🚀 go-pugleaf

On 1/10/2010 6:29 PM, Gordon Burditt wrote:
>> In the trial you did where I submitted two groups of three questions, I
>> found it next to impossible to choose matchings between your responses
>> and the original questions (though my doing that didn't form part of the
>> test protocol). The fact that you believe that the responses had been
>> shuffled somehow doesn't alter the fact that faced with the task of
>> choosing matches, I'd have got next to nowhere.
>
> This is probably a *GOOD* thing for Herc trying to prove his power.
> If what Herc does is so obvious anyone can do it, I start to doubt
> that there's any paranormal power involved at all, or if there is,
> he's not the one with the power.  At the extreme case, if I can
> replace Herc with a computer and still get results indicating a
> power, then the paranormal power might be in those selecting the
> page and line number.  If some people can do it and some can't,
> that suggests that the some can do it might have a power the others
> don't.  This assumes that there is a power in the first place, and
> that it's paranormal, not paranoidal.

Well, Herc isn't claiming any special ability to spot matches. Indeed, 
he's claiming the opposite - that anyone can do it, and that the matches 
are objective. This despite my statement that I couldn't do it on some 
specific data.

His claim relates to obtaining the text in a way such that it will be 
easier to match than random text. The protocol involves using volunteers 
to perform matching, and showing that their choices have a better than 
chance correlation with Herc's, and thus that Herc's are not totally 
subjective. Though as I'm describing it here, it obviously has issues 
with it. I suspect I've forgotten some details, because at the time Herc 
was proposing it, it looked OK.

>
> The currently proposed test of taking the Bible quote and matching
> it to one of three questions is not something that can easily be
> computerized, IMHO.  Even the humans argue over it.
>
> It would be even more interesting if Herc could do this with a Bible
> in the original Goa'uld even (or especially) if he's unable to
> translate it.

>> Even if matches exist,
>> as you claim, it would seem that most people can't recognise them, and
>> the judges would essentially be randomly ordering them even if you
>> weren't, meaning you would fail the test even if your power exists.
>
> I don't recall any test protocol that required someone other than
> Herc to determine which question was originally first.  If there
> was, it's determining the power of the person doing that, not Herc.
>
>
You'd have to trawl back through the Google Groups archive. I don't 
suggest you bother. It won't be very enlightening.

Sylvia.