranormal, or the supernatural, is just silly. If such things really do interfere with nature, they can be shown to real.
See Dark Matter, for instance, right now no one has been able to observe it, or even figure out what the heck it is. Still, it has an effect on the universe and that effect confirmed something is out there, or maybe right here, that interacts with common matter only on large scale and through gravity holding galaxies together and bending passing light by gravitational lensing.
I’m not proposing that the supernatural is composed of dark matter, I’m pointing to the fact that science is about discovering things. And supernatural, and paranormal, may turn out to be only perinatural – to use Dawkin’s term. So far, claims of the paranormal, or supernatural, have failed to demonstrate that they were real to begin with. It’s not “Big Science” telling they don’t exist… is the evidence so far.
I see Commander Strawman is back. Please cite one example of of Science declaring telepathy and clairvoyance not to exist. Is there some Calendar of Scientific Declarations we don’t know about?
What science does say is that to date there has been no reliable, replicable evidence that telepathy and clairvoyance exist. Further, scientists across the globe continue to study the possibility.
What a closedminded boob.
pec – do you believe yourself to by psychic?
Heh, that should read, “pec – do you believe yourself to BE psychic?”
I hate to bring this up, but, all religions involve events and/or people with abilities that most scientists would consider occult. mystical or psychic in nature.
The problem you then encounter with this pursuit of psychics or mystical advisors is still the same as if you were trying to close down any religious group. I just don’t think you all realise that that is exactly the same thing. You don’t believe it is possible and others do. Religion is a protected area, at least in this country, and people can believe some wacked out stuff if they choose to do so; they can pay their pastor, guru, or psychic advisor any amount of money that they choose to or that that advisor charges.
Your pursuit of fraud would be better aimed at fortune tellers that use the tarot card or astrology, which doesn’t really demand the practicioner to claim any type of psychic or mystical abilities. These are ancient pseudosciences in which a practioner can be trained in, like handwriting analysis.
I’m not trying to be mean, just trying to tell you why you won’t succeed in eliminating psychics or mystics, at least in the United States.
By the way the field of science, especially the mental health field, is full of quacks and cons, and has been historically since the beginning of science. George Washington was killed by a scientist of his day, bled to death. So, people who live in glass houses should be careful about throwing stones. You might try cleaning your own house first. I love these neat phrases that sum things up so well. I’m full of them.
huntress – That would be a perfectly valid argument in cases where people were identifying themselves as being religious and not hurting anyone else. In the tragic cases where children have been suffocated while “ridding them of the devil” I’m sure even you’d have a hard time justifying as just a religious belief. Ditto for other cases where children have been otherwise abused due to religious beliefs.
In this case, if corporations buy into psychics (which isn’t hard to believe, lots of business practices are based upon superstition or tradition, not actual best practices) that’s their choice. Of course, if they impose it upon their employees in any way or those who don’t believe are somehow punished for not towing the corporate/religious line, then clearly it’s stepping on people’s rights…as your argument for it being a religious belief highlights!
That is true. Maybe employees that are required by their employer to engage in spiritual enlightenment activities like these should file lawsuits complaining that their right not to take part in spiritual acitivites is being violated by their employers.
That would be an interesting lawsuit, and they might win. But, if it is a private company that doesn’t accept government funds, they may lose.
I think that most psychics or mystics would consider themselves to be in some sense of the word, religious, just by their belief that they are communing with some unseen force or spirit. It would be unnecessary to call themselves religous people because that communion with the spirit world is what defines religious experiences to most people. In a court of law they would undoubtedly prevail due to the obvious spiritual nature of their assertions.
You are very right. Many religions are dangerous to their practioners, not just the children, but all members of the faith, for example, snake handlers. The problem is that historically this country in especial has strictly sided with the right of members of religious groups to practice their faith, and the rights of parents to make decisions regarding their own underage children. I’m not saying that is always good, just that it is a fact.
A lot of the mystics and psychics I’ve met are actually quite hostile to religion and consider being spiritual to be very different than being religious. (It often seems to be a form of rebellion against their parents or the religion/culture they grew up in.) I agree with you that there’s a lot of crossover in terms of beliefs in possession, invisible sky beings guiding our actions/history, etc. The new age is pretty much a hodge podge of other non-Christian religions (though the Essenes get a look in on the Christian front). However both organized traditional religion and new age types tend to not like each other much – in fact, they have a tendency to accuse each other of being evil and tools of the devil (since they both believe in such things).
