We all have intestines and I'd like to think most people are aware of what the contain. That goes for yours as well as any "psychic" you care to name.
As for your intended meaning, I'll dispute your assertion that "psychics [are] generally [dishonest] and [employing confidence schemes to defraud gullible victims]".
This rewording of your statement captures your sentiment and that of many others who comment on this subject. Built into the statement are at least 3 fallacies. The first is that you understand the definition of "psychic". Second, that there is no such thing as a genuine psychic. Third, fake psychics, the only variety from your perspective, are invariably thieves.
The literature of psi shows that people described as "psychics" can be divided into those who market themselves as such and others who do not but have demonstrated psi phenomena. Your comment only applies to the subset of the first group who have no proven psi ability. These appear to be plentiful but whether they are a majority or even a significant percentage of persons to whom psi ability is attributed would be impossible to say. This is similar to the situation with counterfeit money: no amount of counterfeits proves that genuine currency does not exist.
The literature provides many examples of what appear to be genuine psi. Genuine psi, it should be noted, only superficially resembles purported examples provided by professional skeptics, like the late James Randi. The character of genuine psi is so far removed from the way it is portrayed by skeptics and the media that it is easy to see how the audience for that information would believe that there is no such thing as genuine psi. This is because the Tarot-reading, séance-conducting, fortune-teller, or psi-magician stereotypes are not genuine psychics. If you were to read the literature, particularly books by Ian Stevenson, Raymond Moody, and others (even my own book on psychic dreams)you should be able to recognize the important differences between the fakes and the genuine.
I once had to retrieve some money from a fake psychic who had swindled a close friend. There is no doubt in my mind that the "psychic" was both fake and swindler. That does not explain other psi events and the people associated with them, where no financial, personal, or social goal is present.
Andy, I know that genuine psi phenomenon does exist. I experienced this several times myself. The most notable example was when I traveled to New York. I was in New York, in the summer of 99. A Belgium woman, who lived in Brooklyn, New York, purchased me for a few months to live in her flat and visit with members of her French community. Thankfully, she had site seeing in mind. She took me to a few key locations, namely, the Statue of Liberty and the Twin Towers.
Originally, I was from the San Francisco Bay Area. Granted, San Francisco has several impressive building, but nothing like the Twin Towers. I was absolutely mind blown by these buildings. I clearly remember sitting between the two on a bench. My handler at the time, the Belgium woman, said she had some things to do and left me at the bench for a good half an hour. I spent the time looking up at the buildings in amazement. I paid particular attention to what looked like diamond shaped windows. I don't can't remember if the glass was diamond shaped, but the architecture made them appear to be diamond shaped.
That night, when I went to sleep, I had a terrible nightmare that they were completely destroyed. I couldn't tell what destroyed them, but in the dream, it was as if they were exploded from within. The dream was so absolutely real that I believed they were gone when I woke up. Nevertheless, I woke up, and looked out the window of the secondary flat of my handler. Certainly, they were still there, and I thought to myself: fuck dreams, they are stupid. After the Belgium woman tired of my existence, I went back to California. Not too long later, the fucking buildings got destroyed!
This is just one example. The other example is the Georgia Guide Stones. This wasn't a dream, but somewhat kind of premonition. Three days before they were destroyed, I thought to myself, suddenly, one night.....look up the Georgia Guide Stones. I saw these pictures of people vandalizing it with red paint. Immediately, I thought to myself, "Somebody is going to bomb that shit!"
Next thing you know, the structure is destroyed. I don't know if it was bombed. I find it very strange, in the live footage of the explosion, it looks like there is a light in the background that seems to increase in size prior to the explosion, then the explosion happens.
In conclusion, I am not saying that I don't believe in psi phenomenon. Nevertheless, I believe that people "false flag" psi phenomenon all the time for monetary gain.
