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Post by maggie on Feb 26, 2011 7:58:25 GMT -5
Why We See What Isn’t There by Professor Richard Wiseman In this book he suggests that our dreams can predict the future. He says some people dreamt about the 1966 Aberfan disaster in South Wales, before it happened: One of the most striking experiences was submitted by the parents of a ten-year-old child who perished in the tragedy. The day before the landslide their daughter described dreaming about trying to go to school, but said there was ‘no school there’ because ‘something black had come down all over it’.
In another example, Mrs MH, a 54-year-old woman from Barnstaple, Devon, said the night before the tragedy she had dreamed that a group of children were trapped in a rectangular room.
In her dream, the end of the room was blocked by several wooden bars and the children were trying to climb over the bars.
Another respondent, Mrs GE from Sidcup, Kent, said a week before the landslide she dreamed about a group of screaming children being covered by an avalanche of coal.
Two months before the tragedy, Mrs SB, from London, dreamed about a school on a hillside, an avalanche and children losing their lives. And so the list went on.
Abraham Lincoln reportedly dreamed about an assassination two weeks before being shot dead.
Mark Twain described a dream in which he saw his brother’s corpse lying in a coffin just a few weeks before he was killed in an explosion.
And Charles Dickens dreamed of a woman dressed in red called Miss Napier shortly before being visited by a girl wearing a red shawl and introducing herself as Miss Napier.
Sleep scientists have discovered around 80 per cent of dreams are far from sweet, and instead focus on negative events.
Because of this, bad news is far more likely than good news to trigger the memory of a dream, explaining why so many pre-cognitive dreams involve foreseeing death and disaster.He goes on to say that the dreams about the Aberfan disaster may have been triggered: Three years before the disaster, the borough engineer wrote to the authorities noting his concern — and that of local residents — about the safety of the slurry perched above the school. There is no way of knowing for sure, but it is possible the girl’s dream may have been reflecting these anxieties after she heard adults discussing them.Sounds like an interesting book but if most dreams only involve foreseeing death and disaster, there'd be no chance of predicting the lotto numbers in a dream, would there? www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1360777/Can-dreams-predict-future-The-intriguing-book-examines-psychology-paranormal.html
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Post by sadie on Feb 27, 2011 1:00:16 GMT -5
I don't think I have dreamed of things that have yet to happen.....but I have woken up at the time something bad has happened to a loved one.....and known who was in trouble.
Lottery tickets......wonder if we all put the lottery numbers under our pillows we would start dreaming about those?
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Post by fretslider on Feb 27, 2011 3:55:30 GMT -5
I think dreams are wonderful entertainment when we sleep. But I don't know about prediction. There's a lot of coincidence and interpretation involved - usually to make the dream fit and always after the event. How previous is a prediction? Is it days, weeks, months or even years before the event? A long time ago, Mr FS of London had a dream of being the biggest thing since sliced bread. Sadly, that dream never came true Dreams are, nonetheless, fascinating and add to the spice of life.
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Post by peterf on Feb 27, 2011 4:06:49 GMT -5
How could dreams predict the future?
Dopy anecdotes about dreams that came true are legion. Has anyone collected accounts of all those dreams that did NOT predict later events. No, of course not.
Another sad instance of silly superstition surviving into the post-enlightenment age of reason. Very depressing.
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Post by maggie on Feb 27, 2011 11:52:02 GMT -5
This is a true story - a friend of mine dreamed that her cat would use her handbag as a toilet. A day or two later, her cat did just that! Weird!
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Post by beth on Feb 27, 2011 19:11:14 GMT -5
Had to be coincidence, but it does seem an unusually strange coincidence.
I don't think dreams are prophetic, but that notion has been around a long time. There's the old tale that a dream of death means a birth and vice versa. I think my mother sort of half believed that one because she once dreamed she had a new baby and came around to each of us telling us to be especially careful the next day.
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Post by sadie on Feb 27, 2011 22:49:46 GMT -5
I dreamed about my first son before he was born. I hadn't had a test to determine boy or girl yet. But it was a dream about a friend of mine and I and we were out somewhere with our kids....she already had a little girl at the time.....and in the dream her little girl was there playing with a little boy. I couldn't see his face but I knew the little boy was mine. I never doubted from that moment on that I was going to have a boy.
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Post by biglin on Mar 1, 2011 18:11:25 GMT -5
Well, I guess it partly depends on what you mean by prediction.
Mike would probably sum it up better than me but I'll give it a go.
In the first place if I've got the basic theory right there's a unity of space and time and the idea of a time separate from space doesn't exist.
Space--time is also curved (whatever that means) but I think in some theories it's curved like a Mobius strip is curved.
Basically I don't like the idea of seeing into the future though sometimes I'm afraid I do (like all of us do).
If you've got beliefs (whether religious or antireligious ones) that certain things can or can't happen then whatever the evidence you won't believe.
Parapsychology experiments have shown that it IS possible for a statistically significant degree of predictiveness about the future to be achieved.
I've dreamed about lots of things that have happened but I don't make any claims for that. It's just a bit of a curse like PMT.
(Sorry about the pun!)
What interests me is that IF we CAN predict the future then does that mean that we've got no choice about it?
Is what we do or say something over which we had no control and which would have happened no matter what we do?
Just my few quidsworth.
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Post by talisman on Mar 1, 2011 18:23:37 GMT -5
Parapsychology experiments have shown that it IS possible for a statistically significant degree of predictiveness about the future to be achieved. I don't hate to do this so soon after the last extravaganza, but I take it that you will be citing sources, right? Books if you like, but be sure, to be sure. (Be aware that I reserve the right to cite James Randi.)
