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What's The Most Boring Fortean Subject?

Ghost In The Machine said:
I find the genre boring but there's the odd one I've taken more interest in, than others (eg: Nessie). And I go through phases. But never been mad on them in any deep sense, they just don't capture the imagination quite as much as other things.
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Fair enough. I found the work of Linda Godfrey (Beast of Bray Road) and Nick Redfern (Cannock Chase, Man-Monkey) intriguing and I personally feel there is something paranormal in it, but unfortunately Linda's work in particular has spawned an awful lot of b*llshit on Reddit and elsewhere
 
Paul_Exeter said:
Fair enough. I found the work of Linda Godfrey (Beast of Bray Road) and Nick Redfern (Cannock Chase, Man-Monkey) intriguing and I personally feel there is something paranormal in it, but unfortunately Linda's work in particular has spawned an awful lot of b*llshit on Reddit and elsewhere
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Since I generally stay off Reddit etc., I can enjoy her books as they stand. She took a genuinely Fortean approach, and entertained all theories, even those that were clearly untenable (wolfmen being real, physical, biological creatures). I have most of her books, they're great.
 
Cryptids:
"These things exist! Look at this footprint, look at this poo!"
"How can they exist in such a small place without leaving a body?"
"Ah ... but they're not physical manifestation!"
"So what about that print or poo?"
Blah blah blah.
 
In the end it's difficult to put your finger on why some areas of Forteana seem dull and not others. I find it very hard to work up an interest in 'wolfman' tales but feel completely differently about black dogs, even though you could argue there's an element of overlap.
 
BS3 said:
In the end it's difficult to put your finger on why some areas of Forteana seem dull and not others. I find it very hard to work up an interest in 'wolfman' tales but feel completely differently about black dogs, even though you could argue there's an element of overlap.
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Thinking about this a bit more I guess it's because the figure of the 'wolfman' seems like a modern creation, the product of urban myth and Hollywood, whereas black dogs are rooted in much older folklore and have a more obviously archetypal feel (I've seen it argued that they were a sort of submerged memory of early horses, for example, or related to innate fears of large, predatory felids).

But on reflection that's a bit unfair; black dogs and wolfmen are really on a continuum of odd human experiences. Perhaps someone reporting a wolfman would have seen the Shuck a century and a half back.
 
Lycanthropy isn't completely a modern invention. Herodotus described a tribe north of Scythia, the Neuroi, who could change into wolves on certain days of the year. This may be a garbled account of a cult where the tribe members dressed in wolfskins to perform a rite, or it may not.
Here's the Neuroi homelands; roughly in the Ukraine.
640px-Scythian_kingdom_in_the_Pontic_steppe.jpg



I once wrote a Sci-fi short story about a relatively plausible hi-tech werewolf, but it turns out Larry Niven wrote a similar story with the same twist, twenty years earlier. There are probably only so many possible plots in the universe, after all.
 
Stormkhan said:
And there is some argument that Plato *gasp* made it up, to discuss the nature of a Utopia. After all, he constructed dialogues of Plato that didn't happen "but might've done if Socrates had still been alive".
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I agree. Plato started as a genuine disciple of Socrates and used his early dialogues to promote Socrates' approach to philosophy. However, later. as Plato developed more of his own ideas, he used the dramatised version of Socrates as a sock puppet.

That aside, just because Plato mentioned Atlantis, it doesn't mean either that it existed, or that it was based on some historical place or event.

I can see a similarity between people searching for the "real" Atlantis, and people who believe in, or even "worship", Slender Man. In each case, a fictional creation has caught the imagination and has come to be treated as if it "must be in some sense true."

Pratchett describes the geography and physics of the Discworld in far more detail than Plato described Atlantis. Will we one day have a fringe movement of astronomers proposing competing theories about the "real historical" origin of the Discworld?
 
Paul_Exeter said:
Fair enough. I found the work of Linda Godfrey (Beast of Bray Road) and Nick Redfern (Cannock Chase, Man-Monkey) intriguing and I personally feel there is something paranormal in it, but unfortunately Linda's work in particular has spawned an awful lot of b*llshit on Reddit and elsewhere
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LOL I'd find UK ones more interesting - it's the Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) I get bored of.
 
BS3 said:
Thinking about this a bit more I guess it's because the figure of the 'wolfman' seems like a modern creation, the product of urban myth and Hollywood, whereas black dogs are rooted in much older folklore and have a more obviously archetypal feel (I've seen it argued that they were a sort of submerged memory of early horses, for example, or related to innate fears of large, predatory felids).

But on reflection that's a bit unfair; black dogs and wolfmen are really on a continuum of odd human experiences. Perhaps someone reporting a wolfman would have seen the Shuck a century and a half back.
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I posted on another thread about humanoid werewolves going back further than commonly supposed:

Dogman or Werewolf thread

It has some illustrations, one from the 16th century and two from the 19th century.
 
Pyramids are interesting but the pyramidiots just get more and more ridiculous. " The height of the great pyramid (before the capping fell off) in cubits multiplied by the number of toenail clippings from Ramesis II in his lifetime is exactly equal to the distance of the Earth to the sun in millimeters on1st June 2002 BCE" etc.

