cold reading
If the success or failure of this planet, and of human beings, depended on how I am and what I do, how would I be? What would I do?
—R. Buckminster Fuller
Cold reading is a technique used by confidence tricksters and frauds to convince you that they know all about you and your life.
Cold reading is a people-observing skill — hence the “reading” part of the name — not mystical ability, foresight, precognition, or feng shui.
People tend to be more alike than they are different. If someone understands the basics of what is usually called “the human condition” — major life events, work, health, sex, relationships, money — they can make reasonable guesses about individuals. After all, most people ask questions about their “human condition” when they consult spiritual advisors, astrologers, psychics, etc.
Prelude to a Fraud
Cold Readers train themselves to look confident, humble, believable, and most of all acceptable to you. If you already have a belief in psychic abilities or McFengshui, then you may assume the Cold Reader has mystical and magical abilities from the minute you meet.
Integral contributing factors to the success of feng shui are intention … and belief.
Perhaps they have a dramatic flair. Maybe they wear unusual clothing, or jewelry you associate with the occult or New Age ideas. Perhaps they use terms and concepts you don’t understand, which they don’t explain very clearly when you ask — but nevertheless sound really important.
Feng shui is Chinese for “con job.”
Knowing about the human condition is only the beginning. A Cold Reader needs some details about you, but must acquire that information without arousing your suspicion. Some “psychics” have been caught rummaging through people’s purses and coat pockets. McFengshui built the fraud into its mythos, by making you believe this probing is a normal part of a feng shui analysis.
The first one-third of the consultation will consist of an interview to get to know you better — so be truthful to yourself about your goals and aspirations as this will start you off on the right foot towards a better result.
Besides this blatant dishonesty, Cold Readers also gather impressions by careful observation. Cold Readers notice
- The neighborhood, the cars in the driveway, the condition of the house.
- How you are dressed, how you speak.
- How the house is furnished, the pictures on the walls, and so forth.
People typically do not recall this part of the visit. Instead, they are amazed that a Cold Reader magically “knows” intimate information about them!
The “Reading”
The analysis often begins with information that could apply to most anyone. There are gullible people who find this general information to be amazingly accurate about them — in which case, even an incompetent Cold Reader can seem to be extraordinarily gifted!
With each sentence the Cold Reader utters, they are intently watching for reactions from the victim. Readers typically follow reactions with “fishing” — asking a question in such a way that they get a detailed response.
People do not realize how much information they broadcast to a Cold Reader. And they do not realize how much of that information is repackaged as their “feng shui consultation.” How to prevent this.
A class on Conducting a Powerful Feng Shui Consultation teaches Cold Reading:
listen actively for key words and read body language of the client to … determine the true issues …. [this] guarantees … recommendations will be more powerful and the client’s results will be more meaningful.
You may recall that a Cold Reader was “accurate” but that probably would not be true if you kept score. Science shows that you will remember the “hits” and forget the “misses” if you have a positive experience. Even if the Cold Reader gets only one or two things correct, you may still consider them “amazingly accurate” if you had a good experience.
The easiest way for a Cold Reader to make the experience positive is to flatter you. Science shows that people more easily believe someone who appears to like and approve of them. A Cold Reader might tell you only outrageous lies and flatter you, but if you enjoyed yourself you will recommend them to others.
You are not paying for a feng shui consultation. You are paying someone to flatter you, to listen to you — in effect, renting somebody to act like they care about you.
Is that what you thought you were paying for?
