Courtesy of my darling Sid’s UK Skeptics’ Blog, here’s an interesting article on a Baby Whisperer type of guy. He reads your baby’s thoughts and then carefully spoon feeds parents steaming scoops of bullshit. Those of you living in the UK can apparently witness this bullshit feeding weekly starting Monday on Five. I don’t know how your crazy limey channels work, so I assume saying that it’s “on Five” is enough info for you to figure out where to send the angry letters.
So, parents hand over their babies to this dick weasel named Derek Ogilvie and wait for him to give them the answers to all their troubles and create a perfect, quiet little angel whose poop can be converted into rose-scented potpourri. Of course, what he’s actually doing is a slightly modified version of those pet psychic nitwits. The trouble is that when the pet psychics give bad advice, the worst you end up with is a pissed off dog. Derek says he’s giving out MEDICAL ADVICE. Mostly for kids who can’t talk, which includes babies and children with severe learning disorders. It’s all a bit reminiscent of the assisted communication people who guide the hands of disabled people as they type out fairly meaningless messages to loved ones, only in Derek’s case at least it’s fairly obvious he’s a fraud.
The article linked to above walks a fine line between skepticism and total belief, and frankly it’s not enough for me. I kept waiting for the writer to throw Derek’s crap back in his face, but it didn’t happen — instead, the writer acknowledges the few hits he got while mentioning, but then glossing over, the misses. It’s a lot more than assholes like Derek desserve.
I think you're giving the writer too much credit, Rebecca. She seems fairly credulous to me. With statements such as "Ogilvie could not possibly have known that" (he knew who he was going to read, surely he could have done some research) and "he accurately pinpointed Junior's typical waking times" (how 'accurately' did he pinpoint these times? Did he give a specific date and time or just a general, he wakes up between 2 and 3 am?) as well as the opening remarks, the writer seems to indicate she's desperate enough to believe.
Tangentially related, what is up with that photograph?
"Ogilvie concentrates on those who cannot speak…"
…and a weird-ass ball of light forms blinding everyone to logic and reason.
I can't see the fine line – surely the use of the words 'respected' and 'medium' in the same sentence (start of the 4th paragraph) rules out any rational analysis or skepticism by the writer?? I mean, there are sentences where the conjunction of these words is acceptable, eg "I respected her right to have her steak cooked medium", but the sentence in the article just isn't one of those sentences.
Just a nit-pick, did you mean "facilitated communication"?
This 'dick weasel' sold me a guitar amplifier in one of his first shops in Glasgow nearly 20 years ago. Being young and naive, £150 seemed an OK price but once I'd handed over my hard earned cash Derek seemed to take delight in revealing that he'd paid £40 for it. As you can tell, the years have taken the edge off my bitterness. ;)
Maybe he's changed???
Hmmmm, looking at his website, he professes to no longer be interested in "driving my Rolls Royce or showing off about my mansion in Glasgow" but, according to the in depth (ho ho ho) interview on his site, he obviously still likes his designer gear….
Who is your favourite clothes designer?
Tommy Hilfiger
Another line from the same interview was….
If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
Winston Churchill
I'd have thought someone who claims to be able to contact the dead would have realised that W.C wasn't exactly renown for his compassion (a trait that Del rates highly earlier in the interview).
Sorry if this rant is off the topic of skepticism for his 'talents', just thought I'd throw in my opinion of the complete waste of flesh that is Derek Ogilvie.
Bitter Bob