The only parts of that list that seem out-there are the fiancee-eerily-similar-to-prayers (alternate explanations: The kind of people you actively seek out and the kind of people you pray to meet are going to resemble each other, human memories are fallible to the point that they can be completely fabricated, so a vague similarity might adjust to become an eerily close similarity) and the financial status (I’m not sure what my prior for this is supposed to be, since “rich enough never to have to work for three generations” varies a lot on expenditure, probably more than just the top 1% could get there if they were frugal).
Oh agreed. My awesome life is not a good proof, but while I came with a high IQ out of the box, I hadn’t learned the tools of thinking yet to the necessary degree. It’s loosely confirmatory, but not a silver bullet. I was just saying that prompted me to have the idea a decade or two before (inadequitely still, but I knew it) testing the idea. My confidence may be too high, but really, it hasn’t been a priority to test mostly because I can’t think of a good one that doesn’t come at too high a cost for too little benefit. I’ve never really tried to prove my Fiancé′s aunt who I’ve never met exists either. Open to ideas.
And the grandkids thing is something I came up with to give my fiancé perspective when she was just my girlfriend. Anything with “illion” in it becomes “a bunch” to non math folk. Think about 4 mil. Now think about 8. I’d say (based on nothing but anecdote) if you said each to fifty men-on-the-street, you’d have at least 85 people thinking of pretty much the same pile of gold doubloons.
Commit to not talk to anyone about the results of your test. No hinting, nothing. If you do this the experiment is worthless. Don’t even mention it; if asked about it, say ‘I promised beforehand that I would not give out information’. Take a coin, flip it twenty times or so, record heads and tails. This is not a good test but it’s simple and easy and can at least theoretically provide some information.
The only parts of that list that seem out-there are the fiancee-eerily-similar-to-prayers (alternate explanations: The kind of people you actively seek out and the kind of people you pray to meet are going to resemble each other, human memories are fallible to the point that they can be completely fabricated, so a vague similarity might adjust to become an eerily close similarity) and the financial status (I’m not sure what my prior for this is supposed to be, since “rich enough never to have to work for three generations” varies a lot on expenditure, probably more than just the top 1% could get there if they were frugal).
Oh agreed. My awesome life is not a good proof, but while I came with a high IQ out of the box, I hadn’t learned the tools of thinking yet to the necessary degree. It’s loosely confirmatory, but not a silver bullet. I was just saying that prompted me to have the idea a decade or two before (inadequitely still, but I knew it) testing the idea. My confidence may be too high, but really, it hasn’t been a priority to test mostly because I can’t think of a good one that doesn’t come at too high a cost for too little benefit. I’ve never really tried to prove my Fiancé′s aunt who I’ve never met exists either. Open to ideas.
And the grandkids thing is something I came up with to give my fiancé perspective when she was just my girlfriend. Anything with “illion” in it becomes “a bunch” to non math folk. Think about 4 mil. Now think about 8. I’d say (based on nothing but anecdote) if you said each to fifty men-on-the-street, you’d have at least 85 people thinking of pretty much the same pile of gold doubloons.
Commit to not talk to anyone about the results of your test. No hinting, nothing. If you do this the experiment is worthless. Don’t even mention it; if asked about it, say ‘I promised beforehand that I would not give out information’. Take a coin, flip it twenty times or so, record heads and tails. This is not a good test but it’s simple and easy and can at least theoretically provide some information.