Psychic
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Illustration: Henri Robin and a Specter, 1863 by Eugène Thiébault
Illustration to the Speculum Sophicum Rhodostauroticum (1618) by Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens
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A psychic (from the Greek ψυχικός psychikos—"of the mind, mental") is a person who claims to have an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception (ESP), or who is said by others to have such abilities. The word "psychic" is also used to describe theatrical performers, such as stage magicians, who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot reading to produce the appearance of such abilities. It can also denote an ability of the mind to influence the world physically using psychokinetic powers such as those formerly claimed by Uri Geller.
Psychics appear regularly in fantasy fiction, such as in the novel The Dead Zone by Stephen King. A large industry exists whereby psychics provide advice and counsel to clients. Psychic powers are asserted by psychic detectives and in practices such as psychic archaeology and even psychic surgery.
Critics attribute psychic powers to intentional trickery or to self-delusion. A study attempted to repeat recently reported parapsychological experiments that appeared to support the existence of precognition. All attempts to repeat the results "failed to produce significant effects", and thus "do not support the existence of psychic ability."
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