PowerPredictive Programming
Predictive Programming
Also called: Predictive Programming
The hypothesis that films and TV shows preview future events to condition the public in advance.In this narrative it turns films like The Matrix into advance notices of real events.
Established facts
Predictive programming is the hypothesis that films and TV shows preview future events in order to psychologically condition the public.The term was first popularized on broadcast by conspiracy theorist Alan Watt.Scholars explain the phenomenon through confirmation bias and apophenia.Confirmation bias is the tendency to notice only the examples that fit a conclusion you already hold.Apophenia is the tendency to force a pattern onto events that are actually unrelated.
Only the first box is documented. Further along, the evidence shrinks to a single photo, a single scene.
In this narrativeFilms that showed the future in advance
The 1927 film "Metropolis" is cited as having drawn a future skyline of skyscrapers before it existed1.A scene from the animated show "The Simpsons" is credited with previewing Donald Trump's election as president1.The 1998 film "Enemy of the State" is said to have depicted mass surveillance technology in advance1.That surveillance technology is pointed to as resembling the NSA surveillance later exposed by Edward Snowden1.The first episode of the 2001 show "The Lone Gunmen" depicted a plane remotely crashed into the World Trade Center1.The real September 11th attack happened months later1.
In this narrativeEven children's programming
This claim also finds examples in children's programming1.One episode of "Barney & Friends" is pointed to as depicting a communication device resembling a modern tablet, decades early1.George Orwell's novel "1984" is also reread within this frame1.The reading holds that a novel written as a warning against totalitarianism instead pre-conditioned the public to accept surveillance technology1.
In this narrativeA counterargument: cherry-picking coincidental scenes
The same article also carries the counterargument1.Confirmation bias makes only the examples fitting an already-drawn conclusion stand out1.Apophenia is the tendency to force a pattern onto unrelated events1.The availability heuristic makes an easily recalled memory feel more common than it actually is1.Only a handful of scenes are cherry-picked out of hundreds of films and shows1.That coincidence, where a similar event later happens, is then called a prophecy1.
Connected concepts
- The Matrix and the Red Pill →The reading that a single film previewed the future is applied to The Matrix in exactly the same way.
- MKUltra →The idea of conditioning the public through media sits on the same line as controlling individuals through drugs.
- New World Order →The scenes planted in advance are said to together pave the road to a new world order.
- Mandela Effect →The suspicion that media shakes memory also touches the Mandela Effect story.
Leads here fromLooshMonarch Programming