Everyone knows the BBC is the only organization with personal contacts with the last surviving Timelord. Of course they know the future and past, and screw around with fixed events in time.
Judging by the number of people who worry that they'll plummet to their deaths in an elevator that makes a funny sound, and paranoid people who know they're "due" for a car accident, ya, there are an awful lot of coincidences that don't happen. That's a damned good thing too. There are a lot of paranoid people out there, who come up with some really crazy ways to accidentally die.
I've been on planes flying into the city. They come in low and fast over water. One particular flight was very bumpy, and it looked like we were very close to the water. I kept thinking "This is going to suck if we crash, that's a long way to swim."
If we crashed, would that have been a precognitive event? Since we didn't, would it be implied that thinking it could happen stop it?
Nope, the pilots are fully responsible for the outcome of that event. They did their jobs. I seriously doubt either of them said "hey, I have this funny feeling the guy in 27B doesn't want to swim in, how about we land on the runway instead."
I'm just playing along, because... well... the story is a joke. They just missed April Fools by a few months. I can't speak for the others (or sock puppet driving other).
I did read an excellent book a while back that discussed the possibility of ESP. The author firmly believed that it does exist. There's a section devoted to why it isn't present in modern society.
While I'm not usually a big fan of woowoo, his arguments made sense.
Imagine living in a more brutal time in our history. Someone in your neighborhood legitimately has "special" abilities, such as precognition. They would very likely be ostracized, ejected from the community, or killed. Regardless of the method, the end result is generally the same. Without the protection and welfare of the community, your reproductive and survival abilities will be diminished.
I believe the way "special" abilities are portrayed on TV and movies now are generally a fair assessment. Do you want someone knowing (and telling) about what you'll do in the future? Probably not. At very least someone with less moral high-ground wouldn't.
If (the big if) the abilities are still latent in our genes, those with such abilities would need to seek each other out, and with a bit of luck reproduce others with those same abilities.
Then the conspiracies come around, that the US and Russian governments had their programs to do all kinds of paranormal stuff. I'm sure they did at least look into it. Hell, if they could recruit ghosts to scare foreign threats to death, they'd do it.:) Do they have such working programs? Most likely no.
So, like you said, all we're really left with is the background noise. Maybe someone can see the future. Maybe they can't. Discerning the difference between a passing though that coincidentally happened, and a real precognition is virtually impossible.
I will say honestly, I've had some strange events happen, with impossible to know outcomes that I predicted with full confidence. The ones I know were real, they were provided without outside stimuli or any sort of interference on my part with the other parties. Even with that, I'd say >99% of the people who claim to have such abilities have none. Their claims are easily eliminated through scientific evaluation or investigation of the situation.
I'm really disappointed. Over the years, I've known a lot of people who have claimed to see ghosts. In most cases, I was able to simply ask a few questions, and point out the real cause of their paranormal experience, which are either extremely mundane, or pranks.
Once. Just once, I'd love to see a real ghost, or a UFO that didn't turn out to be an aircraft, weather balloon, or swamp gas.:)
That's coincidence. People say all kinds of stuff all the time.
If you're in Los Angeles, I'm sure you've looked at the USGS maps at least occasionally. If you have a week with no earthquakes, there's something wrong with the reporting.:)
I stood on top of the WTC a few days before 9/11. I said to my friend "I wonder how they'll take these buildings down." It was a discussion on the deconstruction of it, since virtually every modern building has a finite lifespan, and will be replaced eventually. Explosive demolition was out, because it would cause too much damage to surrounding buildings, even under ideal circumstances.
Now, did the fact that we were on top (observation deck, and roof) and said something like that show precognition? Not in any sort of way. People think and say all kinds of things all the time. Their memory also messes with them. We like to believe there is some sort of order to the chaos around us. In reality, we'll grasp at any two things and try to make a relationship between them.
The reality to my pondering the WTC deconstruction was simply an interest in how things work. I like to look at something and try to understand how it works, how it was put together, and how it comes apart. I've learned an awful lot about a lot of things by just asking and researching them. So far, no others have suffered a dramatic demise.
Oh shit. Well, sorry. You'll be dead by last week. If it makes you feel better, she is *really* hot, and will kill you quickly and somewhat painlessly.
Ya, I was thinking vending machines, fountain dispensers, company owned coolers in retail establishments, and even store shelves. They can (and do) have a lot of hardware out there that can't be monitored remotely. It would be very advantageous if they could know that a machine is or isn't working, what the stock is like, and know immediately what the sales are like.
Right now, they lose a lot of money from vending machines that aren't fully stocked. I'm sure just about everyone has gone to a store and they were out of a product. They know they lose out, where either the person decides not to buy, or worse buys the competition's comparable product.
