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Post 2 - Pseudoscience Watchlist: Scientific-sounding Language (Article) 

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Post 2 - Pseudoscience Watchlist: Scientific-sounding Language (Article) 

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Use of Scientific-Sounding Language that is Meaningless Definition: Using more professional and science-based vocabulary (jargon) to come across as more educated and reliable.

Connection: Astrology believers feel that the planets, stars, and solar system have an influence on our real-world experience/events Astrology can be discussed and exemplified through science but not proven, disproving evidence is often unaccounted for. It is unfortunate there are people who do not apply any critical thinking or skepticism to their decisions and base many life choices on astrology as if they find consolation and faith in the potential of astrology rather than facing real life. Recognize Bias should be accounted for as people willfully want to believe their "zodiac signs" and "feel" as though these astrological signs genuinely affect their lives. Astrologers can study their whole life and produce fact-sounding reports but fail to present reputable evidence.

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In a stressful, data-driven era, many young people find comfort and insight in the zodiac-even if they don't exactly believe in it.

Astrology is a meme, and it's spreading in that blooming, unfurling way that memes do. On social media, astrologers and astrology-meme machines amass tens or hundreds of thousands of followers, people joke about Mercury retrograde, and categorize "the signs as ..." literally anything: cat breeds, Oscar Wilde quotes, Stranger Things characters, types of french fries. In online publications, daily, weekly, and monthly horoscopes and zodiac-themed listicles flourish.

This isn't the first moment astrology's had and it won't be the last. The practice has been around in various forms for thousands of years. More recently, the New Age movement of the 1960s and '70s came with a heaping helping of the zodiac. (Some also refer to the New Age as the "Age of Aquarius"-the 2,000-year period after the Earth is said to move into the Aquarius sign.)

In the decades between the New Age boom and now, while astrology certainly didn't go away-you could still regularly find horoscopes in the back pages of magazines-it "went back to being a little bit more in the background," says Chani Nicholas, an astrologer based in Los Angeles. "Then there's something that's happened in the last five years that's given it an edginess, a relevance for this time and place, that it hasn't had for a good 35 years. Millennials have taken it and run with it."

Many people I spoke to for this piece said they had a sense that the stigma attached to astrology, while it still exists, had receded as the practice has grabbed a foothold in online culture, especially for young people.

"Over the past two years, we've really seen a reframing of New Age practices, very much geared toward a Millennial and young Gen X quotient," says Lucie Greene, the worldwide director of J. Walter Thompson's Intelligence Group, which tracks and predicts cultural trends.

Callie Beusman, a senior editor at Broadly, says traffic for the site's horoscopes "has grown really exponentially." Stella Bugbee, the president and editor-in-chief of The Cut, says a typical horoscope post on the site got 150 percent more traffic in 2017 than the year before.

In some ways, astrology is perfectly suited for the internet age. There's a low barrier to entry, and nearly endless depths to plumb if you feel like falling down a Google-research hole. The availability of more in-depth information online has given this cultural wave of astrology a certain erudition-more jokes about Saturn returns, fewer "Hey baby, what's your sign?" pickup lines.

A quick primer: Astrology is not a science; there's no evidence that one's zodiac sign actually correlates to personality. But the system has its own sort of logic. Astrology ascribes meaning to the placement of the sun, the moon, and the planets within 12 sections of the sky-the signs of the zodiac. You likely know your sun sign, the most famous zodiac sign, even if you're not an astrology buff. It's based on where the sun was on your birthday. But the placement of the moon and each of the other planets at the time and location of your birth adds additional shades to the picture of you painted by your "birth chart."
"The kids these days and their memes are like the perfect context for astrology."
What horoscopes are supposed to do is give you information about what the planets are doing right now, and in the future, and how all that affects each sign. "Think of the planets as a cocktail party," explains Susan Miller, the popular astrologer who founded the Astrology Zone website. "You might have three people talking together, two may be over in the corner arguing, Venus and Mars may be kissing each other. I have to make sense of those conversations that are happening each month for you."

"Astrologers are always trying to boil down these giant concepts into digestible pieces of knowledge," says Nicholas. "The kids these days and their memes are like the perfect context for astrology."

Astrology expresses complex ideas about personality, life cycles, and relationship patterns through the shorthand of the planets and zodiac symbols. And that shorthand works well online, where symbols and shorthand are often baked into communication.

"Let me state first that I consider astrology a cultural or psychological phenomenon," not a scientific one, Bertram Malle, a social cognitive scientist at Brown University, told me in an email. But "full-fledged astrology"-that goes beyond newspaper-style sun-sign horoscopes-"provides a powerful vocabulary to capture not only personality and temperament but also life's challenges and opportunities. To the extent that one simply learns this vocabulary, it may be appealing as a rich way of representing (not explaining or predicting) human experiences and life events, and identifying some possible paths of coping."

People tend to turn to astrology in times of stress. A small 1982 study by the psychologist Graham Tyson found that "people who consult astrologers" did so in response to stressors in their lives-particularly stress "linked to the individual's social roles and to his or her relationships," Tyson wrote. "Under conditions of high stress, the individual is prepared to use astrology as a coping device even though under low-stress conditions he does not believe in it."

According to American Psychological Association survey data, since 2014, Millennials have been the most stressed generation, and also the generation most likely to say their stress has increased in the past year since 2010. Millennials and Gen Xers have been significantly more stressed than older generations since 2012. And Americans as a whole have seen increased stress because of the political tumult since the 2016 presidential election. The 2017 edition of the APA's survey found that 63 percent of Americans said they were significantly stressed about their country's future. Fifty-six percent of people said reading the news stresses them out, and Millennials and Gen Xers were significantly more likely than older people to say so. Lately that news often deals with political infighting, climate change, global crises, and the threat of nuclear war. If stress makes astrology look shinier, it's not surprising that more seem to be drawn to it now.

