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if you were psychic/could predict the future....

tomcollins

New Blood
T
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
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3
if you were psychic or could predict the future etc, how would you prove it?

i always imagined that i'd send detailed copies of my predictions(as soon as i had them) etc by registered post both to myself(and keep them sealed myself and in a bank's safety deposit box), and to various other organisations(newspapers/lawyers etc.)

So the first you would hear about me is when, after something i had predicted had come to pass, i call up a newspaper etc and tell them to do to x bank and open the safety deposit box. The predictions would have to be specific and obviously any "misses" would turn up the same way the "hits" would.

if i wanted to not be a public figure, but still be able to warn people about major catastrophes, i would do the same as above, except only tell the FBI. there might have to be a couple of "big things" happen that i accurately and specifically predicted(with a minimum of "misses") before the FBI took me seriously, but still i think it would be a pretty watertight system.
 
I wouldn't worry about proving it, I would use it.

And for helpfulness, there is no way I would go through the FBI or any other govt. agency.
 
tomcollins said:
if you were psychic or could predict the future etc, how would you prove it?

i always imagined that i'd send detailed copies of my predictions(as soon as i had them) etc by registered post both to myself(and keep them sealed myself and in a bank's safety deposit box), and to various other organisations(newspapers/lawyers etc.)

So the first you would hear about me is when, after something i had predicted had come to pass, i call up a newspaper etc and tell them to do to x bank and open the safety deposit box. The predictions would have to be specific and obviously any "misses" would turn up the same way the "hits" would.
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That demonstrates that you can make predictions, not that it is due to psychic abilities. And it doesn't tell you how to determine which predictions are true in advance, making it fairly useless.

Linda
 
I would submit to any controls scientists and skeptics could devise. If I were really psychic, there would be nothing to fear by doing so.
 
I would use my immense power to learn how to use the Shift key on my keyboard.
 
Matilda said:
I would submit to any controls scientists and skeptics could devise. If I were really psychic, there would be nothing to fear by doing so.
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Trust me, our - or some other - government would soon disabuse you of that notion. That by itself guarantees that Brown and her ilk have no real abilities.:jaw-dropp :jaw-dropp :jaw-dropp
 
fls said:
That demonstrates that you can make predictions, not that it is due to psychic abilities. And it doesn't tell you how to determine which predictions are true in advance, making it fairly useless.

Linda
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exactly; i said psychic OR predict the future. i.e. if you were very good at predciting the future(regardless of how you did it) you would have a high percentage of hits to misses.

once you could show that you were somehow getting very good predictions, then you could investigate how you were doing it.

Another interesting topic is guaging how specific a prediction would need to be, to be a valid prediction. i.e. how specific do dates/location/people need to be identified.

(BTW, this is all in reaction to penn & teller predicting the superbowl score.)
 
tomcollins said:
(BTW, this is all in reaction to penn & teller predicting the superbowl score.)
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Tom, I don't think you have to worry about anyone being so close to the score of a game, especially american football scores. The scoring system of a given game in that sport has a finite number of possibilites because the scoring is limited to 2, 3, or a choice of 6 or 7. All you really have to do is choose which team you feel will win and then construct a score that seems credible based on the above.

Predicting events, in my book, would be more like warning NASA of their next accident in specific enough manner to avoid it. Likewise, terrorist attacks, natural cataclysms and the like where evacuations may not forestall the inevitable but make them less deadly.
 
Slimething said:
...natural cataclysms and the like where evacuations may not forestall the inevitable but make them less deadly.
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yeah, i like the idea of clear predictions of natural events which are unstoppable(predictions of terrorist attacks, if taken seriously, can sometimes mean the attack doesn't happen).

it would be great if someone could say give exact dates/locations for certain storms/tsunami etc. even a couple of months in advance with a 80-90% accuracy. That would be useful and unambigous.
 
tomcollins said:
if you were psychic or could predict the future etc, how would you prove it?

i always imagined that i'd send detailed copies of my predictions(as soon as i had them) etc by registered post both to myself(and keep them sealed myself and in a bank's safety deposit box), and to various other organisations(newspapers/lawyers etc.)

So the first you would hear about me is when, after something i had predicted had come to pass, i call up a newspaper etc and tell them to do to x bank and open the safety deposit box. The predictions would have to be specific and obviously any "misses" would turn up the same way the "hits" would.

if i wanted to not be a public figure, but still be able to warn people about major catastrophes, i would do the same as above, except only tell the FBI. there might have to be a couple of "big things" happen that i accurately and specifically predicted(with a minimum of "misses") before the FBI took me seriously, but still i think it would be a pretty watertight system.
Click to expand...


Simple enough - Play Lottery, make an incredible amount of money, then forget it.

Wait.. Winning the highest score in lottery _always, without exception or misses_ would be proof enough, and the money would give me the power to publish it as wide as I ever want. If I did not win _everytime_ chance comes in and the whole thing is worthless as a proof.
 
I'd add an unrelated word to a post on an internet forum, and then boast endlessly about it when that word crops up in a minor news story in the following twenty-four hours.
 
Hi All,

Newby here! Having read some of the threads on this forum, it seems that the terms "Psychic" etc. are being used in a rather confusing way.

Some confuse "Psychic" with being able to predict the future?
Some get confused with Psychics being Mediums as well.
Prediciting the future isn't that the expertise of the Prophet? :p
Or are psychics now also prophets... (predicting the future and stuff):0

The next topic we might come across is Psychics flying on a broomstick... :)

Wouldn't it be nice to have some guidline under what "heading" these miraculous people are falling under?
Or are the psychics, prophets and mediums also confused?

Just a thought....
 
After I won the lottery the third time, I rather expect the organisers would drop by seeking an explanation anyway.

John Wyndham wrote a lovely short about this many years ago. The hero accidentally conjures a demon who can't get back to Hell without a contract signed in blood. The hero natch isn't about to sign, but arranges for the head of a football pools company to sign the contract to stop the demon assisting the hero to scoop the pools yet again.
Turns out the pools manager had already signed a similar pact to get the cash to start the company. Moral of story-Hell needs more accountants.
 
brodski said:
Well, if you where psychic you would know very well what the OP meant by "if". :p
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Damn, busted. :p

Yennaija said:
Wouldn't it be nice to have some guidline under what "heading" these miraculous people are falling under?
Or are the psychics, prophets and mediums also confused?
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Yep, they are very confused. Although no doubt not technically correct, the general use of "psychic" is to mean anyone with mental powers of communication. Anyone claiming to talk to the dead, see the future talk to other people or whatever would be refered to as psychic. We can use more specific words when detail is required, but in general discussions it is usually easy to understand what is meant.
 
I think if I woke up a psychic, I'd want to take the JREF test. I'd first do something amazing to make the press etc, then go for it.

Upon succeeding I would submit myself to examination by science to see if there was anyway we could use my talent to further research, understanding of the universe or the human race.

Then I'd use some of that million to get some new boots. Yes...boots.
 
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