Podcasts about when prophecy fails

Seriah is joined by Mike Clelland and Marty Garza to discuss the experiences of Chris Bledsoe. Topics include Lou Elizondo and the disclosure movement, the basic outline of Bledsoe's experiences, a bizarre orb-like object, missing time, a lost youth with a terrifying encounter with non-human entities, MUFON, a hypnotic regression of a father-son abduction, “UFOs Over Earth” documentary, rejection by a church, an encounter with hooded entities who give Bledsoe a mysterious object, a transparent bull, a floating Virgin Mary-like/ goddess-like being known as “the Lady”, Diana Pasulka, Mike's family difficulties, Chase Kloetzke, an apocalyptic perception of the world ending, the “Bledsoe Said So” podcast, a circular burn mark on the yard, a bizarre spontaneous and unquenchable fire within a tree during a heavy rain, religious pilgrims coming to Bledsoe's house, orbs as angels, Mike's witnessing orbs and other paranormal phenomena at Bledsoe's place, James Carrion from MUFON, highly unethical documentary tactics, the problems with polygraphs, multiple researchers witnessing paranormal events at Bledsoe's property, miraculous healings, Tim Taylor AKA “Tyler” from “American Cosmic”, Robert Bigalow, interest in Bledsoe from the U.S. government, a prediction of an assassination attempt on the Pope that came true, the 1989 “Gulf Breeze Six” incident, the book “Wayward Sons” about the infiltration of UFO research groups by intelligence agencies, small entities that “look as if they are dipped in glass” and wear triangle insignia, a 13th century monk's description of spirit beings wearing different types of triangles, the problems of hypnotic regression, an unexplained cure of Crone's Disease, a strange mass panic incident, an unfortunate health situation with Marty, “Brothers of the Serpent” podcast, “Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature” podcast, Johnathan's book “Weird Scenes in the Gold Mine”, illness and liminality, two different experiences of Mike seeing a UFO of some sort at get-togethers at Bledsoe's place with multiple people, the “Beyond Skinwalker” TV show episode on Bledsoe, his apparent ability to predict the appearance of UFOs/orbs, predictions of a cosmic event, Edgar Cayce, an astronomical alignment, a possible war between the U.S. and Iran, Dorthy Martin 1950's contactee and the Guardians and the Seekers, the book “When Prophecy Fails”, a painting of “the Lady”, paranormal encounters and marginal characters, L. Ron Hubbard and bizarre encounters with a female spiritual entity “the Empress”, and much more! This is a fantastic deep dive!

Seriah is joined by Mike Clelland and Marty Garza to discuss the experiences of Chris Bledsoe. Topics include Lou Elizondo and the disclosure movement, the basic outline of Bledsoe's experiences, a bizarre orb-like object, missing time, a lost youth with a terrifying encounter with non-human entities, MUFON, a hypnotic regression of a father-son abduction, “UFOs Over Earth” documentary, rejection by a church, an encounter with hooded entities who give Bledsoe a mysterious object, a transparent bull, a floating Virgin Mary-like/ goddess-like being known as “the Lady”, Diana Pasulka, Mike's family difficulties, Chase Kloetzke, an apocalyptic perception of the world ending, the “Bledsoe Said So” podcast, a circular burn mark on the yard, a bizarre spontaneous and unquenchable fire within a tree during a heavy rain, religious pilgrims coming to Bledsoe's house, orbs as angels, Mike's witnessing orbs and other paranormal phenomena at Bledsoe's place, James Carrion from MUFON, highly unethical documentary tactics, the problems with polygraphs, multiple researchers witnessing paranormal events at Bledsoe's property, miraculous healings, Tim Taylor AKA “Tyler” from “American Cosmic”, Robert Bigalow, interest in Bledsoe from the U.S. government, a prediction of an assassination attempt on the Pope that came true, the 1989 “Gulf Breeze Six” incident, the book “Wayward Sons” about the infiltration of UFO research groups by intelligence agencies, small entities that “look as if they are dipped in glass” and wear triangle insignia, a 13th century monk's description of spirit beings wearing different types of triangles, the problems of hypnotic regression, an unexplained cure of Crone's Disease, a strange mass panic incident, an unfortunate health situation with Marty, “Brothers of the Serpent” podcast, “Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature” podcast, Johnathan's book “Weird Scenes in the Gold Mine”, illness and liminality, two different experiences of Mike seeing a UFO of some sort at get-togethers at Bledsoe's place with multiple people, the “Beyond Skinwalker” TV show episode on Bledsoe, his apparent ability to predict the appearance of UFOs/orbs, predictions of a cosmic event, Edgar Cayce, an astronomical alignment, a possible war between the U.S. and Iran, Dorthy Martin 1950's contactee and the Guardians and the Seekers, the book “When Prophecy Fails”, a painting of “the Lady”, paranormal encounters and marginal characters, L. Ron Hubbard and bizarre encounters with a female spiritual entity “the Empress”, and much more! This is a fantastic deep dive!Recap by Vincent Treewell of The Weird Part PodcastOutro Music by 50 Dollar Dynasty with "Where the Stories Lie" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dimes and Judas are hydrated and unarrested in this evergreen sode, discussing bouncy castle protesters losing their rights to have bank accounts, bald people being a safe bet to buy you Chinese groceries, Justin Trudeau being Fidel Castro's son, Dimes' highway enemy being vanquished, and everyone in the world getting a podcast to save our souls. Lastly, they discuss the book "When Prophecy Fails," a landmark academic study from 1956 concerning a UFO doomsday group and what occurred when their specific predictions for the end of the world failed to materialize. It explores not only how the group formed and what they believed, but the psychological impacts it had on the members with parallels to many current fringe beliefs.

