A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
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A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
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Montel: "Spirit" is Dark-Complected But Light-Skinned?A "spirit's" skin tone seems to change in mid-reading. 
Browne and the man BackgroundAbout forty-five minutes into the February 21st, 2007 episode of the Montel Williams Show (episode title: "Sylvia Browne Explains the Unanswered"), Sylvia Browne stopped the show in order to speak with a gentleman in the audience who was not even in line to talk with her. The resulting "reading" contained an apparent flip-flop by Browne which was pointed out to me by several people. The ReadingHere is a transcript of the reading (Click here to view video). All emphasis mine.
One part of cold-reading (a method used to create the illusion of psychic powers) is to give out information so general, it would apply to most people. I believe that is what she is doing in this case. Can you think of any person in your life who matches this description? Remember, Browne has not said whether this old woman is alive or dead, or whether or not she is a relative to this man, or whether she is someone in his past or present. Given that, I think most people could find a match without much difficulty. Personally, I can think of several in my life, including co-workers and relatives.
If Browne is cold reading (as I believe she is), now that she knows it is this man's grandmother who matches the description, she risked implying the grandmother is dead. Given the man's age, there is a fair chance that will be correct. Had the grandmother still been alive, Browne could have simply said "No, this is someone else then..."
Suddenly, Browne shifts gears. The "round old woman" is no longer "dark-complected," but is instead "light-skinned.". Browne goes with the man's correction to her description, so now he can apply it to one of his relatives.
Here we see another common cold-reading gimmick. Browne did not ask "Did your grandmother have finer features?" She said "Finer features, you know what I mean?" The man's nod at this could mean that yes, his grandmother did have finer features, or it could simply mean that yes, he understands what Browne means by "finer features." Either way, observers are left with the impression/assumption that the grandmother had finer features, and that Browne is correct.
AnalysisSo, was this a flip-flop by Browne? It could be argued that she meant "dark-complected" compared to herself, but "light-skinned" compared to the man in the audience. Perhaps. But were that the case, why didn't she say so? And as usual with these sorts of "readings," I find myself wondering: why would a spirit go through all the trouble of getting Browne's attention - she certainly makes it seem very important - only to give such generic and ultimately worthless advice ("watch your chest and stomach area")? ConclusionWhatever the reason for the "spirit's" sudden change in skin tone, this reading does not prove that Browne is a cold-reader. But as is usual with Browne, it has all the appearances of a by-the book cold reading. And, until such time as Browne proves her abilities in a controlled, scientific test, cold reading is by far the most likely description of what she does. Related LinksClicking on any of these links will load a separate browser window for viewing the linked page. StopSylviaBrowne.com is not responsible for the content of any of these linked pages.
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