Maybe psychics aren't frauds after all

[Daredevilpwn]

There is a reason why some psychics can give us a false predictions. First you must realize that the future is not set in stone and is always changing based of all of our actions in the present. This means that there are infinitely many possible futures. What a psychic sees is only ONE out of the many possible outcomes that might happen. If you believe in alternate realities then perhaps that outcome that was predicted by a psychic but did not occur here might have occurred in an alternate reality. Basically what I am saying is that a psychic that makes a false prediction might not be a fraud. What they have seen is one possibility out of infinitely many outcomes. This is just my theory on it guys. I am not saying this is how it is. Let me know what you think.

[Lion]

This is a pretty common theory from what I've heard, but by that reasoning wouldn't you just get a better bang for your buck by just guessing yourself? If a physic does see one of infinite possible futures then you have the same consistency with simply guessing a future.

[EbbTide000]

It's figured a human dreams for about 100+ minutes in an 8 hour sleep. Most of those dozen or so dreams are never remembered. A skeptic scientist kept a dream journal religiously for 30+ years and discovered 10% of his remembered dreams were precognitive. I think we are all psychic in our dreams. But in the past folk who discovered this and thencame out-of-the-closet, had people running to them for answers. The poor inocent (so called) psychic is made to perform. Soon, the get performance anxiety. They wonder why they are suddenly "always wrong". Some of them give-up others begin depending on Tarot cards or astrology or tea-leaves or looking at lines in hands. All of which is ... well you can show the seeker exactly where the reading is comming from and prove that it is not them (the reader) being psychic. The seeker can learn the meanings of each tarot card, tea leaf symbol or line in the palm of the hand from books. But It is now "panning out" by those who religiously keep dream journals, that 1 in 10 dreams is precognitive. Dale Graff and Dr Robert Van de Castle (85 this November) and Edk can guide folk to harness this and other power's of dreaming.

[Daredevilpwn]

Yeah that makes perfect sense! What you just said pretty much applies to everyone. If you are afraid of doing something in front of a bunch of people you will most likely do worse than you normally do.

[Mzzkc]

There is a reason why some psychics can give us a false predictions. First you must realize that the future is not set in stone and is always changing based of all of our actions in the present. This means that there are infinitely many possible futures. What a psychic sees is only ONE out of the many possible outcomes that might happen. If you believe in alternate realities then perhaps that outcome that was predicted by a psychic but did not occur here might have occurred in an alternate reality. Basically what I am saying is that a psychic that makes a false prediction might not be a fraud. What they have seen is one possibility out of infinitely many outcomes. This is just my theory on it guys. I am not saying this is how it is. Let me know what you think. If, after assuming your statements are true, we do the (bastardized) math: Predicted Universe := P := 1 Possible Universes := U := ∞ (for the sake of simplicity) Assume uniform probability for each universe occurring. Probability of Accurate Psychic Prediction := P/U := lim as U -> ∞ P/U := 0 Therefore, we can safely say, given your theory, the likelihood of a Psychic's prediction coming true are exactly 0% Good job.

[Jookia]

Maybe they're frauds because they can't tell the future and just lie?

[Daredevilpwn]

If, after assuming your statements are true, we do the (bastardized) math: Predicted Universe := P := 1 Possible Universes := U := ∞ (for the sake of simplicity) Assume uniform probability for each universe occurring. Probability of Accurate Psychic Prediction := P/U := lim as U -> ∞ P/U := 0 Therefore, we can safely say, given your theory, the likelihood of a Psychic's prediction coming true are exactly 0% Good job. Thank you so much for the compliment man. I really appreciate it. By the way I got to say that is some REALLY good math you did. But I don't see what was the point of even doing it all if it will just equal zero...ah whatever I am not gonna fry my brains figuring it out.

[Mzzkc]

Thank you so much for the compliment man. I really appreciate it. By the way I got to say that is some REALLY good math you did. But I don't see what was the point of even doing it all if it will just equal zero...ah whatever I am not gonna fry my brains figuring it out. I was just showing in simple, recognizable terms (I avoided real notation, statistics [what a nightmare that would be], set theory, and just stuck with basic calculus concepts and elementary probability), that if you what you say is true, the math points to Psychic's never making correct predictions. This is because when you figure out your event space for a "hit", given infinite universes, you're looking at 1 correct universe in ∞ universes. The probability of that event space can be represented as 1/∞ which evaluates to 0 when you make use of limits. Super basic stuff. Just giving you props for assisting in a mathematical "proof" for the uselessness of psychic predictions under the criteria you've laid out. Edit: Even if you argue "Hey, what if the prediction holds true in multiple universes?" we can expand that event space to as large a number you want and get the same results. A tad more formally this time. Given: N := ∞ U = {u.1 ... u.N} P = {p | p ∈ U} P ⊂ U ; and thus P is finite We find: Total Space = U Event Space, X = {P ∩ U} = P Pr(X) = X/U = P/U eval(P/U) = lim U -> ∞ of P / U = 0

