ddsilver
Chrono Cadet
Dearest Time Travellers,
Please refrain from predicting the following, as it is really boring and unimpressive:
1. Earthquakes - There are 500,000 earthquakes annually, of these, 100,000 can be felt. That's about 273 earthquakes a day. If you predict an earthquake, you'd have to wait about 30 days to get one that is strong enough to knock down a shed in Kuala Lumpur and make the news. Then you can be like, "Ha ha! I am truly a time traveller/psychic dude/alien/god/guy who's good at math."
2. Economic Uncertainity - Really? When the world's major source of energy comes from the most unstable region in history, and the world's most populous nation is slowly dragging itself out of a communist stupor into a global economy, you're predicting some economic turbulence? Wow! Do you further predict that objects dropped into the ocean will become saturated with water?
3. Political Uncertainity - See above, but, also, see any world history book. Total world peace is very rare. Someone is always knocking the [censored] out of someone else, and that conflict always threatens to involve outside parties. When is the last time anyone can remember when there was absolutely NO war going on somewhere? And, predicting the United States will get into a conflict is like predicting tourists will visit the Eiffel Tower... of course it's going to happen.
4. The ABC Prediction of the Week - Check the newspaper. Did a big hurricane just cream Houston? Tornadoes wipe out Tulsa? Meltdown in Minsk? Terrorists in Tinseltown? If so, don't predict it will happen again. After Katrina, everybody was all, "oooOOoOOOooo! I'm from the future, hurricanes will destroy you!" After 9-11, it was "O NOES! Terrizts will blow up da wurld!" I'm sure they were on USENET after Chernobyl saying nuke plants were gonna meltdown and kill us all, too. Check the newspaper again! Pick something NOT IN THERE. You know, pick something like... "Hi, I'm from 2067, and I wanted to warn you that in 2013, big space ants are going to ruin picnics forever! Act now! Save potato salad for your unborn children!" Cause, I may be "snow blind" to oil spills and environmental disasters right now, but I'll sit up and take notice of giant space ants.
5. Enlightenment - At least in my lifetime (probably another 40-50 years). The very idea of every single person on Earth having some sort of mass spiritual awakening, or becoming "in tune" with nature and the universe, or spontaneously "evolving to a different level of existence" is just dumb. Anything seriously game changing is unprescedented, it's never happened in recorded history before. (The renaissance and the Enlightenment weren't spontaneous.) Anything else is just easily shaped into being correct. I could have made the prediction, "Millions of Americans will make a change in the way they live and enjoy the benefits of longer lifespans, and better physical health." Sounds great, but I'm just talking about the Atkins diet. Also, as long as I'm alive, I will intentionally thwart any sort of mass enlightment by refusing to become enlightened. I'm just that kind of guy.
So, there's 5 don'ts. Here's 5 do-s.
1. Pick something clear and definable - "I predict economic chaos in the next 5 years." That sucks! Plus you broke rule 2. If you must, try something along these lines, "I predict that the ongoing Grecian economic crisis will spread to the smaller economies of the EU. France with withdraw from the Euro by the end of 2010." Ok, that actually violates rule 4 now, but, I'll cut you some slack. I'd even give you credit if France withdrew in say, 2nd quarter 2011.
2. Predict relevant things - "In 2134, Canada launches a nuclear attack against Kamchatka." Who cares? I'll be dead, my youngest son would be 132 years old, and it's likely my grandchildren would be dead. Keep it relevant to the audience.
3. Type your prediction in MS Word or something - Look, I write in vernacular English. That's why it reads like I'm talking instead of writing. RainmanTime is a good example of writing in formal English. He writes with the intent of his words being read. I want you to hear my voice when you read my posts. Rainman wants clarity from his posts. Either way is fine. But, make sure your spelling is clear and your grammar is in the neighborhood of correct. Run your posts through a word processor and read it once. That could be the difference between people discussing your prediction, and people discussing your lack of education.
4. Justify yourself - This isn't popping up much lately, but, sometimes a TT shows up and, when called on his BS, starts acting all superior. "I don't need to justify myself to you..." Yeah, you do. If you come here and tell everybody you're from the 31st century, and you're on a mission for the Legion of Super Heroes, you need to justify yourself. If you don't feel the need, don't post.
5. Know how you got here - When pressed for details on your trip through time, have a working knowledge of how it operates. I'm not a mechanic, but I can give you the general idea of how my car works. I'm not a flight engineer, but I know how a plane flies. I'm not an astronaut, but I have a general idea of the concept behind the space shuttle. You should have some elementary science under your belt.
Well, thanks for taking the time to read these suggestions. I hope I can enhance the quality of claims for a short time. Thanks!
