I don't know if this is quite the correct place to post this (I invite the moderators to move it to the right one and let me know where is a better place to post threads like this one)

Has anyone seen that new show on Lifetime "America's Psychic Challenge"? I caught it the other day (think it was friday). I enjoyed what I saw of it. Its kind of like a reality show styled contest, only its psychics who complete these challenges to test their abilities, successful completion of which earns points. So far, unlike alot of shows based on that same format, I didn't see alot of bickering and backbiting and trying to sabotage the competition like you see on alot of "reality" shows. Everyone got along and it was all in a spirit of friendly competition.

Two things struck me as I watched the program. One, is I was really impressed by the abilities of the psychics. The other thing that made an impression on me was something I had contemplated before, and that is, that the scientific method as we know it will probably never "prove" the existence of psychic phenomenon. Not because it doesn;t exist, but because the traditional scientific methods of trying to measure them are to me, alot like trying to count round pegs by pouring them over a floor with square holes, and counting how many end up falling through to the other side. Example:

In one of the challenges, you have 5 guys, dressed in prison garb, locked behind gars in 5 prison cells. THe challenge is for the psychic to correctly identify which one actual criminal record. One of the psychics ID'd the man with a real criminal record just fine. But here is the interesting part, the next psychic failed to identify him (and thus recieved 0 points for that round) but amazingly, on her way to get there, without even knowing what the challlenge would be, produced some automatic writing, which included some uncanny details -about- the one with the real record. For instance, a number that was the number of years he had spent in jail, or details about him having a brother who had had a drug problem. An amazing feat, to me, but she did not successfully pick the right prisoner that those details went with. I think that this illustrates how a person could clearly demonstrate ability but at the same time "fail" a scientifc experiment designed to measure it. Psi just doesnt seem to "work that way".