It started with posts by George Ure at Urban Survival. George started posting about a webbot program that searched and interpreted what was happening on the Internet and what it said about where the collective “we” were going together, including the economy. I did not understand it, but if George thought it was useful, then there must be something there.
Then subscribers began e-mailing me about the subscription service at Half Past Human. They seemed intrigued, almost haunted. Finally, one said, “I really want you to read this and tell me what you think.” So I subscribed.
That is how I met Clif High. Clif is a software developer who worked for a large software company. He became intrigued with the possibilities of using software tools to read, aggregate and interpret large amounts of information and feelings communicated on the Internet. Part of his interest was the sense that humans are psychic. We have the power to anticipate actual events. If one can map and assess the intuitions of many, it will tell you something useful.
Given a multi-billion media industry that provides a false feedback loop, the hunger for intelligent feedback systems is ever rising. After all, no one is as smart as all of us.
On this Thursday evening’s Solari Report, in addition to covering current market events and your latest questions, I will be speaking with Clif about his efforts creating Half Past Human to understand the issues and concerns of those expressing them through the Internet. We will talk about what he does, how he does it and what he has learned.
A number of Clif’s recent reports describe some pretty dire possibilities regarding what could happen this summer and fall in terms of a falling dollar and the economy as well as ongoing issues with earth changes. So if you join us, be prepared to contemplate significant risk issues. Also, be prepared to look at the human situation on a highly integrated basis. Clif looks at global, national and local. He looks at food, markets, politics. He looks at what is happening to the earth as a result of changes and movements in our galaxy, what that means to agriculture and the behavior of our leadership and how that translates into impacts on our everyday existence. At Half Past Human, everything is connected to everything, which is indeed how the world really is.
Clif ended his final post in his last series this week, immediately before taking a break to regroup and attend to his own personal self-sufficiency. He signed off in a very special way:
“We part for a while with the traditional Mongolian greeting of Zaaaa….which as a sound is more meaningful to describe the feeling of earth when living on the wind swept plains of central asia, but also as a sound it captures the heart of the ‘communicative sigh’ that humans employ to provide emotions to contexts when words do not really fit. Feeling the cold winds blowing down from the mountain heights of universe as we each stand on our particular patch of planet earth, we all can know the truth that the Mongolian horsemen have known as long as the hooves have struck out across the cold dirt, “one either rides out to meet their destiny, or they are consumed by the stampede of fate”. Zaaaaaaa.”
If you are a subscriber to The Solari Report, you can post your questions at your private panel or feel free to also post them at this blog post. If you would like to learn more about The Solari Report and subscribe, click here.
Also see Money & Markets ~ Charts for this week’s Solari Report here.
For Clif or Catherine:
If the IMF succeeds in collapsing world currencies and institutes a global currency, what will that mean for gold/silver? How long before it would be possible for another currency to take over. Is anything already printed? What will the world look like in that case? What will it mean on the lower levels of society? What is your prognosis for the USA? If the USA collapses do you think we will then have terrorism from those we have taken advantage of? Is that what Catherines’ understated KARMA was last week?
Clif what do you imagine the world to be like in the next couple years? How are you preparing your own family and where do you think the safest spots will be? OK ok I’m a little selfish…What about military or FEMA camps and throwing people in jail for their free thoughts? Does that include us???
The Global Conciousness Project
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/
Fascinating stuff.
“HPH data is based in part on people emoting on the internet. Isn’t it the case that emotional content is often much more intense than what actually happens? This seems to be my experience from following you for many years. So maybe the very direst predictions are mainly a reflection of our collective panic.”
Thank you.
I would not recommend allowing any scientists in the Illuminist-funded university world to be the group of “brilliant” people who decide what MY future is going to look like– I firmly believe in Free Will. Besides, I have my own creativity and I do NOT need to be enticed, coerced, seduced or even forced, into “allowing” (handing over my power) anyone else to create my own (whose?) “conscious” future, and certainly not by using my emotional body to do so. Period.
