Unlocking the Mystery of Telling the Future

[moonrocks]

i think the world is going in tracks.
you know how people can really tell the future?
they must of somehow already experienced this happening which means the world could have been born 100 times and we just don't know it b/c it happens then blows up and know one is left to remeber what was there.
any ideas?

 

[brewnog]

you know how people can really tell the future?

any ideas?

Yes. You're a loony.





No offence, like.

 

[inha]

i think the world is going in tracks.
you know how people can really tell the future?
they must of somehow already experienced this happening which means the world could have been born 100 times and we just don't know it b/c it happens then blows up and know one is left to remeber what was there.
any ideas?

can I please have what you're smoking?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Why do you ask, moonrocks? Do have the feeling you have lived through stuff before?

 

[Danger]

Why do you ask, moonrocks? Do have the feeling you have lived through stuff before?

Oh great! Like there aren't enough reruns on TV already, now we have them in life too? :grumpy:

 

[Artman]

Let's face it, if there was any truth to futune telling, you wouldn't need an appointment to see a futune teller. :tongue:

 

[FredGarvin]

you know how people can really tell the future?

No. Actually I don't know of a single person who can prove that they can tell the future.

 

[arildno]

moonrocks:
You have eaten way too many fortune cookies.
Begin on a diet program.

 

[infinitetime]

Well what is the mathematical or scientific explanation for being able to predict future events (psychics for example)?

 

[russ_watters]

Let's face it, if there was any truth to futune telling, you wouldn't need an appointment to see a futune teller. :tongue:

Yeah, but how would that work? Presumably the successful fortune teller would be busy, and you can't have people coming in whenever they feel like it. I guess the fortune teller would have to call you to set up the appointment. That wouldn't be too tough though, considering s/he already knows your availability. :rofl:

 

[arildno]

Well what is the mathematical or scientific explanation for being able to predict future events (psychics for example)?

There are none who can (and why do you bring maths into this??).

 

[Artman]

Did you hear about the vertically challanged fortune teller that escaped from jail? The headlines said:

SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE!​

 

[Gale]

Did you hear about the vertically challanged fortune teller that escaped from jail? The headlines said:

SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE!​

HAHAHAHAHAH! THATS MY NEW FAVORITE JOKE!

btw, i know the future, and since you're about to ask, no, i usually do it with my eyes closed.

 

[moonrocks]

you guys are so nice! i was just wondering! jeez!

 

[moonrocks]

can I please have what you're smoking?

gosh your nice!

 

[arildno]

Welcome to a SCIENCE forum, mathrocks.

 

[Danger]

you guys are so nice! i was just wondering! jeez!

I just checked your bio and now realize that you're a brand new PFer. What you must realize is that although we kid around a lot in this particular forum, we all take science, the learning thereof, and the teaching thereof very seriously. The subject that you brought up has absolutely no validity, and so evoked some of the kind of responses that we treat each other to. Foreseeing the future isn't even theoretically possible.

 

[zoobyshoe]

What you must realize is that although we kid around a lot in this particular forum, we all take science, the learning thereof, and the teaching thereof very seriously.

And therefore often feel free to attack and bash anyone who sounds "looney" like sharks at a feeding frenzy.

The subject that you brought up has absolutely no validity, and so evoked some of the kind of responses that we treat each other to. Foreseeing the future isn't even theoretically possible.

But what subject did he actually bring up?

i think the world is going in tracks.
you know how people can really tell the future?
they must of somehow already experienced this happening which means the world could have been born 100 times and we just don't know it b/c it happens then blows up and know one is left to remeber what was there.
any ideas?

This sounds very much to me like someone who might be experiencing a lot of "deja vus" without realizing what they are and that other people have them, and that they only create the illusion that life is running on tracks, that the world must be recycling itself over and over.

People ought not to jump on "unscientific" people so gleefully. Questions like, "How old are you, exactly?" (Could be a ten year old kid) and "Why do you ask?" "What is it you mean?" are more in order.

 

[franznietzsche]

i think the world is going in tracks.
you know how people can really tell the future?
they must of somehow already experienced this happening which means the world could have been born 100 times and we just don't know it b/c it happens then blows up and know one is left to remeber what was there.
any ideas?

You know how people can really tell the future?

Easy. After all we can predict eclipses thousands of years in advance, and exactly where on Earth the will be visible from (in fact we can make these predictions for any planet in the solar system, its the same physics involved). We can predict trajectories of falling objects. We can predict how electrons will interact to within 99.96% accuracy. We can predict weather to reasonable accuraccy a week in advance (something only limited by the vast disparity between the number of degrees of freedom we can model, and the number of degrees of freedom that actually exist in the weather system).

This isn't phenomenal enough though is it? Is that not predicting the future? Oh, but we understand it, so no that doesn't count. It has to be mysterious, and supernatural, otherwise its boring, right?