Channelled entities "The Nine" with Chris Ernst. Topics include Andrija Puharich, Dr. D.G. Vinod, "The Stargate Conspiracy" by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, Uri Geller, CIA and Mossad psychic programs, "Third Eye Spies", remote viewing, fakery and the paranormal, James "the Amazing" Randi, poltergeist activity and emotion, Peter Levenda and "Sinister Forces: The Nine", "The Only Planet of Choice: Essential Briefings From Deep Space" by Phyliss V. Schlemmer, The Round Table Foundation, Eileen Garrett, Arthur Young, Bell Helicopter, Alice Bouverie, Aldous Huxley, upper-crust/old money seances, the Dupont and Aster families, ancient Egyptian gods, Vice-President of the U.S. Henry Wallace, Masonic symbology on American paper money, possible technology from Nikola Tesla, Ingo Swan, SPECTRA, John Whitmore, "Tom from The Nine", the Bronfman family, Gene Roddenberry, Aaron Gulyas, Star Trek and Deep Space Nine, Jenny O'Connor, Esalen Institute, new age light work, Terence and Dennis McKenna, Dorothy Martin, The Seekers, "When Prophecy Fails", cognitive dissonance, Carla L. Rueckert, Don Elkins, the Sphinx, "Babylon Five", Secret Chiefs, Meher Baba, UFO Contactees vs. Channellers, "Hoova" and "Rombus 4D", archons, gnosticism, Nag Hommadi, mystics with connections to intel agencies, "Department of Truth" comic, Tim Renner,

Seriah discusses the channelled entities "The Nine" with Chris Ernst. Topics include Andrija Puharich, Dr. D.G. Vinod, "The Stargate Conspiracy" by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, Uri Geller, CIA and Mossad psychic programs, "Third Eye Spies", remote viewing, fakery and the paranormal, James "the Amazing" Randi, poltergeist activity and emotion, Peter Levenda and "Sinister Forces: The Nine", "The Only Planet of Choice: Essential Briefings From Deep Space" by Phyliss V. Schlemmer, The Round Table Foundation, Eileen Garrett, Arthur Young, Bell Helicopter, Alice Bouverie, Aldous Huxley, upper-crust/old money seances, the Dupont and Aster families, ancient Egyptian gods, Vice-President of the U.S. Henry Wallace, Masonic symbology on American paper money, possible technology from Nikola Tesla, Ingo Swan, SPECTRA, John Whitmore, "Tom from The Nine", the Bronfman family, Gene Roddenberry, Aaron Gulyas, Star Trek and Deep Space Nine, Jenny O'Connor, Esalen Institute, new age light work, Terence and Dennis McKenna, Dorothy Martin, The Seekers, "When Prophecy Fails", cognitive dissonance, Carla L. Rueckert, Don Elkins, the Sphinx, "Babylon Five", Secret Chiefs, Meher Baba, UFO Contactees vs. Channellers, "Hoova" and "Rombus 4D", archons, gnosticism, Nag Hommadi, mystics with connections to intel agencies, "Department of Truth" comic, Tim Renner, and much more! Absolutely fascinating discussion with a ton of references! - Recap by Vincent Treewell Outro Music is by BELLS≥ with The New Freedom Project Download

