#predictive power

[404-found]

Prophecy, Crystal Ball or Clever Spin?

One of the biggest skeptic barbs is this, “Prophecies were written after the fact, so it’s all clever hindsight.” Seriously? Tell that to the dusty scrolls and fulfilled forecasts that nail history before it happens. “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.”— Amos 3:7 Let’s test the accuracy. Micah’s Bethlehem Bullseye.Written…

[bacchuschucklefuck]

a totem pole of hopeful idiots

[omegaphilosophia]

Demarcating Science: Criteria for Distinguishing Science from Pseudoscience

The demarcation problem, which is the challenge of distinguishing science from pseudoscience or non-science, has been a topic of debate among philosophers of science for many years. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem, but several proposed criteria and approaches have been suggested over time. Here are some potential solutions and criteria for addressing the demarcation problem:

Falsifiability (Karl Popper): According to Karl Popper, a scientific theory should be considered scientific if it is falsifiable. This means that for a theory to be scientific, there must be a way to test it empirically, and in principle, it should be possible to find evidence that could potentially refute or falsify the theory. If a theory is not falsifiable, it falls outside the realm of science.

Empirical Evidence: Another criterion for demarcating science from pseudoscience is the reliance on empirical evidence. Scientific claims should be based on empirical observations, experimentation, and data. If a purported scientific theory lacks empirical support and relies primarily on anecdotal evidence or testimonials, it may be considered pseudoscientific.

Predictive Power: Scientific theories often have predictive power. They can make testable predictions about future observations or experiments. The ability of a theory to make accurate and successful predictions can be seen as a hallmark of scientific validity.

Methodological Rigor: Science typically adheres to well-established and rigorous methods of inquiry, including the scientific method. The presence of systematic and well-documented research methods, peer review processes, and a commitment to critical evaluation can help distinguish science from non-science.

Progressive Research Program (Imre Lakatos): Imre Lakatos proposed a demarcation criterion based on research programs. He argued that scientific research programs should be judged by their ability to generate novel research questions and solutions. A scientific program that continually generates new questions and adapts to new evidence is considered progressive.

Consensus and Peer Review: Consensus among scientists and peer review processes can be used as indicators of scientific validity. Scientific claims that have withstood scrutiny, debate, and rigorous evaluation by experts in the field are more likely to be considered scientific.

Naturalism: Some philosophers argue for naturalism as a criterion, suggesting that scientific theories should be rooted in natural causes and explanations. Any theories invoking supernatural or unobservable entities may be considered pseudoscientific.

Historical Precedent: Examining historical cases of scientific advancement and the criteria used by scientists in the past to distinguish science from pseudoscience can provide insights into demarcation.

It's important to note that these criteria are not always clear-cut, and there may be gray areas where it is challenging to make definitive judgments. Additionally, some philosophers argue that the demarcation problem may not have a single, universal solution and that it may vary depending on the context and the specific scientific discipline under consideration. As a result, the demarcation problem remains a subject of ongoing debate and discussion in the philosophy of science.

[arlenianchronicles]

While I patiently yearn for more Beren/Luthien scenes in @allthatglittersisnotgoldrush I thought to myself, why not draw them? And since I've recently gotten into Journey to the West, I figured, why not merge these fixations?? :D

Since Thingol already has a pretty nice library in the AU, I imagine he might've sourced the Chinese classics at some point; Luthien then reads Journey to the West to Beren (probably practiced the translation beforehand instead of doing it on the spot, and also did all the voices and used a staff to act out Wukong's scenes loll) Later on, when Beren sends her letters and such, he signs them with little doodles of stuff they talked about, which she'd recognize!

