Huwebes, Disyembre 13, 2012

HW10: Effects of Fortune Telling

During the ancient times up to the rise of commercialism, fortune telling practices adapted to survive in the society, in every culture, country or race. Maybe because it is already a part of culture or tradition or because it is like a communicable disease, fortune telling can manifest itself through the word of mouth.

The article entitled “Negative Side of Art of Fortune Telling” by wisdomeye is limited only to the negative effect of fortune telling to people who are in a relationship or married. A situation stated in the article: Fortune tellers tells a happy couple (with no affairs at all at that time) that one of them will be having affairs and that he/she can purify away such misfortune by paying him thousands of dollars. Then there will be whose wives had never had any doubt on them before, would thereafter start worrying if their husbands will cheat on the wives. And the wives continue to give their husbands headache after headache and not a shadow of any mistress can be seen.

Basically, one of the positive psychological effects of fortune telling is to relieve people from anxiety but in this situation, it is the opposite. Because of money, the fortune teller defrauded his client without thinking of the psychological effects it may give to his client. If the wife continue to start worrying and think that her husband is cheating on him, as a result it can destroy their relationship.

Another situation stated in the article is when a daughter with his mother consulted a fortune teller. The fortune teller told them that the daughter will marry a rich man but will die young so the daughter will inherit the wealth. After hearing this, the mother advised her daughter not to be so committed with her current boyfriend.

Our destiny should be shaped or dependent on our decisions but not with others decision. If the daughter obeys the advice of her mother and the fortune teller and the prediction did not come true; this will have an effect to the daughter. It can arise to depression or mental disorder.

Some of the positive psychological effects of fortune telling to people are: it helps to relieve anxiety and promotes positive thoughts; it gives a person a sense of security and confidence; belief in destiny helps render life a coherent narrative, which infuses goals with a greater sense of purpose.

Some of the negative psychological effects of fortune telling to people are: People have compulsions to do fortune telling over and over again, often interfering with everyday life; it arises to the feeling of relaxation and laziness where people rely on predictions rather than hard work; it can arise to depression, mental disorder or symptoms of anxiety -- tension, excessive worry, trouble sleeping, obsessive thoughts and exhaustion.

The negative effects as well include: one might start finding and discover things about the answers in life which could lead to absence of focus and perseverance. When a person’s personal experience in fortune telling leads to a strong belief, it becomes a tough task to make the person realize the reality from untruth. One’s personality is now being shaped and developed by the “words” of fortune telling.

People may have different perceptions, understanding and reactions to objects or matters in the same way. It depends on how they think about it which produces feelings, which produces behaviors, which produces results.

A person should always learn to be optimistic in all matters for it as well constitutes positive energy and way of life. An individual should not be dependent on fortune telling for the answers and happenings in life because destiny is held and shaped by the one’s self, it is a personal choice. And a person with a strong belief and who works with principles can avoid being absorbed into the dangerous circle of fortune telling.

HW9: Bible's view on Fortune telling


“When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-11)


There are many theories about the origin of man. In scientific terms, according to Charles Darwin, men came from apes and these species evolved over time to be physically or biologically called man. According to Filipino myth, Filipino’s first parents are Malakas and Maganda. While the most famous theory was the one indicated in the bible and believed by all Christian- that they came from their first parents Adam and Eve.The desire for prohibited or forbidden wisdom is entrenched in the man’s first sin. This is when Eve wanted to know what God has chosen not to disclose. Thus, fortune telling is a continuous attempt to gain forbidden knowledge.

I read about an article entitled “The Dangers of Divination” by Bob DeWaay. According to the article, God forbids divination because the fortune-teller illustration shows why divination is forbidden. It works because of the operation of evil spirits. Evil spirits are willing to give out some factual information as long as it serves their purpose of telling a bigger lie. People get sucked into the occult because of the accuracy of the secret information they gain.

