I suspect that lottery ticket sales are also up.

On Feb 7, 2009, at 1:01 PM, Christopher D. Green wrote:

> When there's not enough money for rent and food, what do people  
> spend their money on? Psychics, apparently. I would think that even  
> people who normally go in for this kind of stuff would regard it as  
> an amusing luxury; one of the first things to be cut when times get  
> tough. But I am wrong because, as is my wont, I reflexively assume  
> that most people are minimally rational (despite the massive number  
> of times I have been shown otherwise by both research and everyday  
> experience). So what is the psychological explanation for this?  
> That when hard time are upon us people feel more desperate than  
> ever for an extra little "edge," and they think that psychics might  
> provide it?
> http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/02/05/psychics.economy/ 
> index.html
>
> Then again, perhaps the whole article is junk. This is just one  
> psychic who just happens to say, in the midst of a rare and  
> enormous promotional opportunity (being intereviewed by CNN), that  
> business is better than ever before and that even people in  
> business suits have begun to come 'round. I only hope this is the  
> case. )

Paul Brandon
Emeritus Professor of Psychology
Minnesota State University, Mankato
[email protected]


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