For Beren's doodle of Wukong and Sanzang (and the peach), I took inspiration from Coast Salish art since they've been my main basis for his design in the past. Also, I imagine he's drawing Wukong and Sanzang's reunion as a way to tell Luthien that he's always thinking of being with her :''') And also, first time drawing Lucy and Amlach! I figured it was time to give them a cameo XD

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

massages forehead So Ambessa hid Mel away because she was a weapon in the literal sense, a mage. But Ambessa came to Piltover for Hextech? And Ambessa had nothing to say to Mel about her powers having visibly awakened? Even when Mel offered to go with Ambessa, giving her the ultimate opportunity to make Mel a weapon for real? And Ambessa made no attempt to find or retrieve Mel - not just her daughter and the remnants of the family Ambessa professes to love, but also her ultimate weapon - when she disappeared? And Ambessa trusted Singed and Viktor on their home turf - neither of them hiding how insane and self-serving they are with every reason to take over Ambessa's soldiers or just blatantly turn on her as soon as it benefits them - more than she trusted Mel? While Caitlyn (and by extension Piltover) was visibly and clearly falling away from Ambessa's teachings before Ambessa's eyes? (as if getting rid of certain people allows piltover to get rid of fascism but we won't get into All That)

Not only do I struggle to be hyped for Mel's powers beyond how amazing and beautiful she looks, but I can't help but feel like Mel is somehow less powerful in season 2 than she was in season 1, and not in an interesting way. As if Mel's ability to bend all of Piltover politics and economics to her will in season 1 now means nothing in season 2? You can argue that Jinx's attack led directly to Mel losing ground in Piltover - because I expected Mel to have to claw back that power without being able to rely on people who are too easily seduced by Ambessa and authoritarianism, and she would have to get creative to go toe to toe with her mother. I expected pushback to her mage identity that she would have to navigate. But instead this went either unwritten, or was ignored or discarded. Instead Mel is removed from the main plot, cutting her off from what made her the most interesting - only for all of Mel's very real talents, her very real powers and abilities, to be not only translated but REPLACED with magical powers she doesn't know how to control, and by the finale, those magic powers are the only powers that are considered real. Mel takes a backseat to Piltover's governing and decisions, a backseat to Jayce of all people who was not only new to politics mere months ago but made poor governing, strategic, and diplomatic decisions when he had that power. In season 1 Mel stayed off the "throne" but she did pull its strings one way or the other, and she makes no attempt at this in season 2

In my least generous suspicions, Mel was gentled and quieted to capitulate to an agenda for other characters who had to be correct and heroic - or wrong and villainous - no matter what the leadup narrative said, given her powers to help sell the game and set up future shows, and was effectively ejected from the Arcane story with faceless soldiers and a role she doesn't want because she was inconvenient there

[reality-detective]

Revealed on Barney Miller in 1981

Predictive programing hidden in plain sight, as per usual. Front running the truth with the "conspiracy theory" labels, a script that was greenlit on a comedy show and they knew they could flaunt it and nobody would believe it. 🤔

[fallofthecelestial]

Okay. Since we're going over all the takes on Mr. X at this point.. What if his powers really don't have a backside. What if (the state of) his normal life is the backside.

What if his normal life is akin to that of heroes where he has to pretend to be something he's not and follow rules that the people who control his life came up with to further their own goals. What if he can only be free of other people's beliefs and expectations when he's a hero.

What if in reality he truly is like everyone else. The other heroes. The ordinary people. All those who work themselves to the bone, who are tired and overworked and sick of all the exploitation...

What if when he's in the form of the number one hero.. when he becomes the most sought after product on the hero market..

Is when he gains the freedom to truly be himself

[vordemtodgefeit]

‘nobody wants a general election, obviously’, says second PM in a row that wasn’t voted in by the general public, wasn’t even voted in by members of the party let alone the people he claims to represent, and whose party is predicted to lose said general election

[mxtxfanatic]

You implied in a post that Jiang Cheng is partially responsible for orphaning Jin Ling and I wonder what you mean? I can't remember anything he did to cause it