Nicholas's horoscopes are evidence of this. She has around 1 million monthly readers online, and recently snagged a book deal-one of four new mainstream astrology guidebooks sold in a two-month period in summer 2017, according to Publisher's Marketplace. Anna Paustenbach, Nicholas's editor at HarperOne, told me in an email that Nicholas is "at the helm of a resurgence of astrology." She thinks this is partly because Nicholas's horoscopes are explicitly political. On September 6, the day after the Trump administration announced it was rescinding DACA-the deferred-action protection program for undocumented immigrants-Nicholas sent out her typical newsletter for the upcoming full moon. It read, in part:

The full moon in Pisces ... may open the floodgates of our feelings. May help us to empathize with others ... May we use this full moon to continue to dream up, and actively work toward, creating a world where white supremacy has been abolished.

Astrology offers those in crisis the comfort of imagining a better future, a tangible reminder of that clichéd truism that is nonetheless hard to remember when you're in the thick of it: This too shall pass.

In 2013, when Sandhya was 32 years old, she downloaded the Astrology Zone app, looking for a road map. She felt lonely, and unappreciated at her nonprofit job in Washington, D.C., and she was going out drinking four or five times a week. "I was in the cycle of constantly being out, trying to escape," she says.

She wanted to know when things would get better and Astrology Zone had an answer. Jupiter, " the planet of good fortune," would move into Sandhya's zodiac sign, Leo, in one year's time, and remain there for a year. Sandhya remembers reading that if she cut clutter out of her life now, she'd reap the rewards when Jupiter arrived.

So Sandhya spent the next year making room for Jupiter. (She requested that we not publish her last name because she works as an attorney and doesn't want her clients to know the details of her personal life.) She started staying home more often, cooking for herself, applying for jobs, and going on more dates. "I definitely distanced myself from two or three friends who I didn't feel had good energy when I hung around them," she says. "And that helped significantly."

Jupiter entered Leo on July 16, 2014. That same July, Sandhya was offered a new job. That December, Sandhya met the man she would go on to marry. "My life changed dramatically," she says. "Part of it is that a belief in something makes it happen. But I followed what the app was saying. So I credit some of it to this Jupiter belief."
A combination of stress and uncertainty about the future is an ailment for which astrology can seem like the perfect balm.
Humans are narrative creatures, constantly explaining their lives and selves by weaving together the past, present, and future (in the form of goals and expectations). Monisha Pasupathi, a developmental psychologist who studies narrative at the University of Utah, says that while she lends no credence to astrology, it "provides [people] a very clear frame for that explanation."

It does give one a pleasing orderly sort of feeling, not unlike alphabetizing a library, to take life's random events and emotions and slot them into helpfully labeled shelves. This guy isn't texting me back because Mercury retrograde probably kept him from getting the message. I take such a long time to make decisions because my Mars is in Taurus. My boss will finally recognize all my hard work when Jupiter enters my tenth house. A combination of stress and uncertainty about the future is an ailment for which astrology can seem like the perfect balm.

Sandhya says she turns to astrology looking for help in times of despair, "when I'm like, 'Someone tell me the future is gonna be okay.'" Reading her horoscope was like flipping ahead in her own story.

"I'm always a worrier," she says. "I'm one of those people who, once I start getting into a book, I skip ahead and I read the end. I don't like cliff-hangers, I don't like suspense. I just need to know what's gonna happen. I have a story in my head. I was just hoping certain things would happen in my life, and I wanted to see if I am lucky enough for them to happen."

Now that they have happened, "I haven't been reading [my horoscope] as much," she says, "and I think it's because I'm in a happy place right now."

For some, astrology's predictions function like Dumbo's feather-a comforting magic to hold onto until you realize you could fly on your own all along. But it's the ineffable mystical sparkle of the feather-gentler and less draining than the glow of a screen-that makes people reach for it in the first place.

People are starting to get sick of a life lived so intensely on the grid. They wish for more anonymity online. They're experiencing fatigue with ebooks, with dating apps, with social media. They're craving something else in this era of quantified selves, and tracked locations, and indexed answers to every possible question. Except, perhaps the questions of who you really are, and what life has in store for you.

Ruby Warrington is a lifestyle writer whose New Age guidebook Material Girl, Mystical World came out in May 2017-just ahead of the wave of astrology-book sales this summer. She also runs a mystical esoterica website called The Numinous, a word that Merriam-Webster defines as meaning "supernatural or mysterious," but that Warrington defines on her website as "that which is unknown, or unknowable."

"I think that almost as a counterbalance to the fact that we live in such a quantifiable and meticulously organized world, there is a desire to connect to and tap into that numinous part of ourselves," Warrington says. "I see astrology as a language of symbols that describes those parts of the human experience that we don't necessarily have equations and numbers and explanations for."

J. Walter Thompson's Intelligence Group released a trend report in 2016 called " Unreality" that says much the same thing: "We are increasingly turning to unreality as a form of escape and a way to search for other kinds of freedom, truth and meaning," it reads. "What emerges is an appreciation for magic and spirituality, the knowingly unreal, and the intangible aspects of our lives that defy big data and the ultra-transparency of the web." This sort of reactionary cultural 180 has happened before-after the Enlightenment's emphasis on rationality and the scientific method in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Romantic movement found people turning toward intuition, nature, and the supernatural. It seems we may be at a similar turning point. New York Magazine even used the seminal Romantic painting Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog to illustrate Andrew Sullivan's recent anti-technology essay, "I Used to Be a Human Being."

