Palika Kohli
Student Health Education Centre

Last summer I had what I’ve now termed my “mid-undergraduate-crisis.” Until then, I hadn’t realized how stressful figuring out my future could be. It was always a vague haze, far away from my present, and I gave it an equally vague, hazy title that would somehow sound concrete. I realized that not only the path I had always imagined myself taking was one of many, but also that I basically knew nothing about that initial path in the first place.

It was all very confused. I switched my projected career path about three times, gave my parents conniptions and took the mandatory trip to Europe to “figure myself out.”

How I determined my future path might not be how you choose to consider yours. But what I realized is that it’s never too early to think about your future. The worst that can happen is that you’ll change your mind.

And if you don’t know where to start, here are some tips and resources that I have found to be pretty useful.

Questions of the unknown often have more to do with curiosity than fear. A desire to know what will happen, how it will happen and why it will happen is a relentless concern for most - especially anxious students anticipating news about their futures.

Three weeks ago, a close friend of mine visited a psychic. I’ve never given much stock to the idea of someone being able to predict the future. I was always the kid at birthday parties rolling my eyes whenever someone whipped out a Ouija board, or creepily smirking to myself when someone tried reading me my horoscope. So when she told me about her session, I only half-heartedly agreed to hear about her experience. After spending two hours trying to remember how to use a tape player, and another hour listening to the recording the psychic had provided her with, for the first time in my life, I actually kind of believed it. I became curious more about the process of the session rather than the reading itself and decided to call this psychic.

Part 1: The Interview

Connected to the back entrance of a 19th century country home in Dundas, I entered psychic consultant Karen McKnight’s office. Full of family photos, comfortable chairs, and a huge desk accompanied by a tape recorder and microphone, I was surprised at how average her office appeared. Far from the typical image of crystal balls, echoing wind chimes and eerily burning incense and candles, the room had nothing out of the ordinary.

McKnight explains that she began career as a psychic about 20 years ago. “I was originally not interested in psychic readings, but I kept getting invited to go see different psychics,” she states. “And I’m a polite person, so I would accept these invitations. And after all of them the message was consistently the same: that I could actually do [readings] myself.”

Not quite a “fortune-teller,” the work McKnight does is referred to specifically as “psychometry,” a process which involves receiving permission from someone to do a reading by holding onto an object that belongs to them.

“Psychic sense isn’t anything special. Every single person on the planet has it- it’s whether one’s had the opportunity to learn how it works, or the interest to learn how it works. Don’t ever let anyone call it a gift. Give me an hour, and I could teach you how to do it,” she states casually.

The process of a reading itself isn’t very complicated either. When asked if she uses any assistive aids during readings, such as melodic chants and rituals or crystals and gemstones, she exclaims, “No! They’re rocks!” She continues, “I believe in the mind, the power of the mind, and what the individual intends to attract.”

To give someone a reading, Karen explains that a “love exchange” is necessary. “I know, this part sounds a little hokey... so the more that we can love someone, the easier they are to read.” She adds that prior to beginning a reading, she asks for the client’s signature, true given name, and date of birth. This is used so she knows exactly who she is speaking with, and how far into the life cycle they are.

“For me, the body is the tool. From the moment the reading begins, whatever comes to mind, whatever I feel in my body, belongs to the person. Normally, I ask for the symbolic gesture that allows me to give you a reading. I usually ask for a signature, but you can use anything- a ring, a watch, whatever. It’s about passing over a piece of the individual, but a signature works nicely. From that point on, the minute I have that symbolic truth, every little thing that comes into my head, belongs to the person. Even pain, even a hiccup, belongs to part of the reading. And then it’s just interpreting it. Even one of my own memories, now belongs to the person having the reading.”

Predictions during a reading do not come in the form of a hallucination or vision of your life in the future. Deciphering what information is being passed has more to do with the interpretation of what the psychic is experiencing.

“If I get a flash of a picture in my mind, it’s about really looking at the details in that picture. There’s a lot of information to be gained - what’s the person wearing, where are they, what are the expressions on their faces.... Sometimes, it will come through as a pain in the body, a discomfort, usually that belongs to someone in spirit who’s trying to get my attention.”