I’m sorry, but do people not realize that Jiang Cheng’s actions led to direct, causal consequences? Jiang Cheng lets his petty insecurities get to him, which leads to:

him publicly abandoning Wei Wuxian, openly declaring him as an enemy to the (orthodox) cultivation world, and withholding why he owed a debt to the Wen siblings because “tired baby is cranky baby,” while at the same time…

not completely cutting off contact but, instead, covertly helping sneak Jiang Yanli to Yiling to show off her wedding gown, giving Wei Wuxian the false impression that he was still conditionally welcomed enough that it would be safe to accept the invitation to Jin Ling’s one-month celebration, and these first two points lead to…

the Jin Clan feeling comfortable enough to ambush him on the way to said one-month celebration, because they were both positive that Wei Wuxian would show up AND assured that no one would be around to defend him. Jin Guangyao takes advantage of this to kill off Jin Zixuan. That’s one parent down, and the consequences of this are…

…now an unjustifiably angry Jiang Cheng, rather than staying behind to comfort his grieving sister and fatherless nephew, attending the murder banquet, showing a united front to all other clans that Wei Wuxian is neither supported nor welcome. He provides no explanations in neither Wei Wuxian nor the Wen siblings’ defenses, and when Wei Wuxian shows up to said murder party, he keeps silent as Wei Wuxian is verbally AND physically attacked, making no attempts at diplomacy or de-escalation because he doesn’t view this battle as affecting him (because correct me if I’m wrong, but Wei Wuxian’s corpses don’t attack the Jiang disciples at this moment). Which leads to…

Jiang Yanli running onto an active battleground to find Wei Wuxian and, eventually, giving her life for him.

Then as a little treat, instead of Jiang Cheng taking responsibility for his hand in how all of these events played out, he instead teaches his orphaned nephew that Wei Wuxian intentionally killed both of his parents in cold blood and that this young child should kill anyone who reminds Jiang Cheng of Wei Wuxian, grooming the kid into his tool of vengeance. Guanyin Temple is the only moment where he drops the facade that this was ever about Jin Ling, when he basically says “You took everything from me and left me with this orphan” pointing directly at Jin Ling and causing the kid to deflate.

This is also what I mean when I say that Jiang Cheng is a follower who wants to be treated like the leader he refuses to be. He wants to play both sides—posturing to the cultivation world that he’s cut all ties with Wei Wuxian with that staged fight but then sneaking Jiang Yanli to him when she asks, siding with the cultivation world wanting to exterminate the Wen remnants and shun Wei Wuxian at the emergency conference but telling Wei Wuxian that he’s there for the latter’s “benefit”—because he never wants to make a decision that can be confidently placed on his own head. He wants the benefit of actions he didn’t take—“why am I not being praised as if I killed the xuanwu of slaughter when I led the search party afterwards?” “I’ll take credit for killing Wei Wuxian even though I literally didn’t.”—while shoving all of the responsibility to others—“you repaid my debt to the Wen siblings, so that’s your bad luck,” “you almost died to save everyone in the cave and now the Wen are knocking on the door, so that’s your bad luck, nevermind that I also tried to kill Wang Lingjiao in that same cave.”

Jc stans are a constant refrain of, “Looks guys, he didn’t repay his debt to the Wen at the cost of everyone else’s ire, that was Wei Wuxian! He didn’t lead the ambush and host the banquet, that was the Jin! He’s just a hapless baby, a widdle guy! He’s only there for numbers! He’s only there for face! Nothing is ever his fault!” when truthfully, most of the events of the story past the war are directly his fault, and that’s why he has not a damn thing to say when Jin Guangyao calls him on it.

[thegreatyin]

heart's desire power ending is great because it's like what if you got torturous mindbreaking surgery every month and then it was immediately followed by inverse therapy slowly and steadily grooming you into Something You Are Not, shaping the fundamental aspects of your personality and identity before you even realize they're being altered, destroying your instincts until you forget if, or even why you ever wanted to protest this in the first place, and you did all of that while being at the mercy of an utterly poisonous group of ""people"" who decimate your mental health just by existing in your presence. and you threw away your chance at freedom and adoration and escape and happiness just for this. you chose this, deliberately, purposefully. you brought this upon yourself. you have no choice but to outlive everything you love and watch the person you were fade into a distant memory and you don't even have the dignity to scream and cry and fight against it anymore. it doesn't even cross your mind. you chose this, just you, entirely of your own volition, and now you have to live with it. You Have To Live With It.

and also what if you were an AWESOME TRANSGENDER FURRY 🔥🔥🔥🦇🏳️‍⚧️🔥🔥🔥

[lunafeatherart]

Come What May?