You know, if you bothered to learn about reality you might realize just how fascinating it actually is. And how amazing our REAL predictive abilities really are.

And as for being nice? Only to threads above TD quality. Never ones below it (is that even possible?).

 

[franznietzsche]

This sounds very much to me like someone who might be experiencing a lot of "deja vus" without realizing what they are and that other people have them, and that they only create the illusion that life is running on tracks, that the world must be recycling itself over and over.

People ought not to jump on "unscientific" people so gleefully. Questions like, "How old are you, exactly?" (Could be a ten year old kid) and "Why do you ask?" "What is it you mean?" are more in order.

Fair enough, you make a valid point. But having to live in the real world of unscientific people, categorically incapable of forming an independant thought of their own, much less a scientific one (these specimens are best known as sheeple), leaves some of us unwilling to be so tolerant in the place we consider to be our refuge. But you are right. We should at least give the neophytes a chance to explain themselves before ordering the pack the close in.

 

[Danger]

But what subject did he actually bring up?

I took it to be a search for a scientific principle behind 'proven' precognition.

People ought not to jump on "unscientific" people so gleefully. Questions like, "How old are you, exactly?" (Could be a ten year old kid) and "Why do you ask?" "What is it you mean?" are more in order.

Exactly. That's why I felt obliged to explain our responses. If you're like me (and to your discredit you appear to be :tongue: ), you might be constantly on the lookout Aviator's next incarnation. I knew that this isn't him, though, because there was no mention of precession or free energy.
As for the kid aspect, we've all been pretty spoiled by having yommama around. I seriously can't tell his posts from yours or Marlon's or just about anybody else's without seeing the name on them, so it's difficult to remember that not all barely-thirteen year-olds are that together.

 

[Pengwuino]

This isn't phenomenal enough though is it? Is that not predicting the future? Oh, but we understand it, so no that doesn't count. It has to be mysterious, and supernatural, otherwise its boring, right?

Actually no it isn't at all in definiton. Predicting the future means there is a 100% chance that a ball will fall at a certain point if you throw it. What we do is say that there's a high certainty that it will fall at some point on the ground. What separates predicting and probability is the fact that in probability, the ball coudl very well explode and ruin the experiment where as if you are predicting something, there is an absolute 0 chance of that ball landing anywhere except where you said it would.

 

[franznietzsche]

Actually no it isn't at all in definiton. Predicting the future means there is a 100% chance that a ball will fall at a certain point if you throw it. What we do is say that there's a high certainty that it will fall at some point on the ground. What separates predicting and probability is the fact that in probability, the ball coudl very well explode and ruin the experiment where as if you are predicting something, there is an absolute 0 chance of that ball landing anywhere except where you said it would.

[DEFINITION]

prediction

n 1: the act of predicting (as by reasoning about the future) [syn: anticipation, prevision] 2: a statement made about the future [syn: foretelling, forecasting, prognostication]
[/DEFINITION

[DEFINITION]
Main Entry: pre·dic·tion
Pronunciation: pri-'dik-sh&n
Function: noun
1 : an act of predicting
2 : something that is predicted : FORECAST
[/DEFINITION]

Now, i hate to play the definition game, but you started it. I see nothing about 100% accuracy anywhere in there.

 

[Pengwuino]

Well ok i didnt meant to play the definitions game but what i was trying to say is there's 2 ways at looking at "viewing the future". 1 is the type fortune tellers speak of, let's call that prediction type A. Prediction type A to be real and according to what these fortune tellers talk about would mean there is 100% probability of whatever is being talked about actually happening in the way it does because in this sense, it has already happened and someone knows about it. What science can do is prediction type B where we know that something will do something with a huge level of precision but there is always the possibility of something radical happening (like as i siad, the ball in our experiment just blowing up outa nowhere). In type A, there is no possibility of anything else happening other then what type A predicted because it has already happened in someones view. Type B, there is always the possibility of something hapening other then what is originally predicted by type B because the results of type B have not happened yet and any number of things can happen that will make the result not equal what the prediction was.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I took it to be a search for a scientific principle behind 'proven' precognition.

On the surface, yes. But the fact it was assumed by the questioner to be real, strongly suggested to me he was either very young, or had had a lot of "deja vus" that he didn't have the vocabulary to discuss as such.

Exactly. That's why I felt obliged to explain our responses.

The bashing started with the first response. No one thought twice.

If you're like me (and to your discredit you appear to be :tongue: ), you might be constantly on the lookout Aviator's next incarnation. I knew that this isn't him, though, because there was no mention of precession or free energy.

I'm not on the lookout for aviator or crackpots in general, no.

As for the kid aspect, we've all been pretty spoiled by having yommama around.

I don't really know what this is supposed to mean. No one asked moonrocks' age.