Although Karen will often draw her ideas on predictions from her own feelings, she also finds information through the idea of a “soul family”: people “in spirit” who are connected to the person having the reading. “People that have been released from the flesh... the soul forms a very sacred bond with you. And the intention is to either learn by observing your life, or to help you with a life journey. And, during the course of a reading, information will be sent. I can usually tell if there’s someone in spirit trying to get my attention because they’ll hurt me, so they’ll give me a physical discomfort that the individual experienced before they died.”

Much like the work of a medium, Karen is able to communicate with these spirits and convey different messages. Like the psychic sense, Karen believes that connecting to spirits is also a learned ability that anyone can do if they take the time to practice.

On average, Karen does five to six readings per day. She explains that most people are easy to read, and she has never faced any challenges when trying to access a specific person. Almost all of her clients are willing to learn information, which makes the process much easier. She will never give someone a reading, or be drawn to give someone a reading, if she has not received their permission beforehand. Under this same belief of honouring someone’s consent, she will also never withhold information from someone. If she receives a message, she will pass it on to them. If they are not meant to know something, then the information will be blocked- even from her. Contrary to the beliefs of many other psychics, she also believes that she is able to do readings for herself.

“I think we all have a pretty good idea about what life is going to be about...prior to birth we all design a script, or a blueprint, or perhaps an intention as to what life is to be about, and I think we all come into this world with a vague memory about what we will ultimately achieve. So, I think I’m pretty good at picking up on things about myself- at least I know where my life is heading, what my intention is.”

In addition to person-specific readings, Karen has also been able to generate feelings about what society can expect in the upcoming year. She explains that 2012 was a year that saw a lot of upset and corrections that needed to be made. 2013 though, looks quite different. “I expect that in 2013 most people have dealt with the shake up and will have strong nesting instincts. A lot of people are going to be focused on their position within the home and the family, even the community. I anticipate a year of people being of service to each other, but also making very sacred commitments and dedications. I think we will see more marriages this year, more corrections in partnerships, more babies being born.”

After 20 years of doing psychic consultations, Karen McKnight has developed a strong understanding of human nature and what many people inquire about. The most common question she receives is in relation to love. Numerous clients come in with questions about relationships as it is one of the things that seems to cause the most anxiety and stress. “I would say most people would choose love over money,” she says smiling.

When it comes to non-believers, a group that I have often associated with, Karen doesn’t give it much thought. “That’s fine with me, because there are a lot of professions that I find to be a little strange, too”.

After hearing about the process and developing a greater understanding of how it works, I’ve realized  that in some cases, such as Karen’s, the psychic sense is not nearly as unreasonable as film and television make it out to be. The entire process is more about feeling than predicting, and what you give to it will result in how much you will take from it. “The one thing I do know, is that, I think that we are part of a generation, or a time in society, where the psychic sense is going to become something incredibly normal.”

Part 2: The Reading

“Sorry, I keep looking over your shoulder. It’s part of a reading,” she says half way through the interview. I let that one slide and continue asking questions.

Five minutes later, she pauses and states, “I should say this now: every now and then, the tapes will pick up sounds that we can’t hear in the room. So if you hear someone talking over top of us- or the most common sound, a heartbeat- it will be someone in spirit attached to you.” I also decide to let that one slide.

As the interview eventually comes to an end, I turn off my recorder and get ready to leave.

“Would you like to have a reading? It might be helpful for your article,” she says.

Sure, why not. I think to myself. After hearing how it works, how bad could it be?

What follows is the sort of story I would hear about happening to other people, but never imagined, or believed, could happen to me. She starts by getting my signature and birth date, and like a television star straight off of TLC she jumps into the reading. Speaking to me almost like a third person, she tells me details about my past lives, what my name used to be, and why, even though I had apparently lived multiple lives, I still returned to this earth.

