Loud noises are coming from under modernity's bed

Does it seem like strange days? This is a blog that chronicles the signs that a chthnoic boom is coming.

Chthnonic: pronounced 'thonik'; Of or relating to the underworld. [From Greek khthonios, of the earth, from khthōn, earth.]

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Day 1: The Prophecy of the Polls

*

Last night I dreamed
: that while crossing a crystal-blue river on a wood-slat bridge, I fell and grabbed the rope-railing just in time. As I tried to swing across, hand-over-hand, I began to fall asleep and realized I would fail to make it.

The bad news is: "Some 60% of people in 35 countries surveyed believe [the war in Iraq has increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks worldwide] against just 12% who think terrorist attacks have become less likely," according to a poll from the BBC.

The good news is: CBS News poll finds Dubya's approval rating at 34%.

May you live in interesting times: Half of all adults believe in ghosts, almost a third believe in astrology, and more than a quarter believe in reincarnation – that they were themselves reincarnated from other people. Majorities of about two-thirds of all adults believe in hell and the devil, but hardly anybody expects that they will go to hell themselves. (from a 2003 Harris Poll.)

Boom level:
Boisterous tapping.

*photo credit:adamstein.org

Comments:
Great blog, Chris! Thanks for including me in your announcement.

The last part of your post - regarding beliefs about reincarnation - reminded me of something I read recently about a (radical) scientist, Rupert Sheldrake, working in the area of what he calls "morphic fields." The idea is that living things have a sense of memory apart from genes that is transferred using morphic fields or resonance. A few examples:
- Pavlov, in his experiments running mice through mazes, found that while his first group of mice took 300 tries to find their way through the maze, later, unrelated groups took far fewer tries - Sheldrake claims the later groups of mice were tapping into the morphic resonance of the first group
- the existence of "atavism", in which living species of animals adopt characteristics of extinct species - tapping into the extinct species' morphic resonance.

There's a lot more to the theory, of course - you can check it out at www.sheldrake.org. What I think is particularly interesting about this is the notion that things like instinct, intuition, etc. tie into this scientific theory in a much more direct way than I've seen before. As you pointed out, a whole lot of people believe in these things, many through personal experience, so there must be something to it!

Of course, being married to a Hindu heightens my interest in such matters - apologies if I've derailed your post from its original intent!
 
nice chris, I've never really read anyones blog before, I suppose I'll try yours. Maybe I'll learn something. As for the psychology of what people believe, it is very difficult to separate those who truly think it is true from those who enthusiastically wish it true and those who think claiming to believe (even if anonymously) make them more interesting. the truth is you may never no what anyone truly believe (even yourself).
 
to sleep...perchance to dream. Aye there's the rub, for in that sleep of politically induced wheezing maybe just maybe Noam Chomsky will swoop in on a vine wearing not but a loin cloth and tell us: "Damnit you should be afraid."
 
Chris - your dreams are really the most interesting part for me. I am curious, are these dreams in the most literal sense - do you really dream so vividly nightly (perhaps induced by your sleeping aid of choice). My dreams are generally just collections of random situations and not as plot driven as yours. Perhaps, you mean dreams in the broader sense (I have a dream...). Perhaps this is your interpretation of many random and or abstract thoughts that swirl about your mind in your hypnogogic and hypnopompic states. Alas, I would never ask the wizard to step out from behind the curtain (or accuse you of citing false intelligence reports). Your blog is a nice change in the pace of my day that has been so goal directed for so long - I look forward to monday.
 
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