James Randi vs. Sylvia Browne

Sylvia Browne is a psychic medium who regularly appears as a guest of the Montel Wiliams show. Sylvia Browne on Montel Williams' show answers questions from the audience having to do with psychic topics such as talking to dead relatives and so on. Over the years, Sylvia has come under great controversy with her seemingly inconsistent readings. One of her biggest critics is James Randi, who is constantly trying to prove her wrong.

[edit] Publicity and Criticism

There are some facts about Sylvia Browne that should be known. She has written several books, makes predictions about the future, and claims to be able to speak with the dead. Whether or not this is actually true is hard to tell, but it is a fact that many of her predictions have been proven wrong. However, she claims that this is due to the fact that she misinterpreted the readings, which is hard to prove either way. Sylvia Browne on Montel Williams' show generally seems to provide people with accurate readings about their family members. However, critics like James Randi claim this is done through the use of cold and hot reading techniques, similar to things he would have done as a stage performer. Sylvia also claims to be part of a psychic detective program, discovering murderers and other criminals from the other side. However, it seems that no police department acknowledges the fact that she has ever helped, or been able to help in any crime case.

[edit] Randi’s Challenge to Browne

The main controversy about Sylvia Browne is over the fact that for one family, she predicted some extremely wrong information. Sylvia said that one couple's missing child was dead, and he ended up turning up four years later, alive and well. This triggered further investigation into her readings and methods, and since then, many of her readings and predictions have been shown to be wrong. In 2001, James Randi challenged Sylvia to a test of her psychic abilities. She accepted the challenge, but as of 2008 has not taken the test. Randi offered $1,000,000 to anyone who could be proven to be a real psychic, but as of yet, no one has passed the test. Randi uses the fact that Sylvia refuses to take the test as proof that she knows that she is not a real psychic. Randi has since challenged Sylvia to several other tests, all of which have been refused as well. Still, even with all the controversy, it is impossible to tell if Sylvia is a real psychic or a fake. Perhaps she just feels it would ruin her art to be tested, or maybe she knows that real psychic abilities can't be called on at will. Perhaps the dead only talk to her at certain times, and she cannot actually talk to them. Maybe some of what she does is not genuine while other parts are real. It is impossible to tell.

[edit] Should Sylvia take the test?

What this means for someone interested in Sylvia Browne is that it is all a matter of opinion. Perhaps, if there were some proven psychics, they could test Sylvia to see if she really could communicate with the dead. However, as it is now, there is no real way to tell. If you believe in Sylvia, that's fine, and if you don't, that's fine as well. It is very unlikely that your life will be altered in any great way because of it.