The Reality Check Episode 32

Cold Reading + Baby Einstein Videos + Shaving Myth

Part 1: 

What is cold reading? Cold reading is a series of techniques used by mentalists, illusionists, fortune tellers, psychics, mediums and other con artists to determine or express details about another person, often in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do. Without prior knowledge of a person, a practiced cold reader can still read quickly obtain a great deal of information about the subject by analyzing the person's body language, age, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race or ethnicity, level of education, manner or speech, place or origin, etc. 

But we shouldn't just trust in them we they tell us something that only we know, we still have to be skeptic about it. And here's why: Everything they do can be done by someone who's not psychic, it can be done by anyone at all. We can also pretend to be psychic as well. 

The first technique to be a good cold reader is confidence. 

The second is to be vague at first. You use the other clues they give you and build up the things. 

The third one is make a statement that can be apply to anyone, but make the listener think that it's only for them.

There are some craps psychics that just make up names for people's guardians, which are unfalsifiable. 

There are just so many ways you can convince people that you know them very well without really knowing them. The people who is listening to you also wants you to be a psychic. And the person will help you if you talk vague, and which makes the teller seems like a really good psychic. 

Part 2:

Do the Baby Einstein videos make your kids smart or dumber?

The Baby Einstein videos are videos you give your kids to watch and listen at the age around 1 to 3, and they show language, poetry, and music. It's supposedly said that it helps the growth of the baby's mind, and makes it smarter and more creative. 

A big percent of the parents think that these videos really do help their kids. 

This Baby Einstein videos was started by a teacher named Julie Aigner Clark.

Many people sued the baby Einstein company saying that this doesn't help at all, and it's actually harming the children, because many of the children at the age of 2 watch way too much of the videos. 

Einstein said that he's not talented, he's just passionate about what he does. The Baby Einstein company said that their videos actually make the passion in the children much earlier and stronger than before. 

Videos can't interact with the children; by reading to your children, they can interrupt you and interact with you. 

Science Myth of the Week: 

Many people think that shaving off hair from any part of the body will make the hair grow darker and thicker. Is this true? 

No, it doesn't! It just mainly depends on genetics and hormones. 

The hair is softer at the end, so when you shave it off, it seems like the hair became thicker. Another thing is that when men and women age, we get more hair and it does get darker. It's not because you shaved it.