Flag me. I am administering this test to myself, and no one else.

The aspect of vision being tested is my ability to see into the future.



On October 10, 2008, I wrote down a series of predictions and sealed each one in an envelope. The back of each envelope tells of the date that it should be opened. I addressed them to myself, and on October 13th I took them to the post. The postmark of October 14th on each of the sealed envelopes proves that they have been sealed at least since that date. Each prediction will be checked for accuracy as its fated day arrives.



On making predictions: I actually found it very difficult to see into the future.  I wanted to make accurate predictions, but I was also dealing with some depression triggered by a series of complicated and trying events, and perhaps the waning autumnal sunlight.  When you are depressed, your thought processes are affected (or perhaps are the cause).  I had originally laid out a red pen for positive predictions, thus literalizing a "Red Letter Day," an idiom that comes from the Medieval manuscript practice of inscribing the Feast Days on the calendar in red ink. 

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"We wryte yet in oure kalenders the hyghe festes wyth rede lettres of coloure of purpre."

and of course Feast Days were fun.



But as it turns out, I didn't make any predictions that were completely positive.  In fact, I had to try very hard not to make predictions that forecasted nothing but Doom and Disaster.  Recognizing that I was thinking only negative thoughts and could conceive of only negative future events (and was thus risking the possibility of creating self-fulfilling prophesies!), I tried to visualize things that I wanted to happen.  But that just felt like wishful thinking and I couldn't take those predictions seriously.  I didn't believe in them.  As a result, I ended up making pretty "safe" predictions; at least, I think they're all pretty likely, and this perhaps at the cost of intrigue and sensation.  But in any case, I regret to report that didn't end up using that red pen.

I mailed 10 predictions to myself, the first to be opened on October 14th, 2008, and the last on February 23rd, 2009.

PREDICTION #1:

to be opened eve of Oct 14th, 2008



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ASSESSMENT: This prediction is both wrong and right.  I made this before my first appointment with a new psychologist.  I sought the help of a professional once before for season-induced blues, but was so unimpressed with my first visit I never made another.  Not that this new doc was any great panacea, but I think the difference is that i like her, i identify with her.  Getting things off my chest made me feel better.  So it was helpful.  So I was wrong about that.

The second part of the prediction, about being inspired to take matters into my own hands, is correct, although i was incorrect about the cause.  I had begun to lose patience with my melancholy the weekend preceding my appointment.  When i recognized thoughts that were contributing to my pissy mood, i pushed them out.  I also forced myself to get outside and exercise, which had the net benefit of giving me both sunlight and more energy to tackle my to-dos, which made me feel better.

SCORE:  I hope I didn't make too many more of these compound predictions that can be both wrong and right... because I believe I can give myself only a .25 here out of a possible score of 1.  hmm.

PREDICTION #2:

to be opened eve of Oct 17th, 2008



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ASSESSMENT:  This prediction was correct.  The interview went very well and lasted over an hour.  At the end, the interviewer informed me that she had interviewed several people and had narrowed it down to 2: someone unknown and me.  All that meant to me was that if I didn't get it, I knew i had just barely missed it.  The last interview I had for another assistantship had gone smashingly- and i had just lost that one to another girl in my department.  My only consolation was that she is actually a bad ass, and I don't mind losing to genuine awesomeness.  So despite the success of the interview, pessimism reigned.  But as you know if you watched the video, i got the job. 

SCORE:  I give myself a 1/1 here, for a total score of 1.25/2

PREDICTION #3:

to be opened Nov. 2nd, 2008



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ASSESSMENT:  I am too tired to find the answers to the gas question.  The rest is obviously wrong.  Wouldn't it be weird if Bin Laden played sf0?  hmm... which one of you... would he be?

SCORE: Ø for a total of 1.25/3

PREDICTION #4:

to be opened Nov. 5th, 2008



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ASSESSMENT: Clearly the first part is correct.  Hopefully the second part never is.

SCORE: For now a .5 for a total of 1.75/4.  My 6th sense sucks.

PREDICTION #5:

to be opened Nov. 10th, 2008



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ASSESSMENT: I knew this one was coming, but I had forgotten what date I had given it.  I gave myself far too much credit with a date of November 10th... I posted this after just 2 predictions.  HA! One could accuse me of having "forced" this to be true, or accept that I knew I wouldn't wait until February to post this. In any case, there is no "reward" for scoring well on this test, so there is no motive for manipulating the results. Unless I could have predicted that GlyphGryph would be voting according to accuracy... in which case I still deserve a point here. so nyah :P

SCORE: 1 for a total of 2.75/5. 

PREDICTION #6:

to be opened Dec 15th, 2008





ASSESSMENT:  In/Correct.  I predicted that a certain person would put off job-hunting until the very last unemployment check was cashed... and then find themselves hunting in a poor market.  I was right to predict that they would not search for a job in the meanwhile, and also that the economy would be worse now than it was then.  But I was wrong about the idea that they might actually have to look for a job.  They just got their unemployment extended by the federal government, instead. 

SCORE:  I said in the video that I was going to give myself a zerø for this prediction, but now I want credit for being partially right. Nyah nyah. So I say 0.5, for a total score of 3.25/6

PREDICTION #7:

to be opened Dec 30th, 2008





ASSESSMENT: Hmm. Well. I dropped out. I don't know that quitting is anyone's definition of performing well. It didn't take me long to figure out that graduate study in Art History was not lighting my fire.. it took a little bit longer for me to actually make the decision. I got some really flattering letters from my professors who wished me to stay, or at least come back soon, and that felt good. But I won't be pursuing that particular discourse any further- it's general uselessness and otherwise intellectual masturbatory qualities give me academic malaise.

SCORE: Although I'm still displeased with my time management skills, this prediction gets no points for a 3.25/7










This is an ongoing praxis, and will be updated over the next few months..

The next prediction is slated for January 30.