It's
the last day of the year, and I'd say that it is time to take stock
of all the predictions that did not come true. First of all,
of course, the world did not end on or around the 21st of
this month – and we all know by now that no ancient Mayan predicted
the end of the world, anyway, right? – but there were lots of other
firm-sounding predictions that missed the mark, as well.
So-called
psychic LaMont Hamilton said that there would be an Iranian
revolution that would remove either Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from power—but that didn't happen.
Some of his other predictions, including a serious dispute between
China and Japan, China losing its position in the world's economy,
and two space disasters for Russia, fell flat—thank goodness! The
predictions that Hamilton made that actually came true were either
pretty good guesses or completely obvious to everyone—yes,
President Obama did face Mitt Romney in an election (I noticed that
Hamilton didn't predict who would win!), and yes, Israel did face
some violence.
Another
“psychic,” Judy Hevenly, said that Anderson Cooper would win an
Emmy Award for his TV talk show. He didn't; instead, his show
attracted few viewers and was cancelled. She said that Canada would
be hit by major wildfires, but the nation had a normal fire season;
instead, Colorado burned all summer. She guessed correctly that
Barack Obama would be re-elected president, but she went along with
scientists who estimated that world population totals would hit 7.5
or 7.6 billion; instead, the population is barely more than 7 billion
as of today. It was a good guess on Hevenly's part that 2012 would
bring a baby boy to Kate Middleton and Prince William of England—but
it didn't; instead, it brought just the beginnings of a pregnancy
that will hopefully result in a healthy baby (boy OR girl!) in 2013.
Nikki,
“Psychic to the Stars,” said that an earthquake would destroy
most of Mexico City and that there would be a giant earthquake in
California. No and no. She said that animals and birds would attack
people at the end of the year (one assumes more than normal), giant
prehistoric sea monsters would be seen in the sea, and that there
would be major UFO sightings all over the world, and maybe even an
alien spacecraft landing. No, no, no, no. A plane was going to crash
into the White House. No. The Holy Grail was going to be found. No.
The Earth was going to “fall off its axis.” No. And, by the way,
that doesn't make sense.
Nikki
also made some predictions about the Hollywood stars she supposedly
specializes in: Ellen De Generes would join the army for a week,
Sylvester Stallone would be nominated for a Tony Award, and Madonna
would break a leg. No, no, and no.
I
have to say, however, that I admire the fact that Nikki really goes
out on a limb and predicts things that aren't just general good
guessing. She was proven super wrong in all the predictions I
checked, but at least she was bold. Most psychics talk in such a
general way that they could make a case that their predictions were
right—but even I can predict that there will be upheaval in the
Middle East, earthquakes will occur somewhere, and the economy will
suffer from unemployment and stock-market shake-ups.
Here's
my source for the 2012 predictions...I only dealt with the top three
psychics, but I tried not to cherry-pick; they guessed right at
times, but those “hits” are easily explained by the fact that
they were merely intelligent guesses that followed 2011 trends, or
that they were framed in general “mushy” language that is
impossible to be proven wrong. The more specific and dramatic
predictions all turned out to be wrong. And notice that nobody
predicted shootings at a movie theater or an elementary school, nor a
devastating Superstorm hitting Manhattan and New Jersey. And that's
because people can make good guesses about the future based on data
from the past...but apparently they can't make MAGICAL predictions.
Also
on this date:
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