Sensing murder

[Aught3]

This is a problem that has been bugging me awhile.
For those of you who haven't seen Sensing Murder, two or three 'psychics' are chosen to investigate an unsolved murder. They are often uncannily accurate about the victims name, location of death, and other details. I believe there are different versions around the world. Unless the whole show is totally faked I can't see how they do it. I can see through crack-pots like John Edward and Lisa Williams but sensing murder has me stumped.

Can someone explain how they do it?

 

[edib0y]

Dunno, I have seen show "Psych fight", where usually they are inaccurate(or give soooo uncertain answers) or cheating.

 

[Whisperelmwood]

I sincerely doubt they DON'T have people feeding them information before shooting takes place. That's pretty much how it goes for all 'mediums' - someone, even someone on the fringes of the program, will be feeding them information somehow - often it's actually their assistant or even someone producing the show itself.

I'd have to see the show though, before I make any real judgements.

 

[Whisperelmwood]

Just looked it up on youtube.

In 1970, 18 year old Olive Walker was brutally bashed to death in Rotorua. Her killer has never been found. Psychics Deb Webber (Aus) and Adelle Dishcombe investigate her murder and come up with new clues for a team of investigators to follow up.

I'm sorry, but something from that long ago, is INCREDIBLY unlikey to be unknown to any mediums in the country. This is the business they work in, they need to know these things. Even if they research just a short time before filming - they WILL research it.

It must also be noted that the sorts of things these people come up with are very vague and the sorts of things anyone could come up with if they know even a little bit about criminology. I wonder, as well, ifthe police actually DO use anything these people come up with. In general, they simply don't.

 

[Aught3]

It is entirely possible that the whole show is faked.
But from what the viewers are told the mediums don't even know what town they are going to to prevent them from researching the case.
But there is also a lot of stuff edited out maybe that's the trick.

I'm sorry, but something from that long ago, is INCREDIBLY unlikey to be unknown to any mediums in the country.

First of all one of the mediums is from a different country. Do you really think they know about every unsolved murder? That seems like a lot of work and I'm fairly convinced that the mediums themselves think what they are doing is real.

Lastly, no the NZ police do not use the show they deal in factual information only :lol:

 

[ImprobableJoe]

It is entirely possible that the whole show is faked.
But from what the viewers are told the mediums don't even know what town they are going to to prevent them from researching the case.

Maybe that would have held 20 years ago. Now with cell phones and Wi-Fi, there's probably no way to prevent someone from popping into a bathroom with their iPhone, and popping out 15 minutes later with a complete history of the town that they are in.

 

[Aught3]

hmmmm, wifi in Rotarua that's pushing it a bit :lol:

 

[ImprobableJoe]

hmmmm, wifi in Rotarua that's pushing it a bit :lol:

Why not? After a quick Google search, it looks like Rotorua is a high-end resort town with a golf course, 4-star hotels, a golf course, and all the other amenities. Internet access doesn't seem like much of a stretch, and the same goes for cell reception.

 

[Aught3]

Just a joke, cellphone is certainly a possibility. I'm pretty sure some of them think what they are doing is real though, it would be difficult to keep up the illusion if they had to research every case.

 

[ImprobableJoe]

Just a joke, cellphone is certainly a possibility. I'm pretty sure some of them think what they are doing is real though, it would be difficult to keep up the illusion if they had to research every case.

Even if they do believe... I'm sure they could rationalize their research as "trying to form a connection" or some such nonsense.

 

[Whisperelmwood]

From the POV of most people working on the show, it probably ISNT faked, most of them probably have no idea how it's all done. But these people have ways of gleaning info they need. Whether or not they 'believe' in what they are doing.

For some of them, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of what they spout, they DID know before hand, but weren't consciously remembering it. For those that 'believe' what they are doing, anyway. The ones who know they are fakes and do it anyway, their assistants, producers, managers etc will have ways of giving them the info they know.

It's also cleverly edited. Always.

 

[Aught3]

So they give specifics when they can get the info from the show's crew and it can be confirmed because people know about it which is how they got the info in the first place. Therefore, it looks impressive, they then get vague when no-one can confirm their answers and the info they start to give is useless. Combine that with the editing-out of anything that the produces think 'doesn't make sense' and you've got a show. Sounds plausible to me. Thanks Leaguers!

 

[Whisperelmwood]

No problem, glad to help.

 

[ImprobableJoe]

So they give specifics when they can get the info from the show's crew and it can be confirmed because people know about it which is how they got the info in the first place. Therefore, it looks impressive, they then get vague when no-one can confirm their answers and the info they start to give is useless. Combine that with the editing-out of anything that the produces think 'doesn't make sense' and you've got a show. Sounds plausible to me. Thanks Leaguers!

I'm glad you got answers you like. Scratch the surface, and all these sorts of thing are the same sort of scam.

 

[ebbixx]

(deleted)

 

[ebbixx]

Maybe that would have held 20 years ago. Now with cell phones and Wi-Fi, there's probably no way to prevent someone from popping into a bathroom with their iPhone, and popping out 15 minutes later with a complete history of the town that they are in.

You could even do that with a Kindle.

 

[ImprobableJoe]

You could even do that with a Kindle.

Yeah, but a Kindle doesn't fit in your pocket, and most people don't have one.

 

[ebbixx]

"ebbixx": "You could even do that with a Kindle."

Yeah, but a Kindle doesn't fit in your pocket, and most people don't have one.

But it fits in a purse, and most people have no clue it gives you web access. If you're in the business of fraud a Kindle is a cheap investment, and arouses less suspicion than a laptop or webbook. Then again, cell phones are ubiquitous and even many older ones have some form of web access.

 

[ImprobableJoe]

But it fits in a purse, and most people have no clue it gives you web access. If you're in the business of fraud a Kindle is a cheap investment, and arouses less suspicion than a laptop or webbook.

I guess people don't know what it is, and don't realize that you can use it for limited net access...

Do we need to have a new thread to talk about how wonderful the Kindle is?

 

[ebbixx]

Do we need to have a new thread to talk about how wonderful the Kindle is?

I was thinking more about asking whether there's a good sized HTML flat file that one could copy and upload to a Kindle as a sort of Atheist's Reference Guide, containing all sorts of goodies... Especially since I'm looking around at my book-strewn apartment and considering a moratorium on book buying. Particularly in light of this nonsense from Amazon trying to suppress literature the fundies get antsy about.