Some Interesting Predictions and a Possible Death Sentence

February 26, 2019 2:04 PM

Tales of the Premonitions Bureau. Sam Knight tells the story of a British psychiatrist's attempt to scientifically explore precognition. (SLNewYorker)
posted by doctornemo (12 comments total)

Is this a dupe?
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:30 PM on February 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

I searched and didn't find anything. The URL wasn't flagged by the system.
posted by doctornemo at 4:18 PM on February 26, 2019

That was a joke.
posted by books for weapons at 4:41 PM on February 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

(D'oh!)
posted by doctornemo at 4:46 PM on February 26, 2019

The linked story was published online on Monday, New York time. It's unlikely that it is a dupe.

I sort of cringed when I came across it today in the (digital) magazine, but then I remembered all of the fascinating woo stories in Omni, and in other early-in-my-life reading material, and thought, huh, ok, let's take a look!

From a technical perspective, that is, looking with a critical eye at how the author uses English to write about the topic, it was fascinating, because nowhere is it asserted that precognition is real, and additionally, that is not what the piece is about. Anyway, I enjoyed it, and thought it did effectively convey some of the atmosphere of those old woooo magazine pieces. I would be curious to compare those works to this.
posted by mwhybark at 4:48 PM on February 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

My sister and I were discussing how the name Bob is kind of funny. The next day, I was involved in a car collision. The name of the towing company that towed my car? Bob's Towing.

Sometimes coincidences can be eerie.
posted by dazed_one at 5:08 PM on February 26, 2019

Mae Brussell supposedly predicted RFK's assassination:

On May 29, 1968 Mae confronted Rose Kennedy at the Monterey Peninsula Airport and handed her what she said was a poem, but actually a note telling her Robert Kennedy would soon be assassinated. A week later Senator Kennedy was shot to death at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

And she made an interesting 'prediction' about the Reagan administration:

Mae spent much of her March 29, 1981 evening broadcast listing reasons she believed the Reagan White House were at war with one another and asked who will kill off their team members first. The following morning President Reagan was shot in Washington D.C.

posted by jamjam at 5:12 PM on February 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

That was a joke.

Should’ve seen that coming.
posted by Celsius1414 at 6:39 PM on February 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

Is this a dupe?

Yes. It will be reposted in 2 years, 3 months, and 1 day.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:09 PM on February 26, 2019 [6 favorites]

The story was interesting, in the way New Yorker stories typically are, but it was somehow unsatisfying. I mean, it raises questions but doesn't (or can't) answer them. So, yeah, here's this guy who studied woo... and then what? (Not much)
posted by sjswitzer at 7:17 PM on February 26, 2019

The cartoons are surprisingly uniformly lame. almost a parody of New Yorker cartoons. Intentional?
posted by sammyo at 9:15 PM on February 26, 2019

It's unlikely that it is a dupe. - posted by mwhybark

Perhaps it's just up the wrong tree?
posted by fairmettle at 2:29 AM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]