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Cold Reading
Cold reading is a set of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, and mediums. Without prior knowledge, a practiced cold-reader can quickly obtain a great deal of information by analyzing the person's body language, age, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, level of education, manner of speech, place of origin, etc. during a line of questioning. Cold readings commonly employ high-probability guesses, quickly picking up on signals as to whether their guesses are in the right direction or not. The reader then emphasizes and reinforces any accurate connections while quickly moving on from missed guesses. Psychologists believe that this appears to work because of the Barnum effect and due to confirmation biases within people. Basic procedure Before starting the actual reading, the reader will typically try to elicit cooperation from the subject, saying something such as, "I often see images that are a bit uncl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barnum Statements
The Barnum effect, also called the Forer effect or, less commonly, the Barnum–Forer effect, is a common psychological phenomenon whereby individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically to them, yet which are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a broad range of people. This effect can provide a partial explanation for the widespread acceptance of some paranormal beliefs and practices, such as astrology, fortune telling, aura reading, and some types of personality tests. It was originally called the "fallacy of personal validation" by psychologist Bertram Forer. The term "Barnum effect" was coined in 1956 by psychologist Paul Meehl in his essay "Wanted – A Good Cookbook", because he relates the vague personality descriptions used in certain "pseudo-successful" psychological tests to those given by showman P. T. Barnum. Overview The Barnum effect is manifested in response to statements that are c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mentalism
Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes special effects that may appear to employ psychic or supernatural forces but that is actually achieved by "ordinary conjuring means", natural human abilities (i.e. reading body language, refined intuition, subliminal communication, emotional intelligence), and an in-depth understanding of key principles from human psychology or other behavioral sciences. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognition, psychokinesis, mediumship, mind control, memory feats, deduction, and rapid mathematics. Mentalism is commonly classified as a subcategory of magic and, when performed by a stage magician, may also be referred to as ''mental magic''. However, many professional mentalists today may generally distinguish themselves from magicians, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Facial Expression
Facial expression is the motion and positioning of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. These movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers and are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying social information between humans, but they also occur in most other mammals and some other animal species. Humans can adopt a facial expression voluntarily or involuntarily, and the neural mechanisms responsible for controlling the expression differ in each case. Voluntary facial expressions are often socially conditioned and follow a cortical route in the brain. Conversely, involuntary facial expressions are believed to be innate and follow a subcortical route in the brain. Facial recognition can be an emotional experience for the brain and the amygdala is highly involved in the recognition process. Beyond the accessory nature of facial expressions in spoken communication between people, they play a significant role in communication ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cirrhosis Of The Liver
Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced with scar tissue (fibrosis) and regenerative nodules as a result of chronic liver disease. Damage to the liver leads to repair of liver tissue and subsequent formation of scar tissue. Over time, scar tissue and nodules of regenerating hepatocytes can replace the parenchyma, causing increased resistance to blood flow in the liver's capillaries—the hepatic sinusoids—and consequently portal hypertension, as well as impairment in other aspects of liver function. The disease typically develops slowly over months or years. Stages include compensated cirrhosis and decompensated cirrhosis. Early symptoms may include tiredness, weakness, loss of appetite, unexplained weight loss, nausea and vomiting, and discomfort in the right upper quadr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emphysema
Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by enlarged air-filled spaces in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the Alveolar wall, walls of the Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli, which replace the spongy Parenchyma#Lungs, lung tissue. This reduces the total alveolar surface available for gas exchange leading to a reduction in oxygen supply for the blood. Emphysema usually affects the middle aged or Old age, older population because it takes time to develop with the effects of tobacco smoking and other risk factors. Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency is a genetic risk factor that may lead to the condition presenting earlier. When associated with significant airflow limitation, emphysema is a Chronic obstructive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of the body becoming unresponsive to insulin's effects. Classic symptoms include polydipsia (excessive thirst), polyuria (excessive urination), polyphagia (excessive hunger), weight loss, and blurred vision. If left untreated, the disease can lead to various health complications, including disorders of the cardiovascular system, eye, kidney, and nerves. Diabetes accounts for approximately 4.2 million deaths every year, with an estimated 1.5 million caused by either untreated or poorly treated diabetes. The major types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2. The most common treatment for type 1 is insulin replacement therapy (insulin injections), while anti-diabetic medications (such as metformin and semaglutide) and lifestyle modificatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and Shortness of breath, difficulty breathing. The severity of the condition is variable. Pneumonia is usually caused by infection with viruses or bacteria, and less commonly by other microorganisms. Identifying the responsible pathogen can be difficult. Diagnosis is often based on symptoms and physical examination. Chest X-rays, blood tests, and Microbiological culture, culture of the sputum may help confirm the diagnosis. The disease may be classified by where it was acquired, such as community- or hospital-acquired or healthcare-associated pneumonia. Risk factors for pneumonia include cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sickle cell disease, asthma, diabetes, heart failure, a history of smoking, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heart Disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, Thrombosis, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis. The underlying mechanisms vary depending on the disease. It is estimated that dietary risk factors are associated with 53% of CVD deaths. Coronary artery disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease involve atherosclerosis. This may be caused by hypertension, high blood pressure, tobacco smoking, smoking, diabetes mellitus, lack of physical exercise, exercise, obesity, hypercholesterolaemia, high blood cholesterol, poor diet, excessive alcoholic beverage, alcohol consumption, and poor sleep, amo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small spherical projectiles called shot (pellet), shot, or a single solid projectile called a shotgun slug, slug. Shotguns are most commonly used as smoothbore firearms, meaning that their gun barrels have no rifling on the inner wall, but rifled barrels for shooting Sabot (firearms), sabot slugs (slug barrels) are also available. Shotguns come in a wide variety of calibers and Gauge (firearms), gauges ranging from 5.5 mm (.22 inch) to up to , though the 12-gauge (18.53 mm or 0.729 in) and 20-gauge (15.63 mm or 0.615 in) bores are by far the most common. Almost all are breechloading, and can be single barreled, double-barreled shotgun, double barreled, or in the form of a combination gun. Like rifles, shotguns also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Edward
Mark Edward (born Mark Edward Wilson, May 19, 1951 – August 4, 2024) was an American mentalist and author. He wrote books on mentalism and séance theory and production, including '' Psychic Blues'' (2009), where he discussed working for the Psychic Friends Network. Wilson made appearances on television as both primary consultant and on-air performer in programming such as ABC's '' The Con'', A & E's ''Biography'': "Houdini, the Great Escape", NBC's ''The Other Side'', and ''Psychic Secrets Revealed'', the Sci-Fi Channel's ''Mysteries, Magic and Miracles'', Disney's ''Forces Beyond'', as well as two episodes of the Learning Channel's ''Exploring the Unknown''. His featured segment as a spirit medium on the pilot episode of Showtime's ''Penn & Teller's Bullshit!'' series, titled "Speaking with the Dead", helped secure an Emmy Award nomination for that episode in 2002. He coined the term "grief vampire" as a description of alleged psychic mediums who prey on vulnerable peopl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeptical Inquirer
''Skeptical Inquirer'' (S.I.) is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle "The Magazine for Science and Reason". The magazine initially focused on investigating claims of the paranormal, but evolved and expanded to address other pseudoscientific topics that are antithetical to critical thinking and science. Notable skeptics have credited the magazine in influencing their development of scientific skepticism. In the "Letters to the Editor", the most frequent letters of appreciation come from educators. History The magazine was originally titled ''The Zetetic'' (from the Greek meaning "skeptical seeker" or "inquiring skeptic"), and was originally edited by Marcello Truzzi. About a year after its inception a schism developed between the editor Truzzi and the rest of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). CSICOP was more "firmly opposed to nonsense, more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
