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What Is 'Fortean'?

Comfortably Numb

Antediluvian
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(This line of discussion has been transplanted from the Troll's Head thread.)

One question, if I might please enquire - what is Fortean?

Been bothering myself for a while now, particularly regarding news items.

Is it Fortean, or not?

What would, - maybe in one sentence? - encapsulate the 'brief' a la Fortean contribution. The kind of thing you would have on a Post-it note, as a reminder to check beforehand".
 
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There's no convenient drive-thru answer for that ...

The fact you don't understand certain bits arriving with your burger isn't Fortean.

The fact that your burger is crawling away while you ponder other things IS Fortean.

If you're not going to corral and consume your burger check these threads ...

What Does It Mean to Be a 'Fortean' ?
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-fortean.19530/

The Only "Doctrine" Forteanism Has
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/the-only-doctrine-forteanism-has.2409/

Can You Be a Fortean?
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/can-you-be-a-fortean.4488/
 
Plain accurate.
Check out the bio of Charles Fort before you decide what your own interpretation of 'Fortean' is. He tends to set his own scene. A great pioneer.
 
Plain accurate.
Check out the bio of Charles Fort before you decide what your own interpretation of 'Fortean' is....
I believe might understand your point here.

One other definition, from, 'urban dictionary':

'A subject of the unexplained, unknown, paranormal, cryptozoology, ufology, or other related field. A subject that is considered Fortean is one that cannot be explained through known means'.

Further thought required {notes glass is in dire need of replenishment}...
 
Having taken time to assimilate your much appreciated referrals, would this be a fair reflection on what has *become* 'Fortean'?


I can't access the video, and in any case I don't accept tossing out a link to a third-party media presentation as a viable discursive interaction.
 
I can't access the video, and in any case I don't accept tossing out a link to a third-party media presentation as a viable discursive interaction.
Link seems to be fine?

Anyway, point was that - as I thought you made - ultimately defining 'Fortean'
now is perhaps akin to the question, 'how long is a piece of string'?

Simply a question!
 
... would this be a fair reflection on what has *become* 'Fortean'? ...

It's important to bear in mind that the concepts of something being 'Fortean' and there being an orientation reasonably labeled 'Forteanism' are things to which Fort himself reacted negatively.

As such, whatever 'Fortean' may have originally denoted and whatever it may signify nowadays represent what others have projected onto Fort and his best-known works. Overall, Fort's own comments within his books are disparate and oblique enough to allow readers to arrive at multiple interpretations as to what - if any - overarching theme or point was being pursued.

(Casts a grumpy sidelong glance at CN's slowly retreating burger ... Removes the decorative sword-shaped pick holding the sandwich's many layers together ... Re-inserts the pick, causing the burger to squeal ... Rapidly stabs the burger until its squealing stops ... )
 
It's important to bear in mind that the concepts of something being 'Fortean' and there being an orientation reasonably labeled 'Forteanism' are things to which Fort himself reacted negatively...
See.. there you go... Never knew anything about that. It's all becoming a wee bit clearer now. Thought you might be the one to help elucidate...

Sláinte!
 
Mornin'...

Cup of your finest civit jobby coffee and a bacon roll, if you please.

{Reads the daily news and stumbles across this...}

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Forteanism

Notes not to mention same here...
I’ll join you in the bacon roll and bitching about that article. I’m sure it would be petty for me to point out FT was founded in 1973 which isn’t the late ‘70’s so I won’t mention it.
 
I’ll join you in the bacon roll and bitching about that article. I’m sure it would be petty for me to point out FT was founded in 1973 which isn’t the late ‘70’s so I won’t mention it.
Cannae beat a bacon roll first thing...

Thought might raise a smile to see FT described as a 'Glossy' magazine....
 
Cannae beat a bacon roll first thing...

Thought might raise a smile to see FT described as a 'Glossy' magazine....
A smile is not what was raised, my blood pressure perhaps! I once reviewed a visitor attraction which gave me bacon rolls. I’m sure they probably got an extra star for that,
 
{Reads the daily news and stumbles across this...}
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Forteanism
Notes not to mention same here ...

I don't agree with the article's conclusions, but I readily accept it as evidence for the ambiguities in Fort's ultimate / overall point or aim (as I mentioned earlier). Skepticism and pseudoskepticism are two of the interpretations one can read into Fort's writings.
 
I don't agree with the article's conclusions, but I readily accept it as evidence for the ambiguities in Fort's ultimate / overall point or aim (as I mentioned earlier). Skepticism and pseudoskepticism are two of the interpretations one can read into Fort's writings.
Good innkeepers, a couple of cappuccinos...

So... ultimately, I've come across this:

https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4488

"For me, that's the most significant takeaway from Fort's contribution to the twentieth century: not a collection of bizarre events unexplained by science, but an attitude of questioning our own observations, and even more importantly, ourselves".

Would you be comfortable with that conclusion?
 
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