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Evaporative Cooling of Group Beliefs , published by Eliezer Yudkowsky on the AI Alignment Forum. Early studiers of cults were surprised to discover than when cults receive a major shock—a prophecy fails to come true, a moral flaw of the founder is revealed—they often come back stronger than before, with increased belief and fanaticism. The Jehovah's Witnesses placed Armageddon in 1975, based on Biblical calculations; 1975 has come and passed. The Unarian cult, still going strong today, survived the nonappearance of an intergalactic spacefleet on September 27, 1975. Why would a group belief become stronger after encountering crushing counterevidence? The conventional interpretation of this phenomenon is based on cognitive dissonance. When people have taken “irrevocable” actions in the service of a belief—given away all their property in anticipation of the saucers landing—they cannot possibly admit they were mistaken. The challenge to their belief presents an immense cognitive dissonance; they must find reinforcing thoughts to counter the shock, and so become more fanatical. In this interpretation, the increased group fanaticism is the result of increased individual fanaticism. I was looking at a Java applet which demonstrates the use of evaporative cooling to form a Bose-Einstein condensate, when it occurred to me that another force entirely might operate to increase fanaticism. Evaporative cooling sets up a potential energy barrier around a collection of hot atoms. Thermal energy is essentially statistical in nature—not all atoms are moving at the exact same speed. The kinetic energy of any given atom varies as the atoms collide with each other. If you set up a potential energy barrier that's just a little higher than the average thermal energy, the workings of chance will give an occasional atom a kinetic energy high enough to escape the trap. When an unusually fast atom escapes, it takes with it an unusually large amount of kinetic energy, and the average energy decreases. The group becomes substantially cooler than the potential energy barrier around it. In Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter's classic When Prophecy Fails, one of the cult members walked out the door immediately after the flying saucer failed to land. Who gets fed up and leaves first? An average cult member? Or a relatively skeptical member, who previously might have been acting as a voice of moderation, a brake on the more fanatic members? After the members with the highest kinetic energy escape, the remaining discussions will be between the extreme fanatics on one end and the slightly less extreme fanatics on the other end, with the group consensus somewhere in the “middle.” And what would be the analogy to collapsing to form a Bose-Einstein condensate? Well, there's no real need to stretch the analogy that far. But you may recall that I used a fission chain reaction analogy for the affective death spiral; when a group ejects all its voices of moderation, then all the people encouraging each other, and suppressing dissents, may internally increase in average fanaticism.1 When Ayn Rand's long-running affair with Nathaniel Branden was revealed to the Objectivist membership, a substantial fraction of the Objectivist membership broke off and followed Branden into espousing an “open system” of Objectivism not bound so tightly to Ayn Rand. Who stayed with Ayn Rand even after the scandal broke? The ones who really, really believed in her—and perhaps some of the undecideds, who, after the voices of moderation left, heard arguments from only one side. This may account for how the Ayn Rand Institute is (reportedly) more fanatical after the breakup than the original core group of Objectivists under Branden and Rand. A few years back, I was on a transhumanist mailing list where a small group espousing “social...

The Nine, Dr. Vinod, Indian Nationalism, Andrija Puharich, British intelligence, Astor family, Vincent Astor, Alice Astor, Arthur Young, séance, Rexford Daniels, ESP, Henry Wallace, espionage, Soviet Union, anti-Communism, MK-ULTRA, ARTICHOKE, Project Pelican, MK-OFTEN, 1974, VALIS, Uri Geller, George Hunt Williamson, William Dudley Pelley, Laugheads, When Prophecy Fails, Mexico, magic mushrooms, Grand Ennead, electromagnetic radiation, UFOs, Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Gaia TV, Ra Materials, L/L Research, Order of the Nine Angles. Sir John Whitmore, Lost, Fringe, JJ Abrams, Esalen

Today We take a very deep dive into Festinger, Riecken & Schacter's seminal work "When Prophecy Fails". This episode is packed with crazy stuff; exploration of the 1800's Millerite movement (to later inspire Jehovah's Witnesses and others), automatic writing, UFO cults, dianetics practitioners, flood prophecies, flying saucers, Atlantis with a bit of 'The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu' thrown in for good measure. Not to mention Venusian footprint interpretation. The idea of cognitive dissonance and its affect on followers facing disconfirmation of the end of the world has become well known, but the research has some real problems as well as some moments of comedy gold.  To help follow the characters in the story you can download a table here (or from copy and paste the link below).  https://3e3480ad-2b0d-4112-8174-0fdd614840ec.filesusr.com/ugd/4c85e9_f1e86bb90c5f40b6a627de8751849978.pdf  

This is the conclusion of the interview with Eleisha Moreno, a former follower of Joseph Coleman, who initiated the Seven Thunders Inspiration, a sub-cult within the “Message” (which is how followers of William Branham refer to themselves). Book – When Prophecy Fails by Leon Festinger Music – Losing My Religion by Lauren Daigle from the … Continue reading "Episode 66 – The Seven Thunders – An Interview with Eleisha Moreno (Part 3)"

This is the conclusion of the interview with Eleisha Moreno, a former follower of Joseph Coleman, who initiated the Seven Thunders Inspiration, a sub-cult within the “Message” (which is how followers of William Branham refer to themselves). Book – When Prophecy Fails by Leon Festinger Music – Losing My Religion by Lauren Daigle from the … Continue reading "Episode 66 – The Seven Thunders – An Interview with Eleisha Moreno (Part 3)"

Jeffrey Mishlove examines the theory of cognitive dissonance as enunciated by Leon Festinger and colleagues in their 1956 classic sociological text, When Prophecy Fails. The book involves the story of a UFO cult in Chicago that anticipated the end of the world. When the prophecy failed to materialize, many cult members strengthened their belief in … Continue reading "InPresence 0211: When Prophecy Fails"

Let's be honest, humans dislike being uncomfortable, and not just physically, but also mentally.  In this episode Chelsea dives into the word of cognitive dissonance -  when our current thoughts or beliefs don't mesh with new information, or actions, and the discomfort that comes with it. She looks at what it is, how we often react to it, and even how we can work to manage it. From scientific research to cults to embarrassing childhood stories, this episode is sure to make you scratch your head, smile, and hopefully stretch your thinking a bit. Want to check out that book by Leon Festinger, When Prophecy Fails?Interested in working with Chelsea? Visit https://aviatrix.guru or email her at chelsea@aviatrix.guru. You can also join her Facebook group, the Success Seekers Squad.

