If any of you skeptics suddenly received psychic abilities ...what would you do?

Question

Would you go to a psychiatrist and start medication?

Answer 1

I would show them to the world.I'd save lives,find missing people,diagnose illness,and predict traffic jams.I'd make sure no one could call me a phony.What I wouldn't do is come on the Internet and make claims I'm not able to back up.

Answer 2

I'd go get Randi's prize money!!!

Answer 3

Well considering there is no such thing as psychic abilities and all psychics i have seen are either purposeful frauds or self deluded I would rexamine my so-called successful prediction and determine where I made my mistake in attributing it to psychic abilitu.

Answer 4

no I would just deal with it and have

when I was young (about ten or so)

I had visions of things that would happen in my life and people

and pets that soon died  I out grew it

but I still have a keen sense of people (I can tell if there good or bad. and when there gonna die its the smell I guess

I also always new what was in the package at christmass time and birthdays.  some folks wouldnt believe it

unless ya lived it.

I guess thats why I live by my self.  

oh well believe it or not.

Answer 5

Denie, If I became psychic I would spend a sizable portion of my gambling and lottery winnings studying and trying to understand the cause or source of my special gift.

I promise I would not bilk people whose loved ones have died.  I promise I would not pretend to bend spoons.  I promise I would not financially benefit from the ignorant, credulous and gullible.  I would endeavor to use my power for good, not evil

Answer 6

I would visit a doctor and try to figure out the nature of my delusion. I would surmise, that if I actually had Psychic abilities, then I should be able to convince my doctor that I had them. Unless my doctor is an idiot, he should be able to confirm the ability to read minds.

If I was unable to convince my doctor, then in all likelihood I was delusional, and needed to be in his care anyways, so either way that would be what I would do.

In the event that I actually was a  psychic, I would probably first have to submit myself to the scientific community to help them find out how it worked... because it's better to be tested if you want to develop a skill, and then after a years worth of study and honing, I would either leave in good terms, or leave while ******* with their heads and rally Oprah and dem' to help me escape.

After I was free, I would try to exploit my new found abilities for the greatest good. Namely, being rich. I don't know what my next career move would be. Probably either as a CIA operative or i'd move to Vatican City.  Well, now that I think about it - I would probably move to California or New York City. Get in good with Jobs, Balmer or them Google kids.

The possibilities are endless when you can read minds. Or, when you can talk to ghosts, or even when you can see the future... h**l, I might decide to forego money all together. I reckon if I could read minds, I could control them, too. I might just decide to take over the world... it's hard to tell.

Answer 7

I'd get a bunch of friends over and get them to test my new abilities.  If they said I couldn't do it, and I thought I could, then yes, I'd definitely go see my doctor.  That's not a good sign.

If they confirmed my new abilities, woo hoo!  Here comes the Nobel Prize!  And a quick million from this guy too http://www.randi.org .

EDIT: That's the thing about psychic abilities, unlike other abilities like the ability to speak German, or do calculus - they appear to come and go.  Which is one of the reasons I suspect they don't exist - since many of them can be explained by a simply unprobable event, such as thinking of someone you haven't heard from in years 10 seconds before they call you - maybe once in a while it's just a coincidence.  But if they ever come back in force, call up your friends!

Answer 8

I would go after the prize money, and prove to the world that psychic abilities are real.

Being a skeptic doesnt mean you do not accept the possibilty, it means you look at more reasonable and logical explanations before jumping to the conclusion that something is paranormal.

I have yet to hit the point where I can call something paranormal because I have ruled out all natural expanations.

Answer 9

Neither.

I'd start consulting with another set of skeptics to ascertain if I really had the ability or not.

Answer 10

If pigs could fly, what would you do? Rhetoric knows no bounds!

Answer 11

I'm a skeptic, but as skeptical of scientific certainties as of almost everything else.  If I suddenly found myself believing without reservation what any posters pronounce here I'd be forced to believe I was possessed by demons, had recieved a research grant to give me new respect for those viewpoints, or was merely dreaming.

I'd probably just change brands of toothpaste.

Frequently scientists and others are troubled by CDUPDUPDD, or more seriously, DBAPS.

People who are afflicted by Compulsive Delusory Unqualified Phychological Diagnosis Disorder [manifested as diagnosing mental illnesses in others based on disagreements concerning reality] would do well to research those areas, also.

Knowing a few buzzwords of psychobabble can lead a person to Delusions of Being A Psychiatrist Syndrome.