I always liked Steve Wright's line about homeopathy: "Did you hear about the homeopath who killed himself? Took an underdose." Having said that now we'll probably find that water has some property like RNA and csan duplicate certain molecules.

I always like to replace all the fancy names in adverts for "snake oil" "Contains beta phantasmagoriphon for clearer skin" etc.
 
Tunn11 said:
Pyramids are interesting but the pyramidiots just get more and more ridiculous. " The height of the great pyramid (before the capping fell off) in cubits multiplied by the number of toenail clippings from Ramesis II in his lifetime is exactly equal to the distance of the Earth to the sun in millimeters on1st June 2002 BCE" etc.

I always liked Steve Wright's line about homeopathy: "Did you hear about the homeopath who killed himself? Took an underdose." Having said that now we'll probably find that water has some property like RNA and csan duplicate certain molecules.

I always like to replace all the fancy names in adverts for "snake oil" "Contains beta phantasmagoriphon for clearer skin" etc.
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Mort turned towards the dark entrance. It wouldn’t be sealed until dawn, to give time for the dead king’s soul to leave. It looked deep and foreboding, hinting at purposes considerably more dire than, say, keeping a razor blade nice and sharp.
 
Whilst I try to keep an open mind, I can't say that cryptozoology interests me hugely. This may be down to my own prejudices in biology of "Ecology? Conservation? Sit in a field all day and count big furry things? Where's the challenge?" Working with microorganisms you can't see is much more my thing.

But then again I suppose the whole point of cryptozoology is big furry things you can't see...
 
Mikefule said:
I agree. Plato started as a genuine disciple of Socrates and used his early dialogues to promote Socrates' approach to philosophy. However, later. as Plato developed more of his own ideas, he used the dramatised version of Socrates as a sock puppet.

That aside, just because Plato mentioned Atlantis, it doesn't mean either that it existed, or that it was based on some historical place or event.

I can see a similarity between people searching for the "real" Atlantis, and people who believe in, or even "worship", Slender Man. In each case, a fictional creation has caught the imagination and has come to be treated as if it "must be in some sense true."

Pratchett describes the geography and physics of the Discworld in far more detail than Plato described Atlantis. Will we one day have a fringe movement of astronomers proposing competing theories about the "real historical" origin of the Discworld?
Click to expand...
Well, I used to favor the idea that it was Santorini. But recently I saw a rather compelling argument in favor of a salt-flat in western Africa. At first it's like "why there"? But one... WHO named that mountain range the Atlas mountains? GREEKS. So the location fits far better than one would think. also... HOW does west Africa even have a salt-flat at all? This area doesn't have salt-marshes. It was seemingly flooded at one point by salt water over-flowing the Mediterranean. Yeah..... THAT is the crazy part! It was submerged underwater, not by the ground sinking, but... by flooding.
 
bugmum said:
Whilst I try to keep an open mind, I can't say that cryptozoology interests me hugely. This may be down to my own prejudices in biology of "Ecology? Conservation? Sit in a field all day and count big furry things? Where's the challenge?" Working with microorganisms you can't see is much more my thing.

But then again I suppose the whole point of cryptozoology is big furry things you can't see...
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there's a huge diff between TV bigfoot hunters and serious cryptozoologists. The serious ones are less sensational, and less likely to say they found something too... and get less funding.
 
Stormkhan said:
Cryptids:
"These things exist! Look at this footprint, look at this poo!"
"How can they exist in such a small place without leaving a body?"
"Ah ... but they're not physical manifestation!"
"So what about that print or poo?"
Blah blah blah.
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Perhaps they are inter dimensional beings and our dimension is their "outhouse" so to speak
 
escargot said:
See also snake oil, homeopathy, home-made miniature cardboard razor blade-sharpening pyramids* etc.

*I tried that, aged 14. Luckily I was already growing the beard.
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I once experimented with a pyramid and one of dad’s razor blades. He was sceptical and maybe justified as there was no discernible difference. He stuck with his glass blade sharpener. A bit like this one but this is made of uranium glass which elevates it in a dangerous boy fashion. If I didn’t have a Braun, a mole and the luxury of more time in the morning, I’d like to go back to The Old Ways with this Proper Chap gear.

Lillicrap’s Home Uranium Green Glass Razor Safety Blade Sharpener.
 

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I wear a beard and so I find a safety razor the easiest to use.
However, when I was clean shaven, I used a straight razor. I've not got my first (it came with my A-level biology dissection kit) but I purchased another a short while ago.
 
Eyespy said:
Most boring subject for me is numerology- Strongly suspect "they" are just making it it up to annoy me.

not sure who "they" are, but clearly they are in on the grand scheme of things to annoy Eyespye and drive her to drink.
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So true. Same here.

And I always say I "don't believe in" astrology then catch myself saying: "Oh yes, he would do that - typical Scorpio." So like it or not, on some level, I've bought into it even if I think I haven't.

But numerology does seem like the ultimate in made up BS.
 
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