There are methods of fortune telling which can as well be classified as a form of divination such as reading the future through the use of tea leaves. The information from fortune teller convinces his clients that he can talk or communicate to their deceased relatives. This is one of the reasons why God forbids fortune telling/divination, it is because they make ways for people to relate or communicate with the world of spirits which these spirits are not good beings, though they would like to make people think so.

For me, the negative side of this is the cases where a client can feel something indescribable and the fortune teller reveals that it is because of devil, bad omen or bad luck. So, the client needs to go back to the fortune teller to continue rituals to be able to dispense any evil or bad omen. And with every session or ritual, the fortune teller basically asks for payment for his services. This then deceives the client. And another negative side of this is when people already put in their minds that they can find the answer on how to keep away from these evils or bad omens from fortune tellers/divination and not with God. This can result to an unhealthy relationship with God.

Second, the article discusses that divination is a rebellion. According to the article, the murky world of secret, spiritual knowledge is characterized by unclear “whispering and muttering.” Seeking such secret information is the equivalent of failing to consult God who has revealed His truth objectively in His word. Those who are not satisfied with what God has chosen to reveal go to other spiritual sources. This, as we shall see, is rebellion against God.

I assent that divination is a rebellion but I don’t think that people are not conscious that what they are doing is considered as disobedient acts. I believe that fortune tellers are doing it not because they want to be rebellious but it is because of money I the same way with the clients who only seek or look for answers.


I do not say that fortune telling/divination should be wiped away but people who are dependent must learn to have faith in them and in the Lord, that it is not wrong to commit mistakes because it is where we learn our lesson in life. We should not entrust our whole life and time to look for different answers about our future instead we should put in mind that we are the one making or creating it through our acts and decisions.

HW8: Survey Report



Conducting a survey is a part of my research paper to show a more reliable data because it includes actual and factual data from my respondents. I conducted my survey through online and I as well distributed questionnaires to be answered by people I can essentially reach such as my classmates, friends and family members. Unfortunately, only 38 people were able to respond to my survey.


This graph shows that 68% of the chart is covered by the female section (26 female respondents) and the remaining 32% is composed of the male section (12 male respondents).
Based from the graph, I have interpreted the data as: female seek fortune teller more often than male primarily because women are more emotional than men and with their belief that it is more relaxing to open problems to people such as friends, families, ect. while men want to just keep the problem on their own.



Based from the graph, 42.1% of the respondents believe that fortune telling is a business (28.77% female and 13.33% male); 13.08% of the respondents believe that fortune telling is a form of counseling, all coming from the female group; 42.21% of the respondents believe that fortune telling is fraudulent (23.54% from the female group and 18.67% from the male) and only 2.61% of the respondents believe that fortune telling is a gift from God, all coming from the female group.
Here, the data shows that ranking of fortune telling’s role in the society is:
  1.    Fraud/Fraudulent
  2.    Business
  3.    Counseling
(4.Gift from God)



The data shows that most of the respondents prefer Cartomancy and Astrology because these two methods are well-known. Cartomancy is the method of fortune telling used by most fortune teller including those in Quiapo while Astrology such as horoscope can be found in many forms/media such as in the internet, magazine and newspapers, while palmistry and crystallomancy are least preferred.



 Based from the graph almost half of my respondents experienced or believe that fortune telling is skeptical or doubtful (20.92% from female group and 26.67% from male group) but none of them experienced or believe that it is traumatic. 13.08% of female and 5.33% of male experienced/believe that fortune telling is pleasant or positive; and 34% experienced/believed that It is convincing all coming from the female group.
The experience/s of people in fortune telling might have a big impact to them psychologically. Those who experienced fortune telling pleasantly or positively might help them relieve anxiety and give a sense of security and confidence.  While those who experienced it as very convincing might give them the feeling of reliance to fortune telling because it already acquired their trust.