This is interesting and support’s the fears outlined in Solari:
From Denninger… citing an Institutional Risk Analytics report:
“Foreign bond holders, like the government of China, have reportedly told the Obama Administration that further losses to debt holders of US banks will result in a boycott of US Treasury auctions.”
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/977-Squirrel-Finds-Nut-IRA.html
The Science of Social Engineering is dedicated to:
A. Planting sensors into society;
B. Taking measurements from those sensors;
C. Analyzing those measurements;
D. Applying the appropriate controls back into society through various actors and mediums.
This “Half Past Human Project” not only employs an “intriguing” brand name, but also is positioning itself to build the algorithms that are used to:
1. Process and analyze measurements taken from the Internet, which is just one big sensor;
2. Determine and apply the controls (inputs) back into society.
This is an incredibly powerful position, as the one who builds and controls the algorithms can interpret sensor data however they wish, and then apply society’s inputs in any which way they desire.
Take for example a military fighter aircraft. Modern jet fighter have enormous computing power, taking inputs from sensors all over the craft’s body and propulsion systems. The aircraft designers can radically change the aircraft’s capabilities by changing the computer programs (algorithms) that collect and analyze sensor inputs and then outputs various commands. So, just by changing computer programs the power applied to the aircraft can be changed when the pilot pushes on the throttle, or the turn radius, or the climb rate, or the ability to avoid radar, etc. The entire aircraft becomes largely under the control of software, even though humans are in “control” as pilots.This is exactly what is happening here, and what the “Half Past Human Project” is in-effect supporting. They’re project will allow social engineers better real time insight into human activity, behavior and thoughts, and better techniques of control for manipulating this behavior.
All and all, these are not the movements of a society heading toward greater freedom, but the efforts of a few to gain more leverage and greater granularity of control over the many. I’m quite surprised that this Project is being well received by this audience.
Bert:
You may find The Singularity is Near ( http://singularity.com/ ) by Ray Kurzweill of interest. IMO, pretty depressing, but useful if you are interested in the risks of communication and feedback systems being artificially controlled and manipulated,
Catherine
Kurzweill presents Singularity as a foregone conclusion, as if it is the only path we can travel and that we must venture down it, as if our destiny is organically created. If anyone here has any experience with networked systems, then one realizes that this path has been planned, guided and pushed by many forces. Network Centric Operations came out of the military, and it was well understood before it was deployed on the public.
I haven’t done the research yet, but I’d certainly like to know who are the “funders” behind the funders of this Half Past Human project.
Bert:
The whole project works on the Internet which was funded by the Department of Defense — like most other things in this country.
Catherine
Hey People,
Before you (Bert) make an asumption about Clif, & it is in the public now that it’s on the internet . I believe you should use SM-14, or the scientific method . Clif’s heart is good one . Do you sense with your past personality, or do you expand yourself with love, & other psychic abilities ?
Smile…..
Chris
Catherine and Solari,
Clif High blew my socks off. What a genius.
From turning his inability to read into what he has done - re mapping the physic storm!
And its just not mental - its going to be a physical storm.
I imagined the impact of the physical storm.
People going crazy as we go through the magnetic storm and approach
and go through what the Astrologer’s call “the Great Attractor,”
the Center of Earth’s Universe. The center of the “Milky Way.”
Oh Solari, what a gift you have given me today.
Clif High knit together so many of my divergent interests
of what the human race is going through into a coherent whole.
I think I’ll be digesting and assimilating what he said tonight
for the years to come.
God/dess bless you for finding this man and making him public.
Chris, please explain?
