Divination on the Internet

[ogalkin]

I guess I found a new and most popular divination method in the world. Everybody familiar with the Internet unconsciously used it. All of us just didn't recognise it as divination. Guess, what is that? For example, you have some issue or a problem in your life which you don't know how to solve or which decision to make. You feel some barrier inside, feel like you are stuck. What do you do? You start to surf in the Internet, start to find websites and articles which are reflecting your inner-situation. And it looks like... divination! In the ancient times people used I Ching for such purposes and now we got one big superoracle - the Internet! But the sense is the same - divination.

So, how often you use divination on the Internet?

 

[neegula]

actually, i'm very fond of divination in any form it Comes,
http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/friends/showthread.php?t=9063
but it didn't happen to me so many times to Receive while on intenet; i have to add that i'm not a dragon of surfing on the net; i mean, i go quite straight to what i'm looking for and i find connections and answers that i was looking for. or...anyway...
i'll care about watching at this in the next days thank you

i love (human words' and) clouds' divination very much. this morning i heard a cry in the sky, so i turned and looked up: i saw the first of 3 other buzzards sailing the sky in that moment not far from the place i live; i saw them today for the first time since last october; clouds behind them were 3 very round and joyful elephants running happily together (i have two kids)

 

[fkegan]

In the ancient times people used I Ching for such purposes and now we got one big superoracle - the Internet! But the sense is the same - divination.

An interesting idea, though it confuses many things. The "Internet" as you use that term is merely a protocol of accessing through telephone networks various evolutions of bulletin boards. The content available which would be the actual Oracle within the metaphor suggested is only bits (or bytes) of information organized by objective keyword which fails the fundamental philosophical requirement for subjective relevance that is the hallmark of divination.

That is why so many modern and even postmodern folks still find the elegant, eternal divination of the Chou I Ching Oracle insightful.

Frank

 

[ogalkin]

I don't think that people think about philosophical requirements when they perform divination. People can make divinations even on coffee-grounds. So you make divination tossing a coin , for example when dealing with I Ching, but here you toss a search query using Google. And then you read an answer in the form of content which Google displays to you.

 

[neegula]

ogalkin,
i don't understand something:
you make a Question, and then...what you write on little google space for searching?

 

[chushel]

Ogalkin:
Am I correct that this site is one that you have developed?
Since it is also referenced in your signature?

 

[fkegan]

I don't think that people think about philosophical requirements when they perform divination. People can make divinations even on coffee-grounds. So you make divination tossing a coin , for example when dealing with I Ching, but here you toss a search query using Google. And then you read an answer in the form of content which Google displays to you.

Making divination from any technique does not at all define either Divination or how divination works. As one who works in software for horoscopes, this may be a philosophical topic beyond where your interests lie.

A horoscope like an I Ching casting method is a purely mechanical thing. Horoscopes a bit easier since we all (right up to NASA planetary position software) use equations based upon Ptolemy still and needing only a small correction to replace Heliocentric positions to geocentric (cf. Earlewine's Manual for BASIC programmers seeking to do horoscopes with 64 k RAM computers ).

However, interpreting any divination is a totally different philosophical topic.

I once worked with the astrologer who developed Astro-Dice as his alternative to my casting pennies for I Ching Readings, who thought he could expand his focus upon his 12-sided dice into 8-sided dice for I Ching. However, he never dealt with the problem that his interpretation booklet for the results of his plastic devices was truly BAD. The Astro-Dice still sell very well to astrologers who don't need a booklet, etc. but that has nothing to say whatsoever about his errors in thinking about what divination is all about.

Perhaps, as you list yourself as a junior member, you might consider posting about your horoscope software where your thread would bring folks discussing what you are knowledgeable about. Just a suggestion....

Frank

 

[meng]

I guess I found a new and most popular divination method in the world. Everybody familiar with the Internet unconsciously used it. All of us just didn't recognise it as divination. Guess, what is that? For example, you have some issue or a problem in your life which you don't know how to solve or which decision to make. You feel some barrier inside, feel like you are stuck. What do you do? You start to surf in the Internet, start to find websites and articles which are reflecting your inner-situation. And it looks like... divination! In the ancient times people used I Ching for such purposes and now we got one big superoracle - the Internet! But the sense is the same - divination.

So, how often you use divination on the Internet?

Anything and everything is an oracle if you determine it ahead of time. My French Grannie read tea leaves convincingly. Opening a book that contains meaning you consider valuable, randomly, can provide a message and meaning you could aptly apply to the moment, or to the question you asked. But - as with using the Yi oracle, you have to engage belief that you will receive what you need from it. It's not the answer that seeks a young fool.

 

[ogalkin]

Ogalkin:
Am I correct that this site is one that you have developed?
Since it is also referenced in your signature?

Yes, you are right, this is my site. I'll be happy to answer all the questions if they'll appear.

 

[ogalkin]

Anything and everything is an oracle if you determine it ahead of time. My French Grannie read tea leaves convincingly. Opening a book that contains meaning you consider valuable, randomly, can provide a message and meaning you could aptly apply to the moment, or to the question you asked. But - as with using the Yi oracle, you have to engage belief that you will receive what you need from it. It's not the answer that seeks a young fool.

Yes of course you are right. I just noticed that people often use Internet for some kind of clarification when the degree of uncertainty is high when they don't know exactly what they want, they only know that they feel something, but cannot properly formulate it. And the Internet (with search engines) is pretty comfortable thing for such purpose, because you can get a results very fast, and Internet is something like the storage of all knowledge in the world, that's why, maybe, people expect to find a valuable answers there. People start to search for information which will provide, like you said, message to them. Does it look like a divination? Maybe not exactly, but pretty close to it.

 

[meng]

Yes, I see what you're saying. Very interesting.

 

[meng]

It's the seeking devise which initiates an oracle. It is not the answer which seeks a question, the question seeks the answer.

 

[ogalkin]

Perhaps, as you list yourself as a junior member, you might consider posting about your horoscope software where your thread would bring folks discussing what you are knowledgeable about. Just a suggestion....

Frank

Frank,
I want to say straight, that I'm here to stay. I'll definitely do that, but when the time comes. Thank you for your interest.

Oleg

 

[ogalkin]

It is not the answer which seeks a question, the question seeks the answer.

Yes, something like that