The graph shows that more than half of my respondents want to seek fortune telling for experience while almost 2/5 of them seek fortune telling to ask about their future and only 10.52% is to ask for advice.

One of my questions in my survey goes like this: “What are the questions/matters that you would ask a fortune teller?” My respondents answered that they want to ask about their: future, career and love life. There are also some who would like to ask when are they going to die or will they be rich.

Another question is “ Based on your experience/s with a fortune teller, how did it affects/influences you?”
Many of my respondents answered that fortune telling doesn’t have an effect or doesn’t influence them, but there are some who answered that fortune telling influences them in their decision making.



And for my last question, I ask them if they do believe in fortune telling. The graph shows that more than half of my respondents do not believe in fortune telling, 26.5% said that it is reliant/dependent to other matters such as: if the fortune teller is well known or not and only 13.13% believe in fortune telling.

Before I conducted a survey, I first formulated hypothesis: I supposed women take fortune telling or predictions seriously or meaningfully while men take it skeptically. This hypothesis has been proven by the fourth graph that almost half of my respondents experienced or believe that fortune telling is skeptical or doubtful (20.92% from female group and 26.67% from male group).

My second hypothesis is when I supposed that huge percentage of older people are believers of fortune telling or predictions because it appears that it is somewhat related to superstitious beliefs and only small percentage of believers comes from younger people. Unfortunately, I only have 5 respondents who are aged (ages 50-70) and I believe that this number is not enough to prove my second hypothesis. But those 5 respondents all believe in fortune telling which represented 13.13 % (based on the sixth graph).


Lunes, Disyembre 10, 2012

HW7: Chapter 3 (Final)


CHAPTER 3
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

SUMMARY

This paper attempted to determine the different psychological effects of fortune telling to people.
The research designs used in this study is the descriptive research method wherein data from documents and interviews were used to answer the research question posed and discourse analysis method wherein the researcher is subjective in studying human mind and behavior. The research findings are the following:

1. The act of “repeated” emotions to a fortune teller is what makes the process so habit forming. It’s like a tranquilizer to reduce the fear of the unknown, but since the fear is never directly dealt with it never goes away, and so the client has to continue seeking advice.

2. A crime designed to financially control a victim can be made under the mask of delivering advice or aid. Victims of these cases are of any age and gender with a common purpose of seeking answers to their questions or asking for help in solving their problem in their life.

3.A long-term fraud or crime results in the total psychological manipulation of the victim, which separates them from any support from family or friends and keeps them very open or vulnerable to any suggestions given by the reader.

4. The positive psychological effects of fortune telling to people are: it helps to relieve anxiety and promotes positive thoughts; it gives a person a sense of security and confidence; belief in destiny helps render life a coherent narrative, which infuses goals with a greater sense of purpose.

5. The negative psychological effects of fortune telling to people are: People have compulsions to do fortune telling over and over again, often interfering with everyday life; it arises to the feeling of relaxation and laziness where people rely on predictions rather than hard work; it can arise to depression, mental disorder or symptoms of anxiety- tesion, excessive worry, trouble sleeping, obsessive thoughts and exhaustion.

6. Other effects includes: loss of concentration, lack of interest, mental disorders, hindering the development of an individual’s personality and one’s belief strengthens another’s.


CONCLUSIONS

Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions are drawn:

1. People may have different perceptions, understanding and reactions to objects or matters in the same way. It depends on how they think about it which produces feelings, which produces behaviors, which produces results.

2. All things or matters including fortune telling have positive and negative effects. A person should always have control and discipline because the outcome will always be dependent on the person holding these consequences.


RECOMMENDATIONS

            After drawing the conclusions of the study, the researcher hereby make the following suggestions/recommendations:

1. People choose joys and sorrows long before they are experienced by them. People should realize that it is important to fill one’s mind with what is desired to happen in the future. Therefore, some of those developed thoughts are bound to become actual experiences.