I think there is a loving, forgiving, protective force working for all of us in this universe because I have observed patterns in my life that I can’t explain otherwise. Bad things happen, or maybe I make bad decisions, but the Creator or some loving spirit always tries to fix it or make it up to me afterward. I am concerned about the fate of humanity and this planet. I have had numerous dreams about the end of the world or life as we have known it. One dream involved a nuclear holocaust initiated by the red Chinese, another was a rain on fireballs for which aliens were responsible, and another was about lines drawn in the ground that confined everyone in terror in small areas. A recent dream involved only myself: I was trying to drive home to my children because a storm was coming. As I crossed an open area of farm fields, I saw a wall of water approaching from my left. I stopped the car and ran to a delapitated building in the field seeking a safe place when the water hit. The water got to me first and lifted me off the ground. I was being carried away when suddenly a current pulled me under the rotting door of the old building I had run toward. I sat inside for what seemed an eternity, hearing the wind and water roar and tear at the building, fearing I was going to die. Then the sounds gave way to stillness and I saw thin beams of sunlight pouring in through the cracks in the walls. I cautiosly stepped outside and it was beautiful. The air was still and the bright sunshine made drops of water everywhere gleam like diamonds. I felt immensely grateful. My car had also survived and I got in it and continued on my way home. I don’t know what these dreams all may have to do with the economic survival of the world, but I thought I would tell about it and see if others have had similar experiences.
“They” do not have the power to enslave us, unless we give it to them. I agree with Fiddler….Free Will rules. but the hype about control by authority helps foster fear, which helps foster panic and inability to act.
Don’t forget, WE MIGHT LIKE THE CHANGES.
what we have now is not what we want.
I agree with you, Margret, there is just that chance that we might like the changes! Thanks for posting!
Catherine,
I respect you mightily, but this is veering off into the weeds of nutty New-Age woo-woo speculation and I think it undercuts your brilliant analysis of the current economic situation. I’d rather have your rigorous logic and ruthless clarity than this rank speculation.
Just my 2 cents….
JD
Is there a reading from Cliff High’s publications that anyone can recommend?
Thanks
Does Half Past Human read the morphic field of the entities who comprise the internet? (first question).
Recently I have seen an increase in the discussion of the concept of “clearing”, as in clearing oneself of spiritual negative energies as a way to regain “Consciousness”. Has Half Past Human picked up on this small trend?
Does the internet (and Half Past Human) have a heart?
I had a look at the Half Past Human website and came away feeling skeptical to say the least.
As I refuse to let a credit card own me - I cannot become a subscriber, therefore my comments are based only on the information HPH makes available for free.
1. Much is made of the concept of detecting shifts in consciousness, but the actual process is totally opaque.
2. They have created a flabby little esoteric language to describe the process complete with acronyms and buzzwords. This sets up a priest vs commoner relationship.
3. There are no examples of what is produced just hints as to the numbers of returning subscribers.
4. One must continue to subscribe to receive future installments.
5. An argument is used that the information produced must be kept away from general release or it will taint the environment. Very convenient for who?
My intuition makes me think this is a cross between the Emperor’s New Snakeskin Clothes, and a piss-take, not that this will stop the devotees singing praises and shelling out their discretionary spending.
Catherine - I can’t make the connection between Half Past Human, Kurzweil and Teilhard de Chardin (originator of the noosphere concept) apart from that they are all probably completely wrong.
Half past Human is not rocket science. As we are coming to understand that we all individually create our own reality and that there is a time lag in a word [an expression of a thought] becoming a potential physical manifestation [depending on its emotional strength], a surveillance system such as HPH simply tracks aspects of the collective consciousness as expressed on internet posts, compartmentalizes them as trends, which ,if strong enough, eventually become physical reality.
Clif does a lot of free interviews and typically says, if you don’t want to subscribe to his reports then just listen to him on the interviews as he will tell you the important points from the reports anyway.
Some of those free interviews can be found at http://www.journeyswithrebecca.com/archives_09.html and he is frequently at rense.com. Another recent interview is at http://media.light-seeds.com/
Unlike other trend forecasters, Clif clearly provides dates/timeframes (ala Oct 7 2008) and what he expects will occur during that timeframe so unlike Nostradamus, you can either say he was right or wrong. Very rare in this date and age.