At this initial phase of the reading I’m trying to keep a straight face as I process the thought of me being another person prior to Amanda Watkins. She continues to tell me about my personality, what I value, how I often behave, and surprisingly to me, a lot of it is correct. I begin listening more intently. She tells me about my future, what my main goal will be this year, what my purpose in life is- working to help other people and finding people who are lost. She tells me she sees healing, nurturing and teaching in my life- “teaching!” she interjects. “I see teaching.” She explains that I’ll have one successful marriage and will be devoted to my family.

Cool. Sounds good to me. I tell try convincing myself that a lot of it is inferred from my behaviour and the session seems to be following the pattern of life coaching more than anything. I take it all with a grain of salt, but still find the process of intuition very interesting, and still see myself having belief in the things she says.

She continues to speak for about 10 minutes before she asks, “do you have any questions of your own?”

“You said you kept looking over my shoulder. And I was just wondering about that,” I say, trailing off.

She smiles and laughs and begins to explain the discomfort she was feeling as I was interviewing her prior to the reading. She describes the pain she felt at the time and asks if I know of anyone who may have experienced that sensation before they passed. I explain that I do. She explains that she is laughing because of how persistent this person was at getting her attention and that there is nothing to be worried about it.

Before I know it, Karen is speaking to me as though she is a person from my past. Reassuring me about my life and saying things that only this person would know, I listen intently as the information is passed to me. It’s not everyday that you can speak with someone who passed away six years ago.

There was nothing scary about it, it was actually a really nice experience and I found myself in tears soon after. But it was shocking, especially hearing it as someone who never believed in it before.

“Do you have any other questions?”

“No, not really,” I say.

“But we haven’t even gotten to love and romance!”

I decide to pass on going further into the reading. I was already quite satisfied with what I had heard, and was worried that if I heard anymore the placebo effect would take hold of my life. I thank her for her time and step out.

“It was a beautiful reading, and I’m glad I could do it”.

From what I’ve gathered, readings are not exact predictions of what the future is to hold, rather the process is more about following intuition and using your own feelings to create a life and goals you can trust.

I’ve chosen not to believe that all of the things said in the reading are directly true, and instead, that they will only be true if I choose to make them. The future is a curious place, and the power of suggestion is enough to make you want to tempt the hands of fate. Listening to someone speak their raw intuition while interpreting who you are as a human being is more of a reality check than a glimpse into the future. It’s exciting to hear about what your life might one day grow to be like- or even how people or events from your past can still be connected to you - but you can only ever get to the future if you embrace the present and follow your life’s journey.

By: Arnav Agarwal

 

Edward Cullen might not be the only one living forever: humans might be joining the vampires in a leap towards eternal life.

If the work of Dmitry Itskov- founder of the “Initiative 2045”, the program which proposes the reality of human immortality- follows through, the project will turn fiction into fact: machine-assisted human immortality will be an option in only 33 years. Gathering a team of leading Russian scientists to cultivate the worlds of neuroscience, android robotics and cybernetic immortality, Itskov is striving to produce a fully-functional holographic human avatar controlled by an artificial brain containing an individual’s complete consciousness.

It might seem like the idea is right out of a sci-fi movie, but there is certainly a method to the madness. An intricate plan of action from 2015 to 2045 involves the development of “a robotic form of a human body remotely controlled via BCI” (2015-2020), “an Avatar in which a human brain is transplanted at the end of one’s life” (2020-2025), “an Avatar with an artificial brain in which a human personality is transferred at the end of one’s life” (2030-2035), and finally, “a hologram-like Avatar” (2040-2045). Yes, you read correctly: the Avatar, an artificial body into which a human brain will be transplanted, could be as little as seven years away.

While the desired outcomes seem out of reach, organizations have already been hard at work in the field. DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is already working on an alternate program coincidentally also entitled “Avatar”, in an attempt to “create a brain-machine interface that will allow soldiers to control bipedal human surrogate machines remotely with their minds”, according to Popular Science Magazine’s Clay Dillow. The financial aspects of the project were addressed by Itskov as well, who reached out to the world’s richest to request assistance in financing the project while offering them their own personal immortality projects free of charge in July, according to an article released by CBC News.