JWT, along with another trend-forecasting group, WGSN, in its report "Millennials: New Spirituality," lump astrology in with other New Age mystical trends that have caught on with young people in recent years: healing crystals, sound baths, and tarot, among others.

"I think it's become generally less acceptable to just arbitrarily shit on things as like 'that's not rational, or that's stupid because that's not fact,'" says Nicole Leffel, a 28-year-old software engineer who lives in New York.

Bugbee, the editor-in-chief of The Cut, noticed this shift a couple years ago. "I could just tell that people were sick of a certain kind of snarky tone," she said. Up to that point, the site had been running slightly irreverent horoscopes with gifs meant to encapsulate the week's mood for each sign. But Bugbee realized "that people wanted sincerity more than anything. So we just kind of went full sincere with [the horoscopes], and that's when we saw real interest happen."

But a sincere burgeoning interest in astrology doesn't mean people are wholesale abandoning rationality for more mystical beliefs. Nicholas Campion, a historian of astrology, points out that the question of whether people "believe" in astrology is both impossible to answer and not really a useful question to ask. People might say they don't "believe" in astrology but still identify with their zodiac sign. They may like to read their horoscope, but not change their behavior based on what it says. There is more nuance than this statistic allows for.

Many mainstream examinations of astrology as a trend are deeply concerned with debunking. They like to trot out the National Science Foundation survey that measures whether people think astrology is scientific and remind readers that it's not. Which, it's not. But that's not really the point.

While there are surely some people who blindly accept astrology as fact and view it as on par with a discipline like biology, that doesn't seem to be the case among many of the young adults who are fueling this renaissance of the zodiac. The people I spoke to for this piece often referred to astrology as a tool, or a kind of language-one that, for many, is more metaphorical than literal.

"Astrology is a system that looks at cycles, and we use the language of planets," says Alec Verkuilen Brogan, a 29-year-old chiropractic student based in the Bay Area who has also studied astrology for 10 years. "It's not like these planets are literally going around and being like 'Now, I'm going to do this.' It's a language to speak to the seasons of life."
"We take astrology very seriously, but we also don't necessarily believe in it. It's just a way to look at the world."
Michael Stevens, a 27-year-old who lives in Brooklyn, was in the quarter-life crisis season of life around the time of the total solar eclipse in August this year. "Traditionally, I'm a skeptic," he says. "I'm a hard-core, like Dana Scully from X-Files, type of person. And then shit started to happen in life." Around the time of the eclipse, in the course of his advertising work, he cold-called Susan Miller of Astrology Zone, to ask if she would put some ads on her site.

She was annoyed, he says, that he called her at the end of the month, which is when she writes her famously lengthy horoscopes. But then she asked him for his sign-Sagittarius. "And she's like, 'Oh, okay, this new moon's rough for you.'" They talked about work and relationship troubles. (Miller doesn't remember having this conversation specifically, but says "I'm always nice to the people who cold-call. It sounds totally like me.")

Studies have shown that if you write a generic personality description and tell someone it applies to them, they're likely to perceive it as accurate-whether that's in the form of a description of their zodiac sign or something else.

Stevens says he could've potentially read into his conversation with Miller in this way. "She's like 'You're going through a lot right now,'" he says. "Who isn't? It's 2017."

Still, he says the conversation made him feel better; it spurred him to take action. In the months between his call with Miller and our conversation in October, Stevens left his advertising job and found a new one in staffing. Shortly before we spoke, he and his girlfriend broke up.

"[I realized] I'm acting like a shitty, non-playable character in a Dungeons and Dragons RPG," Stevens says, "so I should probably make choices, and pursue some of the good things that could happen if I just [cared] about being a happy person in a real way."

Stevens's story exemplifies a prevailing attitude among many of the people I talked to-that it doesn't matter if astrology is real; it matters if it's useful.

"We take astrology very seriously, but we also don't necessarily believe in it," says Annabel Gat, the staff astrologer at Broadly, "because it's a tool for self-reflection, it's not a religion or a science. It's just a way to look at the world and a way to think about things."

Beusman, who hired Gat at Broadly, shares her philosophy. "I believe several conflicting things in all areas of my life," she says. "So for me it's very easy to hold these two ideas in my head at once. This could not be true at all, and also, I'll be like 'Well, I have three planets entering Scorpio next month, so I should make some savvy career decisions.'"

This attitude is exemplified by The Hairpin's "Astrology Is Fake" column, by Rosa Lyster, with headlines like " Astrology Is Fake But Leos Are Famous," and " Astrology Is Fake But Taurus Hates Change."

It might be that Millennials are more comfortable living in the borderlands between skepticism and belief because they've spent so much of their lives online, in another space that is real and unreal at the same time. That so many people find astrology meaningful is a reminder that something doesn't have to be real to feel true. Don't we find truth in fiction?

In describing her attitude toward astrology, Leffel recalled a line from Neil Gaiman's American Gods in which the main character, Shadow, wonders whether lightning in the sky was from a magical thunderbird "or just an atmospheric discharge, or whether the two ideas were, on some level, the same thing. And of course they were. That was the point after all."

If the "astrology is fake but it's true" stance seems paradoxical, well, perhaps the paradox is what's attractive. Many people offered me hypotheses to explain astrology's resurgence. Digital natives are narcissistic, some suggested, and astrology is a navel-gazing obsession. People feel powerless here on Earth, others said, so they're turning to the stars. Of course, it's both. Some found it to be an escape from logical "left brain" thinking; others craved the order and organization the complex system brought to the chaos of life. It's both. That's the point, after all.