The economic collapse and earth changes and new age woo woo are all tied together. From Clif’s work it looks like sooner rather than later everyone will discover this during what he terms as the year of transformation.
Weather affects food production which affects food prices. Suppression of free energy affects society. Rising sea levels affects people causing diaspora causing immigration and again economic issues. Increasing magnetic fields cause cognitive dissonance (craziness) and mixed with massive unemployment causes violence and revolution. They are all interconnected.
Again Clif and George Ure live what they preach, living rural, building a boat for the global coastal events or possible pole shift, setting up their own gardens and farms (goats!) and researching into the new electrics.
Give Clif the benefit of the doubt and listen to what he has to say and then see whether they come true? Doomsday preacher? I don’t think so. I feel it is always better to know what is coming so you can prepare as much as you can mentality, physically and spiritually.
Would I really want to know the date of my death? Yes!
- Maybe if I did the remaining years of my life would be lived to the fullest.
Thanks Catherine for bringing Clif on the show.
I was impressed that Cliff picked up in July 2001 an expected monetary disaster that turned out to be 90 days early.
I recently read much of: The shadow factory : the ultra-secret NSA from 9/11 to the eavesdropping on America by James Bamford. I think the book indicated recording Ben Laden’s directive to react in July to a mid east meeting and hit the trade center before the full plan could be implemented. The book seems to indicate that the state side contact did not follow Ben Ladens directive and waited to conduct the full plan.
As I said in a previous post, I believe that:
1. HPH has “something” there:
A psychological experiment was made at a big university (unfortunately, can’t recall the exact source — you’ll have to trust me on this), where they had people sitting in front of a screen, where a slideshow was shown with gaps between the slides. Some slides were happy or neutral, some slides were disturbing. The experimenters were hooked to a device that measured the electrical current of their body. Anytime there was a disturbing slide *coming up*, the electrical level of the experimenter shot up. So yes, I think we can feel “something’s coming”.
2.) the data collected by HPH is amplified/distorted by our human emotions:
See how, for example, people can skew data when blogging about the “swine flu”:
“Some observers say Twitter — a micro-blogging site where users post 140-character messages — has become a hotbed of unnecessary hype and misinformation about the outbreak, which is thought to have claimed more than 100 lives in Mexico.” (cnn.com)
So I would definitely look at the reports, but keeping in mind that things will not be so bad. And who knows? Maybe we will like the change, as Margret said.
Thanks XXANCROFT for a being a voice for intelligent analysis and skepticism.
I see NO clear explanation of the process of how this is all supposed to work. Just what is the operating theory of how these predictions are gathered? Can anyone see inside the “black box” of how these guys present things?
What is their actual, MEASURABLE track record for their predictions?
These are fair questions, deserving of scientific/empirical answers.
It amazes me that Catherine quite RIGHTLY advises skepticism of any investment “opportunities” that are presented by big banks, investment houses, etc.
But why can’t that same skepticism be applied to these alternative explanations and theories that are presented here?
Clear thinking, questioning assumptions, demanding proof should be applied everywhere.
I don’t see that here and I see an increasingly non-empirical approach here.
I ask again: what is the actual track record for predictions of this program?
JD
JD
One of my claims to fame on Wall Street was my ability to intuitively listen to and interpret markets. It was an art, not a science. Markets communicate what people care about, what they value, what they think, what they desire and the economics of all of this things. Markets are dynamic and for all the efforts of finance — when it operates with integrity — to apply a disciplined math, they are ultimately organic and mysterious.
By interviewing Clif, I am not proposing that he or anyone can predict the future. I believe Clif has made serious effort to try to listen to what Michael Ventura said is “the psychic storm.” Then he has tried to interpret the data that he “listens” to. So it is one collection, one interpretation.
The reader can take it or leave it. If you find it useful, great. If you don’t ignore it.
