Yes, I have seen two people concentrate and bend spoons (not part of any show).
With spoons that weren't theirs? The reason I ask is, they sell these spoons that are made of a gallium alloy, which has a melting point so low that just the heat of your hand can soften it. (Did the spoons bend up or down?) So, you just kind of hold it by the handle in one place, act like you're "concentrating", and the heat of your hand makes the spoon bend.
Have they ever bent anything that wasn't a spoon? Like, a kitchen knife? Or a paper clip? If not, why just spoons?
See, these are all very appropriate questions to ask, so long as you're unwilling to shut your brain off whenever somebody does something weird. Professional stage magicians make millions because they're really good at making things happen that seem impossible - but it's not psychic powers, its just stagecraft.
I don't know why people fail those tests under controlled situations, but I do believe that they would never submit themselves to those tests in the first place if they hadn't been honestly capable of doing some things & believed they could still do so in a test.
I'm sure John Edwards (who talks to dead people on the Sci Fi channel)
honestly believes that he's talking to dead people - but to any skeptic who watches, it's obvious he's just a really good cold-reader.
It's amazing what you can pretend to know about people you've never met or even spoken to, if you're actually talking to them. You watch their reactions and listen to changes in their voice. You pick up subtle clues about how they carry themselves, or talk - everything.
I don't believe any of the so-called "Supernatural" things that happen are actually supernatural.
Well, this we agree on, anyway.
I know a woman psychic that I talk to regularly who lives in Colorado, while I live in North Carolina. I can tell her somebody's name (somebody she's never met), and based on the name, she can tell me all about that person's personality, problems--intimate, detailed information that she has no way of knowing.
What kind of information? General personality statements? "He's a young man, impulsive, having trouble in school..." or specific, detailed (complete with names) information about their situation and history? I mean, does she say "he's had a fight with his girlfriend" or "He's fighting right now with his girlfriend Cindy about who has to walk their dog Sparkles?"
Here's the test I would submit your psychic friend to. I honestly don't think she's a fraud; I'm sure she believes she has some psychic power - it's likely she's a really good cold-reader without even knowing that's what she's doing. I'd sit with her, pass her a name on a card, and have her write out a letter about what was going on in that named person's life, to whatever specificity she felt comfortable with. Then I'd call him/her on the phone and compare notes.
Is that a test you think she could perform well on? I suspect that, without auditory cues from the proctor, her powers would be very inaccurate indeed.