In this special bonus episode, I take a look at the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance as it relates to the wide variety of failed so-called "prophecies" laid out by a great number of charismatic and 7 mountains mandate dominion theology "apostles and prophets." Turns out: to a person, they were all clearly wrong. So: was God incorrect in giving this "prophetic word" to his prophets? Or were they all making it up, projecting their desires on the election, and thus proven to be...false prophets? I'll not only take a look at what was said by these "prophets," I'll  use as a base line the excellent 1956 book on the subject of cognitive dissonance as a comparison model: Leon Festinger's When Prophecy Fails. Help Support the Work of MindShift Podcast on Patreon! Contact Details Follow me on Twitter @MindShift2018

With today’s episode we continue the second series of Faith Made Welcome, a progressive podcast on faith brought to you by Commonwealth Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia. If you listened to Episode 5, you know that we’re digging into a multi-part, in-depth discussion about the intersections between faith and science. As with Episode 5, this one features Faith Made Welcome regulars Robin, Marty, Cheri and Paul and Dr. Graham Walker, Marty and Robin’s Theology professor from seminary! In this episode of the podcast, Graham kicks us off with an important call to action:  “if you want to avoid moving God slowly out of the face of modern humanity, then you have to be able to use methodological materialism to say ‘okay, I’m going to go research the world that God has created and I’m going to ask the questions that are there.’”  Join us as we explore how faith and science frame and navigate narratives, and perhaps most interestingly: how both faith and science can be used to support destructive human narratives. About Dr. Graham WalkerGraham is a professor at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia. He describes himself as someone who has been working with “the interface between science and theology for a long time.” He’s worked with Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion, a program through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) that focuses on facilitating dialogue between scientific and religious communities.  Scripture Mentioned this EpisodeMark 15:39Colossians 1:5 Additional Materials Mentioned this EpisodeWe’ve elected to list these references in the order they appear:Tikkun olam: Graham discusses this concept from Judaism, which means “to mend the world”Oak Ridge Projects: Graham notes the dangers of scientific advancement, including this project which led to the first instance wherein a nuclear weapon was dropped on a human society.Josef Mengele: Graham makes reference to the death camps of the Haulcaust as another example of science used against the good of humanityTuskegee Experiment:  this experiment is the third example Graham provides of means in which science has been used to support terrible narratives.Contact (Film): Paul and Graham both refer back to this film, which we discussed in Episode 5.Che Guevara: Cheri references Guevara’s work on guerrilla warfare Cheri Spiegel:  Well, Cheri kind of references her own work on narrative and guerrilla rhetoric by discussing the line between a guerrilla vs. a terrorist; she has written this subject about on the This Most Unbelievable Life blog. Augustine: Graham references his critique of the Manichaean interpretation of the world and the way it framed a dualist argument.Peter Berger: Graham discusses further Bergers’ stance on pluralism, which is further discussed in this article “The Good of Religious Pluralism”Jaroslav Pelikan: Graham references his book Jesus Through the CenturiesHans Kung: Graham references Kung’s writing along with Pelikan as a second example of a theologian who has explored the place and divinity of Christ in Christian tradition.Fossil Record: Paul makes reference to the fossil record and debating theories about the origins of humanity.Daina Butler Bass: Robin refers to her book Grounded and how World War II initiated the church decline that we see happening so rapidly today.Umberto Eco: Graham reference’s his Name of the Rose James Ediwn Loder:  Graham references his concept of eikonic eclipse, which Loder wrote about it The Transforming Moment.James Fowler: Robin references Fowler’s six stages of faith, which are discussed in his book by the same name: Stages of FaithElizabeth Johnson: Graham reference’s Johnson’s Quest for Living God, which frames how we use metaphor to map religious experienceEdward Wilson: Graham makes another reference to his coming home experience in the opening of The Creation.Religious New Service:  Robin reference’s Katelyn Beaty’s article on RNS called “QAnon: The Alternative Religion That’s Coming to Your Church”Leon Festinger: Graham mentions his When Prophecy Fails during his discussion of cognitive dissonance  About This PodcastThis podcast was envisioned as means to foster spiritual growth and conversations about faith, both within and beyond the faith community at Commonwealth Baptist Church. At the open of this episode, we discuss what spiritual formation means to our CBC pastors and the role community plays in our concept of faith.  Got a question or want to reach out to the Faith Made Welcome team?  You can reach us at faithmadewelcome@gmail.com. Faith Made Welcome is produced by Cheri Spiegel, Paul Fitzgerald and This Most Unbelievable Life. A Note on the Links in these ShownotesThe links to books mentioned in this episode direct to Old Town Books. We’re not sponsored by this bookstore; we just believe in supporting our local community! If you’re not an Alexandrian, we hope you’ll check these out at your local bookstore!

