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retroactive clairvoyance

Retroactive clairvoyance is the ability to use hindsight to predict what happened after it has happened.

Advocates of the prophetic abilities of Nostradamus are experts at retroactive clairvoyance, as are those who defend the notion that the Bible contains a prophetic code.

A common ploy of psychics when a child goes missing is to call the police with tips based on their "visions." The psychic typically "sees" something like a dark car, the letter S, the number 5, a torn shirt, water, a man with a beard, and other "clues." Later, actual evidence is retrofitted to match these "clues." The tips that don't fit are conveniently forgotten (selective thinking). Some police officers actually fall for this trick, like the sheriff who made Phil Jordan a deputy for his alleged help in the Tommy Jordan case.

The process of finding specific meaning in vague or ambiguous words, letters, initials, numbers, and so on is called subjective validation. It is the key to understanding cold reading, as well as retroactive clairvoyance and all kinds of divination.

Resurrection, The

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retrocognition