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Old 06-18-2004, 01:14 PM   #1
jaguar
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John Titor

Anyone else familiar with this?
This short version is a man called John Titor appeared in a number of forums in november 2000 claiming to be a time traveller from 2036, preceeded to engage all comers, give details of a time travel device that is in line with current scientific research. He also said there would be the roots of a civil war in the US in 2004/5, open clinflict by 2008 and nuclear war in 2015.

Yea, sounds like I've been hitting the berocca pretty hard I know but he had no agenda to speak of, wasen't trying to sell anything and everything he said so far has come true. It's not waffly predictions, it's full of hard facts and what can be checked out. If he was a fraud he was a damn smart one with a real dedication. Prohpet, time traveller or fraud I believe given the evidence it's worth keeping an open mind. As you read though there is something strangely haunting about the whole thing, as a fraud it would be masterful on all levels. I don't know what I think, but I thought it was worth discussion.

Think of it this way, imagine what would happen if this election was more of a disaster than the last?

Here

There is also a very good meta-discussion here
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Last edited by jaguar; 06-18-2004 at 01:19 PM.
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Old 06-18-2004, 04:51 PM   #2
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http://www.johntitor.com as well. Obviously.
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Old 06-18-2004, 05:50 PM   #3
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Never heard of the story before. Interesting stuff. Like the author of the site says, it's the easiest thing in the world to test him, just wait a few more months and see if his predictions come true.

But wouldn't it be really funny if the guy were just a staunch Democrat, angry about the outcome of the election in 2000 and making these dire predictions of chaos and suffering--unless, of course, we "change our future" and vote against Bush in November? I mean for Christ's sake, he said his family's from Florida.
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Old 06-21-2004, 02:36 AM   #4
Torrere
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I wonder why he advised people of ways to change the future by working to prevent the United States from becoming a police state, but decided not to mention September 11th?
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Old 06-21-2004, 04:33 AM   #5
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I would Wolf has met several John Titor types.
Titors posts were written before 9-11, the Columbia accident and the second Gulf War.
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Old 06-21-2004, 06:16 AM   #6
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But the sure to foreshadow the era of the patriot act well don't they.
Put it this way, i'm not died in the wool beleiver but I find it interesting from multiple perspectives and at worst, a very, very clever hoax.
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Old 06-21-2004, 08:01 AM   #7
Griff
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Maybe I didn't read enough of it, but I'm assuming they're pimping a movie. Hype the story online, Make sure it's copyrighted so nobody rips you off...
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Old 06-21-2004, 09:05 AM   #8
xoxoxoBruce
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Quote:
But the sure to foreshadow the era of the patriot act well don't they.
So did Orwell's 1984.
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Old 06-21-2004, 09:12 AM   #9
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If he appeared in 2000 and managed not to mention 9/11, he's a nut or a fraud.

It's interesting that he claims to have come from the year before the end of the Unix epoch.
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Old 06-21-2004, 01:53 PM   #10
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But mentioning 9/11 would have invariably altered the future. And since 9/11 DID indeed happen, he couldn't have mentioned it anyways. Or something like that. Time travel laws are weird.
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Old 06-21-2004, 02:19 PM   #11
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Not according to him. According to him, there are infinite world lines, which means it wouldn't matter to HIS world if he mentioned 9/11 to us or not, we would be off in a different future than he was anyway. It's very important that your story always has a way out like that if you're going to be a successful conman.

Plus, he could claim that he was only 3 when it happened, so it didn't seem to be as important of an event.
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Old 06-21-2004, 02:20 PM   #12
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If I came back from the future, I'd have a plan. I wouldn't just post messages on Usenet. I'd take the information I have from the future. Every morning I'd buy every stock listed that gained 20% on the day. With the money from the previous day, I bet every trifecta listed in the horsey results tables. After the first month, I have enough money to fund my campaign, better than any dumb message on a website. I also have the religious belief of everyone who I wanted to help me in the operation. "Hey kid, if Thome hits a homer in the 5th, you'll know I know what I'm talking about."
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Old 06-21-2004, 02:27 PM   #13
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[Titor] After the nuclear war, stock prices and horse race winners from 36 years ago weren't readily available. Also, I couldn't predict things like Thome's batting because this past is slightly different than my own, about 2% in fact. How did I calculate that? Uh, move along please, move along... [/Titor]
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Old 06-21-2004, 03:55 PM   #14
xoxoxoBruce
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He could have told us when some smart chick scooped up UT.
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Old 06-21-2004, 05:08 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally posted by Clodfobble
Not according to him. According to him, there are infinite world lines, which means it wouldn't matter to HIS world if he mentioned 9/11 to us or not, we would be off in a different future than he was anyway. It's very important that your story always has a way out like that if you're going to be a successful conman.

Plus, he could claim that he was only 3 when it happened, so it didn't seem to be as important of an event.

if he lived (will live) in a differnet world line, then maybe 9/11 never happened in HIS world. And maybe all of the rest of the stuff he's warning us about won't happen either. kind of undermines his whole argument in a way. maybe THIS world line will be 'discovered' by benevolent toadlike aliens, and we'll all live happily ever after ( as long as we dont' break the 4 rules )
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