One of the values of his effort is that the majority of our reality and the feedback of our reality is completely shut out and censored from corporate news; or channeled in ways that lack integrity. We lack a manner for our fears and resonations can be made explicit and sorted out. The absence of such open feedback loops slows down our ability to communicate, collaborate and solve problems in self-organizing ways. It slows down our learning metabolism and it makes it easier for us to be controlled. What Clif has been looking for is a channel around that control — a bust out through the matrix.
When I read Clif’s scenarios I read a mapping of the fears and frets of people who are living with much to much fear. They are the fears of people who are struggling to survive or function in a world where it is difficult to understand how things work. So in one sense it reflects our collective ignorance.
For me it does not tell me what is going to happen and why. By mapping what a wide group of people are concerned about it gives me a navigation tool that says “hey, you have been ignoring these parts of the map.” These folks think that part is important. Maybe your should rethink that.
I use to have a partner who would say that the key to finding a new star was starting your search in a likely location. Clif reminds me of likely locations. Finding the star and proving its existence is still subject to all the best energineering standards.
The two are not mutually exclusive.
FYI — I used a fair amount of time last time having Clif describe how his process works. It is in the archives.
Catherine,
Great and brilliant answer. Traditional/corporate media certainly do limit what we can see.
But I want to quote something you said. It has some implications you may not have considered. You said:
“Given a multi-billion media industry that provides a false feedback loop, the hunger for intelligent feedback systems is ever rising. After all, no one is as smart as all of us.”
Hunger for feedback systems could also effect how intelligently people view what is offered as alternatives.
Because we want to believe, because we want to see patterns in the confusion, we may buy into nonsense, half-truth, and those cynically peddle to our needs.
Now, the notion that no one is as smart as all of us…
Please.
Newton was smarter than everyone else who was getting it plain wrong. So was Gallileo.
The idea that there is truth in numbers is just..well…come up with your own term.
The internet, as far as I can see, is a reflection of people’s prejudices, fears, lusts, etc. The idea that their is any collective wisdom there is pretty far-fetched.
A few of us ARE smarter than most of us. Some of us are smarter than many of us. And very very few of us understand critical thinking, and how to sort out bollocks from breakthroughs.
Peace.
John:
When you use something to troll, to point, you don’t believe it. There is a difference between raw data and truth, between intuition and intelligence. Critical thinking without a wide and rich feed lack’s power in a world defined by uncertainty.
My god, if you had your way, pigs would never be allowed to find truffles.
Catherine
Catherine,
I get you, really.
I think Cliff IS selling or promoting or positioning his methodology as predictive.
He isn’t just saying it’s a good way to sample the collective emotional gestalt of people that is not being otherwise voiced.
He’s making predictions.
That said, we ought to be asking:
1. What is his conceptual model for how this works?
2. Does the model have empirical roots(or did he just dream it up)?
3. Is there a way to validate or falsify the concepts that power the model?
4. Does the model, in fact, work as a predictive tool?
These are fair questions. I don’t see why you would have a challenge with asking them. These are scientific questions. Anyone with a valid model should not object to answering them, rather, they ought to encourage the questions being asked.
Example:
One of the people I greatly respect is Dr. Paul Ekman(you might consider interviewing him). He’s a major leader in the field of deception detection. (See his book: Telling Lies).
One thing I admire about Dr. Ekman is that he acknowledges where his theories require further testing, and he offers alternative explanations that need to be ruled out.
That’s someone who has a great appreciation for clarity. He’s certainly more than challenged traditional ideas in his field, even radically so. He’s proven a great deal of his theories. And he’s also the first to acknowledge what is currently unproven, what is still conjecture, and what needs further independent confirmation.
Let me suggest one last thing; those who are running things have many ways to assert control over public perception and opinion.
1. Ignore: don’t publish, broadcast, or discuss.
2. Distract: Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton us to the point of numbness and overwhelm
3. DIS-INFORM: encourage or seed the planting of disinformation. Encourage apocalyptic, end-times scenarios, “Space Brothers”, Jesus-is-coming-back any day etc.
