# Can You Develop P{sychic Abilities By Training?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [November 28, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771 "2003-11-28T20:49:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 10
### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/181 "2003-12-05T19:00:16Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by IWLN \*
> Only if it’s filthy and perverted.🙂
Are you psychic? I bet you can tell what I’m thinking! :o
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by IWLN \*
> Let me tell you a little story. A little over 13 years ago, I participated in a study. There were about 200 people involved and we did nothing but take a battery of tests for 4 days, 8 hours a day. It was sort of about personality types, but very heavy into intuitive processes, etc. Weird stuff.
> …
> We were also required to see her (my boss’) favorite psychic. I went and was told that I was carrying too much pain in my gut, I had plenty of everything I needed, but gave to much away and that I needed to learn to put my own oxygen mask on first.(I wish I knew how to make eerie, doo,doo sounds on a keyboard). Needless to say I left that job shortly after.
>
> Okay, the only reason I’m telling you this is my personal experiences in the supposed paranormal and any kind of test setting for abilities were not a positive life experience. Anyway, talking to **cityboy** was kind of my own little test and it reminded me why none of that has any place in my life. So, I’ve catagorized this as kind of a little game and he seems very sweet and genuine, so I’m talking to him, but that’s it. I have learned to put on my own oxygen mask first.😕 I think. If I change my mind, I’ll let you know.
That all sounds like a waste of time to me too.
I certainly wasn’t suggesting anything like that - but please feel free to take a test whenever you feel like it.
As a scientific type, I react the same way whenever anyone says “I have an unusual ability…”
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/182 "2003-12-05T19:07:33Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by devilsknew \*
> Every “hunch”, “lucky guess”, “prediction”, etc. that has come true or passed or otherwise occured within your life is actually precognition _and_ simultaneously proof of that same precognition- and by proxy Psychic ability (precognition is a so-called Psychic ability.) You might have guessed or intentionally made a prediction or perhaps you just had an internal premonition. It doesn’t matter. Precognition is a state, it does not require intention, awareness, or self-actualization. You can know consciously or be entirely unconscious and unknowing of a future occurence, because in both instances precognition only materializes and issues forth after the fact. It is dependent upon the “matching” of a past and future reality.
And is every “hunch”, “lucky guess” or “prediction” that fails evidence that your theory is wrong?
With the UK lottery there are about 14 million wrong predictions of the first prize for every correct set of numbers. You’re saying this proves that the winner is psychic? I don’t see that at all.
What about syndicates that buy up every lottery number? Are they psychic too?
You didn’t answer these earlier questions:
So you think there is a precognition ability that skips from person to person each week.
How do you distinguish this from chance?
After something happens, you assume it must have been paranormal?
And what happens on weeks when nobody wins?
Is the precognition ability on holiday?
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### Author:  [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/183 "2003-12-05T19:55:30Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by IWLN \*
> **So, was the quote from Horace or are you an Enya fan?**
Horace who? No, I got that one from Enya. (I assume you mean “omnem crede diem…”) What if I told you Enya was born on May 17th, 1961?
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> No, I mean city"boy".Now wait, didn’t I say you sounded like a woman part of the time? You’re supposed to get mad when someone calls you a _girlyboy_.😃 Okay, now I really am teasing.
I shoulda known a moniker like city"boy" would have just as much influence as a big glaring 22! 😃 Seems to me though it’s a term used to describe somebody who would rather be in the city, and that describes me well. (Fish out of water here in the sticks.) as for the “girly” thing, yeah it used to get on my nerves but what can I say to something that agrees with what I want to believe? Is it really such a bad thing to be sensitive - seems to me it would please the ladies. 😃
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> Still think she died in 1978, which doesn’t work. Why do you think what you do?
Yeah I used to think that too. I changed my mind when I heard Breakfat In America (Mar '79), Discovery (Jun '79) and Night Owl (Jun '79).
> [@](#):
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> I guess she could have been born early in '58…
Nope. 259th day of '58, which I knew long before this thread got started (look at the thread ID!) which is funny because I saw your post count when it read 259; I saw you post at 2:59 and 12:59, and I logged out at 2:59 AM last night. Coincidences like that are all too common with me.
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> but there should be close to a two year gap in between. Still think she was younger.