But, the idea hasn’t convinced everybody. In response to the fact that medical prosthesis projects have shown that the human nervous system can manipulate prosthetics via thought, Discovery’s Alyssa Danigelis expressed that there is a ”world of difference between pursuing a brain-controlled exoskeleton to help paraplegics regain control and wanting to essentially upload a human brain into an artificial body,” as reported by CBC News.

The initiative got sceptical responses from several students within the McMaster community as well. Beatrice Preti, a second-year Bachelor of Health Sciences student, didn’t question the technology behind the innovation, but raised concerns on the initiative’s concept of eternal life as a whole: “Is life as a robot truly life? The gift we were granted with that very first breath? To have a brain control a robot, would that be living? Life is about the experience.” On the subject of immortality, she stated, “I doubt that such an experience could lead to immortality. Because immortality is the indefinite extension of life - and there is no life without the flesh and blood which teaches us who we are.”

John Sawires, a third-year B.H.Sc. student, had a different take on the issue, addressing global issues and the ever-growing challenge of seemingly limitless population growth feeding off severely-limited resources: “We're already dealing with enough problems from overpopulation. If you think about it, the problems associated with this are caused by the distribution of wealth (or lack thereof).” Sarah Sullivan, a third-year Social Sciences student, echoed John’s concerns: “The idea of being able to live forever terrifies me. We already have major overpopulation issues. What would occur if no one passed away? Would we just sterilize ourselves to keep our numbers at bay?”

Ashley Yu, a second-year B.H.Sc. student, stressed the fine line between “can” and “should”, expressing her concern over how we handle the power we hold: “The funny thing about science and technology is that it is easy to get excited or carried away with the vast amounts of possibilities that the future holds. Yes, many actions can be both plausible and feasible with the development of new technology. However, we often fail to ask ourselves if we should commit these actions just because we can. To quote Spiderman, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’”.

Rida Tul-Zahra, President of Mac Ethics Club, shared her personal views on the initiative: “I don’t think that trying to change the natural course of events by disrupting the cycle of life will lead to any good…In my opinion, the amount of money that is going to be invested in this project could be used in better ways – to help eradicate poverty and famine in some of the developing countries… Only those who will be able to afford a personal avatar will have the chance to become ‘immortal’”.

It is evident that the technological innovation required to make the project a reality stands as the most significant barrier as Itskov and his team strive to achieve a feat that has only been dreamt of before. Despite the numerous ethical, biological and social considerations, generating a machine so advanced and multi-faceted in its functionality is the primary determinant of the initiative’s success.

“I think that a ‘humanoid robot’ may be possible someday, but definitely not as soon as 2045,” says Jane Huang, a second-year Honours Biology and Psychology student. “There is so much we do not know about the brain and its functions, so how can we take the brain and incorporate it into a holographic human? How would the brain direct the avatar without a nervous system? How would the holographic body keep the brain alive without the organ systems of a normal human body?”

CBC News’ recent poll asking readers whether they would “opt for cybernetic immortality if it existed within their lifetime” revealed that a significant number of individuals would buy in to the initiative if it was successful, with over 52% of voters voting “yes”, approximately 38% voting “no”, and approximately 10% voting “I’m not sure” or providing an alternate response.

Rachel Shan, a first-year Arts and Science student, certainly relates far more to the latter 38% than the former 52%: “I am completely and utterly against such technology…All I can say is, if offered one million dollars to live forever, I would decline in a heartbeat.”

Some of the world’s leading researchers continue in pursuit of the world of cybernetic immortality, crashing technological milestones on their way to possibly generating one of the most powerful developments of the 21st century. The project’s progress has already begun to show promising signs of making ground-breaking progress and transforming the human experience. The question which continues to boggle the minds of many, however, is whether a successful initiative will transform the human experience for the better or for the worse.

Amanda Teseo

Silhouette Staff

“What am I going to do with my life?” It’s the dreaded question we ask ourselves at almost every developmental stage – from childhood, when you were convinced you could become the best magician in the world, to old age, when you look at where you’ve been in life and formulate a plan for the remainder. By emphasizing the importance of building a career, society pressurizes us to decide what we will make of ourselves in this world.

