I was once a "psychic", so I know first-hand all of the tricks and cons they use to defraud people of their hard-earned wages, and to keep those poor souls coming back. I got out of that business because having that much power over others was simply frightening.
A "psychic" is a person who claims to be endowed with some sort of supernatural or paranormal ability to receive or interpret information in a way that normal people cannot, and that empirical evidence cannot detect. No psychic ability has ever been experimentally demonstrated to work reliably in test conditions. If it had, James Randi would be short quite a bit of cash by now (about $1,408,786.84 as of March 31, 2013). There is absolutely no valid material evidence (other than faith-based anecdotes) that there is anything going on here other than stage magic and conjuring tricks mixed with basic human gullibility psychological manipulation.
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The One-Million Dollar challenge
The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is committed to providing reliable information about paranormal claims. It both supports and conducts original research into such claims.
At JREF, we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event. The JREF does not involve itself in the testing procedure, other than helping to design the protocol and approving the conditions under which a test will take place. All tests are designed with the participation and approval of the applicant. In most cases, the applicant will be asked to perform a relatively simple preliminary test of the claim, which if successful, will be followed by the formal test. Preliminary tests are usually conducted by associates of the JREF at the site where the applicant lives. Upon success in the preliminary testing process, the "applicant" becomes a "claimant."
To date, no one has passed the preliminary tests.
Q: How do you know when a "psychic" is telling a lie?
A: His or her lips are moving.