Last night on Coast to Coast, George Ure and "Cliff" were guests who use a proprietary web bot technology. They study language patterns in Internet discussions to forecast indicators for future events.
I find this process intriguing. Basically the premise is that the Internet forms a reflection of global consciousness. Since the advent of the Internet, I have been forecasting that the Internet is the formative stage of a true global consciousness that may eventually become self-aware. So I am fascinated to see the possibility that this infant consciousness may also be psychic. At the same time, this type of forecasting has the same limits as any form of psychic ability. George and Cliff admit that they tend to focus on negative keywords, as they have the strongest emotional impact. As a result, so most of the forecasts are negative and frightening. They also admit that at times what they pick up has more to do with global fears than actual outcomes. And they admit that sometimes the pattern only becomes clear after the event.
Some of their forecasts:
The US dollar could collapse.
The International Space Station may have to be abandoned.
Millions of people could be scattered in a "diaspora" by a severe weather event around the end of September 2007.
During the first three months of 2008 there could be a pandemic, possibly the bird flu.
In Fall 2007, they see some kind of fungus that will impact crops and human health.
Three earthquakes could occur in California sometime between September to December 2007. A prominent wedding may be disrupted.
They believe that Greenland's glacier will melt, causing a global coastal catastrophe within the next five years. Millions of people will be killed in a huge tidal wave.
I am a tad ambivalent about this particular set of forecasts, even though they are heavily disclaimered as "For Entertainment Value Only". These two fellows are selling a newsletter based entirely on fear-based values. I can see the demand for this, it's canny marketing. Fear sells. I just wonder if that is the best use of their talents and technology. I would love to see the same process applied to some positive values as well.
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I think you've summed this up nicely! It seemed to me that their awareness that they were focusing on fears might be somehow put to better use too, even if they decided to not focus on positive keywords. (It seems relatively easy to see what major fears are in the general populace! Why just stop there?) But anyway, yes - entertainment purposes only. ;-)
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