I'VE a secret I didn't want known, but I suspect it's about to be revealed, so I've decided you, my loyal readers, should be the first to know. I possess paranormal abilities.
I know many of you will be sceptical so I've decided to prove my powers, but I'll need you to play a little game with me.
All you'll need is a calculator, a pen and paper. As soon as you have them, we'll begin.
Alright, I knew you would play; don't ask me how, I just know these things. The first bit of the game involves a bit of maths but don't worry – I'm hopeless with figures, that's why I suggested the calculator. This bit is important as it will open a channel between your mind and mine.
Pick a number between two and nine – it can be two and it can be nine, or any number in between. Take the number you've chosen and multiply it by nine.
This will give you a two-digit number; now take those two digits and add them together. For example, if your number is 16, take the one and the six and add them to make seven.
Take the resulting number and subtract five from it. Good, you're doing well, I can feel a connection forming. Now take that number and link it to a letter in the alphabet, for example A=1, B=2, C=3, etc.
Now, take your letter, and think of a country that begins with that letter. For example, 'B' might make you think of Brazil or 'F' could be France.
Now, take the second letter in the name of your country and think of an animal. For example, 'P' may make you think of penguin and 'Z' may make you think of zebra.
OK, do you have a country and an animal? Now give me a moment to concentrate, try visualising the country and animal for me...
Yes, I'm beginning to see it, that's it... I think I have it. That's strange - I didn't know there were elephants in Denmark.
If you're part of the majority who choose Denmark and elephant, I'm sure you're scratching your head wondering how the hell did he do that? Could he be telling the truth and have special powers?
Well, the answer is, I don't; what I just did was a mentalist trick which succeeds due to an understanding of how our mind works.
The seemingly random calculation I had you do wasn't random. You can start with any number between two and nine, follow the instructions and you'll always end up with four.
This means you'll always end up with 'D' for your country and, as most people choose Denmark, so the second letter will be 'E', resulting in most people thinking of elephant. It's obvious once you know.
Mentalists have been a staple of light entertainment for over 100 years, the most famous practitioner today being Derren Brown.
But while mentalists provide entertainment, others use the same techniques for different purposes. I'm sure many of you will have visited a fortune-teller, and why not?
Who wouldn't like to hear there's a tall dark stranger in their future or that money will soon cross their palm. Invariably money does cross a palm, from your hand to the fortune-teller's. But it's a bit of craic so what's the harm?
The level of deception involved increases when you move from fortune-tellers to mediums dealing not with love or money, but grief.
Those charlatans purporting to be a conduit between bereaved relatives and the spirits of dead loved ones are in a different category entirely. They're coffin-chasers with no shame profiting from people's grief when at their most vulnerable; they are vultures, and I call them out for what they are – con artists.
Magicians such as Harry Houdini, James Randi and Derren Brown have all exposed mediums and their trickery.
In the 1920s, Houdini unmasked dozens, showing their supposed psychic powers to be nothing more than literally smoke and mirrors. Randi put up a reward of $1 million for anyone who could demonstrate paranormal powers under controlled circumstances.
You won't be surprised to learn the few who accepted his challenge all failed the test.
So, the question is, why do otherwise sensible people believe such nonsense?
My guess is that as belief in religion declines, there remains a need in humanity for the supernatural. And those who believe in nothing are susceptible to believe in anything.