If we look at more traditional psychics, there’s certainly a long Gypsy/carnival/Romany/Irish traveler tradition of fleecing the sheep (and that is a reference to “the flock”, as in the religious). Some new age psychics fall into this tradition, some don’t. And, of course, no good grifter is going to pass by whatever’s popular and sells at the moment.
The person in the article seems to be marrying ideas from the book Blink! and your basic personal empowerment that’s been big in corporate culture since Anthony Robbins. Though I’m saying that after a quick glance not a thorough research of what the promote (other than themselves as in inspirational talker).
All forms of religion and mysticism should be made illegal. We should not allow people to believe in things that have been demonstrated with final certainty to not exist. People must be protected from the religious and spiritual leaders who insist on spreading lies and misinforming the people.
I am sure that Fifi would agree with me that science has slammed this case shut and has removed every trace of doubt.
We must stop these liars from influencing children and teaching them destructive and dangerous things such as prayer.
We know there is no supernatural, because everything in the universe has already been discovered and understood by modern science in absolute completeness. Just ask Steve Novella or James Randi. They will tell you that telepathy is in principle outside the realm of possibility. Therefore anyone who claims to have this ability is a liar and a fraud and belongs in prison.
Wow, you must be undefeated in your arguments, Pec, since absolutely no one is arguing the side you assign them. You are hereby promoted to Admiral Strawman.
Nah, pec, I personally believe that adults should be able to think and believe whatever they want, and do whatever they want with other adults as long as it’s consensual and no innocent bystanders get hurt (and don’t consider being offended getting hurt). I don’t believe adults should be able to hurt children for any reason, religion is not exception to this. What do you believe?
pec, I just think there are much more interesting and likely real world explanations for things that people ascribe as being supernatural. And if the cause of something is unknown I don’t need to ascribe a supernatural explanation, I’m okay with uncertainty.
I personally think most people who claim to be psychic believe they are. Do you believe you’re psychic pec?
The supernatural world is uncertain as to pec’s status within it.
I have been treating a ‘practising’ psychic and she was correct in predicting that she would get side effects from the high dose of prednisolone I prescribed for her. That’s amazing. What more prrof does anybody want ? For a psychic though she did seem to have a lot of trouble finding the phone number for my surgery…
We know that telepathy is impossible because Steve Novella knows that Laura Day is a fake. If there were the slightest chance that Laura Day had some kind of psychic abilities, then Novella would not be so dead certain that she doesn’t. And Novella is an MD after all so we should respect and believe everything he says.
And remember, people are stupid and believe all kinds of nonsense. We need all-knowing super human MDs like Novella to straighten us out and tell us what is true and what is not.
Everyone who is impressed by Laura Day is being deceived, and everything that Novella says is utterly and completely and without a trace of doubt TRUE.
“We know there is no supernatural, because everything in the universe has already been discovered and understood by modern science in absolute completeness.”
What a strawman, pec. No scientist could actually believe this. If everything was understood in absolute completeness, there would be no scientific journals, no scientific research, no conferences or discussions or arguments about dark matter. There would be no scientific enterprise–no scientists at all.
How boring that world would be.
pec, clearly this has hit close to home for you. So, you never answered a rather relevant question, do you consider yourself to by psychic? Do you believe you receive telepathic messages? And if you do, why are you afraid to be open and honest here about your beliefs? Do you think people reading this blog will think you’re crazy? Are you afraid of being committed? Is this where part of your fear and resentment against doctors comes from?
The vast majority of people who believe in psychic phenomena are sane, they often just don’t have a very good understanding about how the mind and subjectivity function, or how we pick up subtle messages from others all the time and give out subtle signals, so get fooled by illusions.
Fifi,
Yes I am psychic. I get the telepathic message that you are a psychology major. And as a result you have learned everything there is to know about the human mind.
pec, thanks for finally being open about what you believe. I’m afraid your powers are pretty wonky though since the information you’ve received is quite far off. I studied visual art in university, it gave me a lot of insight into how one tricks the eye and can create visual illusions – and just how few people actually see what’s in front of their eyes.
Do you use your psychic powers to make a living or to try to influence other people? Or do you do readings for others (paid or unpaid)?
I’m curious, who or what do you believe is sending you telepathic messages?
pec makes a very poor psychic.
Here is my psychic reading: Fifi I grew up around medicine and research and works in communications and the arts.
In communication she works as a journalist, and has also done some PR.
She has also worked in a pain clinic, and she is terribly cute.
“I’m curious, who or what do you believe is sending you telepathic messages?”
They seem to come directly from one of Amazing Randi’s ancestors. But I can’t be absolutely sure, because spirits are known to play a lot of tricks.
decius – Damn, you’re right on…especially about being cute!
