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capri0mniToday, before I even got out of bed, and had breakfast, I learned about:
Tyromancy: Divination from Cheese!
Apparently, in the Middle Ages, people would write possible answers to questions on pieces of cheese, and the piece that got moldy (or the piece that got nibbled by a caged mouse) first was the piece on which the correct answer was written.
...And the thought occurred to me: if this were a controlled experiment (i.e.: all the pieces of cheese were from the same wheel, and the same knife was used to carve the answers onto each one), it could be surmised that the hypothesis being tested was:
"The Truth has an important nutrional value that can be recognized and reacted to by non-human species."
...I'm not saying it's a well designed experiment, or that its underlying suppositions are valid. But really, when you look closely at "old superstitions," what you really see are applied and systematic methods for understanding a complex world. And really -- that's Science.
Okay. I'm done spamming you for the day.
[ETA: I heard this on: The Splendid Table from American Public Media, it came during the last segment of the show: the trivia question of the week]
Tyromancy: Divination from Cheese!
Apparently, in the Middle Ages, people would write possible answers to questions on pieces of cheese, and the piece that got moldy (or the piece that got nibbled by a caged mouse) first was the piece on which the correct answer was written.
...And the thought occurred to me: if this were a controlled experiment (i.e.: all the pieces of cheese were from the same wheel, and the same knife was used to carve the answers onto each one), it could be surmised that the hypothesis being tested was:
"The Truth has an important nutrional value that can be recognized and reacted to by non-human species."
...I'm not saying it's a well designed experiment, or that its underlying suppositions are valid. But really, when you look closely at "old superstitions," what you really see are applied and systematic methods for understanding a complex world. And really -- that's Science.
Okay. I'm done spamming you for the day.
[ETA: I heard this on: The Splendid Table from American Public Media, it came during the last segment of the show: the trivia question of the week]
