Soothsayers are enjoying unpredicted good fortune in Finland as the economic downturn and an increasingly hectic pace of life sends citizens searching for answers. The demand for fortune tellers was illustrated this week when 200 people applied for a position as a clairvoyant which was advertised on an employment website in the city of Oulu.
According to Skepsis – a Finnish association which encourages the impartial scientific investigation of paranormal claims – basic human nature has not changed much, despite advances in technology and education.
“People are perhaps seeking simpler solutions to their problems,” said Skepsis spokesman Juha Vuorio in a report by YLE. “Today’s world is perhaps too complex for some,” he added.
Vuorio went on to say that as the pace of the world is faster now than at any other time in human history, people are seeking a quick fix to their problems and want to know what their futures hold. He was sceptical about the validity of such practices, however, and speculated that fortune tellers are able to tune into the mindset of their customers by being generally empathetic.
“It seems as if many people have a selective memory. If a person wants to believe something, he will choose to remember things that support his own beliefs,” Vuorio said.