I am literally judging books by their cover and they assume I am a prophet.

602 points · 98 comments · view on lemmy.world

98 Comments

calliope@retrolemmy.com · 176 pts · 35d (26 replies)

Indeed, this is called cold reading and is how most of these things work.

drolex@sopuli.xyz · 122 pts · 35d (16 replies)

Let me guess, you're someone who, hmm, finds information on Wikipedia and, aaah, has an interest in decentralised open-source projects. The spirits tell me you are not a fan of Windows and you dislike genocidal maniacs.

calliope@retrolemmy.com · 86 pts · 35d (15 replies)

Oh my god it’s like you KNOW ME

gedfromgont@piefed.ca · 21 pts · 35d (14 replies)

You also like Linux and Star Trek

calliope@retrolemmy.com · 19 pts · 35d (13 replies)

Half correct! I never got into Star Trek.

Whostosay@sh.itjust.works · 34 pts · 35d (4 replies)

Never got into star trek, yet.

IT WAS FORTOLD

calliope@retrolemmy.com · 4 pts · 35d (3 replies)

Well shit in that case I wonder where I should start

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 35d

Lower Decks seems like the most accessible, though I haven't seen it.

Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 35d (6 replies)

I mean Star Wars

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 35d (1 reply)

Same thing

ayyy@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 35d

RIP 🪦

calliope@retrolemmy.com · 2 pts · 35d (3 replies)

Also no! At this point I’d probably just start helping the person out.

I don’t like Battlestar Galactica, either. I’m more of a Last Starfighter guy.

SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de · 4 pts · 35d

Easy mistake. They meant star gate

Damage@feddit.it · 2 pts · 35d

Well you're here so it's bound to happen

EggInDisguise@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 47 pts · 35d

I once saw someone with a name tag get bent out of shape when the "reader" somehow managed to get her name from the ether. And then she got mad at me for pointing out her name tag.

Klear@piefed.world · 26 pts · 35d (2 replies)

To add to this, tarot and other divination methods are a great way to tap into your subconscious to get this kind of insight even if you can't do it normally. Every card can be a lot of things and having a bunch of them in various places could be interpreted in many ways, but (if you're good at it) your mind will snap into one specific interpretation according to your unconscious biases and convinces itself it is the only way to read that configuration.

chiliedogg@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 35d

Yeah. This is why some people can genuinely believe in the magic while performing the trick.

prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 33d

What an interesting attempt to legitimize this completely illegitimate con.

It's cold reading. You're not divining anything. They're cards with cool little pictures on them. That's it.

Sineljora@sh.itjust.works · 10 pts · 35d (1 reply)

This is what AI/LLMs do also.

eleijeep@piefed.social · 8 pts · 35d

The fact that so many people fall for cold-reading tells us why there are so many people that think that LLMs are intelligent.

socsa@piefed.social · 4 pts · 35d (1 reply)

Our office brought one of these "management mentalist" guys to a retreat as entertainment and I just got a kick out of lying to them so they would always be wrong.

ayyy@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 35d

A management mentalist at a work retreat. I’m amazed you are alive to tell the tale, I would’ve offed myself.

prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 33d

Most? Try all

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 36 pts · 35d

So he does know how to read tarot cards.

EggInDisguise@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 33 pts · 35d (11 replies)

But I'm the asshole if I don't take people seriously when they go on about astrology and how it's the perfect system.

drolex@sopuli.xyz · 18 pts · 35d

That's some Scorpio skepticism. You're a victim of the influence of the stars smh

Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 35d (6 replies)

Because if my parents had banged 3 days earlier I'd be much more agreeable

applebusch@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 9 pts · 35d (5 replies)

you wouldnt exist. they would've had one of their other possible children.

Hacksaw@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 35d (4 replies)

3 days.... I think the same sperm could have made it.... It's possible strictly speaking

applebusch@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 35d (3 replies)

it would have to be the identical sperm to produce you, which is highly unlikely. which sperm gets there first would be highly chaotic, so even if it was the exact same load just a small difference in time would likely mean a different sperm would get there. theres potentially hundreds of millions of sperm in a single ejaculation, so with even odds for each you have a better chance of winning the lottery than existing in this scenario.

Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 35d

Yeah, this also means that you wouldn't have to go back and kill your grandfather for the grandfather paradox. You wouldn't even have to cock block him. Just shake his hand. Hell, just be on the same busy street or sidewalk as him, or exist at all far enough ahead of the event, and chaos will take care of the rest.

Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 33d (1 reply)

on the other hand who's to say that another sperm would have made a noticable difference? Maybe they'd just have a slightly better sense of smell and one fewer eyelashes

applebusch@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 33d

the fact that pretty much all siblings are way more different than that... a different sperm would just be one of your siblings.

TechieDamien@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 34d (1 reply)

They hate it when I mention that the stars move in the sky, so the constellations not only move but also change shape.

prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 33d

Not only that, but the stars that make up the constellations are, in reality, very very far from one another.

They only appear in those patterns to us because of the very specific angle that we view the sky from.

They're also just inert balls of gas that are further away than most people can even begin to comprehend. That shit does not affect human personality for fuck sake.

bandanawearingbanana@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 35d

Tbh most people into astrology don't take it that seriously either it's just for fun.

grandma@sh.itjust.works · 27 pts · 35d (5 replies)

Btw this guy recently got jumped and had hot grease poured over his foot causing nerve damage while walking home from pride because his car got stripped for parts by thieves. He needs money for surgery and moving out of Detroit and has yet to reach his initial goal of $50k https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-ceros-after-car-theft-and-attack

Karjalan@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 35d

Wtf? Why are people so shit

Honytawk@discuss.tchncs.de · 5 pts · 34d (3 replies)

Ah, so he is American then?

boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 34d (2 replies)

I mean you could tell by the fact that people go get tarot readings lol

Honytawk@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 33d (1 reply)

You think tarots are only known in the US?

You also must be American.

Tarot were initially invented in Italy centuries before your country even existed. It is well-known all over Europe. Including German Grosstarok and modern examples such as French Tarot and Austrian Königrufen. It is now used all over the world. The US is but a small blip on its history.

So no, you can't tell they are American.

boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 33d

I'm Estonian, we don't do god, tarot and other similar superstitions as much here. Only some fringe lunatics do. Mostly you see tarot in American movies because Americans are the kinda people who believe that kind of bullshit but then I guess maybe western Europe is America lite since y'all literally spawned America. I just never thought western Europe was also this far gone.

Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de · 12 pts · 35d (27 replies)

Interested foreign language guy question:
Is this a correct use of the word "literally"?

DickFiasco@sh.itjust.works · 18 pts · 35d (21 replies)

I don't think it's technically correct, but that word has been mangled so badly at this point that I would say the way it's used here counts as common usage.

Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 35d (1 reply)

It has come to a point where literally means both literally and figurativelly depending on context.

gibmiser@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 35d

You are literally correct

Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de · 5 pts · 35d (2 replies)

Thanks! Got me confused when reading the whole post but then I guessed something like what you just said already.
Just wanted to have some confirmation.

SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 35d (1 reply)

"foreign language guy"

speaks better English than most native English speakers

hakase@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 35d

Speaks better English English closer to an arbitrary standard than most native English speakers

That's what usually happens when you focus on learning the "standard" in isolation instead of being exposed to stigmatized non-"standard" dialects as a child as you acquire your mother tongue.

Happens with literally every language, not just English.

Klear@piefed.world · 0 pts · 35d (15 replies)

It's not mangled, it's just used as a hyperbole. When you say someone is tall as a mountain you're not mangling the word "mountain" in doing so.

SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 35d (14 replies)

When you say someone is literally as tall as a mountain, that literally means that they would be at least 2,000 feet tall.

Klear@piefed.world · 0 pts · 35d (13 replies)

Yes. In that case it's not used as a hyperbole.

SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 35d (12 replies)

Right, so "literally" indicates that the statement is not a hyperbole.

Klear@piefed.world · -2 pts · 35d (11 replies)

Not always. When I say my head literally exploded, the word "literally" absolutely is a hyperbole.

Serinus@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 35d

That defeats the purpose of the word. It makes it mean literally nothing.

hakase@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 35d

This comment is literally correct, and all of the responses to it are literally /c/badlinguistics, so of course this comment is the one that gets downvoted.

SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 35d

There's literally no difference in the usage.

drolex@sopuli.xyz · 7 pts · 35d (1 reply)

Literally literally means metaphorically now

hakase@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 35d

And has since at least the 1700s.

ExperimentalGuy@programming.dev · 5 pts · 35d

It's emphasis in this context rather than its actual definition.

thekidxp@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 35d (1 reply)

Yeah both of those uses are fine in English. The first usage is "more" correct I would say. Literally is supposed to be used to basically say that the thing is actually happening. The second usage is also common at least in American English. Usually it's used with common figures of speech. "I was literally judging books by their cover." Technically he wasn't, he was judging people. Some people will be pedantic and call you out for that. So if you're taking an English class I'd avoid that usage but it's really common to hear it used that way. "I would literally die." It strengthens the phrase.

Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 35d

Thanks!
And I've heard similar expressions like in the last example you mentioned being used before, so should have known by myself...

NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net · 11 pts · 34d

TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 35d (2 replies)

My favorite part of this is when people do it to me and they are almost always 100% wrong.

they get really mad and call me an asshole. because apparently i'm suppose to just agree with their shit takes about me.

Donkter@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 35d (1 reply)

I take a little pride in this too. Not because I'm not easily judged (you would be right about a lot of things based on my looks) but I keep quite a few hobbies that no one would suspect and don't have many interests that are in the orbit of what might be guessed.

It lets me know when someone starts treating me like they've "clocked" what type of person I am since it's clear when someone thinks they're appealing to you/flattering you but completely whiffing.

TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 35d

yeah, it's a big tell for narcissistic personalities. they do a lot of cold reading to flatter people and win them over so they can start manipulating you.

wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 35d

My guy doesn't realize he's actually reading tarot. 🤣

yuri@pawb.social · 7 pts · 35d (4 replies)

ceros is pretty cool, his youtube channel can be a trip

bandanawearingbanana@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 35d

I love him, it's so obvious most of his stories are made up bs for clicks and I'm here for it!

It's like hearing a wildly exaggerated story being told by that one friend but you don't say anything and don't interrupt because he's a good storyteller.

sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 35d (2 replies)

Yeah I was gonna say the same!

He makes good content, is often quite funny, has insightful and honest takes... I don't agree with him on absolutely 100%, but, he's a straight shooter, not shilling anything... kinda guy you could actually agree to disagree with on less consequential stuff... which is rare, and admirable.

Hope his foot's doing better... fuck, that shit was crazy.

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 35d (1 reply)

What happened to his foot?

sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 35d

It is a long story that he tells better than I will, but the short version is he got acid thrown at him, and suffered some pretty serious damage from that.

Olgratin_Magmatoe@slrpnk.net · 6 pts · 35d

I love the mobile seat + table setup.

Sam_Bass@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 35d (2 replies)

and thus began the saga of the bene gesserit

PartyAt15thAndSummit@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 35d (1 reply)

Butlerian Jihad when?

Sam_Bass@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 35d

at least a thousand years hence

TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 35d (5 replies)

Good for him. Get that moonay.

I have a friend who is pretty spooky at it. Believe me I use to be a tarot doubter but she is legit in tune with something.

When she told me she couldn't go to antique stores because of energies I was sure she was full of shit. Then I kept seeing things that made me be more open to it.

Like pulling the death card then a random downpour of rain type shit. One of many.

She's a witch.

SkyezOpen@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 35d (2 replies)

death

rain

Yeah close enough.

Wren@lemmy.today · 8 pts · 35d

I don't believe in tarot reading at all, but I did enough middle school goth witch cosplay to know that death is a water card.

queermunist@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 35d

The death card signifies change, actually. Surely you've seen the Simpsons bit?

Lumidaub@feddit.org · 3 pts · 34d

Now count the times that no card corresponded to anything.

prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 33d

Like pulling the death card then a random downpour of rain type shit. One of many.

This one time I was playing Go Fish with my grandpa, and I asked if he had any tens, and he had four of them. Oh yeah it was also raining outside.

So spooky.

In all seriousness, I wish people were more mindful of their cognitive biases. According to Google, a standard tarot deck has 78 cards, one of which is Death.

That's a 1 in 78 chance. Not huge, but let's be real, also not very small. It's a higher chance than pulling three of a kind from a regular card deck. Something that happens all of the time.

I wonder how many times she did tarot in the rain and didn't draw Death. It doesn't mean anything.

Confirmation bias is a helluva thing.

Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works · -4 pts · 34d (3 replies)

This isn't even remotely how tarot works lol. I know he said that, but like... I'd be pissed if I paid for tarot and got whatever the hell he's doing.

It's not hard... Tarot almost always comes with a fucking book to look up the stuff.

boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 34d

I mean if you want your tarot readings to be accurate, you'd want exactly that. And I'm pretty sure that every remotely successful tarot reader does that.

Wtf the cards gonna do on their own? lmao

DaPorkchop_@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 34d (1 reply)

The sign does say "FREE" so it's not like anyone is paying for this...

modus@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 34d

Sounds like he's getting just as much entertainment as his clients. Everyone's going home happy.