The Naked Skeptic – Now A Csi Web Column!

I have always enjoyed reading the publication Australasian Science Magazine for the ‘Naked Skeptic’ column that it features – and now one of the contributors to it is available for you to read on the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Website!

‘The Naked Skeptic’ continues with Dr Karen Stollznow – Psychics Aren’t Psychic Anymore – During an investigation of a supposedly “haunted hotel” in Jackson, California, with a group of ghost hunters I made the mistake of referring to a psychic as a “psychic.”

In my estimation, we are witnessing psychic undergo pejoration right now, not only for the average speaker of English, but amongst the psychic community in general. Interestingly, psychic is becoming the dispreferred term of psychics, who now appear to prefer intuitive, sensitive or empathetic. Some new labels sound more self-help than psychic, such as life coaches or spiritual teachers, counselors, and advisors; or spiritual healers and therapists that make them seem like healthcare practitioners.

An excellent, informed discussion that draws upon one of the things that has always intrigued me about the appropriation (misappropriation?) of language when using words like ‘intuitive’ – the ‘euphemism treadmill’ starts going into overdrive when it suits the purpose of the user! Go check it out at http://www.csicop.org/nakedskeptic !

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