Come What May.

[asgardian--angels]

Scene Breakdown: What Actually Happened Atop the Hexgates

Hi everyone, this has been bugging me literally since I watched the finale for the first time three months ago and I've been trying to put the pieces together ever since. I still have a lot of questions about the metaphysics of hextech and the alternate timelines (Mage Viktor you frustrate me!!), BUT, setting those aside for the time being, I wanted to break down that final climactic scene atop the hexgates so we can see what actually occurred. A lot happens very quickly, with multiple key elements interacting - Viktor (i.e., the hexcore), the anomaly, the z-drive, and the runestone. This is my best attempt to make sense of it, and I'd appreciate your own theories and feedback! It is rather long but has plenty of pictures.

So, the first very important element to examine is the anomaly - in particular, what Viktor's doing with it and why it acts the way it does in this scene. I still have a great deal of questions about that first point, that is, what role it's playing in the Glorious Evolution, because it's really not super clear. But, as it pertains to what we see in this scene, Viktor says the following -

"The sublime intersection of order and chaos."

Hextech is engineered order, wild runes/anomalies are organic chaos. Both are apparently needed to carry out the Evolution - while Viktor on his own with the hexcore can Evolve individuals, for some reason (help me out here) the anomaly allows him to extend his power and will. I won't say a whole lot on this as it's not super pertinent - but I still intensely question why in the ruined timeline, we see only some Evolved (likely only those who had mind-strings) while the rest of the population just got anomaly-blasted (I refrain from calling it hexcorized as many do, because it literally isn't - it's the corruption we see from the anomaly) and just, Pompeii'd in place. But I digress.

In the hexheart, Viktor frees the anomaly from its chamber, instead moving it to a containment field in his hexcorized staff.

The anomaly hypothetically can only exist in conjunction with the hexgates, or more broadly, concentrated runic activity that wears thin the wall between the material world and the arcane (thus the hexcore may fit this also). It would not persist outside of these conditions. Thus, Viktor keeps it stable in this hexcore force field, allowing him to safely transport it up the gravity chute of the hexgate.

I haven't seen it mentioned before but I don't think Viktor in his Evolved form can actually fly - he appears to rely on the gravity field generated by activating the hexgate gemstone mesh. This creates a concentrated beam that travels up the length of the chute, and we're going to assume here, atop the hexgates as well, in a very narrow field - where Viktor and the anomaly float but not where Jayce and the Evolved stand. This could be a result of him breaking through the dome or not.

He releases the anomaly, where it floats upwards into the sky along what we can presume is the same gravity field.

Key here is that it is still, somehow, tethered to Viktor. If it leaves the hexcore field, it would implode. It's not shown explicitly what this connection is, but it must be there. It is no longer connected to the hexgates - if it were, it would not implode at the end of this scene. It is solely tied to Viktor now.

One thing that remains unclear to me is whether Viktor intended to use the energy of the hexgates to power himself/the anomaly. The concentration of the energy into a vertical beam is stated by Jayce earlier in 2x03, but we never see this - either Viktor was stopped before it could get that far, or it's unrelated and has no bearing here.

The next element here is the z-drive (or inverse anomaly).

There's been plenty of theorizing and speculation about the z-drive, as it was created from inverting the acceleration rune, thus controlling time rather than space. (It is not abundantly clear to me how the anomaly made the jump from a 4-second time travel machine to a reality-hopper thanks to some mysterious tinkering from Heimerdinger... but let's ignore that here). But its role in this scene is actually less than it may seem.

The primary consequence of Ekko launching the unstable z-drive at Viktor is that blasts what I'm calling a time-hole in Viktor's armor (physical, emotional...). This allows Jayce to get through to him where he'd otherwise be impenetrable - yeah yeah, the cosmic yaoi, we've all seen it.

