James Van Praagh: Medium, or Conman?

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"When I first began following Van Praagh I thought perhaps there was a certain element of self-deception on his part where, giving him the benefit of the doubt (he does seem a likable character), he developed his cold- and warm- reading techniques through a gradual developmental process of subject feedback and reinforcement, much like the operant conditioning of a rat through "shaping," where one rewards partial behaviors until the target goal is reached. And it is true that gurus come to believe in their own divinity when enough of their followers tell them they are divine. We skeptics are only too aware of the power of self-deception in areas involving memory. " --- Michael Shermer

• The Praagh scam, part 1 Is Praagh a deceiver or a self-deceiver?
• The Praagh scam, part 2 James Van Praagh busted for cheating and lying.
• The Praagh scam, part 3 What I would say to someone who is grieving.
• The Praagh scam, part 4 The real life adventures of James Van Fraud.
• The Praagh scam, part 5 Van Praagh is an actor playing the part of a medium.
• The Praagh scam, part 6 It now looks like Van Praagh has taken over Town Meeting.

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