You could be on to something, but it’s not anything I hadn’t already considered. Besides, July 1979 - May 1981 is almost 2 years.
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### Author:  [@MyOld85MG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyOld85MG)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/184 "2003-12-05T20:02:44Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by IWLN \*
> \*\*1. The first one is not meant to be an insult, but it’s possible you would have agreed with whatever I said to make your cause more believable. I don’t think that’s true, but I don’t know you; so it could be.
>
> 1. I am incredibly good at reading people and made some very good guesses. I’m actually pretty comfortable with that answer.
>
> 2. There is a little bit of information about you available on the internet. After I posted my answer last night, I looked to see if I could come up with anything that would show if I was even in the ballpark. I stopped after I ran across one item, because it verified the first part of what I had posted and I was a little weirded out. I also felt like it was invading your privacy and I apologize for that. I bring this up as evidence that I could have got a little information before I sent my answer and just built on that. That isn’t true, but it would be a fairly logical argument for why this is a bunch of “hooey”. It does show the potential for how people can be fooled, lied to. It happens all the time. I am not uncomfortable with that being the answer most people pick.
>
> 3. The last is, damn I’m good.🙂 I could give Sylvia Brown a run for her money. My personal least favorite answer. And the funniest, most absurd.
> \*\*
Hi, **IWLN** , I would like to add another possibility, which is a little weak, but may be true:
1. Maybe you’ve just been lucky (in this sense: you have experienced more than your “share” of strange coincidences).
If you look at “coincidence” as being a juxtaposition of two or more things at random, then there are ga-zillions of coincidences every day. We don’t notice most of them because they don’t look very interesting.
However, some of them will look interesting or “strange”. Consider them “winning tickets” in a lottery of coincidences.
Now, some people “play the lottery” (i.e., look for strange coincidences) more than others, and that by itself means they get more “winning tickets” (see more such coincidences) than other folks do.
And beyond that, in terms of statistics, some players are just going to bump into more than the average number of “winning tickets” than other players do. In a large enough universe, there might be someone who just by chance would win every lottery they ever entered. Or whose every experience seemed to be a “strange coincidence”.
#5 is what makes is so deucedly hard to prove psychic phenomena exist. To satisfy a statistician, you would have to be able to demonstrate an ability under controlled conditions and do so a number of times. Hopefully, the experimenter could come up with some sort of double-blind control method so your performance could be compared with that of others.
Some folks say that such a regimen suppresses psychic ability, but the fact is this:
If you or anyone really has the ability to sense “hidden facts” (about others or the future), then by definition you **have** to be able to come up with that information **more often** than someone who is simply guessing.
Otherwise, there really is no point. I could ask anyone on the street what they predict for me or can intuit about me and get just as many right answers – although most of them will be wrong.
Experimental conditions don’t preclude being in a special state of mind. You could even come up with a protocol that allows you (and the control subjects) to keep only the trials that you “feel good” about at the time.
Experimental conditions don’t have to be sterile. They can be comfortable and congenial. They just have to be secure (to prevent fraud and to prevent accidental “contamination” of the results).
But any psychic claim, no matter how genuine you feel about it, really doesn’t mean anything unless you can somehow show that explanation #5 doesn’t apply.
(And I realize you’re not out to prove anything, **IWLN** , I’m just making a point for this thread.) 🙂
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### Author:  [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/185 "2003-12-05T20:04:17Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by IWLN \*
> **Well, I don’t think #1 is true…**
I think we have already ruled out #1, since A.) you were somehow able to confirm the 1980/81 part (and I was honest with you there) and 2.) I did not completely agree with your exact guess about 1960.
Ad ths keybrd hs sen bettr days. 🙂
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### Author:  [@yawnyyawnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawnyyawnson)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/186 "2003-12-05T20:30:22Z")
…If psychic abilities were any kind of reality at all, we would see serial killers caught before they commit their third murder.
…there would be no casinos, no lotteries.
…people wouldn’t die in earthquakes.
…psychics die in accidents at the same rate as everybody else.
…any “message” a psychic would speak of would be imediately understood…instead of being a bunch of cryptic mumbo-jumbo.
…anything that is not currently understood and not as plain as the nose on your face shouldn’t be allowed to distract your brain cells from your every day bussiness.
