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Discuss Nostradamus and his work here.

http://voraussagen.de/images/nostradamus.jpg Nostradamus art painting.

He'd be interesting if any of his writings were figured out beforehand.
Currently, when something happens, someone will look back and try to make it
seem as though he predicted it.....

Either those writings have been misunderstood, or they're a complete sham.

I agree. There has been much controversy for a few hundread years now.

TFP> Perhaps you should open UP a debate instead of just opening a thread?

Complete Fraud. Period!

Just as much as the people who try to interpret his work.

Very true.

The idea of being warned of some impending doom and having the chance to
change it is a very appealing one. That's why the stories about this man have
endured for as long as they have....

Exactly.

The quatrains are written in such a vague way that one could derive a prediction of just about anything if the correct quatrain is selected. Nostradamus' writings provide us with no knowledge of the future. They are a form of literature into which people read their own hopes and fears.

True, but it is nice fiction none the less.

Originally posted by Cipher
He'd be interesting if any of his writings were figured out beforehand.
Currently, when something happens, someone will look back and try to make it
seem as though he predicted it.....

Either those writings have been misunderstood, or they're a complete sham.

EXACTLY!! I'm continually amazed how everytime a major disaster or trajedy happens, i.e. 9/11, Katrina, War in Iraq, even the controversial 2000 Presidential Election some guy will go on the news and suggest that Nosetradamus could have predicted it. Funny how these Nostradamus scholars never seem to discuss these "predictions" before they happen.

THat being said, i remember watching that Orson Wells film like in 7th Grade and it scared the crap out me!! But i thinks all BS now.

Originally posted by History Buff
EXACTLY!! I'm continually amazed how everytime a major disaster or trajedy happens, i.e. 9/11, Katrina, War in Iraq, even the controversial 2000 Presidential Election some guy will go on the news and suggest that Nosetradamus could have predicted it. Funny how these Nostradamus scholars never seem to discuss these "predictions" before they happen.

THat being said, i remember watching that Orson Wells film like in 7th Grade and it scared the crap out me!! But i thinks all BS now.

I agree.

Originally posted by Storm
The quatrains are written in such a vague way that one could derive a prediction of just about anything if the correct quatrain is selected. Nostradamus' writings provide us with no knowledge of the future. They are a form of literature into which people read their own hopes and fears.

Wow, this page has been viewed 1496 times, with only 13 replies. People must hate Nostradamus.

Or perhaps they think he's not that relevant.

Originally posted by History Buff
Or perhaps they think he's not that relevant.

Or they don't know who he is.

Nostradamus might have had somewhat of a better understanding of what might occur in the future by analysing developments. He just went kinda ape shit with his thoughts and presented them as predictions an mass.
Eventually some of those 'predictions' would seem genuine. Only those close to the eventual truth are re-mentioned, not the many false ones. As Storm mentioned, those connections to his words and real occurrences are easily interpreted as predictions came true, while they're just random coincidence.

All you have to do is look at history and make predictions based on that, but leave every little detail open because things might change in the future. It's easy for somebody to make predictions of the future based on what happened in the past. After all the chances are that something quite similar will happen again, and when you have the entire future ahead of you there is plenty of time for it to happen.

Originally posted by Fishy
All you have to do is look at history and make predictions based on that, but leave every little detail open because things might change in the future. It's easy for somebody to make predictions of the future based on what happened in the past. After all the chances are that something quite similar will happen again, and when you have the entire future ahead of you there is plenty of time for it to happen.

Co sign

Nostradamus' writings have frequently been misquoted and, in some instances, even deliberately altered in order to prove that he supposedly predicted various events. Since the advent of the Internet, many prophecies have even been fabricated outright.

If anyone still clings to the possibility that Nostradamus has been correct about anything, or is a legitimate prophet/seer, I'd point them to the works of James "The Amazing" Randi, who has debunked Nostradamus and his followers so thoroughly and scathingly that it's a wonder anyone still takes him seriously. Apparently ND is so entrenched in the cultural zeitgeist that any new "prediction" is newsworthy.

Hopefully the TV special on him didn't fall into the ever-popular media trap of simply pandering to the next big possible catastrophe.....which, admittedly, sells better than "everything's fine and the dude was a hack" but is itself hacked if they don't show the other side of the argument.