There is no doubt in my mind that mediumship is real. I have yet to be entirely convinced, however, that they are actually conversing with the dead. Might it be that they are exhibiting some kind of psi phenomena by perhaps reading the sitter's mind?
I think that if you postulate unlimited ψ capabilities, then yes, this could mimic mediumship, but does that make sense? For a long time science has rejected the idea that ψ exists (even in the tiniest fragment), and that consciousness does not survive death. Does it then make sense to jump to the opposite position - that ψ can be ultra-powerful - just to continue to deny the conclusion that consciousness survives death? I mean for ψ of any sort to exist, means that consciousness isn't what science assumes it is - a sort of computation done by neurons - so once we are driven to conclude that ψ is real, there isn't much point in trying to twist the logic in the way superpsi seems to try to do.
I understand that the idea of consciousness surviving beyond death is so powerful that people want absolute proof. The thing to realise, is that even science does not offer absolute proofs in the way that mathematics can.
For example, suppose you want to 'prove' that potassium cyanide is deadly poisonous, you can (disregarding moral concerns) feed some to one person and watch them die. However, a naysayer can then point out that sometimes people die unexpectedly, so this experiment is only suggestive!
So you line up another 10 people and feed them potassium cyanide one by one. After they all die, the naysayer, says, "Well I do understand that this is suggestive, but look, as I pointed out before, people sometimes die unexpectedly, and after the first man collapsed, the other nine were possibly so scared that they simply died from shock!
Arguments analogous to this could be used to destroy any scientific result. Science simply has to be pragmatic.
I would say that arguments about superpsi are very much of the above type.
So, Truthseeker, if you only want to accept
TRUTH, the best subject for you is maths (but avoid statistics).
I have been with Skeptiko for a long time, and I have come to realise that the only way to be comfortable with the range of subjects discussed here, is to recognise that certainty is unavailable except to those who insist that they
BELIEVE some version of some religion - but really that is just make believe.
David