Are visions from God, or the Devil or indigestion?

I'm not sure that some of your comments cannot
be reflected back.I am sure that not ALL who claim to be psychic have undergone
laboratory assessments, so the best that can be said
(dispasionately) is that such individuals do something
which we do not entirely understand at present.Have you, for instance, heard of remote viewing ... several
government agencies have active programmes in these areas
(allegedly).[This message has been edited by Peter, 04-09-2003]

The 'reflected back part' was a reference to your
immediate 'It's not real' response. You say things
like 'How do you know?' which is equally well directed
back to you as a question of whether or not you know otherwise.Yes I know about cold-reading, and have observed it first hand.I have also seen self-proclaimed mediums drawing complete
blanks from audience members, and then found non-targetted
audience members who admit afterward that the refernces
seemed familiar to them. (Coincidence maybe, who knows?)Since there is little well performed research in the area,
all I am saying is that we cannot have sufficient information
at present to make the determination.Just because we are taught that something is (or isn't) the
case, doesn't mean it is ... does it?

My line was just that we cannot know at present,
and I often get a little carried away when I see
statements that appear to be closed on any subject.Re-reading schraf's posts I think I tend to agree that
she is simply stating that at present there is no
formal evidence to suggest that such powers exist.Which is OK by me

Just out of curiosity, what are the standard control
conditions used to test psychics?