Retail establishments don't care quite as much. Ok, so you don't buy a Coke, you buy a Pepsi instead. The retail establishment still made money on the sale.
A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on knowledge that has been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experimentation. Scientists create scientific theories from hypotheses that have been corroborated through the scientific method, then gather evidence to test their accuracy. As with all forms of scientific knowledge, scientific theories are inductive in nature and aim for predictive and explanatory force.
The alternative in question is creationism. That would be a hypothesis. It is not confirmed through observation and fact. It actually fails in quite a few ways. The alleged cause has not been observed. New creations have not been observed. It has a single source from unverifiable authors.
Now, if you could pray for the god creature to make another planet within our view, and within a few days populate it with a planet full of species, that would be a good start. You would need to prove the causation. Correlation does not equal causation.
Say you prayed for your coffee to be hot, and a waitress brought you a hot cup of coffee. The hot coffee was not caused by prayer. It was caused by a supply chain, which ended in the waitress making the hot coffee and bringing it to you.
Ummm. That wasn't Santa. That was a fat guy in a red track suit, driving a red car. He's already reported the mugging to authorities. You may want to lay low.
Just because it's in their privacy policy doesn't mean that it's true.... but... their public DNS servers do have a good response time, and don't cache too long
I still wonder how many people bother with the QR codes. I've scanned a few, but whenever I see them in public, I've never seen anyone else scanning them. They're ignored advertising, just like... well... any advertising. It's junk that we're being trained to disregard.
The last QR codes I saw were in a restroom. Above the urinal was a big ad hanging on the wall, with QR codes for each piece of the ad. A public restroom just about the last place that using a camera on your phone is acceptable.:) There was a URL for the company who places them, but I don't remember it, and didn't take a picture.:) Whoo, great advertisement. I can't even think of one element of the ad, other than the fact it had QR codes, and I was a captive audience, staring right at it while I took a leak.
The Cuecat thing was interesting, but DOA. I've only known a few people who ever bought them, and they were just for use as mediocre barcode scanners.
I agree. Sometimes it's nice to have the invisibility of being behind the camera. People start ignoring you. But if you want to be *in* the moment, put the camera away.
More times than not, I've been glad that I left the camera in the car or at home. I got to have fun instead.
But at plenty of events, a expensive looking camera will open doors that you can't normally open. Saying "I'm shooting for the band", or just "Press" tells them you're allowed to do anything you want. Setting up a tripod with a video camera running, and then walking around with the SLR gives you all kinds of privileges.
Google glass? Nope. In time, I'm sure there'll be enough people running around with them. They'll probably get some adequate video of happening events. I'd expect it to be just as shaky and poorly framed as most of the camera phone videos that make it out.
There was an incident at a Walmart I happened to be at. Not a big deal really, but enough to get law enforcement involved in. It happened in the parking lot. One day when I was bored waiting for someone to come out, I counted the cameras. 14 along the roof line facing the parking lot.
When they had the incident, I said "well, you can pull the video from your cameras." The manager got real vague and then said "well, maybe the home office can..." Rough translation is exactly what you said. The cameras are for show. So all we had was the description of the suspects. No vehicle, No plates. No idea which way they were headed out of the parking lot. So enough for a police report, and nothing useful to follow up on.
It was Walmart's loss, not mine. If they could have done more, like call the home office and get the video, they would have. Instead I learned that they operate security theater, just like most places.
Hey now, I have a cuecat. It's in a drawer somewhere. That thing will be the future! Scan everything! And once I've scanned everything in the house... ummm... it'll go back in the drawer for another decade.:)
You may have found that because it was a better school.
Public schools don't always hire the best people, or put them in the best positions. Some that I had were great. Some barely had a remedial knowledge of the course they were teaching, and couldn't go beyond what was written in the book.
There's something to be said for retraining. Unfortunately, there are people who never do refresher training for the stuff they're teaching. They will go to church at least once a week.
Of course, there are "teachers" who prefer to believe the mythology over facts, who will blatantly lie and teach the mythology until they're eventually caught. It's hard to get caught doing it, if everyone in the area accepts it as fact. {sigh}
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That happens occasionally, but they're always recovered in a mafia dumping ground, with the possessions of all the travelers seemingly missing.
Clearly, aliens.
Well, since I'll take your comment as you haven't read a book, mine is probably much better for you.
Everyone knows the BBC is the only organization with personal contacts with the last surviving Timelord. Of course they know the future and past, and screw around with fixed events in time.
