Psychic Telephone Networks Profit on Yearning, Gullibility

NEWS AND COMMENT money troubles. Psychic Telephone Networks In a twist of irony, the psychics who man the phone lines are starting to rebel Profit on Yearning, Gullibility against the corporatization of their "ancient art." An August 1997 Miami It appears the powers of thousands of sion bringing celebrities into America's Herald investigative report revealed that alleged psychics failed to predict misfor- living rooms to tout the power of psy- psychics' wages at PRN from June 1996 tune and financial ruin at the nation's first chics, network infomercials have made to May 1997 fell from $19.20 an hour psychic phone network. On February 2, the impulse to act on credulous belief to $15.00 an hour. Stephen Glass in his Inphomation Inc., the company that just a seductive phone number away. Harpers article wrote that some psychics operates Psychic Friends Network (PFN), The marketing potential for psychic were upset over the networks' marketing filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protec- networks is almost unlimited. On most to minorities and lower income individ- tion. The company, based in Baltimore, networks, at the beginning of each call, uals. Other psychics complain that the Maryland, listed liabilities of $26 million psychics take the names and addresses of networks are hiring "phony" psychics. and assets of $1.2 million. callers. These are added to mailing lists As one self-proclaimed mindreader told Launched in 1990, Inphomation and used as leads for a variety of prod- the Miami Herald, "I feel they're hiring pioneered the use of '900' phone lines, ucts. Along with hotline numbers and people just to get money and the vast spawning ubiquitous late-night and personal testimonials, psychic network majority are not psychic at all and are Saturday-afternoon infomercials. The infomercials tout psychic accessories making things up just to keep people on 30-minute infomercials were hosted by ranging from tarot cards to fortune- the line. It gives us a bad name. It makes singer Dionne Warwick and were sup- telling eight balls. T h e World Wide Web me ashamed of what I have to do." ported by a network of 2000 psychics. is the next frontier for psychic market- The psychic's complaint begs the Estimated revenue for the company in ing, with websites charging $25 and up question: Is psychic ability real? the early 1990s totaled close to $125 for e-mail readings. According to company policy, Psychic million, but in recent years competition It may be a bull market for psychic Readers Network will "to the best of its and mismanagement combined to put network revenue, but there appears to ability hire only qualified psychics who Inphomation into debt. be a growing undercurrent of discon- have been tested and interviewed by Despite the recent bankruptcy of tent. Callers arc frequently frustrated by PRN, not 'chat' operators." However, PFN, the psychic network industry is per-minute charges that include time contrary to whatever testing methods booming. Analysts predict the industry to charged for network introductions and PRN uses, numerous carefully designed rake in annual revenues from $ 1.4 billion delays caused by recorded profiles, and conducted tests by prominent scien- to $2 billion by the end of the century, a menus of psychics, and signups for free tists have failed to validate psychic abil- dramatic increase from $620 million in newspapers. Customers, enticed by ity. In addition, attempts to use psychics 1994. Networks like Psychic Readers promises of ten free minutes of calls, for practical purposes such as earthquake- (PRN), Psychic Believers Network often receive their bills with the applica- prediction, government espionage, and (PBN), and Psychic Encounters charge tion of the incentive a mystery. crime solving have all proved unsuccess- upwards of $3.99 a minute, potentially The most troubling charges levied ful. With evidence lacking in support of turning a 30-minute call into a $120 bill. against the psychic networks are that psychic ability, networks appear to be The rapid growth in psychic net- they market to minorities and individu- marketing a service that does not exist. works can be attributed to the merger of als with lower levels of income. It seems Most infomercials skirt the issue of traditional belief in psychic power with odd that networks prefer to use almost psychic validity with screen disclaimers the explosion of the mass media. It exclusively African-American celebrities that announce "for entertainment pur- began in 1984, when the FCC deregu- like Billy Dee Williams, Phillip Michael poses only." Unfortunately, most callers lated the amount of broadcast time sta- Thomas, Dionne Warwick, LaToya are very serious about being told their tions could allocate to advertisements. Jackson, and Nell Catter as hosts. future. Many psychics report that callers With the average American watching Masquerading as a phone psychic, beset by personal or financial problems four hours of television a day, entrepre- writer Stephen Glass published a first- are not interested in information