2. A person should always learn to be optimistic in all matters for it as well constitutes positive energy and way of life. An individual should not be dependent on fortune telling for the answers and happenings in life because destiny is held and shaped by the one’s self because our future is not yet set for the people are the ones creating it every moment, every second and by every thought and every choice.

             3. A person with a strong belief and who works with principles can avoid being absorbed into the dangerous circle of fortune telling.




References:

A.   Book

Irwin, H. J. (2009). The psychology of paranormal belief. Hertfordshire: University of Hertfordshire Press.

Boyce, T.E. & E.S. Geller (2002). Using the Barnum effect to teach psychology research methods. Teaching of Psychology, 29(4), 316-318.

Hyman, R., Cold reading: how to convince strangers that you know all about them. Skeptical Inquirer 1(2) (l977) 18-37

Marks, D. and Kammann, R., The Psychology of the Psychic. Prometheus, Buffalo, 1980

B.   Electronic Media

Carroll, R.T. (2005). The Forer effect. The Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved November 3,2012 from http://skepdic.com/forer.html.

Colvin, J. (2009, March 17). Psychic business is booming as recession deepens. Columbia News Service. Retrieved from http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu

“Fortune Telling” Retrieved October 5, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune-telling

HW6: Chapter 2 (Final)



CHAPTER 2
DISCUSSION

Roles of Fortune Telling in the Society


Fortune Telling as Business

During the ancient times, soothsayers were prized advisers to the Assyrians (Wikipedia). With the rise of commercialism, the sale of fortune telling practices adapted to survive in the business society and with the creation of money, fortune-telling became a private service and a commodity within the marketplace. Ronald H. Isaacs, an American rabbi and author, spoke out, “Since time immemorial humans have longed to learn that which the future holds for them. Thus, in ancient civilization, and even today with fortune telling as a true profession, humankind continues to be curious about its future, both out of sheer curiosity as well as out of desire to better prepare for it." 

Fortune telling is instantly called a “big business” which is “booming”. Fortune telling reaches across all of these different markets. In all cultures, fortune telling as a business is described as making money: these businesses are charging anything for a consultation. Perhaps most interestingly, fortune telling is outlined as a popular and positive business: it is a path of entertainment as growing numbers of people seek both recreation and reassurance and it is a popular past time.

In few countries, it is mentioned in their legislation context that several conditions must be first met by fortune tellers before they can operate as a business. Some of the requirements would include 1,000 feet of a school property line or be located within 1,000 feet of a church, place of worship or even another fortunetelling establishment. While in the Philippines, the practice of fortune telling can be located near churches or places of worship.

An essential component of addiction is money. Traditionally, one finds fortune tellers on the street, sitting in front of little stands, handing out advice in ten-minute of time, and ten minutes is never enough especially if the fortune teller speaks so accurate or factual. There are fortune tellers are paid for entertainment.

The act of “repeated” emotions to a fortune teller is what makes the process so habit-forming. It’s like a tranquilizer to reduce the fear of the unknown, but since the fear is never directly dealt with it never goes away, and so the client has to continue seeking advice and pay for the time and service of the fortune teller. The “how much?” question already depends on the person who is willing to pay, what might be expensive to a person is the opposite for others.


Fortune Telling as Counseling
The basic techniques of counseling (listen, encourage feelings, reinforce good suggestions, discourage bad ones, giving advice) are entirely compatible with fortune telling. Danny L., and Lin Jorgensen found that “while there is considerable variation among occupations and are over-represented in human service fields such as counseling.

Counseling psychology focuses on providing therapeutic treatments to clients who experience a wide variety of symptoms. It is also one of the largest specialty areas within psychology. The Society of Counseling Psychology describes the field as "a psychological specialty [that] facilitates personal and interpersonal functioning across the life span with a focus on emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related, developmental and organizational concerns."