A short series by Mike Elias We treat facts like they’re “atoms of truth” — small, indivisible, solid — and if you add them up, you get “big truths.” But like atoms, f… https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2020/09/03/wittgensteins-revenge/ Mike Elias How to Lie with Statisticsnumeracycult behaviorscience denialscientific suppression

Paul Weston, Aleister Crowley and the Aeon of Horus, Extinction Rebellion, William Dudley Pelley, Alice Bailey, George Hunt Williamson, Sirius, ancient astronauts, spirit box, Hellier, wandering bishops, Allen Greenfield, King of Serbia, The nine, Uri Geller, Andrija Puharich, Arthur Young, When Prophecy Fails, QAnon, Millennialism, Silver Shirts, Theosophy, Glastonbury

Got cognitive dissonance? Learn helpful tips for either lying to yourself about it or growing as a person. Talk psych to us: Instagram: @talkpsychtomepodcastFacebook: @talkpsych2meTwitter: @talkpsych2meEmail: talkpsychpodcast@gmail.comBonus: Watch Roi Ben-Yehuda's video on how to shake up your identity and "offend yourself"Further Reading:The Effect of Severity of Initiation on Liking for a Group by Aronson & Mills (1959)When Prophecy Fails by Fesinger, Riecken & Schachter (1956)Cognitive Consequences of Forced Compliance by Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)Effect of the severity of threat on the devaluation of forbidden behavior by Aronson & Carlsmith (1963)Adaptive Self-Regulation of Unattainable Goals by Wrosch et. al. (2003)A challenge to human evolution—cognitive dissonance by Perlovsky (2013)Respectable Challenges to Respectable Theory by Vaidis & Bran (2019) What Is Cognitive Consistency, and Why Does It Matter? by Gawronski & Brannon (2019)Consistency-based compliance across cultures by Petrova, Cialdini, and Sills (2007)Preference for consistency: The development of a valid measure and the discovery of surprising behavioral implications by Cialdini, Trost, & Newsom (1995)The Consistency Principle in Interpersonal Communication by Mojzisch et. al. (2014)Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs by Taber & Lodge (2006)Produced by Scarlet Moon ThingsMusic by Barrie Gledden, Kes Loy, and Richard Kimmings

There are two guests on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. Ira Steven Behr was the showrunner and executive producer of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is also the co-director and executive producer of the new documentary What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Behr has also been a writer and executive producer on the HBO series Outlander. He reflects on the origins of Deep Space Nine, what he learned from the new documentary What We Left Behind, the challenges and triumphs of creating what would be such a highly influential non-episodic TV series, escaping the shadow of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the choices that were made regarding Avery Brooks' character Captain Benjamin Sisko (the first black starring character in Star Trek history), how the show dealt with topical issues such as religion, ethnic conflict, poverty, sexism, as well as gay and lesbian relationships. Behr also shares the storyline of what a hypothetical eighth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would have looked like. Hugo-award nominated podcaster and writer Alasdair Stuart is the second guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He shares his thoughts on the new movie Avengers: Endgame and its problematic treatment of female characters such as Nebula and Black Widow, how the film is a well-deserved love letter to Robert Downey Jr.'s depiction of Iron Man, and where the Marvel Cinematic Universe goes with and after the new Spiderman movie. Chauncey and Alasdair also share some hopes and worries about J.J. Abrams and his new Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and ponder why this generation of fans seem so invested in how much money a movie makes as some type of (sad and pathetic) validation of their own self-esteem and identity. On this week's show, Chauncey DeVega laughs at those members of the so-called "Resistance" who think that this newest "revelation" about Donald Trump losing a billion dollars and likely committing tax fraud will actually hurt his popularity among the Trump CHUD cultists and Republicans as a whole. Why won't this newest "scandal" matter? This is all explained by the sunk cost fallacy and the classic social psychology research study When Prophecy Fails. Chauncey also reflects on Gene Roddenberry's hopeful vision of the future as seen in Star Trek and how far America and humankind have to go to achieve such a goal. SELECTED LINKS OF INTEREST FOR THIS EPISODE OF THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW  Exclusive: Trump, the billion-dollar loser — I was his ghostwriter and saw it happen Decade in the Red: Trump Tax Figures Show Over $1 Billion in Business Losses After Backlash, Rhode Island School District Rolls Back 'Lunch Shaming' Policy When Gene Roddenberry Explained 'Star Trek' in 1966 1 million species of plants and animals at risk of extinction, U.N. report warns IF YOU ENJOYED THIS WEEK'S SHOW YOU MAY LIKE THESE EPISODES OF THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW AS WELL Ep. 187: Avengers: Infinity War / The Secret History of Marvel v. DC Comics Ep. 166: All Things "Star Wars" and "The Last Jedi" Ep. 142: Jason Aaron on Writing "Star Wars", "Southern Bastards", and Reflections on the South Ep. 113: Joe Lansdale and William Astore Ponder Trump's Victory Ep. 70: Deconstructing "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Ep. 69: Michael Witwer on the Secret History of the Dungeons and Dragons Role-playing Game WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com Leave a voicemail for The Chauncey DeVega Show: (262) 864-0154 HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow  Music at the end of this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show is by JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. You can listen to some of their great music on Spotify. 