leading neurs recognized a captive audience, and hand account of his experience with a to counseling or professional services, the infomercial! was born. psychic network in the February issue of but are desperately seeking the outcome Gallup polls indicate that Americans' Harper's magazine. According to Glass' of their tarot card reading or horoscope overall belief in the power of the mind to tabulations, more than 74 percent of his prediction. In 1993, PRN briefly ran a predict the future has remained at about callers were African-Americans and close Professional Advisors Network with psy- 26 percent since 1990. But with televi- to 85 percent said they were having chologists, psychiatrists, and psychothcr- SKEPTICAL INQUIRER May/June 1998 5 NEWS AND COMMENT apists replacing psychics. According to Review of Alternative Medicine (available now supported by major nursing organi- PRN, no one called, and the service was April 24). zations such as the National League of shut down. "A recent review of the literature Nurses and the American Nurses Since early man, there has been a shows that there is no convincing evi- Association. "Energy-field disturbance" human willingness to believe in the dence that the alleged healings by 11 is now listed as a nursing diagnosis by magical. The claim of psychic ability are anything more than the placebo the North American Nursing Diagnostic offers the reassuring and assuaging hope effect," says Wallace Sampson, M.D., Association. of controlling our lives by anticipating Editor of the Scientific Review. "Most The Scientific Review of Alternative the future. The temptation to believe in writings on TT are speculation and Medicine the only peer-reviewed med- the paranormal exists in part because commentary, which simply do not ical journal in the world devoted exclu- criticism and evidence contrary to para- address the core question: Can TT prac- sively to the scientific evaluation of normal phenomena are seldom heard. titioners detect alleged 'energy fields' or "alternative" medical claims. The review In this, the media are duplicitous. not? This simple experiment, though publishes original research, critiques Investigative reports of psychic net- limited in scope, is a direct, scientifically published studies, reviews available evi- works, including a 1993 ABC Prime- valid test of this question." dence for claims, and discusses the time Live feature and the 1997 Miami As detailed in the report, before the methods and principles of valid Herald investigation, have ignored the experiment, a T T practitioner agreed to research. Topics covered in the Spring question of the validity of psychic the study protocol and asserted that she 1998 issue include acupuncture, oxy- power. Until the mass media confront could distinguish between the "energy genation therapy, naturopathy, magnet claims of psychic ability and claims of field" of an injured or painful limb and therapy, St. John's Wort, the ethics of the paranormal with scientific and criti- that of a normal limb. During the test, alternative medicine, and an experience cal evaluations, public ignorance and she attempted to distinguish the "energy with a Tijuana cancer doctor. The jour- credulousness will persist. fields" surrounding the arms of two dif- nal is published by Prometheus Books ferent people, one with a painful wrist and sponsored by the Council for —Matthew Nisbet and one with no symptoms. When the Scientific Medicine. practitioner knew the identity of two Matthew Nisbet is Public Relations participants (through the use of normal Director for the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER in senses), she was able to correctly distin- Gish and Creationism at Amherst, New York, and coordinator for guish the two people. But when the Murray State: A Child's the Council for Media Integrity, a net- identity of the two participants was hid- Garden of Verses work of distinguished scientists, academics den from her, she failed to correctly dis- and members of the media concerned tinguish between the two, scoring no On February 25, Duane T. Gish, loudly about the portrayal of science in the better than that predicted by chance. touting his Berkeley Ph.D. in biochem- media. "Even though the results of this sin- istry and his having rubbed shoulders gle test were negative, it does not rule with Nobel laureates, participated in a out the possibility that TT energy fields "debate" on evolution vs. creationism, at Therapeutic Touch' Fails exist or that other TT practitioners can Murray State University, in Murray, a Rare Scientific Test detect them," say Robert Glickman, Kentucky. According to the sponsors, RN, and Ed J. Gracely, Ph.D., authors Gish "won" the debate. As an interested Therapeutic Touch (TT) is an "alterna- of the new report. "However, the exis- observer to most of the events surround- tive" medicine technique said to be used tence of 'human energy fields' and the ing this spectacle, I was not enlightened, by over 40,000 nurses in North America ability to detect them remains extraordi- but entertained.

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