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« Carnival of the Godless #7 • The Rants • Medium: The Dubious Claims of Allison DuBois - Part II »
Medium: The Dubious Claims of Allison DuBois - Part I
2005.03.14 (Mon) 00:00
An Introduction to Allison DuBois:
A friendly skeptic that we know — let's call him Steve — recently took a technical training class through work. During a break in class, some of the students were discussing Law & Order and the recent death of Jerry Orbach. As that conversation waned, one student — we'll call her Carla — offered the comment:
Carla: | You know what show is really good? Medium! |
No one said anything, including Steve. After all, the class had been talking about Law & Order, and this was just another television show. No big deal. But when Carla continued, Steve found that he needed to respond:
Carla: | (credulously) You know, that show is based on a real psychic who actually helps the police solve cases. | Steve: | No, that's not true. | Carla: | (enthusiastically) Yes, it's true. I read an article about her and she really did all these things. | Steve: | No, it's not true. The press sometimes embellishes this kind of story for different reasons, but no psychic has ever actually helped the police. | Carla: | (conspiratorially) Well, I have family who are police officers, so I know that it's true. | Steve: | Um, I have family in law enforcement as well. But, it's not true. | Carla: | (smugly) Psychics help the police all the time. It's happened in the south. | Steve: | I'm sorry, but it's never happened. It's not true. |
At that point, the instructor interrupted, and the class went back to the lesson. Although Steve had fought the good fight, he was disappointed that his arguments were limited to statements without specific data to back them up. Steve wanted to be prepared the next time this topic came his way, so he asked us for assistance. It can be difficult to have ready facts on hand to refute every bullshit tale making the rounds these days, but the stories surrounding Medium seem to be everywhere lately, and are therefore worthy of some special attention.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again — it seems that the media has been increasing its endorsement of medical quackery, paranormal phenomena, and pseudo-science lately. Recently, we discussed the movie White Noise, and the allegedly paranormal experience it is based on, EVP, which amounts to little more than auditory pareidolia and an active imagination. In order to help Steve — and anyone else who's heard the persistent assertions that Medium is "based on a true story" — we at the Two Percent Company have prepared an analysis of the claims made by and about Medium.
First, although Carla didn't mention the name, the person whose "real life events" the show Medium is based upon is self-proclaimed medium Allison DuBois. Like her peer John Edward, Allison claims that she can talk to the dead. In case you're currently in the market for a conversation with the dearly departed, she does conduct private readings, but ever since Medium got off the ground, her schedule has been exceedingly full (her web site tells us that she is booked solid for the next three years).
One way to approach an analysis of Allison would be to examine an actual session in a controlled environment. Since we don't have access to Allison herself, we can use a transcript of a reading to show what we mean. Note that we know very little about the methodology employed in the test that yielded this transcript, so its usefulness only goes so far. For our immediate purposes, it will do.
The following is a short excerpt from a session with Allison which is freely available online. AD is Allison herself, GS is Dr. Gary Schwartz from the University of Arizona (more on him later), COMMENT represents Dr. Schwartz's commentary, and MK is the "entity" that Allison is supposed to be in contact with.
GS: Um... can he give any more details about how he has attempted to communicate since he's passed?
AD: He is referencing a phone ringing. Like he calls his wife, as if the phone rings and she picks up and nobody's there. But he's referencing calling her as being important.
COMMENT: MK was especially involved with physical mediumship. This kind of "phone ringing" phenomenon is an example of purported spontaneous physical communication. Veronica confirmed that multiple phone calls of this sort had happened since MK passed.
This is one single exchange chosen completely at random. Perhaps it is typical of all of Allison's prognostications, or perhaps it is the one exchange that is completely explainable without paranormal influences. In fact, if you get as many of those damned hang up calls as we do on a regular basis, you probably already know the explanation we're talking about. One of our associates actually gets such a call every weeknight between 6PM and 8PM — he picks up, and the line goes dead. Maybe MK is also calling our associate! You can check the rest of the transcript to get the flavor of Allison's readings, but if you've ever seen or heard John Edward or any of the other "mediums" in action, you already know what it's like.