When a fortune teller does not consider practice as “an entertainment thing” describes clients as going in “looking for a real answer” to the serious enquiries that they have. Other fortune teller discusses how some clients are mentally ill, sometimes “suicidal”, and that they go to fortune tellers “lost and looking for guidance”. Fortune teller insists that it is not a fortune teller at all but a “spiritual counselor”, setting apart from the business aspect of fortune telling by claiming that due to counseling status.

Secondly, fortune telling as counseling is framed as claiming motivations that are driven by something other than money. It was “not a financial” decision but the “spiritual counselor” is described as claiming to be “motivated by fundamental religious principles and beliefs”.

Furthermore, fortune telling as counseling is depicted as fulfilling a role that is more serious and beneficial than previously seen: the “psychics” hired to give “readings” for the “real answers” that people seek take their jobs “very seriously”. Fortune telling as counseling is described as “dealing with people’s lives” when they come “looking for guidance” in such dire times as when they are feeling “suicidal”. The “spiritual counselor” aide and help people with their problems.

It can make the client to feel relaxed or untroubled and cheered up because the fortune teller appeared to listen on the worries of the client and gives guidance or advice. It can be a therapy for it has possible answers to one’s dilemma or questions which provide relief and hope to a person which can be associated with that of religion.


Fortune Telling as Fraud

Fraud is a false representation of a matter of fact—whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading allegations, or by concealment of what should have been disclosed—that deceives and is intended to deceive another so that the individual will act upon it to her or his legal injury. (Webster’s Dictionary) If there are white lies which means lying for a good reason, fraud is as well like a white offense which means it is a crime without anyone being hurt.

“The basic feature of the scam involves diagnosing the victim (the "mark") with some sort of secret problem that only that fortune teller can detect or diagnose, and then charging the mark for ineffectual treatments. The fortune teller announces that the mark is suffering from a curse that her magic can relieve, while threatening dire consequences if the curse is not lifted.”(Wikipedia)

Here we see a different depiction of fortune telling. The object is framed as fraud: some fortune tellers are described as “deliberately ripping off consumers” by claiming to be “lifting a curse or removing a black cloud‟, “casting spells, removing curses, and administering potions” to achieve a list of outcomes such as to “recover property” or alter “luck”.

Fortune telling described as harmful: fraudulent fortune telling is forceful and greedy by “demanding lucrative payments” for “removing a black cloud‟; fraudulent fortune tellers specialize in fear by “removing curses and administering potions” which are designed to such manipulative ends as “to put bad luck on a person, shorten a person’s life and make one person marry or divorce another”. Because the victim believed that the fortune teller has God-given talent/powers then there is the willingness to pay or giving everything to be able to remove or destruct the curse or evil.

The crime commences with the usual ‘reading’ process for a minimal fee. The fortune teller uses methods and props such as Tarot cards, crystal ball, palm reading, horoscopes, numerology, etc. During the session, the reader/fortune teller can apply cold reading ability; it is the ability to gain information about the customer without that person realizing that the reader is actually giving up the information. This alone is an instance of fraud for it deceives or takes unfair advantage of the customer.

A long-term fraud or crime results in the total psychological manipulation of the victim, which separates them from any support from family or friends and keeps them very open or vulnerable to any suggestions given by the reader.


The psychology behind Fortune telling

Ambiguity. People often face ambiguous information—information that is unclear and can be reasonably interpreted in several different ways. People are often alert to settle this uncertainty in their own minds; make up an answer and begin to believe it.

Fortune telling insists on completing the story one way or another, often by making unfounded assumptions and speculations. Fortune tellers susceptively make attribution errors- the error to believe they can correctly know a person's purpose for behaving as they do, that later considered as factual explanations. Partial or broken information, rumors, gossip, vague statements and inconsistencies indicates present uncertainty every day.

If there’s something wrong, the blame rests with the interpretation and not with the prediction. The necessity for ratification forces people to look for instances when the predictions have borne answers. Persons who tend to score high on mysticism scales tend also to score high on such variables as complexity, openness to new experience, breadth of interests, innovation, tolerance of ambiguity, and creative personality.