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Erasmus
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Post by Erasmus on Mar 1, 2011 23:14:57 GMT -5
I recommend this book. I do not know but physics treats Time as just another dimension. I don't believe that because Time is always changing, so it could be more accurate to call it movement through another dimension. I don't think Dunne is right either. What I think is true is that in Quantum Physics, everything does everything and what we experience is the most probable for us. There might be other worlds where the most probable is something different - I think that when your blood runs cold, even on memory, is when this existence was actually one of the less probable, and you know that in most worlds, you died - like me falling off a deserted cliff on Herm in the late 60s. In this world, I recovered the cosmetic samples I was wholesaling - in most, I fell half a kilometer into the sea. Likewise, 15 years ago, I accidentally killed my girlfriend at a loss terrified of her paranoid schizophrenia - but men don't get the support women do for self-defence - woman are always passive victims in the right incapable of responsibility and men always active controllers in the wrong always responsible. I'd love to see a woman prosecuted because a man refused to leave her bed even when she defended herself with a knife. Tradition = Feminism would never grant a man that equality of fear with a woman! There've been many times when I felt The World took a turning, and I was left on the minority path left behind.
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Post by peterf on Mar 2, 2011 3:49:01 GMT -5
Well, I guess it partly depends on what you mean by prediction. Mike would probably sum it up better than me but I'll give it a go. In the first place if I've got the basic theory right there's a unity of space and time and the idea of a time separate from space doesn't exist. Space--time is also curved (whatever that means) but I think in some theories it's curved like a Mobius strip is curved. Basically I don't like the idea of seeing into the future though sometimes I'm afraid I do (like all of us do). If you've got beliefs (whether religious or antireligious ones) that certain things can or can't happen then whatever the evidence you won't believe. Parapsychology experiments have shown that it IS possible for a statistically significant degree of predictiveness about the future to be achieved. I've dreamed about lots of things that have happened but I don't make any claims for that. It's just a bit of a curse like PMT. (Sorry about the pun!) What interests me is that IF we CAN predict the future then does that mean that we've got no choice about it? Is what we do or say something over which we had no control and which would have happened no matter what we do? Just my few quidsworth. Sorry Lady Linda. I dislike causing offence but I don't think you have the faintest idea what you are talking about. Very many studies have been done on so-called parapsycholgy. Unsurprisingly they confirm the obvious: it's a load of bunkum.
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Post by talisman on Mar 2, 2011 4:05:01 GMT -5
Sorry Lady Linda. I dislike causing offence but I don't think you have the faintest idea what you are talking about. Very many studies have been done on so-called parapsycholgy. Unsurprisingly they confirm the obvious: it's a load of bunkum. Peter! Give the lady a chance to get her ducks in order.
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Post by fretslider on Mar 2, 2011 8:13:51 GMT -5
Well, I guess it partly depends on what you mean by prediction. Mike would probably sum it up better than me but I'll give it a go. In the first place if I've got the basic theory right there's a unity of space and time and the idea of a time separate from space doesn't exist. Space--time is also curved (whatever that means) but I think in some theories it's curved like a Mobius strip is curved. Basically I don't like the idea of seeing into the future though sometimes I'm afraid I do (like all of us do). If you've got beliefs (whether religious or antireligious ones) that certain things can or can't happen then whatever the evidence you won't believe. Parapsychology experiments have shown that it IS possible for a statistically significant degree of predictiveness about the future to be achieved. I've dreamed about lots of things that have happened but I don't make any claims for that. It's just a bit of a curse like PMT. (Sorry about the pun!) What interests me is that IF we CAN predict the future then does that mean that we've got no choice about it? Is what we do or say something over which we had no control and which would have happened no matter what we do? Just my few quidsworth. Sorry Lady Linda. I dislike causing offence but I don't think you have the faintest idea what you are talking about. Very many studies have been done on so-called parapsycholgy. Unsurprisingly they confirm the obvious: it's a load of bunkum. She didn't see this coming!
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Post by biglin on Mar 2, 2011 8:53:23 GMT -5
Sorry Lady Linda. I dislike causing offence but I don't think you have the faintest idea what you are talking about. Very many studies have been done on so-called parapsycholgy. Unsurprisingly they confirm the obvious: it's a load of bunkum. She didn't see this coming! I'm used to superstitious people denying facts that conflict with their own prejudices. Right, here's a brief comment. 1 The statistical requirements that parapsychologists use to claim a statistically significant result are HIGHER than those needed for 'mainstream' scientific experiments. 2 Psychokinesis, remote viewing, clairvoyance, telepathy and precognition HAVE been demonstrated again and again under controlled conditions in scientific laboratories. 3 Intelligence agencies, particularly the CIA and KGB, made extensive use of parapsychology over the years. I can't helo it if people prefer their comforting superstitious beliefs to the uncomfortable facts!
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Post by fretslider on Mar 2, 2011 9:04:19 GMT -5
She didn't see this coming! I'm used to superstitious people denying facts that conflict with their own prejudices. Right, here's a brief comment. 1 The statistical requirements that parapsychologists use to claim a statistically significant result are HIGHER than those needed for 'mainstream' scientific experiments. 2 Psychokinesis, remote viewing, clairvoyance, telepathy and precognition HAVE been demonstrated again and again under controlled conditions in scientific laboratories. 3 Intelligence agencies, particularly the CIA and KGB, made extensive use of parapsychology over the years. I can't helo it if people prefer their comforting superstitious beliefs to the uncomfortable facts! Really! 1) So what confidence interval do they use? 2) That's a matter of debate. 3) We all know the crackpot ideas the CIA has used over the years. So tell me the the answer to 1, that is of interest Oh and by the way, I'm not superstitious in the slightest.
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