Ultimately, choosing a career is a very personal process that involves knowing yourself, discovering opportunities and making decisions. It can be very difficult to make this decision process a personal journey, one that silences outside pressures and focuses on individual fulfillment.

This is your life – no one is going to live it for you. So, here are some guidelines on how to make informed choices regarding your future endeavors.

First and foremost, for any of you who haven’t heard of the McMaster Student Success Centre, it’s a great resource for a multitude of student issues, especially career planning. Building a future seems like it’s supposed to be a linear succession forward, where you progressively make decisions that keep you on a constant path moving towards your final goal.

Realistically, you may be faced with various obstacles, harsh realities and unexpected opportunities along the way. The Student Success Centre calls this the “Planned Happenstance,” which is the process of maintaining and building goals while being open to novel situations that may arise and potentially alter those goals.

There is no “yellow brick road” to your perfect career. Many of us wander and search for much of our lives. In order to embark on a journey where you build your own yellow brick road as you approach a career, five characteristics will help you: curiosity, persistence, flexibility, optimism and risk-taking.

I had the opportunity of attending a Student Success Leader Orientation this past weekend, and I was astounded by the inspiration that it instilled in me. Jerome Chang, who I quickly added on Facebook (friend request still pending), delivered an amazing presentation about planning your future.

He enthusiastically incorporated one of my favorite childhood books Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus into his presentation. The plot follows two caterpillars, stripe and yellow, through an expedition of growth and discovery. First, they travel up a “pillar” of caterpillars, unaware of what they are traveling towards but too busy climbing to reflect on the matter.

In the end, they both become butterflies, much to their surprise. Jerome ended his presentation with the piercing words, “Do you know what you are climbing towards? If you do, is it where you truly want to be?”

Like the caterpillars, many of us are climbing a “pillar” in our lives without knowing if it is really what we want. Maybe your parents or peers are pressuring you into  becoming something that doesn’t correspond to your personal inclinations. The reality is that many of us are so caught up in the monotony and stress associated with university life that we forget to reflect on our lives. Is this really what you want to become? Do you want to be a lawyer solely for the money? Are you writing the MCAT because your parents are forcing you? It sounds simple, but take some time to think and explore.

The first step towards your career should be self-discovery. Explore your areas of interest, aptitudes, weaknesses, values, personality, characteristics, etc. Next, visualize your ideal life. Maybe it’s being a freelance writer and roaming the streets for inspiration. Maybe it’s becoming a kindergarten teacher and rounding up students for “circle time.” Travel deep into the experience of visualization and ask yourself if what you see makes sense with your persona. For example, can you picture yourself in an operating room without feeling nauseous?

If the mental scene you are painting for yourself is overcome by a foggy haze or loss of fascination, you need to do your research or change your vision. Try building a network of connections, going to campus events, joining groups that interest you and attending information sessions.

Third-year McMaster Economics student Kirina Kissoon says, “the key to success is to stay positive, constantly persevere and surround yourself with ‘winners,’ or people that inspire you.” Kirina praises DECA, a commerce-centred group on campus that participates in business-related competitions, as a great opportunity to work with different people, learn how to present yourself professionally and form connections.

Finally, don’t be afraid to take risks in every area of your life. I go back to my pending Facebook friend, Jerome Chang, for inspiration in this area. “Risk-taking is a way of telling yourself that you’re alive,” he says. When we take risks, our minds become fuelled with renewed curiosity. You become the star of your own reality television show, waiting in anticipation for the final result. Think about how scary it can be to ask that special someone out – during the act, every sense is heightened. Will he/she say yes? Did my voice crack while I said that? Oh gosh…now I’m blushing. If you feel compelled to do something or are interested in an opportunity, take the plunge. Even if things don’t work out as planned, you will look upon yourself with a renewed sense of achievement for being courageous. I promise.

Overall, your life is your canvas. You have to get hungry for success. You have to be passionate and intentional. With the right resources, attitude and motivation, you are well on your way. Get yourself closer to making that mental image a reality.