Judging by the number of people who worry that they'll plummet to their deaths in an elevator that makes a funny sound, and paranoid people who know they're "due" for a car accident, ya, there are an awful lot of coincidences that don't happen. That's a damned good thing too. There are a lot of paranoid people out there, who come up with some really crazy ways to accidentally die.
I've been on planes flying into the city. They come in low and fast over water. One particular flight was very bumpy, and it looked like we were very close to the water. I kept thinking "This is going to suck if we crash, that's a long way to swim."
If we crashed, would that have been a precognitive event? Since we didn't, would it be implied that thinking it could happen stop it?
Nope, the pilots are fully responsible for the outcome of that event. They did their jobs. I seriously doubt either of them said "hey, I have this funny feeling the guy in 27B doesn't want to swim in, how about we land on the runway instead."
The USAF was kind enough to provide me with this identification chart
I'm just playing along, because ... well ... the story is a joke. They just missed April Fools by a few months. I can't speak for the others (or sock puppet driving other).
I did read an excellent book a while back that discussed the possibility of ESP. The author firmly believed that it does exist. There's a section devoted to why it isn't present in modern society.
While I'm not usually a big fan of woowoo, his arguments made sense.
Imagine living in a more brutal time in our history. Someone in your neighborhood legitimately has "special" abilities, such as precognition. They would very likely be ostracized, ejected from the community, or killed. Regardless of the method, the end result is generally the same. Without the protection and welfare of the community, your reproductive and survival abilities will be diminished.
I believe the way "special" abilities are portrayed on TV and movies now are generally a fair assessment. Do you want someone knowing (and telling) about what you'll do in the future? Probably not. At very least someone with less moral high-ground wouldn't.
If (the big if) the abilities are still latent in our genes, those with such abilities would need to seek each other out, and with a bit of luck reproduce others with those same abilities.
Then the conspiracies come around, that the US and Russian governments had their programs to do all kinds of paranormal stuff. I'm sure they did at least look into it. Hell, if they could recruit ghosts to scare foreign threats to death, they'd do it. :) Do they have such working programs? Most likely no.
So, like you said, all we're really left with is the background noise. Maybe someone can see the future. Maybe they can't. Discerning the difference between a passing though that coincidentally happened, and a real precognition is virtually impossible.
I will say honestly, I've had some strange events happen, with impossible to know outcomes that I predicted with full confidence. The ones I know were real, they were provided without outside stimuli or any sort of interference on my part with the other parties. Even with that, I'd say >99% of the people who claim to have such abilities have none. Their claims are easily eliminated through scientific evaluation or investigation of the situation.
I'm really disappointed. Over the years, I've known a lot of people who have claimed to see ghosts. In most cases, I was able to simply ask a few questions, and point out the real cause of their paranormal experience, which are either extremely mundane, or pranks.
Once. Just once, I'd love to see a real ghost, or a UFO that didn't turn out to be an aircraft, weather balloon, or swamp gas. :)
Oh, you didn't sleep with her, did you? That never goes well.
So *YOU* are the bastard that told Tom to set it up. No problem, we'll erase you before you get a chance to go back.
That's coincidence. People say all kinds of stuff all the time.
If you're in Los Angeles, I'm sure you've looked at the USGS maps at least occasionally. If you have a week with no earthquakes, there's something wrong with the reporting. :)
I stood on top of the WTC a few days before 9/11. I said to my friend "I wonder how they'll take these buildings down." It was a discussion on the deconstruction of it, since virtually every modern building has a finite lifespan, and will be replaced eventually. Explosive demolition was out, because it would cause too much damage to surrounding buildings, even under ideal circumstances.
Now, did the fact that we were on top (observation deck, and roof) and said something like that show precognition? Not in any sort of way. People think and say all kinds of things all the time. Their memory also messes with them. We like to believe there is some sort of order to the chaos around us. In reality, we'll grasp at any two things and try to make a relationship between them.
The reality to my pondering the WTC deconstruction was simply an interest in how things work. I like to look at something and try to understand how it works, how it was put together, and how it comes apart. I've learned an awful lot about a lot of things by just asking and researching them. So far, no others have suffered a dramatic demise.
Do you know how hard it is for them to do that? It takes like a whole hour to "encourage" a city to have been founded in a different place.
The big prank is San Francisco. Every time we move it somewhere safe, someone moves it back.
Most of us don't admit to being time travelers.
Oh shit. Well, sorry. You'll be dead by last week. If it makes you feel better, she is *really* hot, and will kill you quickly and somewhat painlessly.
Ya, I was thinking vending machines, fountain dispensers, company owned coolers in retail establishments, and even store shelves. They can (and do) have a lot of hardware out there that can't be monitored remotely. It would be very advantageous if they could know that a machine is or isn't working, what the stock is like, and know immediately what the sales are like.