To understand astrology's appeal is to get comfortable with paradoxes. It feels simultaneously cosmic and personal; spiritual and logical; ineffable and concrete; real and unreal. It can be a relief, in a time of division, not to have to choose. It can be freeing, in a time that values black and white, ones and zeros, to look for answers in the gray. It can be meaningful to draw lines in the space between moments of time, or the space between pinpricks of light in the night sky, even if you know deep down they're really light-years apart, and have no connection at all.

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american psychological association survey data

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worldwide director of j. walter thompson

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ineffable mystical sparkle of the feather

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In a stressful, data-driven era, many young people find comfort and insight in the zodiac-even if they don't exactly believe in it.

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Post 3 - Pseudoscience Watchlist: Convinces by Faith and Belief, in spite of evidence (Image)

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Post 3 - Pseudoscience Watchlist: Convinces by Faith and Belief, in spite of evidence (Image)

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Convinces by Faith and Belief Definition: Somebody believing in something based on emotions, experience, faith, religion, family, etc., without taking into account proof and real-life factors.

Connection: Many people believe that the Pyramids were built by aliens, but some believe they were built by slaves. In spite of any evidence or source alluding to the structure being man-made, people do not understand/believe that humans advanced enough technology and tools to build a structure of that size, material, and shape.

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Post 4 - Pseudoscience Watchlist: Deliberately Creates Mystery (Youtube Video)

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Post 4 - Pseudoscience Watchlist: Deliberately Creates Mystery (Youtube Video)

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Deliberately Creates Mystery Definition: Someone/something insinuating an occurrence/event/phenomenon to appeal without any real explanation, in order to create drama, suspense or excitement. The human mind loves mystery.

Connection: This is a video of YouTube playing with an OUIJA board. A game where spirits or agents supposedly communicate with us by moving a piece and spelling out answers. There is no way to debunk or determine the truth behind Quija games and their accuracy as players have to each be touching a game piece. Some claim they experience what they consider "paranormal" for others nothing occurs. People can play into the game by moving the game piece themselves but no one will ever really know. A YouTuber, like the one in the above video, could pretend to be skeptical but fake the paranormal experience for fame or views.

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OUIJA BOARD IN MY HAUNTED ATTIC... *we got threatened* | FaZe Rug

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Post 5 - Pseudoscience Watchlist: Often Appeals to Emotion (Website)

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Post 5 - Pseudoscience Watchlist: Often Appeals to Emotion (Website)

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Often Appeals to Emotion Definition: Typically a Pseudoscience where someone's emotions and feelings are being tailored towards in order to push an agenda.

Connection: This is a link to a Psychic website where for a fee, many of them claim they are able to speak to deceased loved ones. Another insists through using water as a conductor they can reach the spirit realm and come into contact with whoever they may choose.
People like this (freelance psychics/mediums) play into humans' emotions, thoughts, and grief in order to make money. (This could also count as "Money is often Involved").

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Post 6 - Red Flag: Mystical Energy (Article)

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Post 6 - Red Flag: Mystical Energy (Article)

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Mystical Energy Definition: Something that resembles magic and cannot be explained but has a spiritual connection and energy surrounding it that causes people to believe. Examples include Unicorns and Tarot Cards.

Connection: The above is an article referring and claiming to have scientific evidence that crystal healing works. People believe in crystals the same way they do astrology. The critical thinking Process could be used but people are going to do what they want regardless.

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Scientific Evidence That Crystal Healing Works

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Many people are quick to dismiss the idea that crystals can heal, yet scientific evidence clearly shows that crystals may indeed have healing properties, along with other capabilities and uses.

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Post 9 - Red Flags: Appeal to Authority (Video) 

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Post 9 - Red Flags: Appeal to Authority (Video) 

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Appeal to Authority Definition: A claim or proposition assumed authentic based on the person of power/authority declaring its truth.

Connection: The Gates Foundation has consecutively advocated for the COVID-19 vaccine, in despite of it being used prior to being approved by the FDA. As well as numerous claims going unreported of unsuccessful doses of the vaccine itself, and side effects like heart attack, blood clots, Bell's Palsy, affected menstraul cycles, and death. Bill Gates is not a legal medical doctor but was pushing for the validity of the vaccine prior to its approval. This is an example of an appeal to authority, as many people who struggle with critical thinking will have trusted Bill Gates before medical experts due to his high status, education, etc.

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Bill Gates has been worried about a pandemic hitting the world for decades. So much so, his foundation spent millions creating fictional scenarios for world leaders to troubleshoot in which mutating viruses infected humans and killed tens of millions before being contained.

At global conferences, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation got cabinet-level leaders to run through the script to show how unprepared they were and how little they'd thought about the issues. Who would model the epidemic's spread? Where would the genetic sequencing happen? Which agency would organize clinical trials?

"We tried to get some awareness of how huge this vulnerability is in various global forums," Gates said. The last one was run in partnership with the World Economic Forum on Oct. 18, 2019, livestreamed for the world to watch.

The pandemic that emerged just two months later still came as a shock.

"This has been the most surprising year of my life," Gates told USA TODAY on Tuesday.

On Wednesday he and his wife Melinda released their annual letter. It normally would focus on multiple projects the multibillion dollar foundation is working on in the realms of global health and education.

This year it's all about COVID-19.

