Recently I read Tim Minchin's Storm and I largely agree with him. Yes grasping this life is important, and maybe it's all we get but I felt a need to explore a few things.
While I agree that most if not all psychics are cold readers making a buck, I also have see people conduct interesting dialogues with their subconscious through the medium of Tarot cards, and paid me, well I had to start charging, I was putting in effort, they were not paying attention, until I charged, a cup of coffee. Yes 40p (old money, it was the 90s) made the difference between attention and inattention, thanks capitalism. And yes, once someone started latching onto certain words or phrases I'd start using the theme more. Was I cold reading, yes. Did I have repeat customers? Yes. Would I lapse into a slightly different consciousness sometimes? Yes. Did I rely on it or encourage others to do so? No.
Later, pre-cancer diagnosis, I was under the weather and a friend offered me a reiki session. I took him up on it, there was a preliminary diagnosis that involved my liver and the friend said afterwards, I don't think that what's wrong with you is liver, I think it's more widespread than that, get those tests done, it's important. Yeah it was, I had hodgkins lymphoma. More dispersed indeed.
These two are, yes, anecdotes, but what's in common is the ethical attitude of the person involved. The labourer is worthy of their hire too.
Secondly, he lumps medicine into proven and unproven ignoring the third, complicated category, still under research, and sometimes that third category gets lumped into useless superstition, much like generally regarded as safe and hypoallergenic doesn't mean no one will have adverse effects to a drug or cosmetic. I had a skin condition that could be linked to my blood pressure medicine. Actually to the added padding or sawdust as my dad calls it.
Overall, storm is interesting but simplistic to a degree and he's probably preaching to the choir.
