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Sunday, October 28, 2007

The Oh-Man


I'm not sure whether I believe in omens or not. Oh sure, some things you can predict using common sense. Like rain for instance. Dark, ominous clouds are an omen that you should take your umbrella. But I try not to read too much into other things.

My mother told me I was born face up. Apparently the normal way to be born is facing down. If you are born face up, you run the risk of drowning in amniotic fluids (or so my mother told me). I think I was born face up because I wanted to see where I was headed instead of where I'd been.

This is not to say I'd want to know exactly what the future holds. That would be like knowing exactly what each of your Christmas presents was. What would be the fun in that. Though my father had this nasty habit of giving me pretty clear hints as to what my present was each year (i.e."Oh we got you a toy camera" when they had got me a Polaroid Swinger camera or "Oh we got you a toy television" when I got a portable black and white television).

Anticipation is a great motivator in life. In my mind, knowing the outcome would be a major buzz kill.

I wouldn't mind hints about what is going to happen (maybe not as blatant as the ones my father gave me about presents). It would be nice getting an idea of what not to do before you blundered into it.

This being said, I don't believe in psychic ability per se. I believe in intuition. But I have no faith in people who do readings for money. Just last week we were at Seattle Center with my brother-in-law's family visiting the Children's Museum (Seattle Center is the site of the 1962 World's Fair). He stepped out for a cigarette and came back in saying some odd woman approached him, stared into his eyes and declared, "You work for the City of Seattle, don't you? Where is the psychic fair being held today?"

Okay, my brother-in-law isn't from Seattle and doesn't work for the City of Seattle. And if this woman was a psychic, why couldn't she "see" where it was being held? It's like that old joke about you not needing an appointment to see a psychic. They should know you are coming.

I think the ability to predict really comes from experience (as long as you have a good memory). Because one thing I've learned in life is that human behaviour is pretty darned predictable. This becomes readily apparent each year around election time. Campaign commercials are full of claims about what the candidate or initiative will do or wont' do. Then newspapers uncover revelations that both sides packed their commercials with lies. And each year people are shocked. Finally, after the election the winners ignore what they promised and the losers disappear into oblvion.

Now that's a predictable prediction.

9 comments:

Whitesnake said...

I forsee you winning lotto. So you go out and but lotto tickets and win $10.
See ya won lotto just like I said.

Time said...

A predictable response

Karen said...

One of my daughters was born feet first and she is always jumping into situations without thinking about it before she leaps. I wonder if I should have seen that one coming.

Time said...

Gypsy,
I'm sure she is an old sole, then :)

Lights in the wake said...

I knew you were going to write about psychics.

However, your brother in law was hanging out with you that day. You do work for the gubmint. Maybe she was getting a false read because of your proximity to him.

It's also possible that there was a psychic fair being held that day. How would you know? It's not like you're psychic or anything.

Last thought: It's too bad that babies are born predominantly face down. If it were an even split then we could use births to determine who gets the ball at the beginning of football games.

Time said...

Lights,
Glad to see that crack use isn't just a Seattle problem :)

Hayden said...

humm, never thought about it, but I'm willing to predict that intuition is more about what your brain has stored in it that you DON'T remember. Lots and lots of tiny details that you can "pick up on" without having a clue what you've just noticed that tipped you off.

R. said...

Define psychic.

Technical Remote Viewing alleges an 80% hit rate for a successful team. However, one of the claims of TRV's progenitors is that TRV is not a "psychic" ability but rather a trained skill.

Time said...

Hayden,
I agree. It is like a computer pulling together bits and pieces in the background to give you an answer you didn't know you had.

R.
Proof is always in the pudding.Which, if true, would make Bill Cosby the greatest psychic of all time. Hey, hey, hey...