So far, the foundation has pledged $1.75 billion for COVID-19 response, in addition to its decadelong funding of underlying vaccine technologies. Gates spoke with USA TODAY about the role the United States has played in created vaccines to fight COVID-19, the promise of mRNA vaccines and the remarkable persistence of the conspiracy theory he's slipping microchips into the vaccine:

No, he's not microchipping anyone

Gates is perplexed by the fantastical false claim he's somehow used COVID-19 vaccines to deliver microchips to track unsuspecting humans.

"I have no idea where that came from," he said.

It makes no sense technologically, he said. The idea that a microchip small enough to pass through a hypodermic syringe could somehow be used to monitor or control people is not science, it's science fiction.

And even if it were possible, "Why would I be involved in that?" he said. "I don't get it."

The idea might be worth a laugh except that lives are on the line.

"If somebody is afraid of these vaccines because of this craziness, that means that they're not going to be protecting others," he said. "They're going to be a potential source of transmission."

Making the truth as compelling as some of the more outlandishtheories that are circulating will take creativity and enlisting trusted community voices.

It's a lot like the work the foundation has done in Africa for the polio vaccine, which has been dogged by false rumors that it causes sterility, he said. One effective approach there has been to get local religious leaders to vaccinate their children.

"They set an example and people start to go, 'OK, you know, maybe this will stop my kid from getting paralyzed. I should probably do it,'" Gates said.
Melinda Gates: The Gates Foundation adds $250M gift to fight COVID-19 worldwide
US deserves thanks for a fast vaccine

Gates is clear that without the U.S., a vaccine to fight SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, would have been much longer coming.

"The United States actually gets a high mark," he said. "When it comes to innovation, the U.S. is still the majority of all the innovation power. Whether you take biology or IT or climate change, the world really does count on the United States."

The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, housed within the Department of Health and Human Services, put up more money toward research and development for COVID-19 vaccines than all other groups combined, he said.

The second-largest funder, he noted, was the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which was backed by the Gates Foundation.

"But it was a lot less than BARDA put out. BARDA allowed companies to go full speed ahead," he said.

The promise of mRNA vaccines
Meet Özlem Türeci:German scientist was focused on cancer at BioNTech, then came COVID-19. It was her 'duty' to help develop a vaccine.
The Gates Foundation gave some of the first funding for mRNA vaccines a decade ago, in support of German-Turkish researchers Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Türeci. They created a company in Germany, BioNTech, with the plan of working on mRNA vaccines for cancer. BioNTech went on to create the first U.S. authorized COVID-19 vaccine in conjunction with Pfizer.

That was exciting, but Gates wanted to expand the focus beyond money-making cancer treatments to vaccines that could protect the world's poor. The foundation gave BioNTech grants so research into infectious disease could be done in parallel with its cancer work.

"It's a very amazing relationship," Gates said.

He believes mRNA vaccines hold great promise beyond COVID-19, but it will take time for them to get there. They require precise lipid nanoparticles to enter cells so they can replicate and trigger the immune response. They also require cold temperatures that are expensive to support.

That, Gates expects, will change quickly. It shouldn't take longer than five years for the technology to mature, he said.

"We just need to mess around," he said. Cheap, quickly-developed mRNA vaccines are coming that hold the potential to "fill in missing vaccines" to fight diseases like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis that have long stymied researchers.

"A lot of our bets for the Gates Foundation and others who care about global health will be mRNA-focused. We'll use these for every disease that we don't have vaccines for," he said.

Setting traps for the next pandemic

Disease is inevitable, pandemics are not.

Gates and others envision an international network of researchers and epidemiologists who constantly scan the world for emerging diseases so they can be discovered and stopped before they get out of hand. It would only take around 3,000 of these lookouts, he thinks, and they could spend the bulk of their time working on infectious diseases such as polio and malaria.

"As soon as there's a hint of an epidemic, they'd be fully trained, have their skills and go focus on whatever the thing is that was potentially developing," Gates said.

This surveillance would allow testing, genetic sequencing and, most importantly, containment of a new disease while it's was confined to a small area.

The cost might be billions of dollars but would be cheap at the price, he said.

"For tens of billions a year we'll be buying an insurance policy that will save trillions of dollars when something comes along," he said.

"We don't know when that is, but it's going to come."

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Bill Gates warned about a pandemic; and enough about microchips, he says

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Bill and Melinda Gates said in their annual letter that the U.S. deserves thanks for a fast COVID-19 vaccine and mRNA vaccines hold great promise.

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Post 7 - Red Flags: Ideological Support  (Webpage)

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Post 7 - Red Flags: Ideological Support  (Webpage)

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Ideological Support Definition: A shared belief amongst a group of people.

Connection: This is a page designed by a group of people (The Flat Earth Society) who believe in the conspiracy theory that the earth is flat. When a large group of people have faith in the same topic they are more, likely to back up another's thoughts rather than counter any arguments. People such as this could benefit from Critical Thinking.

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This extensive Wiki is based on a FAQ originally compiled by forums user cheesejoff. It aims to answer any questions visitors might have about Flat Earth Theory or the Society. Because there are different schools of Flat Earth thought, the Wiki should not necessarily be taken as the "official" view of the Society. The specific beliefs of our members are widely varied, as should be expected from such a group of free-thinkers!

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Welcome to The Flat Earth Society, home of the flat earth forums and the largest library of Flat Earth Society journals, newsletters, interviews, and books.

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Red Herring Definition: Red Herring is taking away the point of conversation by misleading or distracting someone from the current matter.

