An Example of Cold Reading
I’ve been planning for ages to dig out this video clip and post it. It’s an excerpt from the film Young Sherlock Holmes, in which an adolescent Watson is given a quick lesson in “simple deduction”. Although they don’t use the term, it is a form of cold reading, and although this is obviously a fictional scene, it is a perfectly plausible example of what fraudulent psychics really do.
A Load of Bright 
Oh that was funny, never did get to watch that show when it was aired. 😦
Joseph - October 15, 2007 at 10:27 pm |
LOL! Gotta love Holmes. I think you could find dozens of similar clips from the many Sherlock Holmes movies that would have made that same point quite beautifully. I never looked at it that way before, and you are so right. Holmes would have made a great charlatan.
John B. - October 16, 2007 at 10:52 pm |
That was really good, thanks for sharing.
It does go to show though, if you are quick witted and know what to look for and how to act, you can convince anyone of anything.
dontcrossthebeams - November 11, 2007 at 12:42 am |
That was a very cool video.
This certainly could be what fraudulent psychics do. You gotta wonder about the rest though, the ones who are able to know things from a distance without any external clues such as in this example.
Ariel - August 8, 2008 at 2:38 am |