Vague Statements

            Nostradamus was born in 1503 and passed in 1566 and was the world’s most famous authors of prophecies, most notably for his book Les Propheties.  According to many, he predicted various historical events including, the French Revolution, the rise of Adolf Hitler and the attacks on the World Trade Center. Along with being a prophecy, he was also a professional healer, writing about two books on medical science.

Some believe that Nostradamus predicted the attacks of 9/11 when he wrote, “ The year 1999, seventh month, from the sky will come a great King of terror: To bring back to life the great king of the Mongols, before and after Mars to reign by good luck.” Even though many believe that this has to do with 9/11, many others say that this could apply to many other events in the world.

But, did Nostradamus or is this a prime example of the power in ambiguous statements? Many also speculate if he was commenting on events that were happening during the time he was alive, using metaphors and cryptic language. In the lecture, Everyday Judgment Gone Wrong, selective memory is explained. Selective memory is when we are more inclined to remember information that fits our expectations than information that differs from our expectations. I believe that we can fit any set of quotes or readings to mean what we want them to mean and this is what many people could have been doing with Nostradamus’s “prophecies.” I believe many of the quotes that I read from him seem very vague and could apply to many various situations.

The following video is a little longer and a little bit older but is really interesting and gives a lot of insight into this topic. I love discovery channel documentaries! 

http://www.nostradamus.org/911.php