Connection: This is an older video from a parliament meeting where the conservative opposition is calling out Justin Trudeau for lacking the ability to directly answer questions. This is a common occurrence in politics with leaders not fully responding to the question asked, and "beating around the bush" of what is the honest truth. Politics connect to Red Herring as they can often be a conspiracy. The politicians are trying to deter away from having to be fully open and honest. Often times a politician will claim truthfulness, thank whoever for the question, and then go off track without acknowledging the severity of the question/situation. They typically contradict themselves, are indirect, and are unable to present hard evidence like real data (numbers/statistics). In politics they want to sway your decision so more often than not, invasive questions will be answered indirectly to avoid revealing too much information regarding the politician, anecdotes, her/his party, budget, tax fraud, and other crimes and more. Sadly it is often too difficult to oppose or challenge authority in order to debunk their claims, as a skeptic your questioning will typically be silenced (shawdowbanned on social media).

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How many times? The opposition has one question for Justin Trudeau

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Post 10 - Red Flags: Confirmation Bias (Article)

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Post 10 - Red Flags: Confirmation Bias (Article)

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Confirmation Bias Definition: Being influenced into believing an existing concept based on your environment without determining a personal opinion/choice.

Connection: The above is an article discussing the increase amongst violence and religion, and the connection is that people are not always able to think for themselves, especially if surrounded by a biased environment. There are multiple ongoing Wars occurring across the world, many of them initiated on religion, beliefs, political systems and ideologies, money, land, and more. A majority of war participants are involved solely based on confirmation bias as they were raised in an environment surrounded by those ideologies. This results in a bias, predecided opinion, and formed mindset, causing these wars to break out as people are unable to truly evaluate the depth of the situation (evaluate source/evidence). Unfortunately part of the time, people are forced into conflict based on peer/family pressure and are never encouraged to explore their own thoughts and values and will suffer barriers to critical thinking. The people who have the privilege to do so, will not always achieve as they lack their own critical thinking skills. Some people will always blindly follow beliefs based on how they were raised or those they are surrounded by.

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A possible reason for why an erroneous report about Iran and the killing of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria was repeated in American and Israeli media.

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Post 11 - Reason for Belief: Unexplained (Video)

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Post 11 - Reason for Belief: Unexplained (Video)

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Unexplained Definition: The reason somebody believes has no source, it is "unexplainable" yet they believe it anyway.

Connection: For years many skeptics believe Hollywood is run by the Illuminati. Movies, podcasts, comedy shows, and more have all referred to the Illuminati at one point or another. It is a secret society that was formed hundreds of years ago but is believed to still be managed today by "elites" as they abuse power. People conspire against the group's Satanic devotion and believe the Illuminati are everywhere spreading propaganda and subliminal messaging. Some people believe celebrities are involved in order to become famous, or that the wealthy provide sacrifices to be a part of the community to gain status, money, and power. Although the Illumnaitit itself has been confirmed, it is still unknown if world leaders and celebrities are running this secret society so therefore is unexplainable.

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SUPER BOWL 56 HALFTIME SATANIC ILLUMINATI EXPOSED!!!

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Post 13 - Reason for Belief: Emotional Connection (Webpage)  

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Post 13 - Reason for Belief: Emotional Connection (Webpage)  

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Emotional Connection Definition: Emotions/feelings can overpower logical thoughts resulting in believing rather than reasoning.

Connection: Many people believe in spirits/ghosts no matter what anybody says or tries to provide as counter-evidence as they have suffered the loss of a loved one and believe they know spirits exist. Whether their loved one has reincarnated, pst onto the spirit realm, entered heaven, or whatnot, they believe due to their emotional connection to the being that their legacy carries on and they truly live in spirit. Death and grief are extremely heavy and difficult situations to mourn and process, an event like this could most definitely skew somebody's mindset into believing more heavily in spiritual and even religious causes. To help with the grieving process, posts/articles such as the one above are often resources mourning people resort to when suffering the loss of a friend or family member. Feeling as if they are speaking to or have an ever-lasting connection with the spirit of their beloved deceased, helps the human mind feel at ease through the tragic process.

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How Do You Know If Your Deceased Loved Ones Are Reaching Out?

Losing loved ones is never easy. In the days, weeks, and even years that follow someone's transition from this life to the next, it's natural to want some sort of sign that our deceased loved ones are in some way still with us.

Receiving signs from departed loved ones is called after-death communication and in the book Hello from Heaven, studies show that upwards of 20% of Americans have experienced some form of communication with loved ones after their death.

Signs from spirit can be deeply personal and can come in a number of ways that may be surprising, profound, or even easy to overlook.

The key to noticing signs from your deceased loved ones is to increase your awareness in your daily life.

It's not about trying to make signs from spirit happen.

Rather, simply being receptive and open to what is happening in the present moment creates a space and opening for spirit to reach you.

Openness is key for receiving communication beyond the physical.

For support from the angels connecting with ancestors in spirit, check out the Ancestral Healing With Angels Series here >>

Top 9 Signs From Deceased Loved Ones

1. Visitation Dreams from those on the Other Side
Dreams are a very common method of after-death communication.
Visitation dreams from your departed loved ones in Heaven are much different than normal dreams. For starters, they are incredibly vivid and real! When you wake up from a true visitation dream you will know you were contacted by your loved one in Heaven.

The main focus of visitation dreams is communication...

Your loved one will likely relay a message, and let you know that they are okay. They will appear healthy, and vibrant (regardless of their state when they died) and after sharing their love with you, and communicating a message, the visitation dream will end.

2. Strange Electrical Occurrences.

Underlying energy flows throughout all of existence. Your loved ones in Heaven, who are now pure energy, are able to tap into this energetic flow to get your attention. For this reason, one of the most common signs of spirit happens when they, from beyond the physical work with electricity to send signs and signals.