The z-drive does not destructively interact with any other element in this scene - not the anomaly, nor the rune. Just Viktor/the hexcore.

It actually breaks Viktor's staff into pieces, which is a neat detail though I'm not sure it has any impact on events.

It's easy to think that the two anomalies canceled each other out - but that is not what happens, as we'll see. While I don't have a perfect screencap for it, after watching this scene a few dozen times, I can tell you that the rotating cloud cover concealing the anomaly does not change during the z-drive explosion. Those bursts of corruption we see in the above shot are what the anomaly's been doing the whole time. The two anomalies do not affect each other.

The time stop we see during this explosion could either be a visual storytelling effect from the animators (i.e., everything we see actually happens in a split second but time works differently in the astral plane) or the explosion of the z-drive actually creates an isolated time bubble around the top of the hexgates. It is not clear which is true. I'm inclined to believe the former.

That brings us to the runestone, the most complicated element.

The runestone has been embedded in Jayce's body by Mage Viktor, complete with anomaly corruption webbing. Mage Viktor's ultimate plan here is still largely a mystery (and it keeps me up at night). But I maintain, purely speculative, that he did this for a dual purpose - the runestone is now linked in some way to that ruined timeline/with that timeline's anomaly; it glows whenever Jayce activated the alt-hammer, which was able to hurt Viktor (perhaps it was the only thing that could?).

But, relevant here, it appears to act as a pre-programmed set of runic instructions to be read, interpreted, and executed by the hexcore inside Viktor. It activates when placed into Viktor's spectral body, anomaly corruption traveling up his arm. This triggers hundreds of copies of the acceleration rune to burst outwards which frees the souls of the Evolved from their bodies.

These souls travel in the astral plane into a swirling mass that close in on the rune.

We never actually see the souls go into the rune, although we are shown beams of blue light being gathered into the rune on Jayce's wrist, which could potentially be the souls though it could also just be energy/a sign of the rune activation. It's highly unlikely the souls went anywhere else even though visually at times it looks like they're floating near the z-drive - it would make no sense for them to go into either anomaly as those are both about to explode, and it was the rune that beckoned them in the first place. They could just be 'freed' to disperse into the aether, but, ehh, that does not appear to be what's happening based on the visuals.

Most of the souls are sucked into the rune before the spell runs its course and interacts with Jayce and Viktor. The last remaining appear to go with them.

So here's where it all comes together, and everything happens very quickly.

We have the anomaly, in the sky, tethered to Viktor & the hexcore. The z-drive is mid-explosion. The rune is now running its course.

This is what happens in quick succession, in order:

The rune sucks in Jayce, Viktor, and the z-drive explosion.

It's hard to capture in a screencap, but yes, the rune takes the z-drive explosion with it.

2. The shockwave of the z-drive explosion, which had been in progress before it was sucked into the rune, throws everyone back. However, since the explosion is gone, Ekko and others are unharmed. The soulless drones are ragdolled around.

3. The anomaly, no longer connected to the hexcore, becomes immediately unstable and collapses, imploding, which sends a shockwave outwards from the top of the hexgates (both screencaps are of this moment).

Now, I am a wholehearted believer that Jayce and Viktor were teleported elsewhere, and there's plenty of speculation posts both here and on twitter that lay out evidence for why it's likely.

I'll just mention that besides the fact that the blue flicker at the end of the rune's disappearance perfectly matches that of the other example we see of it being used - by Mage Viktor saving young Jayce - it also glitches out:

What does this mean? Potential reality-hopping? Anomaly influence to say the least, perhaps caused by the z-drive explosion interacting with it. I personally don't see why Mage Viktor would embed a pre-set teleportation rune into Jayce's wrist to give to Viktor without the intention of, yknow, teleporting them, especially if freeing the souls was an intended part of his plan. But we may never know.