If we knew that the methods employed in this test were sound, we could examine the rest of the transcript to see how many other "psychic revelations" also have simple explanations. We could explain how cold reading works, and how some people use both cold and warm reading to pretend that they have psychic powers, and we could then compare Allison's session to a typical cold reading, and look at the similarities.
But since we don't have access to more complete and specific data or direct access to Allison herself, we're going to take our analysis in a different direction. We have chosen to analyze Allison's own statements — her specific claims that she contends set her apart from the rest of the psychics on the market today.
One thing we noticed is that Allison herself is skeptical of psychics, or at least of psychics who aren't her. From a March 4, 2004 issue of Metareligion:
"I think there are some people that are Charlatans, and with any profession there's going to be some bad apples, so I mean that just goes with the territory, so the ones that are accurate and are legitimate just have to prove themselves," said Dubois.
And from the January 3, 2005 edition of Science Fiction Weekly:
Patricia, in doing this character, how much of a belief system do you have to have in the character that you're playing?
Arquette: ... I do believe certain people have this capacity to do this. But I also 100 percent believe there're a lot of charlatans out there.
Dubois: I agree.
And from her own web site:
...I don't like seeing people go to half-baked "psychics" or frauds.
With all of the "charlatans" out there pretending to have psychic powers and duping the public just to make a buck, we decided to take a look at Allison's claims to fame — the credentials she possesses that make her more worthy of belief and respect than the host of "frauds" that Allison warns us about.
First, Allison points to her belief in the scientific method, and the extensive scientific tests she has undergone at the University of Arizona under the supervision of Dr. Gary Schwartz.
Second, Allison claims that she works with law enforcement agencies around the country on active homicide and missing person investigations. In particular, she points to her involvement with the Texas Rangers, which launched her career and also became the basis for the first episode of Medium, and of her involvement with the Glendale Arizona Police Department.
Third, Allison claims that her powers have never been wrong in any case she has worked. We want to repeat that — according to Allison, she's never been wrong when using her psychic abilities as part of a case she was involved in.
Well, if these three claims stand up to scrutiny — meaning that they are demonstrably truthful and accurate — we would happily become Allison's biggest fans. But let's not break out the marching band until we take a closer look.
— • —
Over the course of the Two Percent Company's Allison Dubois Week, we will be looking at each of these claims in turn, as well as Allison's response to skeptics. Throughout the week, we will be presenting statements and opinions of various third parties, including Allison herself, in order to give our readers enough information to make informed decisions about Allison's claims. In the end, we won't tell you what to believe — that will be up to you.
Keep an eye out for the following installments over the course of the week:
The Two Percent Company's Allison DuBois Week:
% Monday: An Introduction to Allison DuBois (this Rant)
% Tuesday: Dr. Gary Schwartz's Research
% Wednesday: Allison's Track Record Assisting Law Enforcement
% Thursday: The Success Rate of Allison's Powers
% Friday: Allison's Answers to Skeptics
— • —
Disclaimer: Throughout our posts, we are presenting statements and opinions of various third parties. The Two Percent Company makes no claims as to the accuracy of the statements of any third parties. In addition, any statements attributed to the Two Percent Company are strictly our opinion, and are not meant to be statements of absolute fact.
— • —
[ Filed under: % Allison DuBois Week % Bullshit % Greatest Hits % Two Percent Toons ]
Comments (34)
% Trackback » 2005.03.16 (Wed) 18:13
"Alison DuBois Week At Two Percent Company" from Unscrewing The Inscrutable
Back in January I wrote about the television show "Medium" and it's real-life inspiration, super-duper crime-fighting "research medium" Alison DuBois (UTI, Jan 8, 2005 - "I Like My Medium Well Done").Starting last Monday, UTI friends The Two Percent C... [More]
% Trackback » 2005.03.17 (Thu) 19:03
"A Skeptic's Complaint considered." from Pratie Place
At Two Percent Company -- site of this week's Skeptics' Circle -- it's Allison DuBois Week. Allison DuBois is the real-live woman on whom the show "Medium" has been based, a psychic who supposedly helps the police with puzzling crimes.