Right now, they lose a lot of money from vending machines that aren't fully stocked. I'm sure just about everyone has gone to a store and they were out of a product. They know they lose out, where either the person decides not to buy, or worse buys the competition's comparable product.
Retail establishments don't care quite as much. Ok, so you don't buy a Coke, you buy a Pepsi instead. The retail establishment still made money on the sale.
Ya, I spent like $3 with shipping through eBay.
I could probably still sell it for $0.01 and $2.99 shipping. :)
It's a scientific theory, which means something different than what a lot of people believe.
A hypothesis is what you're thinking of. That is an untested, or insufficiently tested, idea.
A theory has been backed up by repeated observation and experimentation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory
The alternative in question is creationism. That would be a hypothesis. It is not confirmed through observation and fact. It actually fails in quite a few ways. The alleged cause has not been observed. New creations have not been observed. It has a single source from unverifiable authors.
Now, if you could pray for the god creature to make another planet within our view, and within a few days populate it with a planet full of species, that would be a good start. You would need to prove the causation. Correlation does not equal causation.
Say you prayed for your coffee to be hot, and a waitress brought you a hot cup of coffee. The hot coffee was not caused by prayer. It was caused by a supply chain, which ended in the waitress making the hot coffee and bringing it to you.
Ummm. That wasn't Santa. That was a fat guy in a red track suit, driving a red car. He's already reported the mugging to authorities. You may want to lay low.
Just because it's in their privacy policy doesn't mean that it's true. ... but ... their public DNS servers do have a good response time, and don't cache too long
I still wonder how many people bother with the QR codes. I've scanned a few, but whenever I see them in public, I've never seen anyone else scanning them. They're ignored advertising, just like ... well ... any advertising. It's junk that we're being trained to disregard.
The last QR codes I saw were in a restroom. Above the urinal was a big ad hanging on the wall, with QR codes for each piece of the ad. A public restroom just about the last place that using a camera on your phone is acceptable. :) There was a URL for the company who places them, but I don't remember it, and didn't take a picture. :) Whoo, great advertisement. I can't even think of one element of the ad, other than the fact it had QR codes, and I was a captive audience, staring right at it while I took a leak.
The Cuecat thing was interesting, but DOA. I've only known a few people who ever bought them, and they were just for use as mediocre barcode scanners.
I agree. Sometimes it's nice to have the invisibility of being behind the camera. People start ignoring you. But if you want to be *in* the moment, put the camera away.
More times than not, I've been glad that I left the camera in the car or at home. I got to have fun instead.
But at plenty of events, a expensive looking camera will open doors that you can't normally open. Saying "I'm shooting for the band", or just "Press" tells them you're allowed to do anything you want. Setting up a tripod with a video camera running, and then walking around with the SLR gives you all kinds of privileges.
Google glass? Nope. In time, I'm sure there'll be enough people running around with them. They'll probably get some adequate video of happening events. I'd expect it to be just as shaky and poorly framed as most of the camera phone videos that make it out.
There was an incident at a Walmart I happened to be at. Not a big deal really, but enough to get law enforcement involved in. It happened in the parking lot. One day when I was bored waiting for someone to come out, I counted the cameras. 14 along the roof line facing the parking lot.
When they had the incident, I said "well, you can pull the video from your cameras." The manager got real vague and then said "well, maybe the home office can..." Rough translation is exactly what you said. The cameras are for show. So all we had was the description of the suspects. No vehicle, No plates. No idea which way they were headed out of the parking lot. So enough for a police report, and nothing useful to follow up on.
It was Walmart's loss, not mine. If they could have done more, like call the home office and get the video, they would have. Instead I learned that they operate security theater, just like most places.
Hey now, I have a cuecat. It's in a drawer somewhere. That thing will be the future! Scan everything! And once I've scanned everything in the house ... ummm ... it'll go back in the drawer for another decade. :)
You may have found that because it was a better school.
Public schools don't always hire the best people, or put them in the best positions. Some that I had were great. Some barely had a remedial knowledge of the course they were teaching, and couldn't go beyond what was written in the book.
There's something to be said for retraining. Unfortunately, there are people who never do refresher training for the stuff they're teaching. They will go to church at least once a week.
Ok, you're hired. When I end up with a few billion in expendable cash, we'll start planning a survivable trip.
Hmmm.. Where to find a few billion dollars...
They should. It's taught in grade school.
Of course, there are "teachers" who prefer to believe the mythology over facts, who will blatantly lie and teach the mythology until they're eventually caught. It's hard to get caught doing it, if everyone in the area accepts it as fact. {sigh}