…An intelligent–[VERY inteligent]–entity would like more people to muddle up their brains with “Possibilities” “theories”
…and questions that are confusing.
This ‘entity’ knows just what’s needed to keep people involved with seeking unreachable answers.
…feed a few of these dumb animals with a teeny taste of something that looks magical / mystical / miraculous, and they will remain mentaly underveloped , mentaly pliable.
…Are you giving serious mental energy to the topic of psychic abilities???
…If so you are being “played” like a twelve string guitar.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/187 "2003-12-05T20:39:35Z")
> [@](#):
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> _Originally posted by Devilsknew_
> All lottery wins are chance. That doesn’t change the fact that the chance winner had precognition of the chance winning numbers by the very act of choosing some chance numbers. It seems that you can’t turn precognition off (and still have a lottery winner).
I think I am beginning to grasp your theory. The winning lottery numbers, although not different than might be expected by chance, are caused by precognition. They wouldn’t be any different without precognition, just the cause would be removed. **Devilsknew,** am I getting warm?
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### Author:  [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/188 "2003-12-05T22:12:45Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by yawnyyawnson \*
> **…psychics die in accidents at the same rate as everybody else.**
Cite?
If I were to psychically predict the day of my death, I would not try to prevent it because I am confident enough to accept whatever comes next (and if nothing comes next, then so be it and it won’t matter anyway).
> [@](#):
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> …any “message” a psychic would speak of would be imediately understood…instead of being a bunch of cryptic mumbo-jumbo.
What? Why do you say that?
> [@](#):
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> …anything that is not currently understood and not as plain as the nose on your face shouldn’t be allowed to distract your brain cells from your every day bussiness.
> …An intelligent–[VERY inteligent]–entity would like more people to muddle up their brains with “Possibilities” “theories”
> …and questions that are confusing.
> This ‘entity’ knows just what’s needed to keep people involved with seeking unreachable answers.
What in the world is that supposed to mean?
> [@](#):
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> …feed a few of these dumb animals with a teeny taste of something that looks magical / mystical / miraculous, and they will remain mentaly underveloped , mentaly pliable.
Of course there are charlatans, and of course there are morons who are blind enough to follow them. Og knows I don’t believe everything paranormal I read. But that doesn’t make all of it untrue.
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### Author:  [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/189 "2003-12-05T22:52:33Z")
What I get from what devilsnew is saying. We buy lottery tickets with a preconceived anticipation that is hunch driven, hopeful, involves ideation, foreseeability, presentiment, sub-conscious perception, etc. This is the anticipation of previously learned perception and reasoning. This is precognition. It doesn’t have to be correct, but it does have to contain at least a minute amount of perceived success. We would not buy a lottery ticket if we did not have at least a minimum amout of the things listed above. I am going to agree with him. It does sound bizarre at first, but it grows on you.🙂
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### Author:  [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/190 "2003-12-05T23:03:15Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by vknowles \*
> \*\*Hi, **IWLN** , I would like to add another possibility, which is a little weak, but may be true:
>
> 1. Maybe you’ve just been lucky (in this sense: you have experienced more than your “share” of strange coincidences).
>
> (And I realize you’re not out to prove anything, **IWLN** , I’m just making a point for this thread.) 🙂 \*\*
I like #5. Why didn’t I think of that. Hmm…must not be psychic.🙂
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2003, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/191 "2003-12-05T23:44:08Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by IWLN \*
> What I get from what devilsnew is saying. We buy lottery tickets with a preconceived anticipation that is hunch driven, hopeful, involves ideation, foreseeability, presentiment, sub-conscious perception, etc. This is the anticipation of previously learned perception and reasoning. This is precognition. It doesn’t have to be correct, but it does have to contain at least a minute amount of perceived success. We would not buy a lottery ticket if we did not have at least a minimum amout of the things listed above. I am going to agree with him. It does sound bizarre at first, but it grows on you.🙂
No, it’s bizarre. :smack:
Devilsnew is saying that there is a ‘precognitive ability’ that ‘jumps’ from person to person (since people rarely win the lottery twice).
On some weeks this ‘ability’ goes on holiday, since nobody wins.