Not all those who dis-inform are aware of their role in doing so.
4. Surround the truth with a laughter curtain. Associate accurate alternative explanations with the wildest conspiracy theories so that those who see the accurate stuff immediately dismiss it as being “that far out kook stuff”.
Just food for thought. You should interview Dr. Ekman IMHO.
Peace,
JD
P.S. Pigs are trained to find truffles, by people who have a methodology and a proven technique. I certainly wouldn’t buy a pig that was promoted as being able to do calculus unless I got a chance to test him first.
JD:
Those are fine questions. The only issue in asking them comes down to time.
Ekman sounds like a great possible interview. I will add his name to the parking list to learn more.
There are many ways that Clif High’s work can be used for disinformation. I agree. Also agree that people used for disinformation do not have to know.
On your PS…it depends on the price vs how long to test him. I suspect that part of our different approach to information comes from the fact that time and price very much influence our investment people access and use raw and unfiltered data…
all reasonable questions. Have got a 10+ year record with this, as well as some theories and maths behind it. So a bit tired of explaining how I think it works, but for someone just encountering the concepts, all reasonable questions. Of course, it does get a bit old on the 100th recitation of the history. So what I usually do is to send first contactees over to http://www.urbansurvival.com where George Ure has been kind enough to provide a running history over these past 9/nine years, as well as a lot of our original posts as historic proof of predicative ability.
Ok, I had a look around.
Grey aliens? Deliberate reduction in populations? Zionists as dangerous bringers of war and doom.
Do these memes sound familiar?
From Cassiopaea.org :
5) Memes appear to be coming into increasing resolution about non-terran entities — it is a mixed bag of both (biologically) human and non-human, of both positive and negative intent, but the primary group seems to correspond quite closely to what are usually called the Greys, and the way in which they are represented is to my mind starkly reminiscent of the way they are described in the Cassiopaean transmissions. I thought it would be most efficacious if I provided a relevant quote from the most recent ALTA report I bought last week. I emailed Clif High and asked permission to insert the following quote, which he was kind enough to give:
Most of the [rural anxiety/fear] sets are also participating in a much larger linguistic structure that is going to the context of [planetary (global human populace) consensus (that the) aliens (are) evil]. This attitude of [acceptance of alien evil] is not the result of social meme engineering by the [officialdom], though there is plenty of that going on, rather this is a case of the [planetary human populace] sensing the [evil intent] from these [alien beings] that is then backed up with the [service to self] motivation of these beings becoming quite clear indeed as they continue to express their fundamental attitude of ["all you humans are as lab rats to us"]. It is this [exposure (to) self serving evil] and [collective (giant) ego] being manifest by the [aliens] through the [abduction episodes] following the [contact] by the [aliens] through the [abduction episodes] following the [contact] exposure of early 2010 that propels the [on-guard, shoot first, then shoot again, then look at the result] attitude among [rural dwelling peoples]. The data sets describe a number of [accidental killings] of humans by humans as a result of this [wave of justified fear], as well as the [production] of a number of [alien corpses]. At this point the [alien wars] linguistics starts to rise toward dominance of the SpaceGoatFarts entity.
Catherine, as I have said, you are running way off into the weeds here.
Taking shots and quoting out of context is hardly the critical thinking you promote, JD.
In 1998 I gave up on corporate media and starting listen to people. It was quite an education. What I discovered is that listening to people — their thoughts and their feeling — and the widest possible range of their thoughts and feelings whether they were “smart” or no, or “educated” or not, or I agreed with them or not — and then that data run through my analytical capabilities produced a much better result then limiting my input to any particular set up “great men” that you reference.
So we disagree. Ultimately, my point of view is spiritual. I don’t believe that the divine speaks through experts or people with high IQ’s alone and I don’t believe that a rich organic discussion needs to be filtered through the prism of experts and all right-all wrong paradigms.