Furthermore, they are likely to score high on measures of hypnotism, absorption, and fantasy proneness, suspending the process that distinguishes imaginings and real events, representing the imaginable object as vividly as possible. Individuals high on susceptibility of ambiguous statements are also more likely to having undergone conversion, which for them is primarily realistic rather than a rational phenomenon — a marked by notable alterations in perceptual, emotional, and idea motor response patterns. Ambiguity and assumptions to resolve or answer problems increases more the tolerance or lenience for ambiguity as people work to resolve it.


Barnum and Forer Effect. Barnum Effect is the name given to a type of subjective validation in which a person finds personal meaning in statements that could actually apply to many people. Psychologist Bertram R. Forer found that people tend to accept vague or overly general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to them, without realizing that the same description could be applicable to nearly everyone. Thus, the Forer Effect refers to the tendency for people to rate sets of statements as highly accurate for them personally even though the statements could apply to many people. The difference between the Barnum and Forer Effects is that the former describes a vague statement, whereas the latter describes how people react psychologically to a Barnum (or vague) statements.

Fortunetellers try to give a person some sense of relief through very broad statements and can be taken and applied in so many ways. However, a person may take that reading to heart, and as soon as something happens, big or small, they feel like their reading was correct and may start to feel like they have some type of control on what is to come.

People believe that fortune telling predictions is applicable as the fortune teller refers to birth chart or date of birth, palm lines, drawing or writing. A critical evaluation is when the person realized that most of the fortune telling predictions or descriptions stress on the positive traits of a person. It is such a generalized statement that nobody would possibly deny, at least not in the sane frame of mind.

Similarly, good sense of humor is yet another personality trait not many people would deny. Even though negative traits are enlisted, they are carefully hidden by a bombard of positive traits in such a way that is seldom noticeable.  Most statements made by fortune tellers are vague enough to relate to some or the other remote incident of your life. The person or the client is the one who tends to relate the forecasts and imageries to some events of life and end up getting convinced. 

The falsely start of believing that the fortune teller has the ability to have an insight of one’s personal life is when the person or client tends to make all the associations and validations.
People tend to accept claims in relationship to the desire that these are factual rather than in proportion to their empirical accuracy. People tend to accept questionable and even false statements if people deem those statements positive or flattering enough. People will even give extremely liberal interpretations to vague or inconsistent claims in order to help make sense out of them.

Human beings experience fear and anxiety when faced with ambiguity and insecurity. A common and natural reaction given that brains are constructed to make sense of the world and the information we collect. Therefore, people often psychologically look for answers and provide a reasonable picture of what it is seen, heard and otherwise observed, even though a careful examination of the evidence would reveal the data to be vague, confusing, inconsistent and even unintelligible. Consistent with these ideas suggests that our belief systems help us find meaning in chaos, thereby coping intellectually and emotionally with ambiguity and uncertainty.


Cold Reading. "In the course of a successful reading, the psychic may provide most of the words, but it is the client that provides most of the meaning and all of the significance." --Ian Rowland (2000: 60)


Cold reading refers to a set of techniques used by professional fortune tellers who acts as manipulators  to get a subject to behave in a certain way or to think that the cold reader has some sort of special ability that allows him to "mysteriously" know things about the subject. Cold reading goes beyond the usual tools of manipulation: suggestion and flattery. In cold reading, fortune tellers lean on their subject's feelings and disposition to find more meaning in a situation than there actually is.

The desire to make sense out of experience can lead us to many wonderful discoveries, but it can also lead us to much foolishness. The fortune teller who acts as the manipulator knows that his mark will be inclined to try to make sense out of whatever he is told, no matter how unbelievable or improbable.