There are a number of ways they can do this, like causing the lights to flicker, turning the TV, radio, or lights on or off. They can also cause appliances, phones, devices or kids' toys to beep for no known reason, or turn on without being touched. They may even call you on the phone from an unknown number... And then when you answer there is only static or nothing on the other end at all.

Why does this happen? It's a sign that even after death your loved one lives on.

Most of the time electrical signs are just your loved ones wanting you to know they are with you... Pay attention when there are lights flickering.

What show is on when the TV mysteriously turns on? What were you thinking about when the light flickered? Were you thinking about your loved one?

Your thoughts can offer additional insight into the message from your loved one, or even offer confirmation that the flickering of your lights really is your loved one in heaven.

3. Feeling Their Presence.

There is a distinct difference between being alone, and having a loved one in spirit who is present with you. You just know, or maybe feel their presence depending on how you sense subtle energies.

How might you feel their presence? There are quite a few ways.... You may sense a shift in the air, feel like someone is in the room with you, even though you're otherwise alone, or you may simply get a strong feeling of their presence which lets you know that they are with you.

You may also feel your loved one lay down next to you at night, or you get the sense they're sitting next to you, holding your hand, or gently rubbing your back, touching your cheek, or brushing your hair.

4. Smelling their Signature Scent.
Did your loved one smoke, wear a certain fragrance, make the best chocolate chip cookies, or enjoy preparing you a certain type of food?
The subtle sense of scent can be a common sign from Heaven.

If your deceased father smoked, and you're sitting in the couch watching a movie, and you smell smoke despite no one smoking anywhere in proximity, this is likely a sign from Heaven that your father is with you.

Or maybe you smell your deceased mother's perfume, or the scent of your grandmother's famous chocolate chip cookies when there is no physical evidence as to why this scent would be near. When this happens, you're experiencing a sign from Heaven that your loved one is with you.

5. Showing Up As an Insect or Animal.

Your loved one in Heaven is now pure energy... They are able to channel their energy into an insect or animal, for a brief period of time to bring you a sign that their spirit lives on.

They may appear to you in this way as a butterfly, dove, rabbit, dragonfly, or any other number of insects or animals... When this happens, the animal or insect will usually do something that is out of character that catches your attention. They may land on your hand, come into your home, or appear closely, right in front of you as if they are communicating.

This is a common type of communication from spirit. If something like this happens to you, trust that your loved one is with you, and letting you know that they are okay, and that you are not alone.

6. Moving Objects or Placing Objects on Your Path.

Even from beyond the physical, your loved one is able to move objects to get your attention.

This sign from spirit may take a couple of forms. Either they move objects of yours, like flipping over a picture, moving a piece of clothing into an odd location, or causing something to fall as a way of getting your attention.

They may also move objects onto your path.

Dimes and pennies, crystals or stones, feathers, flowers and keys are common examples of the types of objects deceased loved ones may move onto your path.

You may receive objects other than these that are somehow significant to your loved one like seashells (if they loved the beach), paintbrushes (if they were an artist), or even screws and nails (if they were a builder).

When this happens, say hello, and know that your loved one is sending you a sign from spirit.

7. They Communicate A Message...

While your loved ones can't audibly speak to you, because they are spiritual and not a physical being now, they are able to communicate with you telepathically, and they very well may directly communicate a message to you.

Pay attention to the thoughts which just pop into your head when you're doing something else as this is a common way in which you loved one in Heaven may reach out. Especially if it sounds like something your loved one would say, or brings you a message of love through remembering a special song, hearing their encouragement, or receiving answers a question in an inner voice that does not sound like your own.

You may also find yourself having a conversation in your mind with your deceased mother, grandmother, or friend. When you as them a question, and then receive a response, it's highly likely that this is actually a message from them...

Another slight variation of this is when a certain song seems to start playing in your mind out of nowhere. Listen to the lyrics to tune into the message from spirit. The song may even play on the radio at just the right time.

Your loved ones can use other people to deliver their messages too. You may overhear a bit of someone's conversation, or someone in your life may be inspired (from beyond the physical) with a message of guidance or reassurance that is actually a message from your loved one in spirit. You could even be thinking of your loved one right before noticing a bumper sticker on a car, which brings you a message. Sometimes loved ones in spirit use recurring number sequences like 777, 333, or 444 to get your attention and convey a message too.

8. Synchronicity

Have you experienced an increased number of coincidences and synchronicities after your loved ones death? They very well may be pulling some strings from the realms of spirit to help things line up for you in your life.

Your departed loved ones can assist you in aligning with chance meetings, new opportunities, and with attracting new friends, teachers, and life partners.

A slight variation of this is synchronicity in the forms of signs... Are you thinking of your deceased aunt Emma while driving, and suddenly a huge sign for Emma's Shoe Shop appears?

Or maybe your grandfather was always encouraging you to follow your dream and travel to Italy... And then after his death, you receive an offer you can't resist for a discounted Italian vacation...

When something synchronistic happens in your life and you just get the feeling your loved one in Heaven was somehow involved, they likely were!

9. Visions

Seeing a full on vision of your deceased loved one is one of the least likely ways to receive a sign from them in spirit... But if it does happen, which it occasionally does for people, it will be a sign that you cannot dispute.

I think the main reason more people don't see their dead loved ones as apparitions, is because your loved ones intention is to comfort you, and let you know they're ok... Not to freak you out and scare you with a ghostly appearance.

There are other ways in which you can receive a vision from a loved one though, and it is very common to see them through a vivid memory, or as a vision in your mind's eye. This type of mental vision of your loved one will almost like you're imagining them... but will appear seemingly out of nowhere, and usually accompany one of several of the signs from spirit listed above.

