Real Mind Readers

Science Sheds Light on How the Fiction of Telepathy Might Be Fact

Most of us are at least a little bit skeptical of anyone who claims to be able to read minds. Some of us have deep-seated doubts as to whether such a thing is even possible.

Of course, most so-called psychics are nothing more than charlatans out to make a quick buck. Some are skilled entertainers, who leave their subjects with at least a little value for the price of admission. Most, though, are outright frauds.

But, there is always the grain of quandary, the tiny speck of wonder in the back of our minds that wants to believe in the impossible, that wants the magic to be real. There is a small part in each of this that asks: might there be someone out there who really has such a gift? Can it be true?

I'm here to tell you: it is.

Here's two ways a legit "psychic" could work.

First, there's the 'interpreter', a person who can read a person's body language and responses to psychological prompts so well that he or she seems to have the magical ability to read and/or control the subject's mind. Take the TV show "Mind Control": the host, Derren Brown, uses his amazingly deep understanding of the human mind to seemingly 'pull' thoughts out of peoples' heads. Sometimes he reverses the techniques and plants suggestions, live on camera.

One notable example was a case where he convinced a celebrity that the gift he wanted most for his birthday was a BMX bike - which was not the truth. Using subliminal cues alone, Brown managed to re-write his guest's memory, making the mind believe that his suggestions were the truth, and the information that had been there before were nothing more than a mistaken false memory.

Brown is so gifted at reading peoples' reactions that he is actually able to pick up on their worst fears, their darkest secrets, and their happiest memories, just from their responses to his psychoanalytical prompts. To all appearances, he can read what is on his subjects' minds.