Fortune teller knows that people are generally self-centered, that tend to have unrealistic views of one’s self, and that will generally accept claims about, that reflect not only how people really think but how people wish and think of what they want to be. Fortune teller also knows that for every several predictions or claims he makes about you that you reject as being inaccurate, he will make one that meets with your approval; and he knows that you are likely to remember the hits he makes and forget the misses.

The discrimination in the human mind is always at work. People pick and choose what data to remember and what to give significance. In part, people do so because of what was already believed or want to believe. And in order to make sense out of what are being experienced.
People are not manipulated simply because of susceptibility or innocence or just because the signs and symbols of the manipulator are vague or ambiguous. Even when the signs are clear and people are skeptical, it can still lead to manipulation.

Fortune tellers are as impressed by their correct predictions or "insights" as are their clients and patients. People should remember, however, that just as scientists can be wrong in their predictions, so fortune tellers can as well be wrong  in theirs.


Effects of fortune telling.

The positive psychological effects of fortune telling to people are: it helps to relieve anxiety and promotes positive thoughts; it gives a person a sense of security and confidence; belief in destiny helps render life a coherent narrative, which infuses goals with a greater sense of purpose.

The negative psychological effects of fortune telling to people are: People have compulsions to do fortune telling over and over again, often interfering with everyday life; it arises to the feeling of relaxation and laziness where people rely on predictions rather than hard work; it can arise to depression, mental disorder or symptoms of anxiety -- tension, excessive worry, trouble sleeping, obsessive thoughts and exhaustion.

Loss of Concentration. Indulging in predictions can have negative impact on one’s way of life. A mind which conforms towards belief on predictions lacks concentration. A person may not give a full or best output in life because the focus and awareness is found on something else.

Lack of interest. The knowledge of the unknown becomes the exciting part in one’s life. One might start finding and discover things about the answers in life which could lead to absence of focus and perseverance.

Mental disorders. When a person’s personal experience in fortune telling leads to a strong belief, it becomes a tough task to make the person realize the reality from untruth. The foundation of personal experience is closer to one’s intellect than realities. It can result to mental conditions which may inhabit unnatural behaviors and unknown fears.

Hindering the development of an individual’s personality. Instead of acquiring virtues necessary for an individual to live in a society, the individual is seeking beneficial tasks. The individual’s personality depends on the necessary descriptions made by fortune teller to achieve advantage and benefits in the future. One’s personality is now being shaped and developed by the “words” of fortune telling.

One’s belief strengthens another’s. Just like a communicable disease, fortune telling can manifest itself through the word of mouth. For a person who has slight inclination and knowledge towards belief in fortune telling, a casual conversation with fortune telling can strengthen and spread one’s on personal beliefs in such matters. 

Lunes, Nobyembre 26, 2012

HW5: Actual Survey Form

Gender: _____
Age: _____

How often do you seek a fortune teller?
______ Always
______ Sometimes
______ Never 

 In your opinion, fortune telling is a….
______ Business
______ Counseling
______ Fraud
______ Talent/gift from God
______ Other (Please specify: ____________________________)

Which fortune telling method do you prefer?
______ Cartomancy (using a deck of cards)
______ Astrology (celestial bodies)
______ Palmistry or chiromancy (palm reading)
______ Crystallomancy (gazing at a crystal globe, a pool of water, 
               a mirror, or any transparent object)   
______ Other (Please specify: ____________________________)

How would you describe your experience/s with a fortune teller?
______ Pleasant or positive
______ Convincing or believing
______ Traumatic or negative
______ Skeptical or doubtful

What might be the reason/s on why you want to go on a fortune teller?
______ To ask for advice
______ To ask about my future
______ For experience/s
______ Other (Please specify: ____________________________)

What are the questions/matters that you would ask a fortune teller?
__________________________________________________

Based on your experience/s with a fortune teller, how did it affects/influences you?
______________________________________________________

Do you believe in fortune telling?
______ Yes
______ No
______ Reliant/dependent to other matters (please specify: ______________)