Wednesday 29 August 2012

August Meeting

On Monday 27th August 2012 we had our monthly meeting at the Phoenix Inn, George Street, York. A very informative and entertaining talk was given by Ash Pryce, entitled "How to be a Psychic Con-Man". Ash used simple magic tricks to recreate spoon bending, remote viewing, ESP and psychic surgery (thanks Rob - I hope you're now feeling better!).

This then led to an interesting discussion on the ethics of such feats (whether genuine or not). If a magician uses a trick to fool someone about their ability then this is seen as OK, but if done by a "psychic" then when does this become unethical? The same information, or advice, given to one person may simply lead to introspection of their life, whereas another person may follow the same advice blindly and end up in a worse position. One outcome has a beneficial ending and another a detrimental one. Is the advice given unethical, or is it only unethical if the claimant says they have a supernatural ability (when they do not), or perhaps only if they have 'charged' for the advice?

Overall a very interesting discussion on the grey areas that inhabit life. If only everything was black and white.