Simplisticall... [More]
% Trackback » 2005.03.18 (Fri) 10:29
"Alison DuBois Week At Two Percent Company" from Unscrewing The Inscrutable
Back in January I wrote about the television show "Medium" and it's real-life inspiration, super-duper crime-fighting "research medium" Alison DuBois (UTI, Jan 8, 2005 - "I Like My Medium Well Done").Starting last Monday, UTI friends The Two Percent C... [More]
Cat, 2005.04.08 (Fri) 04:30 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.04.08 (Fri) 20:24 [Link] »
paul santelmann, 2005.04.11 (Mon) 01:54 [Link] »
Cat, 2005.04.12 (Tue) 02:16 [Link] »
Myrddin, 2005.04.12 (Tue) 03:49 [Link] »
% Trackback » 2005.04.13 (Wed) 03:07
"An Ongoing Conversation About Beliefs" from The Two Percent Company's Rants
We recently received a comment on one of our Allison DuBois posts asking about our beliefs and our skeptical approach to life. The commenter, Cat, had the following to say: I feel for you guys being so sceptical. I imagine that... [More]
The Two Percent Company, 2005.04.13 (Wed) 11:09 [Link] »
Brandon Mosher, 2005.04.13 (Wed) 15:19 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.04.13 (Wed) 15:51 [Link] »
John, 2005.04.19 (Tue) 14:13 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.04.19 (Tue) 17:24 [Link] »
Jessica, 2005.05.09 (Mon) 20:19 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.05.09 (Mon) 23:00 [Link] »
Krista Schwimmer, 2005.05.12 (Thu) 02:05 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.05.12 (Thu) 16:56 [Link] »
shane patrick, 2005.06.08 (Wed) 03:17 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.06.08 (Wed) 11:33 [Link] »
Blonde, 2005.06.09 (Thu) 01:43 [Link] »
francine, 2005.06.09 (Thu) 10:54 [Link] »
joanna, 2005.06.09 (Thu) 15:37 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.06.09 (Thu) 16:50 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.06.09 (Thu) 23:02 [Link] »
Blonde, 2005.06.10 (Fri) 04:49 [Link] »
Blonde, 2005.06.10 (Fri) 05:20 [Link] »
JOAN DUHRKOFF, 2005.06.10 (Fri) 23:52 [Link] »
% Trackback » 2005.06.11 (Sat) 16:05
"The Two Percent Company Blog" from The Mystic Raven
We ran across The Two Percent Company Blog when doing a bit of research. It covers a range of topics from a critical/skeptical point of view. One of their particular "rants" that caught our attention concerned famous medium Allison DuBois (the inspir... [More]
Blonde, 2005.06.12 (Sun) 00:57 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.06.13 (Mon) 23:00 [Link] »
% Trackback » 2005.06.14 (Tue) 13:48
"Calling All Psychics: Help Natalee Holloway" from The Two Percent Company's Rants
Calling all psychics, mediums, clairvoyants, spiritualists, and anyone else who wants a shot at the title: tell the world what happened to the missing girl in Aruba! Perhaps we should explain. Despite the fact that our Rants on Allison DuBois are... [More]
Anne, 2005.08.12 (Fri) 16:42 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.08.13 (Sat) 17:16 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.08.14 (Sun) 18:44 [Link] »
Sherry Early, 2005.08.17 (Wed) 21:50 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.08.18 (Thu) 23:09 [Link] »
glenda, 2005.08.21 (Sun) 16:41 [Link] »
glenda, 2005.08.21 (Sun) 16:42 [Link] »
The Two Percent Company, 2005.08.21 (Sun) 21:52 [Link] »
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