The Mystery of Telling the Future

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The discussion revolves around the notion that the world may operate in cyclical "tracks," where past events could repeat themselves, leading some individuals to feel they can predict the future. This idea is met with skepticism, as participants argue that true foresight is not scientifically validated and often relies on vague interpretations. The conversation touches on the concept of déjà vu, suggesting that such experiences might create the illusion of time repeating itself. Participants humorously critique the idea of fortune-telling, pointing out that successful predictions often stem from understanding human behavior rather than supernatural abilities. The dialogue emphasizes the importance of scientific reasoning and the need for critical thinking when addressing claims of precognition, while also acknowledging the tendency to dismiss unconventional ideas without understanding their origins. Overall, the thread reflects a blend of humor, skepticism, and a call for respectful discourse in scientific discussions.
  • #31
Are dustmen like dustbunnies?
 
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  • #32
Pengwuino said:
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.
 
  • #33
Moonbear said:
Are dustmen like dustbunnies?
The only information you have to go on is what's there.
 
  • #34
zoobyshoe said:
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.
 
  • #35
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.
Moonbear said:
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".
 
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  • #36
Moonbear said:
Are dustmen like dustbunnies?
I have no idea if dustbunnies are called "dustmen" in England.

A friend of mine went to a psychic. Before the appointment, the psychic called her to tell her just to pull her car into the driveway when she arrived and not bother to look for street parking. When my friend arrived, she parked her car a block away. When the psychic greeted her at the door, she looked into the driveway and seemed suddenly a bit thrown off. "Where's your car?" she asked? my friend said she'd decided to park a ways away an get a little excercize. The psychic seemed dissapointed, and mumbled something about that being kind of unusual.

Why did the psychic want my friend to park in the driveway?
 
  • #37
To look for car seats{kids}, or business papers, fast food wrappers or bumperstickers, anything that would show a lifestyle or give them insight. Even the kind of car, a old beater or expensive new car.
 
  • #38
hypatia said:
To look for car seats{kids}, or business papers, fast food wrappers or bumperstickers, anything that would show a lifestyle or give them insight. Even the kind of car, a old beater or expensive new car.
Exactly! I think you'd make a good "psychic", hypatia.
 
  • #39
hypatia said:
To look for car seats{kids}, or business papers, fast food wrappers or bumperstickers, anything that would show a lifestyle or give them insight. Even the kind of car, a old beater or expensive new car.

Yep, just like a palm reader is going to take note of callouses on your hands and whether you have short or long nails, well-manicured hands, or raggedy, bitten-looking nails, pale skin, or darkly tanned hands, etc. Those all tell them things like whether you work indoors or outdoors, manual labor or a thinking job, are appearances important to you, are you nervous about things, etc.
 
  • #40
zoobyshoe said:
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.
Well, after reading and re-reading, nothing is really jumping out other than that this woman seems to have lost the ring almost immediately after receiving it...the article is dated April, she said she got the ring in August, and it's been missing for over 7 months, but only recently started looking for it (a few weeks). Based on that, I'm starting to think the psychic read into this that she didn't really care that much about the ring, at least not enough to pull up the carpet and floorboards of a newly decorated room: alas, the ring would be lost forever. Probably just damn lucky that ring wound up under a floorboard in that room; if it wasn't found there, well, then she'd have probably just been told that pink must refer to something else.
 
  • #41
Moonbear said:
Are dustmen like dustbunnies?
Unless the language has changed in the past couple of decades, 'dustmen' are garbage collectors (what you Yanks refer to as 'Sanitary Engineers').
 
  • #42
moonrocks said:
you guys are so nice! i was just wondering! jeez!

They don't take prisoners on this forum moonrocks! Harsh maybe, but that's Physicists for you!
 
  • #43
Danger said:
Unless the language has changed in the past couple of decades, 'dustmen' are garbage collectors (what you Yanks refer to as 'Sanitary Engineers').
So, if you heard that a three-year-old kept winding someone up about the ring having "gone away with the dustmen", what would you ask yourself, as a "psychic?"
 
  • #44
zoobyshoe said:
So, if you heard that a three-year-old kept winding someone up about the ring having "gone away with the dustmen", what would you ask yourself, as a "psychic?"
I don't know about as a psychic, but I'd be wondering why this twit in front of me can't be as reasonable as her 3-yr-old son and just accept that it's gone for good.
 
