a reply to:
TerryDon79
In my life, I've delved into some pretty interesting circles and ended up meeting some folks I'd call legit "prophets." Their predictions were
bafflingly accurate.. Including experiences/visions of my own.
And in those same groups, I ran into
countless charlatans.
The interesting, and seemingly consistent difference, is that the legit ones
never defended or argued their accuracy. There was never any room
to question it, and frequently, they simply didn't want to be right about what they predicted. There was usually a balance to the predicted events as
well, and they were almost always the first to question themselves about it.
Come to think of it, the charlatans were the only ones to really advertise things as well.. but the important part I discovered is that they believed
in their "gift"
more than the legitimate ones. The vast majority of the time, it wasn't intentional deception. So, maybe in that respect,
charlatan may not even be the right word.
Honestly, I think its a really, really interesting topic and have my own ideas on the why and how of it. But its also one that is so inundated with
snake oil that its a fools errand, even for a mongoose (I know because I've been there).
Anyway, I say just let AoL have his "fun." Honestly, I like reading in the narrative of an op ed. More like informed guesses based on scouring news
sites. In that respect, and maybe I'm just strange in this, its really interesting to see what people think is going to happen "tomorrow" based on
what they know today. Its a rarity for folks to put themselves out there to be "wrong."
AoL, I think you might find a much more receptive audience if it wasn't framed as prophecy, then vehemently defended after the fact.
Realistically, people nowadays don't even like to put themselves out there on what they think is going to happen in general. The fear of being wrong
runs deeper than ever. So, I've grown to enjoy seeing what people think is going to happen, regardless of accuracy.
And.. you know.. don't be so violently opposed to being wrong. It does indeed happen to the best of us