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Precognition <span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>  Precognition is the paranormal ability to know something will happen before it does. A person with this ability may be referred to as a "precog." Someone who tells other people what they believe will happen in the future may be referred to as a "prophet."
OverviewClaims of precognition go back thousands of years. Although it would seem to be easy to judge the accuracy of these claims (a person says something will happen, it either does it or doesn't), the situation is much more complicated. Someone having a precognitive dream, for example, may not communicate it to anyone else, or even recognize it themselves as precognitive until after the event has occurred. Some prophets have couched their "prophecies" (predictions of what is to come) in imprecise or poetic passages, leading to arguments as to whether or not an event relates to the prophecy. Nostradamus is a famous example of this. An accurate prediction is referred to as a "hit." If someone has one hit, does that prove they are precognitive? Not at all. Suppose the same person predicts two outcomes of a sports event. To one group, they predict that Team A will win. To another group, they predict that Team B will win. If Team A wins, they do have a hit . . . and a miss. The group who heard the first prediction may believe that the person is precognitive. While the second group would presumably not be convinced, they may be less likely to spread that information. If the "seer" (another word for prophet) makes multiple predictions to both groups, and each group hears something that is accurate, they may both form a positive opinion of the person's accuracy. Misses are sometimes forgiven (and forgotten) while hits seem like proof. As with a scientific theory, the more detailed and specific a prediction is, the easier it is to confirm (or refute) it. A prediction that a specific person will be murdered on a specific date in a specific location that was made publicly and recorded could have its accuracy determined. One approach to this is to create a prediction registry. Some have been done, including the Psychic Pathways Prediction Registry (see External Links). Newspapers also commonly record psychics' predictions for the upcoming year. For laboratory experiments, parapsychologists have had to focus on small controllable events, such as predicting the roll of a pair of dice. This enables variables to be controlled. Aids to precognition are common in many societies. There are many such techniques, often ending in "mancy". They may involve looking at an apparently natural random occurrence (such as tea leaves or an animal's entrails) for signs. They may be a simple mechanism: many people are familiar with the "Magic 8 Ball" toy, and thousands have used it (some more seriously than others) to try to get advanced knowledge of an event. If a precognitive vision could be recognized, the next question becomes whether or not it is possible to take advantage of that knowledge. If someone has a vision, can they prevent it from coming true? If they do, was the vision accurate and they altered the future, or was it never accurate? Are there now alternate timelines? Author John A. Keel has suggested that paranormal entities might give a person accurate predictions initially, and then fool them later on with a false prophecy. Many Sci Fi works have used precognition and precogs as plot elements. Related Terms and Topics
Non-fictionBooks====Strange Powers of Prophecy==== by Brad Steiger ====Strange Prophecies That Came True==== by Stewart Robb TV DocumentariesMovie DocumentariesReal World PrecogsEdgar CayceCriswellJeane DixonNostradamusUses in FictionComic BooksDream Girl of the Legion of Super-Heroes MoviesTV SeriesPrecog Characters
External LinksPsychic Pathways Prediction Registry for Ordinary People
2008, SCI FI. All rights reserved.
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