So there you have it. The play-by-play. The anomaly needs the hexcore and imploded when the connection broke. The z-drive did not cause the anomaly to implode, its only narrative purpose here was to give Jayce the precious moments to reach Viktor. The hexcore is hypothetically still part of Viktor, and we have no idea if getting his face blasted open would be fatal for Evolved Viktor's body were they to get spat out somewhere, nor whether the z-drive would also explode in their faces or just fizzle out in the arcane. Many questions remain, but I hope this clarifies at least the technical aspects of what actually went down atop the hexgates.

Thanks for reading, and please let me know your own theories!

[player016]

Getting quite frightened thinking about the danger Gihun is in from the narrative if we think about a religious experience.

This season has a lot to say about religion and Gihun is right there at its center.

We have Seonnyeo as a narrator and her cult as a standin for organized religion/people’s tendency to turn towards it in times of distress.

Gihun as a prophet trying to change the minds of the masses, a martyr. We literally see him resurrected, we see him rise again from the coffin Inho put him in.

I fear HDH will have some hard lessons for us about the danger of martyring Gihun, and I expect to see some interesting parallels drawn between Seonnyeo as the religious leader of the blue team and Gihun as the religious leader of the red team.

[lover-of-mine]

No, but actually confessions hasn't been good for my ego. Being right about the breakup green, the madney baby, Eddie shaving shirtless, and the way that half of Eddie's confession was yellow and the other was blue, has fully gone to my head. I am fully existing in a space where I'm convinced I can predict the show based on colors.

[reality-detective]

I've posted this 👇 before

This was revealed on Barney Miller in 1981. Predictive programing hidden in plain sight, as per usual. Front running the truth with the "conspiracy theory" labels.

That script was greenlit on a comedy show, they knew they could flaunt it, and no one would believe it. 🤔

[cypherheartnokey]

Why Will x Chance (bychance) REALLY IS going to happen… 😳

(…temporarily let’s hope…)

Let’s first pay attention to this scene and ask ourselves why it was included at all…

“I see he’s taken a step down from Max…”

Haha such a funny line, get it? Because Erica’s insulting Jason by implying that not only is he gay for Lucas, but also a mediocre option… right? Right???

Except… lines in Stranger Things NEVER mean only one thing.

The actual double meaning/ foreshadowing:

“I see he’s taken a step down from Mike…” 😬

— us Bylers in 2025

But Erica doesn’t stop here. She goes:

“Chances are, he’s with your cheater boyfriend”.

That’s right! In this very same conversation, they included the words “Chance”, “cheater” and “boyfriend” in the same sentence. Very curious.

Now let’s take a closer look at the D&D miniature that Erica is painting in the beginning of the video.

A young male warrior painted in orange?

This surely isn’t an analogy for a young male jock in an orange Tiger mascot uniform, amirite? 🐅

Holy shit, these should be enough clues, right?

Oh, no. No, no… There’s more. 😭

The locker room posted by the Duffers, belonging to “Jock #2”. We’re looking at a basket ball, a physical science book, and…

…a car sketch. Which is “only” the symbol widely used by Netflix to symbolize bisexual men. Cue Steve Harrington’s bedroom, the movie Red, White & Royal Blue, and the show Heartstopper.

(There is an actual post here on Tumblr which details everything about this ^).

Oh, what’s that in Will’s bedroom?

A Tiger wearing a sombrero…

Is it possible Will has a thing for Latinos? 🤭

Not Chance being the mexican jock foil version of Mike…….

Oh Duffers you are SO unserious…….

Funnily enough, there is even one more clue, which I’m however not yet sure of (I have to rewatch the show).

Chance’s real first name seems to be Jedediah (yes, ridiculous). Jason supposedly addresses him by “Jed” in the show (I have to confirm this).

“Beloved of God”.

…Who in the show is God/Jesus coded…?

That’s right… Will. 🧙‍♂️

*the (Byler) plot thickens*

🗝⸮₎₎⁾⁾⸝⁺⋆｡ﾟ⋆⸜﹒⋯﹒

To see more of my Bychance posts, click here -> BYCHANCE MASTERPOST.