[Daredevilpwn]

I was just showing in simple, recognizable terms (I avoided real notation, statistics [what a nightmare that would be], set theory, and just stuck with basic calculus concepts and elementary probability), that if you what you say is true, the math points to Psychic's never making correct predictions. This is because when you figure out your event space for a "hit", given infinite universes, you're looking at 1 correct universe in ∞ universes. The probability of that event space can be represented as 1/∞ which evaluates to 0 when you make use of limits. Super basic stuff. Just giving you props for assisting in a mathematical "proof" for the uselessness of psychic predictions under the criteria you've laid out. Edit: Even if you argue "Hey, what if the prediction holds true in multiple universes?" we can expand that event space to as large a number you want and get the same results. A tad more formally this time. Given: N := ∞ U = {u.1 ... u.N} P = {p | p ∈ U} P ⊂ U ; and thus P is finite We find: Total Space = U Event Space, X = {P ∩ U} = P Pr(X) = X/U = P/U eval(P/U) = lim U -> ∞ of P / U = 0 Thanks. Listen. I know my theory isn't perfect and I just thought that perhaps time should also be into the equation. How far a psychic predicts into the future would affect the probability of it happening here. So my guess is that a prediction of a special event to come in a span of 3 years would be more accurate than a prediction of something happening in 20 years. Because in those twenty years humanity has plenty of time to change what they are doing in that 20 yr span to cause whatever the event the psychic predicted to be averted rather than in those 3 years the chances of the event happening is increased because of less time for humanity to change their path. What do you think of that? I can tell you are kinda interested in this too. And its OK if you don't agree with my theory. Feel free to share your own theory if you have one.

[Mzzkc]

If in 3 years, the number of possible divergent universes is still infinite, the math is the same. That's just how things play out when one throws infinity into the mix. Even if I explicitly accounted for varying probability across the set of possible hits (which would be annoyingly difficult), the fact that there are an infinite number of universes and the possible hits are a finite subset of those universes means the chance of a successful prediction is 0 (which is why I didn't bother). It's the same problem as spinning a spinner and trying to predict the exact point it will land on. Since there are an infinite number of possible points, and it can only land on one, the probability of such an event occurring is 0. This is why, when you're dealing with predictions and probability, you have to break things down into something discrete. tl;dr Predictions, probability, and infinity don't play nice together. I can tell you are kinda interested in this too. And its OK if you don't agree with my theory. Feel free to share your own theory if you have one. I think your theory is pretty decent, actually. It helps explain exactly why psychic predictions shouldn't be relied on. Of course, your theory relies on several assumptions and other theories which haven't yet been proven. But, hey, it's a theory. I was just exploring it through logic and mathematics, 'cause I thought it was pretty cool.

[Daredevilpwn]

You got a good point. Thanks for pointing that out. What you say does make sense to me. Thanks for taking the time replying to me.

[Mzzkc]

No problem, man. Keep up the thoughtful pondering. ^.^

[Mr18111]

I was just showing in simple, recognizable terms (I avoided real notation, statistics [what a nightmare that would be], set theory, and just stuck with basic calculus concepts and elementary probability), that if you what you say is true, the math points to Psychic's never making correct predictions. This is because when you figure out your event space for a "hit", given infinite universes, you're looking at 1 correct universe in ∞ universes. The probability of that event space can be represented as 1/∞ which evaluates to 0 when you make use of limits. Super basic stuff. Just giving you props for assisting in a mathematical "proof" for the uselessness of psychic predictions under the criteria you've laid out. Edit: Even if you argue "Hey, what if the prediction holds true in multiple universes?" we can expand that event space to as large a number you want and get the same results. A tad more formally this time. Given: N := ∞ U = {u.1 ... u.N} P = {p | p ∈ U} P ⊂ U ; and thus P is finite We find: Total Space = U Event Space, X = {P ∩ U} = P Pr(X) = X/U = P/U eval(P/U) = lim U -> ∞ of P / U = 0 Did I just see good ole set builder notation?

[Mzzkc]

Maybe. >.> It's not 100% correct, but the idea is there.