People who play the same numbers each week (and there are many of them) might win once in say 10 years. Oh look, they had a ‘precognitive ability’ that those numbers would win eventually. Other people play the same numbers each week and never win. Well that ‘proves’ that they have no ‘ability’, and of course is ‘irrefutable proof’ that the ‘ability’ exists.
As for syndicates that buy up every number, they MUST have the ‘ability’, because they win. 😕
This is the silliest theory I have ever heard, both because of all the above but also because:
Suppose there is no ‘precognitive ability’.
What would happen?
Well it is mathematically likely that a different person, using different numbers would win the lottery most weeks.
Some weeks nobody would win.
Some people who play the same numbers each week might win once in say 10 years. Other people would play the same numbers each week and never win.
Ssyndicates that buy up every number would win.
Oh, look - this is exactly what happens. So **there is absolutely no evidence for the ‘theory’**.
But it has inspired me to one of similar ‘quality’.
The reason that things thrown upwards fall back to Earth is … angels blowing hard!
Throw a stone up … and an angel will blow it back down.
Fire a bullet upwards … and an angel will get straight on the job.
But what about satellites and spaceships?
Well the angels need coffee breaks. And by an amazing coincidence, whenever NASA launch a spaceship, the angels are on a break.
And that’s how spaceflight works, children.
(Thanks to devilsnew for the inspiration :wally )
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### Author:  [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/192 "2003-12-06T00:02:50Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by glee \*
> \*\*The reason that things thrown upwards fall back to Earth is … angels blowing hard!
>
> Throw a stone up … and an angel will blow it back down.
> Fire a bullet upwards … and an angel will get straight on the job.
> But what about satellites and spaceships?
> Well the angels need coffee breaks. And by an amazing coincidence, whenever NASA launch a spaceship, the angels are on a break.
> And that’s how spaceflight works, children.
> (Thanks to devilsnew for the inspiration :wally ) \*\*
I’m thinking sarcasm is a bad idea at this point - someone is bound to read this and believe it 😃
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### Author:  [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/193 "2003-12-06T00:05:45Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by glee \*
> \*\*Are you psychic? I bet you can tell what I’m thinking! :o
No. The spirits must be blocked right now. We’ll pass on this one for the sake of all the “delicate” psychos, whoops, psyche? here who might read this.
> [@](#):
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> That all sounds like a waste of time to me too.
> I certainly wasn’t suggesting anything like that - but please feel free to take a test whenever you feel like it.
Thank you.
> [@](#):
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> As a scientific type, I react the same way whenever anyone says “I have an unusual ability…”
That’s fine. If I ever feel a need to perform in public though, I’ll probably take up boxing or something. Less painful.:)So you’re shooting down my opinion on devilsnew theory. I’m still sticking with it. It isn’t about actually winning. It’s about a preconceived notion that you could possibly win. If I had “no” precognition, I wouldn’t buy a ticket because I wouldn’t believe there was a chance of winning. As for the angel theory, I would need to know where the rock landed. If it landed next to you, it was gravity. If it landed on your head, it was truly angels.😉
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/194 "2003-12-06T00:17:04Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by IWLN \*
> So you’re shooting down my opinion on devilsnew theory. I’m still sticking with it. It isn’t about actually winning. It’s about a preconceived notion that you could possibly win. If I had “no” precognition, I wouldn’t buy a ticket because I wouldn’t believe there was a chance of winning.
But people buy into pyramid schemes all the time. They are convinced they will ‘win’. Instead they lose their money. Have they got ‘precognition’?
There is a transfer of millions of dollars annually from the US to Nigeria as people fall for the Nigerian Banker swindle. Have they all got ‘precognition’?
For every lottery there **is** a chance of winning. It might be millions to one, but it’s still a chance.
So you’re agreeing with devilsnew that the lottery winner each week (a different person each time!) has ‘precognition’, while all the millions of losers don’t?
Sheesh.
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### Author:  [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/195 "2003-12-06T00:31:28Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by Shade \*
> \*\*I’m thinking sarcasm is a bad idea at this point - someone is bound to read this and believe it 😃 \*\*
Hey, are you talking about **me**.☹
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### Author:  [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/196 "2003-12-06T00:39:01Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by glee \*
> So you’re agreeing with devilsnew that the lottery winner each week (a different person each time!) has ‘precognition’, while all the millions of losers don’t?
