Explain this, you empiricists

[Bozo Erectus]

Ive been debating whether to bring this up, because its the sort of thing that automatically gets people labelled a nutcase. But what the hell, I AM a nutcase Ok here it is:

I dreamt repeatedly about their being a blackout. I wake up. A short time later, Im discussing it with someone, and specifically say, "Well, lets see if the lights go out." A few minutes later, theres a major brownout, and parts of the area locally are left without power for a number of minutes. Me and this person looked at each other, and he said that Im a 'Brujo' (warlock)

So whats the 'logical' explanation?

 

[Riffraff]

coincidence ?

 

[Brighteye]

Coincidence
what's a brownout?

 

[Sidhe]

Coincidence, it is likely that if you consider the number of dreams you have in your life that sooner or later you will dream about something that actually happens, in fact it's likely to happen on several occasions, assuming you live to a ripe old age, if it starts happening regularly though contact James Randi and claim his million dollar prize, and PM me for my email, I want to know who's going to win the Grand national next year, and the league, oh and what are the winning lottery numbers for next week?

Anyway, simple experiment, when you wake up write down any dreams you have that might correlate with the real world. Then see how many come true, I suspect you'll get bored after a while though.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

coincidence ?

To me, the word coincidence is shorthand for "I dont know, but I dont care to pursue the matter" Which leaves us right where we started from.

brownout= Lights flickering and mometarily going out.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Anyway, simple experiment, when you wake up write down any dreams you have that might correlate with the real world. Then see how many come true, I suspect you'll get bored after a while though.

I never seem to remember my dreams. Ever. I remember having them, but I couldn't tell you what they were about.

 

[thetrooper]

I dreamt repeatedly about their being a blackout.

The first signs of

Spoiler :

burnout. Calm down Bozo!

 

[Riffraff]

To me, the word coincidence is shorthand for "I dont know, but I dont care to pursue the matter" Which leaves us right where we started from.

That's not true at all. In this case coincidence means that by "chance" (surely a very slim one, but any chance > 0 happens if you just wait long enough) two disjoint events happened in such a small time frame that you put a causal connection between the two.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

My theory about this sort of thing is that, since time is basically an illusion, maybe somewhere deep in the bowels and interstices of our Quantum minds, its occasionally possible for the illusion of the seperateness of past, present and future to be momentarily suspended.

 

[Grisu]

are brownouts common around where you live?

 

[PrinceOfLeigh]

My theory about this sort of thing is that, since time is basically an illusion, maybe somewhere deep in the bowels and interstices of our Quantum minds, its occasionally possible for the illusion of the seperateness of past, present and future to be momentarily suspended.

I hope so, that means the fun time I had with Michelle Rodriguez wasn't just a dream after all.

 

[Elrohir]

Maybe you subconsciously heard about possible brownouts in your area before going to sleep, and so you dreamt of them, and then the power outage that you heard about came to pass, as expected? That would seem to me to be the most likely explanation.

 

[C~G]

are brownouts common around where you live?

Of course they are, he lives in New Jersey.

Anyway, what I might recommend you Bozo is read about psychological concept called Synchronicity, you should find it under Jung.

But I think your case is just simple coincidence or if you pursue the matter to the end something that could be called apophenia.

Don't worry when I have been tired or otherwise "on the edge" I have had similar feelings about many things.
Feeling that everything is somehow interconnected, mystically weaved together, part of my path that I must travel to find my destiny.

 

[skadistic]

The human mind can process astonishing amounts of data. Durring sleep the brain can do even more because its not busy with doing other things like walking or seeing. Now durring sleep your brain calculated a variety of posible outcomes for givin senerios. Judging on weather, past out comes, and other factors you brain came to the conclusion that a brown out is likely. And it was right. How many other dreams did you have that night that didn't come to fuition? Its a crap shoot based on variables.

Nothing to see here move along.

 

[CaveDweller]

My theory about this sort of thing is that, since time is basically an illusion, maybe somewhere deep in the bowels and interstices of our Quantum minds, its occasionally possible for the illusion of the seperateness of past, present and future to be momentarily suspended.

Definitely this or possums.

 

[Masquerouge]

So just because once you dreamed of something that actually happened, this is weird? And what do you mean by repeatedly? Was it like every week, until it finally happened (in which case you'll realize that there's not much to discuss), or was it several times in the same night (which happens a lot)?
Given that 6 billions people dream every night, I would say I would be more suprised if not a single one of them dreamt about something that's going to happen.

 

[warpus]

I had an even crazier dream a couple years ago.

I had a VERY vivid dream, bordering on the lucid, that the space shuttle blew up. I was standing on top of one of the skyscrapers on the edge of Central Park in New York, and for some reason there was a Space Shuttle launch going on in the middle of the park. The Space Shuttle took off, but something went wrong. There was an explosion, and it started flying sideways. It hit one of the skyscrapers. There were more explosions. There's fire everywhere, things exploding, people screaming & running, skyscrapers collapsing. I was freaking out.

Next thing I know the picture slowly starts panning out, like in a movie. It continues to pan out and at this point I'm no longer standing on the skyscraper.. I am in the sky.. or something.. looking at the whole disaster from up top. But THEN, my point of view goes out and out and out.. and onto a couch! And I'm watching the disaster on TV, with my family. "Space Shuttle disaster", the headline reads. It was all so incredibly vivid & emotional, I can't even describe it.

This was by far the most vivid dream I've ever had, even more vivid than all the lucid dreams I've had in the past. As soon as I woke up I ran to my computer and typed the whole thing out, and sent it out to my friends. I had to tell everyone about it.. it was just so incredibly vivid & emotional. It touched me.

I had this dream on the night of January 29, 2003. (or it could perhaps have been the 30th)

1 or 2 days later, February 1st, 2003.. The phone wakes me up.. I don't get it in time.. I get up, go to the bathroom.. get on my computer.. and have like 20+ messages.. WTH.. Phone rings again.. Friend tells me to turn on CNN.. I do.. and what do I see?? Space Shuttle Columbia just blew up.

All my friends on msn/icq/irc are calling me a prophet. .. I'm just freaked out.

 

[PrinceOfLeigh]

@ warpus:

That sounds like a damned good movie.

All my friends on msn/icq/irc are calling me a prophet. .. I'm just freaked out.

That's the difference between the US and Europe. There you get called a prophet. Here you'd have been a fortune telling gypo and forced out of town.

 

[Rossiya]

I don't believe in coincidences. Everything happens for a reason. It happened for a reason, perhaps not apparent as yet.

 

[GinandTonic]

The human mind can process astonishing amounts of data. Durring sleep the brain can do even more because its not busy with doing other things like walking or seeing. Now durring sleep your brain calculated a variety of posible outcomes for givin senerios. Judging on weather, past out comes, and other factors you brain came to the conclusion that a brown out is likely. And it was right. How many other dreams did you have that night that didn't come to fuition? Its a crap shoot based on variables.

Nothing to see here move along.

I concur, much of the human mind is dedicated to limiting the amount of data we become aware of to a managable quantity. Sometimes a dream or hunch is just your unconscious flagging to the consious discarded info or conclusions drawn from such info.

That or apophenia anyway.