Yep, I’ve revealed all these things about who I am here already – amazing how pec could so be so out in left field considering all the available info!
pec – Hmm, so are you saying it’s not psychics who get it wrong but it’s really spirits who are liars?
I’m still curious, are you afraid people will think you’re deluded or crazy because you believe you’re psychic? And have you had a medical doctor diagnose you with the same psychological or neurobiological issues as your mother? Is this why you hate and fear doctors so much?
Though, it IS kind of flattering that pec thinks I’m a grad student in psychology! Even if she hates and fears psychologists.
I didn’t know that she hated psychologists, nor her mother’s problems.
It makes sense, though, all her stalking of Steve and the endless trolling.
Does she even know the difference between a psychologist, a neurologist and psychiatrist?
Fifi you’re such a dope.
I have a lot of compassion for pec’s mother. It must be hard to have a daughter who constantly treats you as a horrible burden while also coping with ill health and being emotionally/psychologically fragile – particularly if your daughter hates doctors and insists that illness is just blocked energy and she should see a chiropractor! She sounds quite old and if she really never exercised or ate well then her bone density must be pretty low – which makes “adjusting” her spine potentially very dangerous!
Fifi,
it sounds like a load to me. Particularly given the source.
Any external confirmation of all that?
decius – No, I’m just going by what pec herself has said in various threads. It could all be lies but I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt.
You are too kind.
IF pec is telling the truth, I think it’s useful to try to understand what motivates her to believe what she believes and spend so much time here when she’s clearly not actually interested in neurobiology, EBM or critical thinking. Is it a personal or a professional mission she’s on?
She (if she is indeed a woman, which is yet to be seen) could be a student that Steve failed, for instance. Taking some cheap revenge with all this childish wind-up.
Come on, not even her trolling is credible. Take the TAM thread, negativity for the sake of negativity, she spewed.
“My job is not to lie to people…”
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/07/09/celeb.psychic/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
decius – While it’s true that pec may just be making up things, it’s also true that there are people out there who think very much like pec. Certainly they’re a minority but the example of the woman in the science-based medicine blog, who chose alternatives to medicine for a treatable cancer and allowed it to progress to an untreatable stage, is a prime example. Pec seems to share many of the same attitudes towards medicine and beliefs as that woman did – not to mention the same denial of evidence – so whether pec is just a construct of chiropractor or supplement manufacturer, or if she’s the real deal, I think she (inadvertently) offers some insight into the beliefs and attitudes of the kinds of people that scam artists posing as “alternative” practitioners try to con.
Pec stated elsewhere, when she was still novel enough to be entertaining, that she logged on to this blog to to hone her debating skills and sharpen her arguments.
Hmmm…. not working, is it?
Fifi,
I completely agree there.
If only pec’s statements were a bit more coherent – even within her belief-system- and less openly provocative, I would be more prone to grant her the benefit of the doubt.
On the rd.net forum and site, we deal with drones of cretinists and fundies. I have developed a certain ability for telling apart the mindless trolls from the wind-ups and the small minority who is interested to engage in earnest.
I still hope to be proven wrong, for it would improve the general atmosphere.
mat – Really? And the very best she can come up with as a retort is “shut up”? Wow.
decius – You could be right but if she is genuine her confusion over her own belief system and its incoherence isn’t really unexpected, nor is the denial of evidence in favor of faith in subluxations (and whatever else she believes in). If she does believe she’s getting telepathic messages and is psychic, she may also be suffering from a disconnect from reality so her confusion and need to try to get “an authority” (which seems to consider the doctors here to be, much as she resents it) to listen to and engage with her could be an aspect of her uncertainty and confusion about her beliefs and disconnect between what’s going on in her mind and what the reality based world is telling her (including her mother apparently!).
Of course, there are quite rational people who believe in psychics and telepathy because they don’t understand and misinterpret experiences they have. There are some very appealing aspects to some of these beliefs and people often have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that their senses are fallible and we can all be manipulated if the conditions are right and we’re open to believing something.
Fifi,
I am impressed by how even a person as pathologically stupid as yourself can know everything about everything with absolute and complete certainty.
pec, my dear, I am merely speculating. I am not at all certain about who you are or what your intent is here. There are a number of possible reasons for the way you behave and your apparent inability to actually absorb information. You may or may not be who you claim to be, this is the internet after all! You tend not to answer questions you’re asked and to be evasive, which could be either a conscious or unconscious misdirection born out of denial. Or something else all together.
Pec – you add nothing to this blog. Initially, you were mildly diverting and entertaining – but now…. well, you’re just embarassing yourself.
Get a life.