  • #45
Hey, zoob, we're still waiting for the answer on this one! :biggrin:
 
  • #46
Nope, I'm going to wait till someone else puts together the same picture that popped out at me.
 
  • #47
zoobyshoe said:
A friend of mine went to a psychic. Before the appointment, the psychic called her to tell her just to pull her car into the driveway when she arrived and not bother to look for street parking. When my friend arrived, she parked her car a block away. When the psychic greeted her at the door, she looked into the driveway and seemed suddenly a bit thrown off. "Where's your car?" she asked? my friend said she'd decided to park a ways away an get a little excercize. The psychic seemed dissapointed, and mumbled something about that being kind of unusual.

Why did the psychic want my friend to park in the driveway?
My question is "why didn't the psychic know your friend chose not to park there"? :biggrin:
 
  • #48
Evo said:
My question is "why didn't the psychic know your friend chose not to park there"? :biggrin:
I think she figured it out pretty quickly after my friend said she'd decided to park at a distance and get some excercise. Of course, though, the show must go on.
 
  • #49
Evo said:
My question is "why didn't the psychic know your friend chose not to park there"? :biggrin:

The better question is why did his friend still use this psychic if the psychic didn't know she wouldn't park in the driveway?
 
  • #50
Moonbear said:
The better question is why did his friend still use this psychic if the psychic didn't know she wouldn't park in the driveway?
Now, now... we all have at least one dumb friend. :wink:
 
  • #51
Danger said:
Now, now... we all have at least one dumb friend. :wink:
Ever worry that its you? I know I'm safe - my group had one guy we call "The Jackass". We even made him business cards...
 
  • #52
russ_watters said:
Ever worry that its you?
Are you kidding? I worked in a cowboy bar for 17 years.
 
  • #53
russ_watters said:
Ever worry that its you? I know I'm safe - my group had one guy we call "The Jackass". We even made him business cards...
Is that sort of like every family has to have one strange relative? If you look around and don't see one, it's you! (I have strange relatives to spare if anyone is really worried and needs one.) :smile:
 
  • #54
russ_watters said:
Ever worry that its you? I know I'm safe - my group had one guy we call "The Jackass". We even made him business cards...
How bout you, Russ? Nothing jumps out at you from the story to suggest how the psychic knew?
 
  • #55
The child mentioned the ring going away with the dustmen. The room with the new carpeting probably belonged to the 3 year old boy. They are having a daughter and put in pink carpeting. The woman took her ring off maybe because she was pregnant and her fingers swell or something. The child got a hold of the ring and stuffed it in a crack in the floor. They find the weirdest things on the floor. The ring must be on the floor somewhere. The psychic is probably a woman with children.
 
  • #56
Huckleberry said:
The child mentioned the ring going away with the dustmen. The room with the new carpeting probably belonged to the 3 year old boy. They are having a daughter and put in pink carpeting. The woman took her ring off maybe because she was pregnant and her fingers swell or something. The child got a hold of the ring and stuffed it in a crack in the floor. They find the weirdest things on the floor. The ring must be on the floor somewhere. The psychic is probably a woman with children.
You Are Correct Sir![/size]
 
  • #57
I knew I was psychic. :rolleyes:

That was an easy one.
 
  • #58
Huckleberry said:
That was an easy one.
That's what I thought. I read story and instantly figured the kid must have seen the ring in some dusty place, which is why he kept "winding" his mother up about it. I am sure the psychic fished for her answer in that pond.
 
  • #59
The psychic saying that she usually doesn't help her clients like that probably means that she didn't really expect the ring to be found, but it was the best solution to the information given her. She was probably preparing an alternate interpretation incase the ring was found somewhere else.
 
  • #60
zoobyshoe said:
That's what I thought. I read story and instantly figured the kid must have seen the ring in some dusty place, which is why he kept "winding" his mother up about it. I am sure the psychic fished for her answer in that pond.
But how would you know that room was the dusty place? And why wedged under a floorboard? (How does a ring get UNDER a floorboard in the first place?) And if the "dustmen" are the trash collectors, then he could have been just saying it went out with the trash. I really think she didn't expect that woman to tear up a room that was just decorated, especially pulling up carpet when she's 7 months pregnant. She assumed it was lost for good, so told her it was in a place she wouldn't bother looking. If she did find it, it probably would be after the baby was born, when it was crawling on the floor sticking things in its mouth, so pink and floorboards would have worked for that too.
 

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