(Sorry about the previous triple posting. I seemed to be "on hold" for some reason. I edited to pass the time and tried again twice. Didn't realize all three versions got posted.)

 

[Danger]

I'm not on the lookout for aviator or crackpots in general, no.

I just can't help it. I'm surprised there isn't a 'First to Spot Aviator' contest of some kind. He's the most persistent little lunatic I've ever encountered. It's actually quite entertaining for the first couple of posts every time he shows up in a new identity.

I don't really know what this is supposed to mean. No one asked moonrocks' age.

I was referring to your comment that he might be a kid. That's one of the first things that I assume in GP, but down here it didn't cross my mind. Yommama's far and away the youngest one here, but he relates as an adult for the most part.

(Sorry about the previous triple posting. I seemed to be "on hold" for some reason. I edited to pass the time and tried again twice. Didn't realize all three versions got posted.)

I figured you were just desperate for attention. :tongue:

 

[Moonbear]

On the surface, yes. But the fact it was assumed by the questioner to be real, strongly suggested to me he was either very young, or had had a lot of "deja vus" that he didn't have the vocabulary to discuss as such.

Or the question could be more simply, how do fortune tellers do what they do? To which the answer is that fortune tellers can't really predict the future or read your mind, but they use knowledge of human behavior to lead people into providing information and then make vague predictions that can be interpreted in many ways. If someone believes in what they are told, they will find meaning in things that relate to these vague statements to validate the fortune-teller's predictions. If one is more skeptical, you see that the vague predictions would come true in some form or another for almost anyone. "You will meet someone who's name starts with an M or contains the letter E." "You will be hurt by someone close to you." "You will find love in an unexpected place." "I see change in your future."

 

[zoobyshoe]

It's actually quite entertaining for the first couple of posts every time he shows up in a new identity.

Actually, all those people just give me a headache, and I don't look forward to them.

There used to be a remarkable character named Mr. Robin Parsons here. He was actually homeless, and quite nutty in a very fun way. He knew a lot of physics, but sometimes slipped over into his own theoretical meanderings. The arguments with him were hilarious sometimes, but only because he was as quick to humor as crackpottery. He won the "Best Humor Award" one year. Anyway, a mentor decided to ride him very hard once to get him to stop saying something innacurate, and it escalated into pure, strange ranting on Mr. Robin Parson's part. So they banned him, which, at least a couple of us here, experienced as a loss.

I figured you were just desperate for attention. :tongue:

Of course, but the triple posting was quite accidental. (I think my set up has a weird reaction when a lot of people are writing into a thread at the same time.)

 

[zoobyshoe]

Or the question could be more simply, how do fortune tellers do what they do?

Or psychics.
When I read this story about a psychic "sensing" the location of a lost ring I had an immediate realization about how she came to the decision of where to say she "visualized" it being. Another guy saw the same thing I did right off the bat, but someone else is over there in S&D scratching his head saying, "How could she tell from that? That could mean anything?"

Read it thoroughly and carefully and see if anything pops out at you:


Address:http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=137199&command=displayContent&sourceNode=136986&contentPK=12166093

 

[Pengwuino]

Does it have todo with this "dustrat" thing?

 

[Moonbear]

Are dustmen like dustbunnies?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Does it have todo with this "dustrat" thing?

I will give no hints, except to say I think there's enough info there for a psychic to confidently suggest tearing up a carpet.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Are dustmen like dustbunnies?

The only information you have to go on is what's there.

 

[Moonbear]

I will give no hints, except to say I think there's enough info there for a psychic to confidently suggest tearing up a carpet.

From that article, I'm not even sure the psychic did suggest tearing up the carpet. But it sounded like the ring had been missing for the duration of this woman's pregnancy, so saying something about the color pink is safe (could be anything related to the new baby coming), and floorboards would just be that it fell on the floor, which is a pretty common place for lost jewelry to get lost. The woman herself may have put two and two together once reminded of the floor in the nursery.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I am assuming the psychic was told everything the woman told the newspaper reporter, and that she knew getting to the ring would mean taking the carpet up. She certainly knew it would mean pulling up a floorboard.

She probably "fished" for a lot of info without letting on, and we know with 20-20 hindsight she was right. I think it is clear where she went fishing and what gave her the confidence to pull up the floor board.

From that article, I'm not even sure the psychic did suggest tearing up the carpet. But it sounded like the ring had been missing for the duration of this woman's pregnancy, so saying something about the color pink is safe (could be anything related to the new baby coming), and floorboards would just be that it fell on the floor, which is a pretty common place for lost jewelry to get lost. The woman herself may have put two and two together once reminded of the floor in the nursery.

"Pink" is certainly the room, yes. She probably fished 'pink" out in some idle chatting about the remodel for the new baby. But how did she know to select that room? All rooms have floors. And she did suggest pulling up the floorboards, subtly, because she said "floorboards" and not "floor".