> Sheesh.
Okay I rescind my approval, but only because somewhere in the wonder of the moment, I missed the fact that precognition “hops” around. I thought it was true for anyone who bought a ticket. Gee, I wish I **was** psychic. I would have known that.:o :o :o
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### Author:  [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/197 "2003-12-06T01:01:51Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by cityboy916 \*
> \*\*Horace who? No, I got that one from Enya. (I assume you mean “omnem crede diem…”) What if I told you Enya was born on May 17th, 1961?
Yes, I’m talking about that one. Horace was an old Roman poet/philosopher. I’m pretty sure she got the lyrics from him. I went to her website and pulled up the lyrics. Got a good giggle out of it. On the top right hand corner of the page, it says “Magic & Melody”. I’ll give you a hint…my name’s not Magic. No I don’t think that means anything. There’s just sometimes humor in coincidence.🙂 1961 huh. Well if you would have agreed to my year, you might have had a short but productive singing life. Men, they never listen.
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> I shoulda known a moniker like city"boy" would have just as much influence as a big glaring 22! 😃 Seems to me though it’s a term used to describe somebody who would rather be in the city, and that describes me well. (Fish out of water here in the sticks.) as for the “girly” thing, yeah it used to get on my nerves but what can I say to something that agrees with what I want to believe? Is it really such a bad thing to be sensitive - seems to me it would please the ladies. 😃
I’ve been through your town a few times, never stopped. Oh, I see what you mean. Well it is on the way to some really cool places. No, it’s not a bad thing, ladies do love it (she said soothingly).🙂
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> Yeah I used to think that too. I changed my mind when I heard Breakfat In America (Mar '79), Discovery (Jun '79) and Night Owl (Jun '79).
Maybe your spirit was just jammin’ with Supertramp? Music is a huge deal to me. I’d rather give up Long Islands ice teas than music.
> [@](#):
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> Nope. 259th day of '58, which I knew long before this thread got started (look at the thread ID!) which is funny because I saw your post count when it read 259; I saw you post at 2:59 and 12:59, and I logged out at 2:59 AM last night. Coincidences like that are all too common with me.
I do enjoy good number coincidences. Wouldn’t want to set my clock by them though.😉
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> You could be on to something, but it’s not anything I hadn’t already considered. Besides, July 1979 - May 1981 is almost 2 years.
So are you saying the unborn child doesn’t have a soul? Hmmm…
Hey. Get off your computer. You should be trying to get to that desk right now. A year is too long to not dust.
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### Author:  [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/198 "2003-12-06T03:17:47Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by IWLN \*
> **Music is a huge deal to me. I’d rather give up Long Islands ice teas than music.**
Agreed!
> [@](#):
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> So are you saying the unborn child doesn’t have a soul? Hmmm…
No I am not. I believe the soul _does_ join the body before birth. But, that gets into a whole other debate that would be off topic here and I really don’t want to have to fight over it.
But for what you said, about 2 years, I applied an oversimplification that people tend to use and it comes out to a little less than 2 years.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/199 "2003-12-06T06:03:38Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by Musicat \*
> \*\*I think I am beginning to grasp your theory. The winning lottery numbers, although not different than might be expected by chance, are caused by precognition. They wouldn’t be any different without precognition, just the cause would be removed. **Devilsknew,** am I getting warm? \*\*
I do not know if the precognition of the winning lottery numbers is the cause for the future winning lottery numbers. I do know that the future winning lottery numbers are the cause for the precognition of the past winning lottery number. The paradox.
And glee, I retreat and prefer to go 'round or avoid your landmines. You do inspire me to fill my ideas with water and check for leaks. Thank you
.
(I know this all must look textually ridiculous, but this is an amateur attempt- I don’t really have much of an academic background in science, theory, or mathematics. Shit! I bared, and presented my neck, on that admission. I keep forgetting I’m in a debate forum!)
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-p-sychic-abilities-by-training/215771/200 "2003-12-06T06:11:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by devilsknew \*
> \*\*I do not know if the precognition of the winning lottery numbers is the cause for the future winning lottery numbers. I do know that the future winning lottery numbers are the cause for the precognition of the past winning lottery numbers.
> \*\*
That should read as above, numbers not _number_. Or is it “_numbers_ not number.”
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