I value the weeds and look for life there and regularly find it.
JD,
Did you look and come to your conclusions in two hours? Did you even listen to a single interview? I think you have a serious case of the gatekeeper mentality. This doesn’t mean you are on anyone’s payroll, but you are trying to keep things on the straight and narrow that you believe. You have posted many messages, and obviosly have a need to pursue this topic, perhaps to the point of damaging the page to others who might give up reading it due to what might be seen as minor bickering.
Actually Catherine I agree with you more than you seem to realize.
I also believe the divine speaks through people. However, that doesn’t mean that people don’t also speak error, including those who THINK it is the divine speaking.
But ultimately, this is your blog and your business and I deeply admire that you do not censor critical views.
That speaks tremendously for you and shows a lot.
And I still think Mr. High is full of bollocks.
JD
Pax,
I’m far more open-minded than you would believe. I’m a big fan of Robert Anton Wilson Jacques Vallee, John Keel and Charles Fort.
Gate keeper? Far from it.
But I see trends here that I find troubling, and I’ve seen them in other “alternative economic theory/hard money” sites.
It seems that there is a sub-culture within that centers around 9-11 conspiracies, Grey Aliens, Zionist Criminal Banksters, 2012, the return of Jesus, and other “Coast To Coast” topics.
I see more and more of that kind of thing discussed here and I think it takes away from the power and credence of Catherine’s ability to offer brilliant insight into what is really going on behind the smoke and mirrors of corporate media.
Look: something like 40% of the American people believe Armageddon and the return of Jesus is at hand. Countless others believe that some great event will transform human consciousness in 2012.
If you were part of a real billionaire cabal, wouldn’t you want the common folk distracted by obfuscation and nonsense, looking the other way while you were continuing your schemes that were so complex, only someone of Catherine’s intellectual prowess could unravel them?
I’m saying that this kind of synchro-mysticism that High is pushing is just another distraction and another way to put people’s attention off understanding what is really going on.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m a closed-minded fool(if you saw my bookshelves you wouldn’t think that at all) and maybe I’ve got a point.
Whenever things get really bad economically, there is a rise in millenarianism, mystical thinking, conspiracy theories, religious cults, etc. Those movements can and are manipulated by the very interests that Catherine keeps warning us about.
Don’t take my word for it. Study history. And read this book, “The Guru Papers: Masks Of Authoritarian Power” Catherine ought to interview the authors.
I’m far more open-minded than you can imagine. I also see when the Emperor has no clothes and is scratching his naughty bits.
JD
JD
Excellent point.
The disinformation and absence of critical thinking certainly does seem to be at an all time high. We get no where if we can not see the game, and we have not emerged networks that are powerful at seeing the game.
I do think that some of the posts that we get along the lines that you describe are probably posted by professionals — people paid to make a mess at blogs like mine.
Many days these days I find myself thinking of the movie The Name of the Rose.
Catherine
JD,
Fair enough; it looks like you aren’t married to the materialist paradigm. Maybe I should have used the term “reality box” instead of gatekeeper. We all have to overcome them.
Of course the billionaire cabals are muddying the water in religion, economics, and, of course, real conspiracies, such as JFK’s early retirement. But High’s reports regularly talk about that. The issue for you is that it seems like synchro-mysticism. But I would argue that it is very hard to remove one’s metaphysics from a site such as this, which is dedicated to creating a different version for how the society works. For example, did you find the post regarding depopulation being behind the vaccine/flu a turn off or something that discredits other, more serious, discussions?
As an aside, I’m curious whether you put any faith in remote viewing, at least in the sense that governments use it - not necessarily the way the local fortune teller uses the term. Vallee was a speaker at the remote viewing conference a year or two ago.
Pax,
Faith? I don’t know about that, but I am waiting to enroll in a training from Paul Smith, who struck me as level headed and well aware of the dangerous of flying off into the world of fantasy and paranoia if one isn’t properly guided and grounded into all of this.