In 1955, aliens from the planet Clarion contacted a Chicago housewife to warn her that the end of the world was imminent. Psychologist Leon Festinger saw this as a unique opportunity to test a new theory about human cognition. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow him inside a UFO religion as it approaches the apocalypse. We'll also try to determine when exactly LBJ became president and puzzle over some wet streets. Intro: There's a hexagon of cloud at Saturn's north pole. You're not as unpopular as you think you are. Sources for our feature on Leon Festinger: Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, and Stanley Schachter, When Prophecy Fails, 1956. Leon Festinger, A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, 1957. Joel Cooper, Cognitive Dissonance: Fifty Years of a Classic Theory, 2007. Camille Morvan with Alexander J. O'Connor, An Analysis of Leon Festinger's A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, 2017. Leon Festinger, "Cognitive Dissonance," Scientific American 207:4 (October 1962), 93-106. Stanley Schachter, "Leon Festinger," Biographical Memoirs, Vol. 64, National Academy of Sciences, 1994. R.B. Zajonc, "Obituary: Leon Festinger (1919–1989)," American Psychologist 45:5 (1990), 661-662. Michael S. Gazzaniga, "Leon Festinger: Lunch With Leon," Perspectives on Psychological Science 1:1 (2006), 88-94. Elliot Aronson, "Leon Festinger and the Art of Audacity," Psychological Science 2:4 (July 1, 1991), 213-221. Serge Moscovici, "Obituary: Leon Festinger," European Journal of Social Psychology 19:4 (July 1989), 263-269. Dion Scott-Kakures, "Unsettling Questions: Cognitive Dissonance in Self-Deception," Social Theory and Practice 35:1 (January 2009), 73-106. Stephen Cox, "An Experiment in Apocalypse," Liberty 24:11 (December 2010) 17-22. Louisa C. Egan, Laurie R. Santos, and Paul Bloom, "The Origins of Cognitive Dissonance: Evidence From Children and Monkeys," Psychological Science 18:11 (November 2007), 978-983. Merton S. Krause, "An Analysis of Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance Theory," Philosophy of Science 39:1 (March 1972), 32-50. Charles G. Lord, "Was Cognitive Dissonance Theory a Mistake?" Psychological Inquiry 3:4 (1992), 339-342. Betty M. Bayer, "Wonder in a World of Struggle?" Subjectivity 23:1 (July 2008), 156-173. Chris Mooney, "The Science of Why We Don't Believe Science," Issues 95 (June 2011), 27-32. Chris Bader, "When Prophecy Passes Unnoticed: New Perspectives on Failed Prophecy," Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 38:1 (March 1999), 119-131. Lorne L. Dawson, "When Prophecy Fails and Faith Persists: A Theoretical Overview," Nova Religio 3:1 (October 1999), 60-82. Jon R. Stone, "Prophecy and Dissonance: A Reassessment of Research Testing the Festinger Theory," Nova Religio 12:4 (May 2009), 72-90. Michael Barkun, "The Occultist and the Spaceman," in Cathy Gutierrez, Handbook of Spiritualism and Channeling, 2015. Diana Tumminia, "How Prophecy Never Fails: Interpretive Reason in a Flying-Saucer Group," Sociology of Religion 59:2 (Summer 1998), 157-170. Robert W. Balch, Gwen Farnsworth, and Sue Wilkins, "When the Bombs Drop: Reactions to Disconfirmed Prophecy in a Millennial Sect," Sociological Perspectives 26:2 (April 1983), 137-158. Daniel Finkelstein, "Prosecutors Don't Know How Biased They Are," Times, Jan. 24, 2018, 27. Matthew Syed, "Trial and Error," New Statesman 144:5288 (Nov. 13-19, 2015), 28-31, 33. "Leon Festinger, 69, New School Professor," New York Times, Feb. 12, 1989. Adam Grant, "The Virtue of Contradicting Ourselves," New York Times, Nov. 14, 2015. Kristin Wong, "Why It's So Hard to Admit You're Wrong," New York Times, May 22, 2017. John Tierney, "Go Ahead, Rationalize. Monkeys Do It, Too," New York Times, Nov. 6, 2007. Listener mail: Simon Usborne, "The LBJ Missal: Why a Prayer Book Given to John F. Kennedy Was Used to Swear in the 36th US President," Independent, Nov. 16, 2013. "About the Constitution: Article II: Executive Branch," National Constitution Center (accessed Jan. 25, 2019). Scott Bomboy, "How JFK's Assassination Led to a Constitutional Amendment," Constitution Daily, Nov. 22, 2018. "Art & History: Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate)," United States Senate (accessed Jan. 25, 2019). "Art & History: John Tyler, Tenth Vice President (1841)," United States Senate (accessed Jan. 25, 2019). Wikipedia, "William Henry Harrison" (accessed Jan. 25, 2019). Wikipedia, "Presidency of John Tyler" (accessed Jan. 27, 2019). "John Tyler," whitehouse.gov (accessed Jan. 25, 2019). "Amendment XXV: Presidential Disability and Succession," National Constitution Center (accessed Jan. 25, 2019). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Greg. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

