A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ Pages

FAQ - Main Page

Here are some questions I have been asked since announcing that I was putting this site together.

If you have a question you think should be answered here, send it to me via any of the means listed on the site's Contact Page.

Q: Who are you?

A: My name is Robert S. Lancaster. I am a computer programmer living in Los Angeles County.

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Q: Why did you create this site?

A: Because I strongly believe that Sylvia Browne needs to either prove her purported "psychic abilities", or stop pretending to have them.

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Q: Why should we believe you?

A: You shouldn't.

You should read and consider the contents of this site.

You should dig around the web and see what you can find.

If you can, find out what Sylvia's justifications are for some of the things you read here.

Then, you should make up your own mind.

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Q: What gives you the right to criticize her?

A: Among other things, the Right to Freedom of Speech as protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Also, Sylvia Browne is a celebrity. By putting herself in the public arena, she opens herself up to public comment.

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Q: Why Sylvia Browne instead of some other psychic?

A: Because examining the claims of a well-known psychic will help far more people than say, examining the claims of my neighborhood palm-reader.

Also, due to her books and her many television appearances, there is a wealth of material to use when researching her claims.

Finally, I found her work with missing children to be incredibly offensive. That was the last straw which made me choose her as the focus of this site.

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Q: Do you believe in ANY psychics?

A: I have seen no convincing proof of anyone having psychic abilities.

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Q: What about (some other psychic)?

I am asked this often, about various psychics, such as John Edward, Lisa Williams,

A: Again, I have seen no convincing proof of anyone having psychic abilities.

But here is a further comment, regarding TV/Celebrity psychics in general: It is important to remember that the producers of a TV show which claims to be about a "true psychic" have a financial interest in making you believe that person is psychic. Because of this, you should never assume that what you see on the show is an accurate and unbiased representation of facts and events.

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Q: Do you believe in god?

A: I am agnostic, meaning that I do not claim to know whether or not there is a god or gods, goddess or goddesses, or a "supreme being" of any kind.

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Q: What are your religious beliefs?

A: See the previous question.

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Q: What's with the logo?

A: I wanted to create a logo for the site which was memorable, unique, and would embody the goal of the site: stopping Sylvia Browne. For those who have not seen Sylvia Browne: she is known for her long fingernails, as can be seen on the picture at the beginning of this article.

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Q: Do you think Sylvia believes she is psychic?

A: No, I do not.

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Q: What's the harm in what she does?

If I am correct, and she does not have "real psychic powers," then there is a lot of harm. Here are a few examples:

1. She is taking money, under false pretenses, from people who are in a very vulnerable position, emotionally.

2. She constantly gives medical "diagnoses" to people (and in fact, she refers to these people as her "patients") without any medical training. This can obviously be dangerous, leading people to pursue incorrect diagnoses, and to possibly ignore the advice of their own medical professionals.

3. She gives advice to families of missing children (and adults). Not only does this false information add to the trauma being suffered by the family (read about Opal Jo Jennings for just one example), but can lead those families to insist on law enforcement following up on these fictional "leads," wasting hours and manpower which could have been put to use following up on real leads.

4. By inventing information about (and messages from) lost loved ones, she is stepping on the true memories of these people.

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Q: Have you ever met her?

A: As of this writing (April of 2008), no, I have not.

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Q: Have you ever read any of her books?

A: As of this writing (April of 2008), I have read seven of her books.

I intend to read, and comment on, as many of her books as possible in the course of my research.

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Q: What is "Cold Reading"?

A: Cold Reading is a group of methods used to simulate psychic abilities. It is used by mentalists (stage magicians who pretend to be psychic as part of their act) as well as phony psychics and fortune tellers.

Ian Rowland, author of The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading, describes it as "...a psychological strategy which enables you to influence what someone else thinks and feels about you. It is most commonly used to give apparently 'psychic' readings, and to convince people that you have some sort of psychic ability."

An article detailing some cold reading techniques is being prepared for this site.

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Q: Has she ever hurt you or a loved one?

A: No. But I think it would be a sad world if people only tried to address a wrong if they themselves had been directly hurt by it.

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Q: Have you had a reading with her?

A: No. Nor do I plan to, for several reasons, including:

1. I do not have $750 to waste.

2. I would not want to put $750 into the pocket of someone I consider to be a con artist.

3. She has already stated publicly (see article: UK Guardian: Is She For Real?) that she has hired a private investigator to look into my life, so any "reading" she gave would be suspect at best. (And, as I say in that article, if she is psychic, why would she need to hire a PI to look into my life?)

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Q: Why don't you get a life?

A: I have a fine one, thanks. I have a wife (who I adore, and who, against all odds, adores me back), children, grandchildren, a mother, siblings, friends, a job, hobbies, interests and passions.

And one of those passions is putting the evidence about Sylvia Browne on the Internet for anyone who is interested to examine and consider.

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