Palmistry is the belief that the future can predicted
through the reading of ones’ palm. Predictions are based on the shape, line,
and mounts of the hands. This is another pseudoscience which has withstood the
“test of time” so it must have some basis in reality. Unfortunately it does
not. This practice relies mostly on cold readings, which are a set of
techniques that manipulate the subject into behaving a certain way or thinking
the cold reader has some mysterious ability. These palm readers prey on the
average person who is inclined to make sense out of the very generalized
statements being made. They also bank on high probability chances because they
know that for every dozen claims you mentally reject you’re more likely to remember
the one that you accepted as being particularly insightful about yourself.
While this
practice might not be scientific in any way it can still be an entertaining
activity! Feel free to watch this video of Derren Brown demonstrating the
Forer-effect and how the volunteers completely buy into his readings.
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Many of my family members have become a victim of these palm readers. I've seen first hand how they use vague statements that could apply to anyone. I do agree that it is very entertaining to watch! I live in ocean city and they are pretty prevalent on the boardwalk here.
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ReplyDeleteThis topic has been around for many years along with other pseudoscience activities. When a person is exposed or has chosen to engage in this “science” the information that we leave with is what we hear and choose to believe. When one thinks of themselves we naturally see us in a perspective that may not be clear and we gravitate to others that can provide us what we want to hear. The sharing of information is nonjudgmental and shared is a positive way. In this time of advanced life style and craziness, time is of the essence . We as humans may need to stop and grab on to a positive word or idea to allow us to cope with life
Funny fact: I had my palm read a couple of weeks ago, and I believed it for a while (even if I knew palm readings weren't accurate). I could swear to you though, it's as if this lady just peered into my soul. She described my personality so well. She said I was creative, and that I'd end up moving to the west coast, in a place like California. That was until I realized she probably assumed I was creative and wanted to go to California because of my microphone forearm tattoo that she saw. The one thing I couldn't understand how she would have predicted though was me being in love with someone only to find out he was a jerk, and that I have a guy who wouldn't be anything more than a friend with benefits (unless that sort of stuff is common). Anyway, I think some people believe in psychics if they correctly predict something that will happen to them. For example, if a psychic said you'd have two kids, and you end up only having two kids. However, I also think that if we think the psychic is right to begin with (like before it actually happens), we're only focusing on that thought, and because our mind is so powerful, the thought turns into reality, if that makes sense.
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