Support the show and get double the episodes by subscribing to bonus episodes for $5/month at http://patreon.com/champagnesharks. Also, remember to review and rate the podcast in Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/champagne-sharks/id1242690393?mt=2. D. Mills (http://twitter.com/mdmills79), Mike (http://twitter.com/blackexception1), and I discuss Hillary Clinton's new book "What Happened?", some funny meltdowns among the cult of diehard Hillary supporters including Joy Reid, and discuss Peter Daou and his new support group website for Hillaryites, Verrit. Discussed in this episode: Twitter threads by Joy Reid (https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/906612443736145920), Charles Clymer (https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/906657832359137280), and GothamGirlBlue (https://twitter.com/GothamGirlBlue/status/906012059191541766) melting down over Hillary When Prophecy Fails by Leon Festinger, the book: http://amzn.to/2wafGd2 and a Wikipedia summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails "The Sapphire Caricature" (whole website is a good resource in general) https://ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/antiblack/sapphire.htm Peter Daou and Verrit: 1) https://theoutline.com/post/2207/the-strange-life-of-peter-daou, 2) http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/09/07/an_interview_with_peter_daou_verrit_founder_and_hillary_superfan.html and 3) https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/09/the-boy-in-the-bubble-peter-daous-verrit-is-peak-c.html

A Turkey Day treat for all! Our pal T (@RickyRawls) stops by the Park Slope Mansion to discuss his run-ins with the Anime Nazis/alt-right, their racial narcissism, and how Leon Festinger's "When Prophecy Fails" applies to Democrats after the election upset. We also wonder why Mike Pence even wanted to see Hamilton in the first place. Here's an interview with T on the alt-right: http://thoughtcatalog.com/daniel-hayes/2016/11/an-interview-with-a-black-man-who-loves-standing-up-to-alt-right-trolls-on-twitter/

