How many of you have heard of John Titor?

[goodboy]

I heard from a friend, and I was skeptical at first. I went to this site, http://communities.anomalies.net/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=9&t=000024

and read the postings from start to finish.

I'm just curious if you all know anything about this.

[Birthmark]

1. Tee-hee. That is all.

[rockymountaindem]

2. Oh man, not this crazy thing again.

That dude is full of contradictions and has been totally debunked.

[goodboy]

4. I've read some of the criticisms, but I haven't seen anything

that can prove it's a hoax...just like it can't be proven he's real.

[rockymountaindem]

11. Well, for one thing

if you look at that photo of the magnet or whatever supposedly powers the maching bending a light beam, you should be able to see why it's fake. Light cannot be bent by a magnet or other such force. In fact, if something were powerful enough to bend light, it would most certainly destroy whoever was taking the picture of it happening!

Now that I remember, the supposed machine was powered by a "double singularity". A singularity is something akin to a black hole. My Mr. Know-it-all physics friend told me that if a singularity were ever to be created on earth it would crush the planet to the size of a pinhead.

That and other things lead me to believe that the dude is full of crap.

[Goldmund]

3. It's a pretty cool little critique of our culture and society

But I don't think it's meant to be taken literally. The "time-travel" thing is just a sort of medium through which he meant to deliver his critique.

[goodboy]

6. How about the Civil War that starts in 2004?

[Goldmund]

7. What about it?

[goodboy]

9. Would you agree that there are a lot of signs that point toward that

specific prediction? The country is divided. Fear and hate are rampant....

[Goldmund]

15. There are some signs,

though not as drastic as you would think by Titor's account. 2004 is almost over.

My point was that one of the favorite ways to describe a current sociopolitical situation has always been to speculate on where it will lead in the future. Titor (or whatever his actual name is) chose this Sci-Fi narrative as a vehicle to deliver those predictions. It makes for a more interesting and less dry reading.

[tjwash]

20. Like every other time, and every other society past and present.

How many societies and governments have came, and went, like the Greeks, Romans, Mayans, Toltecs, Ancient Egyptians, that WEREN'T divided, or fear and hate WEREN'T rampant? Now they are gone, victims of internal corruption, civil war, and a common theme of a very few rich people walking on the backs of every one else. The more things change the more they stay the same.

That's why the Nostradamus' "prophecies" get way too much attention.

[hippiegranny]

5. I posted this in the Meeting Room a while ago

Most people ripped it up. Here is my conclusion: I think the guy is lying about who he is, and how he "knows" what he knows, but he might be a psychic who didn't expect to be believed on those grounds. Go figure.

[goodboy]

8. I've come to the conclusion...

after reading everything I can possibly find, either this is one of the most elaborate hoaxes in history, or its real. One of my friends is a Physicist at OSU, and he said the technology exists.

[stevedeshazer]

10. I have read it, too

Interesting stuff, but I remain very skeptical.

[goodboy]

12. It's hard not to be skeptical, but it is a compelling story...

[goodboy]

13. How about "the butterfly effect" is that form of time travel possible?

[MooPie]

14. I would suggest

that you read Robert Park's book, Voodoo Science. This is an excellent source of some of the basic laws of physics and how our media contributes to the dumbing down of science in our nation. It should provide you with a greater understanding of how these frauds continue to be taken seriously. It's really a good easy read while being informative.

[bkcc]

16. Read about this a while back.

Personally, I think it's a load of crap, but it was definitely interesting.

[VOX]

17. Have heard of John Titor. Interesting, but bunk.

Just my opinion.

[scarlet_owl]

18. I have read this before. It is definately interesting, but I am

skeptical.

[tjwash]

19. It was debunked as a GURPS campaign long ago.

Gurps is a fantasy role playing game, and word for word the world, the government, society, and all the history he talked about was straight from a GURPS RP module.

The entire world he described was nothing more than a libertarians wet dream anyway, that's why it got so much play around the internet when it did.

[ReadTomPaine]

22. My guess was an underground marketing campaign for a film...

... that eventually stalled, but was planned along the lines of Blair Witch. I didn't know about the GURPS connection however, which does indeed seem to have traction and sound plausible. As a big-time skeptic, these sorts of things tickle me no end.

RTP.

[MercutioATC]

21. There was a more interesting thread about a "haunted cave" I read

a couple of years ago. Anybody know what I'm talking about? I'd love the link again.