Listen

Description

Susan Gerbic dismantles claims that psychic Tyler Henry predicted Ricki Lake’s house fire, showing that his actual reading pointed to a past event and emphasized water damage, not a future blaze. She argues Lake and the media retrofitted his vague statements into a “hit,” illustrating how grief and sensationalism fuel belief in psychics.

Read this article and find accompanying references at:

https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/turning-a-miss-into-a-hit/

About the Author:

Affectionately called the Wikipediatrician, Susan Gerbic is the cofounder of Monterey County Skeptics and a self-proclaimed skeptical junkie. Susan is also founder of the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) project. She is a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and writes for her column, Guerilla Skepticism, often. You can contact her through her website.

Subscribe to Skeptical Inquirer: https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/

Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition is a production of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Center for Inquiry.