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Encountering When Prophecy Fails, Encountering Cognitive Dissonance: A Forum When Prophecy Fails was published in 1956 and is considered a “classic” by many in the field of social psychology and, arguably, in religious studies (e.g., in history of religions, biblical studies) and other fields as well. Like many such works, the book as its theory of cognitive dissonance has shaped numerous fields – and wider culture – in ways often unacknowledged. But how do the book and its theory speak to us today? How best to understand the long resonances of this book and its theory within academic study and in everyday life? Does the book’s popularity tell us anything about the book’s influence on religion, psychology and science? Did the book alter the object of knowledge in religion and/or in psychology? Does critical reflection suggest new ways to think about the religion, science and psychology relation that moves beyond applying psychological models to religious experience or using religious or spiritual experience to secure psychological concepts or evidence? This symposium will begin with a brief talk on the history of the books' nearly sixty years. Several scholars will join Dr. Bayer to offer further reflection on their own use of the book in their teaching and research. Together these trackings and tracings lend themselves to what may be called an ethnography of encounters with the life-world of a book, its ideas, culture, habitus of its catchy concept of cognitive dissonance, and spheres of action amongst religion, psychology and science. FORUM PARTICIPANTS: Lowell Bloss, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies and of Asian Languages and Cultures, (University of Chicago Divinity School, History of Religion, PhD 1972) W. Clark Gilpin, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Christianity and Theology in the Divinity School; also in the College; Interim Director of the Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion Susan E. Henking, President, Shimer College (University of Chicago Divinity School, Religion and Psychological Studies, PhD 1988). Seth Patterson, MFA, a professional theater artist and current M.Div. student, will provide a dramatic reading. Betty M. Bayer is professor of Women’s Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, where she teaches courses on notions of human nature in histories of women’s psyche, imagining peace, and debates amongst psychology, science, religion and spirituality. Most recently, she has published essays on spirituality and Enchantment in an Age of Occupy (2012). While a senior fellow at the Martin Marty Center she will be working on her book “Revelation or Revolution? Cognitive Dissonance and Persistent Longing in an Age Psychological.” This book entails a history and rethinking of the renowned 1956 book When Prophecy Fails by social psychologists Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken and Stanley Schachter.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Encountering When Prophecy Fails, Encountering Cognitive Dissonance: A Forum When Prophecy Fails was published in 1956 and is considered a “classic” by many in the field of social psychology and, arguably, in religious studies (e.g., in history of religions, biblical studies) and other fields as well. Like many such works, the book as its theory of cognitive dissonance has shaped numerous fields – and wider culture – in ways often unacknowledged. But how do the book and its theory speak to us today? How best to understand the long resonances of this book and its theory within academic study and in everyday life? Does the book’s popularity tell us anything about the book’s influence on religion, psychology and science? Did the book alter the object of knowledge in religion and/or in psychology? Does critical reflection suggest new ways to think about the religion, science and psychology relation that moves beyond applying psychological models to religious experience or using religious or spiritual experience to secure psychological concepts or evidence? This symposium will begin with a brief talk on the history of the books' nearly sixty years. Several scholars will join Dr. Bayer to offer further reflection on their own use of the book in their teaching and research. Together these trackings and tracings lend themselves to what may be called an ethnography of encounters with the life-world of a book, its ideas, culture, habitus of its catchy concept of cognitive dissonance, and spheres of action amongst religion, psychology and science. FORUM PARTICIPANTS: Lowell Bloss, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies and of Asian Languages and Cultures, (University of Chicago Divinity School, History of Religion, PhD 1972) W. Clark Gilpin, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Christianity and Theology in the Divinity School; also in the College; Interim Director of the Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion Susan E. Henking, President, Shimer College (University of Chicago Divinity School, Religion and Psychological Studies, PhD 1988). Seth Patterson, MFA, a professional theater artist and current M.Div. student, will provide a dramatic reading. Betty M. Bayer is professor of Women’s Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, where she teaches courses on notions of human nature in histories of women’s psyche, imagining peace, and debates amongst psychology, science, religion and spirituality. Most recently, she has published essays on spirituality and Enchantment in an Age of Occupy (2012). While a senior fellow at the Martin Marty Center she will be working on her book “Revelation or Revolution? Cognitive Dissonance and Persistent Longing in an Age Psychological.” This book entails a history and rethinking of the renowned 1956 book When Prophecy Fails by social psychologists Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken and Stanley Schachter.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Professor Bayer is Professor of Women's Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a Martin Marty Center Senior Fellow for 2013-2014. Bayer's current project is a history of the renowned 1956 book “When Prophecy Fails” by social psychologists Leon Festinger, Henry Reicken, and Stanley Schachter and its place in the longer and larger history of debate amongst religion, psychology, spirituality and science on the soul or psyche. Situated in mid-1950s America, When Prophecy Fails enters the scene amidst cybernetic science, a time of reframing religion to become "newly psychological" (Ellwood, 1997), a shift in psychology toward cognition and away from behaviorism, and the stirrings of new age spirituality. The book as the theory it introduces thus marks a critical turning point in the long history of interplay amongst psychology, religion, science, and spirituality. The Martin Marty Center encourages advanced research in the diverse disciplines of the study of religion. Each year, the Center hosts fellows under a variety of programs. Senior Fellows are scholars from around the world, typically on leave from their home institutions. They situate their research within a broader cultural frame of reference, bringing their perspectives to bear on religious questions facing the wider public. They do so in the Marty Seminar, in which they present their work and critically discuss the presentations of other fellows, and by delivering a Marty Center symposium. - See more at: http://divinity.uchicago.edu/endings-without-end-when-prophecy-fails-and-rise-new-age-spirituality-and-cognitive-dissonance

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Professor Bayer is Professor of Women's Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a Martin Marty Center Senior Fellow for 2013-2014. Bayer's current project is a history of the renowned 1956 book “When Prophecy Fails” by social psychologists Leon Festinger, Henry Reicken, and Stanley Schachter and its place in the longer and larger history of debate amongst religion, psychology, spirituality and science on the soul or psyche. Situated in mid-1950s America, When Prophecy Fails enters the scene amidst cybernetic science, a time of reframing religion to become "newly psychological" (Ellwood, 1997), a shift in psychology toward cognition and away from behaviorism, and the stirrings of new age spirituality. The book as the theory it introduces thus marks a critical turning point in the long history of interplay amongst psychology, religion, science, and spirituality. The Martin Marty Center encourages advanced research in the diverse disciplines of the study of religion. Each year, the Center hosts fellows under a variety of programs. Senior Fellows are scholars from around the world, typically on leave from their home institutions. They situate their research within a broader cultural frame of reference, bringing their perspectives to bear on religious questions facing the wider public. They do so in the Marty Seminar, in which they present their work and critically discuss the presentations of other fellows, and by delivering a Marty Center symposium. - See more at: http://divinity.uchicago.edu/endings-without-end-when-prophecy-fails-and-rise-new-age-spirituality-and-cognitive-dissonance