-D. Dodge Silver
Please refrain from predicting the following, as it is really boring and unimpressive:
1. Earthquakes - There are 500,000 earthquakes annually, of these, 100,000 can be felt. That's about 273 earthquakes a day. If you predict an earthquake, you'd have to wait about 30 days to get one that is strong enough to knock down a shed in Kuala Lumpur and make the news. Then you can be like, "Ha ha! I am truly a time traveller/psychic dude/alien/god/guy who's good at math."
2. Economic Uncertainity - Really? When the world's major source of energy comes from the most unstable region in history, and the world's most populous nation is slowly dragging itself out of a communist stupor into a global economy, you're predicting some economic turbulence? Wow! Do you further predict that objects dropped into the ocean will become saturated with water?
3. Political Uncertainity - See above, but, also, see any world history book. Total world peace is very rare. Someone is always knocking the [censored] out of someone else, and that conflict always threatens to involve outside parties. When is the last time anyone can remember when there was absolutely NO war going on somewhere? And, predicting the United States will get into a conflict is like predicting tourists will visit the Eiffel Tower... of course it's going to happen.
4. The ABC Prediction of the Week - Check the newspaper. Did a big hurricane just cream Houston? Tornadoes wipe out Tulsa? Meltdown in Minsk? Terrorists in Tinseltown? If so, don't predict it will happen again. After Katrina, everybody was all, "oooOOoOOOooo! I'm from the future, hurricanes will destroy you!" After 9-11, it was "O NOES! Terrizts will blow up da wurld!" I'm sure they were on USENET after Chernobyl saying nuke plants were gonna meltdown and kill us all, too. Check the newspaper again! Pick something NOT IN THERE. You know, pick something like... "Hi, I'm from 2067, and I wanted to warn you that in 2013, big space ants are going to ruin picnics forever! Act now! Save potato salad for your unborn children!" Cause, I may be "snow blind" to oil spills and environmental disasters right now, but I'll sit up and take notice of giant space ants.
5. Enlightenment - At least in my lifetime (probably another 40-50 years). The very idea of every single person on Earth having some sort of mass spiritual awakening, or becoming "in tune" with nature and the universe, or spontaneously "evolving to a different level of existence" is just dumb. Anything seriously game changing is unprescedented, it's never happened in recorded history before. (The renaissance and the Enlightenment weren't spontaneous.) Anything else is just easily shaped into being correct. I could have made the prediction, "Millions of Americans will make a change in the way they live and enjoy the benefits of longer lifespans, and better physical health." Sounds great, but I'm just talking about the Atkins diet. Also, as long as I'm alive, I will intentionally thwart any sort of mass enlightment by refusing to become enlightened. I'm just that kind of guy.
So, there's 5 don'ts. Here's 5 do-s.
1. Pick something clear and definable - "I predict economic chaos in the next 5 years." That sucks! Plus you broke rule 2. If you must, try something along these lines, "I predict that the ongoing Grecian economic crisis will spread to the smaller economies of the EU. France with withdraw from the Euro by the end of 2010." Ok, that actually violates rule 4 now, but, I'll cut you some slack. I'd even give you credit if France withdrew in say, 2nd quarter 2011.
2. Predict relevant things - "In 2134, Canada launches a nuclear attack against Kamchatka." Who cares? I'll be dead, my youngest son would be 132 years old, and it's likely my grandchildren would be dead. Keep it relevant to the audience.
3. Type your prediction in MS Word or something - Look, I write in vernacular English. That's why it reads like I'm talking instead of writing. RainmanTime is a good example of writing in formal English. He writes with the intent of his words being read. I want you to hear my voice when you read my posts. Rainman wants clarity from his posts. Either way is fine. But, make sure your spelling is clear and your grammar is in the neighborhood of correct. Run your posts through a word processor and read it once. That could be the difference between people discussing your prediction, and people discussing your lack of education.
4. Justify yourself - This isn't popping up much lately, but, sometimes a TT shows up and, when called on his BS, starts acting all superior. "I don't need to justify myself to you..." Yeah, you do. If you come here and tell everybody you're from the 31st century, and you're on a mission for the Legion of Super Heroes, you need to justify yourself. If you don't feel the need, don't post.
5. Know how you got here - When pressed for details on your trip through time, have a working knowledge of how it operates. I'm not a mechanic, but I can give you the general idea of how my car works. I'm not a flight engineer, but I know how a plane flies. I'm not an astronaut, but I have a general idea of the concept behind the space shuttle. You should have some elementary science under your belt.
Well, thanks for taking the time to read these suggestions. I hope I can enhance the quality of claims for a short time. Thanks!
-D. Dodge Silver