Nostra-Dumbasses© Exposed, or Exactly Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Recently, I started wondering exactly who are these Nostra-Dumbasses©, the people who have convinced themselves that these are the end times (again), and the old French Fraud predicted the whole thing. Since my usual intelligence-gathering methods have not availed on this occasion, I decided to do a quick manual search.
What I came up with is not so much an interesting treatment of Nostradamus as a concise and clear picture of the character of the true believer. In the linked article (from April 2008—hey, I'm looking for character types, not current news), we have first of all the author, one Andrew Olsen, a champion of weasel words and baseless assertions. Read his silliness for a prime example of unfounded pseudo-journalism. (I know it's just the Daily Squib, which makes the New York Post look like the Times of London, but really, in the Nostradamus world there are no better examples anywhere else.) But the really interesting part is the comments section. Here we have a classic collection of logical fallacies, question-begging, illiterate constructions, and outright gibberish. And that's who's buying this whole Nostradamus/Mayan Calendar/2012 business.
I suppose we might disqualify the whole prophecy thing right here and now by citing this comment by a reader calling himself "Kurtz":
It is difficult to imagine the disordered mind that generates such pronouncements as this one:
And then it just stops. The voices in his head must have been interrupted. (This fellow's screen name is "analyst." How very optimistic. )
"Analyst" has a good deal of company though. (Or perhaps he has multiple personalities.) The cleverly-named "Me" weighs in with this little gem, a real marvel of—whatever the hell he's talking about:
My favorite comment of all is by reader Justin, who said (presumably with a straight face):
What I came up with is not so much an interesting treatment of Nostradamus as a concise and clear picture of the character of the true believer. In the linked article (from April 2008—hey, I'm looking for character types, not current news), we have first of all the author, one Andrew Olsen, a champion of weasel words and baseless assertions. Read his silliness for a prime example of unfounded pseudo-journalism. (I know it's just the Daily Squib, which makes the New York Post look like the Times of London, but really, in the Nostradamus world there are no better examples anywhere else.) But the really interesting part is the comments section. Here we have a classic collection of logical fallacies, question-begging, illiterate constructions, and outright gibberish. And that's who's buying this whole Nostradamus/Mayan Calendar/2012 business.
I suppose we might disqualify the whole prophecy thing right here and now by citing this comment by a reader calling himself "Kurtz":
Obama ain't gonna win this thing. I don't care if Nostrodomus or God said so!! Whoever leaked this story is a lier and Anti Christian.Strong stuff. But then supposing God really did say so. That would make "Kurtz" the "Anti Christian."
It is difficult to imagine the disordered mind that generates such pronouncements as this one:
I did follow current affairs randomly, and read that there are so many provocations from some political or/cum religious leaders. The tactics are simple. To cause hatred and in so doing hope to gain superiority. It is usually followed by force too. This is a reason why a country may continue to modernise its weaponry. And when conflicts start it is also a good chance to test the new weaponry. It may be sad, but on the other hand, it is believed to be a super strategy to spread a religion. If one would read histories like the early conquests of the Spaniards, Portugeses, and about the slaves in the
And then it just stops. The voices in his head must have been interrupted. (This fellow's screen name is "analyst." How very optimistic. )
"Analyst" has a good deal of company though. (Or perhaps he has multiple personalities.) The cleverly-named "Me" weighs in with this little gem, a real marvel of—whatever the hell he's talking about:
I dont think Obama is the anti-christ. But something is happening if you go back in History we live in a time that is red hot as far as technology advances. Its the first time that the world is connected in a way it never has before hince a new world order is possible like never before. This end time prophacy that is so obviously approaching and people still deny as it said in the bible that they would. False prophets anti-christ aquisations are all signs.These gits always want to "go back in history." Now, what does that mean—time travel? If you want to recommend that people study history, then say so. Better yet, try demonstrating that you have actually done so yourself. And another word of advice for all you Nostradamus bed-wetters: learn to spell the word "prophecy." I won't even attempt to correct "aquisations," since I have no idea what it means.
My favorite comment of all is by reader Justin, who said (presumably with a straight face):
"I heard that the end of times is 2012 not in the 3rd mellenia."So here we have someone who is not only illiterate ("mellenia") but innumerate as well (2012 CE being IN the third millennium).
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