• Benj96
    2.3k
    Time though seemingly linear can only ever be frequential in measure. Everything we use to measure it is a cycle - the clock face, the standardised second (frequency of quartz vibration/piezoelectric effect), day and night, the seasons, orbits.

    Even our biology and nature is based on a these rhythms; heartbeats, breathes, circadian rhythm, the carbon, water and nitrogen cycle, tides, replication - the great merry-go-round of life. Everything seems to be a complex interaction of multiple overlapping oscillations.

    Historians have noted the consistent swing of the pendulum from liberalism to conservatism and back, the boom to bust to boom of the economy, pandemics floating to the forefront roughly every 100 years or so, war and the periods of peace that interject between them...

    So when it comes to prediction and the idea of prophecy, it seems not so imposible when founded on a basis of frequency, not as intangible and make believe as we would like to think... for a circle that can identify its own arc can see the end and beginning and the path between.

    To understand the past, to appreciate the whole dynamic should then, in theory, grant one some rough sense of things to come.

    We often experience some strange deja vu in life, the happenstance of certain coincidences, the deep innate intuition and instinct that somehow in a moment on some subliminal level gives us a feeling or impression of what will happen next. If the brains circuitry is built on a framework of this same oscillation maybe one can remove many of the uncertainties, maybe there is a way the mind can be trained to track some or many of these rotations and perhaps some are gifted enough to effectively predict “the big picture”.

    I had a dream last night (well more of a nightmare) and the crux of my fears were realised in full this morning in shocking parallel. It he dream was random and unprovoked, strangely detailed, and related to something distant in the past and yet today of all days it comes to fruition. It makes one wonder about the simulating ability of the mind. How well can one calculate? Can permutations really be reduced to a clear path before that path is tread upon?

    The coincidence of these rare events naturally sends a chill down the spine because whether it is simply that - coincidence, or something more, it’s impact on ones life can significant.

    What I’m saying is that perhaps predictions and forecasts of the psychological kind could be just as those for the weather are, not so much mysticism but rather something founded in logic and reason about how time progresses. And it is simply our lack of a deep understanding of them that makes it appear magical.

    Thoughts?
  • Jack Cummins
    5.3k

    I think that one idea of relevance to this is Jung's idea of synchronicity, which he developed in response to his own premonitions. However, he does suggest that it is about seeing patterns in things rather than about causality outrightly. But, some other thinkers have developed this idea a little differently, as for example, Deepak Chopra in, 'Synchrodestiny'. It is a question of whether what happens in life is mere chance?

    Personally, I have wondered about this issue a lot because I had a number of really horrible premonitions as a teenager, especially of people dying and, then they died shortly after. This included my headmaster and several other people I only knew by sight. In one instance, I remember being in the school library and seeing a boy whose name I didn't know and the thought coming through my head, 'he has not got as many problems as me but his dad is going to die.' About a week later, I found out that his father really had died. My various experiences almost made me become unwell mentally because I began to wonder if it was my fault that the people were dying. But, fortunately, I found Jung's autobiography and read about his struggle to understand his premonitions. I have experienced some strange premonitions in adulthood but not to the extent as I did during adolescence.

    As for coincidence, personally, I am not convinced that anything in life is pure chance. Of course, it all comes down to a question of meanings but I think that meaning is so central to life that it affects what becomes manifest in the events within our lives.
  • Tom Storm
    9k
    We often experience some strange deja vu in life, the happenstance of certain coincidences, the deep innate intuition and instinct that somehow in a moment on some subliminal level gives us a feeling or impression of what will happen next.Benj96

    In 50 years I haven't had that experience myself, but I have occasionally observed the odd coincidence. I see no good reason to make any more of it.

    Historians have noted the consistent swing of the pendulum from liberalism to conservatism and back, the boom to bust to boom of the economy, pandemics floating to the forefront roughly every 100 years or so, war and the periods of peace that interject between them...Benj96

    I'm not sure this means much or leads us anywhere. There are only so many plays possible in human life, so it's not hard to see that some elements will repeat at some level. I suspect it's also a superficial reading of events. For instance, the current pandemic is quite different to the 1919 version. Economic cycles vary a lot in their specificity. Political events often share themes but are dissimilar.

    Human beings are meaning making, pattern recognising creatures. We have a mania for seeing signs and assuming that events are significant or connected or personal when they are mere events.
  • baker
    5.6k
    What I’m saying is that perhaps predictions and forecasts of the psychological kind could be just as those for the weather are, not so much mysticism but rather something founded in logic and reason about how time progresses.Benj96

    Much of a person's mental and physical behavior is habitual, ie. regular, repeated. So it's no surprise that there is a measure of predictability to it.
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    If you're so enamored by the idea of time and predictions, my advice to you would be to go astronomical, the modern incarnation of astrology which I hear was popular back when kings and emperors needed to know the right time to begin/stop their campaigns.

    Suppose there are cycles like you seem to believe there are. You'd need to pay attention to the period of these cycles. We have cicadas where I live, the annual kind and not those that swarm every 17 years. Their usual rhythm is to emerge around mid-September and announce the coming winter. However, I noticed that sometime, especially when we experience a cold spell for a few weeks, the cicadas come out in mid-August, a whole month ahead.

    The explanation: The cicadas don't actually have a biological clock that keeps time. What's actually happening is they sense the temperature - when it drops, they take to the trees. What I'm getting at is, time ain't it! Temporal cycles are illusions created by the fact that natural conditions for some event to occur is itself cyclical. Reproduce these natural conditions at odd times and the rhythm vanishes. You get the idea.
bold
italic
underline
strike
code
quote
ulist
image
url
mention
reveal
youtube
tweet
Add a Comment

Welcome to The Philosophy Forum!

Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.