I try to bring clarity and a healthy skepticism to any paradigm that strikes me as simplistic, muddled, or reaching for conclusions beyond any proof presented.
I don’t buy into materialism because, ironically enough, it is not a scientifically verifiable or falsifiable position.
Those who hold that view can’t conceive of any experiment that could even theoretically falsify their world-view. Therefore what they are practicing isn’t science-a wonderful method for recognizing and accounting for human error and fallibility.
What they are practicing is scienTISM. A religious position, in essence.
But let’s bring the same demand for clarity to the conspiracy theories, the Grey Alien fantasies, the underground, lizard people, shape-shifting Zionist bankster screeds, etc etc etc.
When people present this stuff, we have the right ask:
1. Where is the evidence?
2. Are there other explanations that are more likely?
3. How do these people account for the other explanations?
4. Are they open to the possibility of admitting that their theory is incorrect, incomplete, or otherwise in need of correction or improvement?
5. How do the advocates of these theories tolerate and receive critical questions? Do they respond with attack, finger-pointing, invective or do they welcome the questions and provide clear, non-evasive answers.
6. Is the methodology by which these people come up with their theories clearly explained? Is it explainable? Is it free of contradictions? Is it based on concepts that are provably untrue: for example the Hare Krishnas believe that the moon is a pleasure planet located 250 MILLION miles from earth.
7. Do the advocates of these theories misquote or misconstrue basic principles of physics/chemistry/biology? I’ve seen some of these people confuse the speed of sound with the speed of light. I’ve seen some of them not understand the difference between a star and a planet. That’s not nit-picking, it’s a serious error.
8. Do the advocates of these theories use mystification: presenting methodologies that are so complex and/or convoluted that the reader/listener basically has to “blank out” and accept what they are told as true?
9. Do the advocates of these theories refuse to address or fail to adequately address arguments presented by critics: do they simply ignore what they cannot answer?
10. Do the advocates of these theories claim some sort of unquestionable authority behind their theories? Examples: Advanced races who are far to wise to be questioned, God/Jesus/the Bible, channeled entities, a super-genius who understands what use common folks never can(LaRouche culties).
11. Do the advocates of these theories espouse racist/anti-semitic or other hate-filled doctrines? “Zionist Banksters, mud people” etc etc.
12. Do the advocates of these theories surround the theories with the trappings and appearances of science without actually understanding or resorting to the scientific method? Examples: using equations, formulas, pseudo-statistics, etc.
13. Do the advocates of these theories attempt to explain virtually all activity and phenomena with their theory? The all inclusive “TRUTH” with a big “T” that reduces complex situations and events into ONE simple principle that they repeat over and over and over.
These are just some of the filters I use to separate the wind-bags from the visionaries. YOUR MILEAGE WILL VARY!
JD
My experience with Cliff’s reports are two fold (I am a subscriber). While he has definitely had some “hits,” the predicted events that he describes are far greater in emotional intensity than the actual events. Also, his timing seems to be 6 months to 1 year late. So, as far as his latest (August 2009) report, I would suspect some economic turbulence this fall but nothing of a catastrophic nature.
Also, I expect that many of the events predicted for this fall (2009) will occur in a very reduced form over perhaps the next 6 months to a year. As an example, those of you who are internet savvy will have noticed the the Israeli “attack on Iran” has been predicted on dozens of web sites (to the month of the attack!) going back to at least 2005! While all of Cliff’s predictions are real possibilities in our current global environment, the truth seems to be that the “reality” of events can manifest quite differently than our expectations (however those expectations are derived). I very much appreciate Cliff’s work and I am happy that we have innovative souls willing to step out of the prevailing paradigm, but I am not willing to barricade myself or build a boat (a noble project, of course).
Mother nature (or whatever term you would like to use) is an excellent poker player. It/he/she does not tip the hand too much in advance! Expect some current balls.