Orbs are another common way in which your loved ones may appear visually through photographs. Keep in mind taking a picture into direct sunlight, or in a dusty atmosphere can also cause orbs to appear... But in many cases of orbs captured (especially those which seem to be solid), this is a powerful sign from spirit.

Love Lives On...

While life in the physical does end for individuals, love and energy continue, so do not be surprised if your loved one in Heaven reaches out to let you know they are okay. Staying present and aware is key to recognize signs and spiritual messages as they appear.

Signs from spirit bring the comfort of knowing we are not alone, and that the soul lives on...

Your loved ones in Heaven know you, and so the signs that they are with you will often be specific to your life experience. They may also reach out and attempt to connect with you in ways and at times that are different than you may expect.

If you feel like you've gotten a sign from your loved one, trust your gut feeling and take it as a validation that their soul and love lives on.

And if you don't feel like you've gotten a sign, be gentle with yourself. The grieving process is unique for everyone, and while some people will receive signs, others will deep down simply feel their loved one is somehow okay even past their departure from this earth plane.

Ready for the Next step?
Tap into healing across the lines of time with Ancestral Healing With Angels here >>With love and light,
PS. Have you received any of these or any other signs from your deceased loved ones? Share your story! Comment below so others can learn and have hope from your experience as well.

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Signs from Heaven - Top 9 Signs from Deceased Loved Ones

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Are you receiving signs from heaven? Learn the 9 signs that a deceased loved one is with you or the signs from loved ones who are in the afterlife.

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Post 12 - Reason for Belief: Patternicity (Article)  

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Post 12 - Reason for Belief: Patternicity (Article)  

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Patternicity Definition: Finding patterns and connections in a purposeless medium.

Connection: Over the years people have made the claim that the moon affects the human body, both physically and mentally, and especially women. Specifically, since the moon phase has a 27-day lunar cycle while women have a 28-day menstrual cycle. Humans are also made up of more than 70% water so people relate that to the effects the moon has on the tides and connects them. There is not any hard scientific evidence to fully prove that we are affected by the moon phases but it is yet to be truly debunked as according to some people, patterns have suggested otherwise.

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For centuries, the moon and how it affects human behavior has been at the center of mythology and folklore around the world. The very word "lunacy" dates back to the 15th century when it was believed the moon and its phases could make people become more or less aggressive, depending on its place in the lunar cycle.

In some cultures, the moon is revered and worshiped for its place among the stars. But then, of course, there are lesser stories that hold a darker tone - haunting tales of werewolves whose transformation is dependent on the full moon.

When you set aside superstitions and longstanding myths, is there any scientific truth behind the way the moon bewitches us? Psychologist Susan Albers, PsyD, walks us through some of the research that's been done on lunar cycles - and why we may just be changing our behaviors based on independent psychological reasons, instead.

Can the moon affect your health and behavior?

All organisms conduct natural biological cycles for survival. When we talk about biological cycles, we probably most often think of our circadian rhythm - our bodies' internal 24-hour sleep-wake cycle - and infradian rhythms (cycles that last longer than 24 hours) like the 28-day menstrual cycle or seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

All of these biological cycles change based on internal and external factors. And since our human bodies are made up of 55% to about 78% of water, there's some reason to believe we, too, might be impacted by the moon, its light and its 27-day lunar cycle - especially when you consider the moon's gravitational pull on the earth is powerful enough to affect the ocean tides.

Research has shown that several species have adapted some of their biological cycles to line up with the lunar cycle. The reproductive cycle of marine animals like tropical corals during full moon nights, annelid worms during the waxing moon and the emergence of midges at neap tides is evidence of this lunar connection. A comprehensive overview of research highlights the moon's effects on biological processes across multiple species related to activity levels, feeding rituals, photosensitivity, migration, molting patterns and more. But what about humans?

"Any research that's been done has been considered controversial, in part, because studies on humans are conflicting," says Dr. Albers. "In most cases, when there's been discussion of the moon's effect on humans, it's been anecdotal."

Ask anyone about how a full moon affects our lives and you've probably heard stories about birth rates climbing, an increase in emergency room visits and an uptick in crime. As this review points out, there seems to be no correlation between the lunar cycle and those things. But, nothing happens in a vacuum. Some studies have shown a possible correlation between the moon and human activity. More research is needed in the following areas:

Do moon phases affect mood and mental health?

It's long been believed that the moon can affect your mood. It's certainly true that environmental factors can play a part in a person's mood swings and act as a trigger for anxiety and depression, but it's unclear exactly how (if at all) the lunar cycle affects our mood and mental health.

More research needs to be done, but what we do know is that the moon may have an impact on people with bipolar disorder. In a small study of 17 people, researchers learned that their patients cycled rapidly between states of depression and mania, and that these rapid cycles weren't random but instead in sync with the lunar cycle. Though the exact mechanism that causes this is unknown, it's believed that those quick changes in mood were caused by a disruption to their circadian rhythm and their sleep-wake cycle.

Does the moon affect our ability to sleep?

Our ability to regulate our emotions is dependent on our body's ability to release and suppress certain hormones at certain times. In some ways, you can think of hormones like switches - when one is turned on, others might flip off. Certain hormones are higher during the day when we are awake while others are higher in the evening when we are asleep.

Melatonin is one of those hormones that is naturally released at night to calm your body down and prepare your body for sleep. When melatonin levels rise, serotonin - a "feel-good" hormone that plays a role in controlling our mood and appetite - decreases. And if you introduce things like artificial light and, say, bright light from a full moon, it may have an impact on your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep because we know artificial light impacts our sleep-wake cycle.

One reason why studying the link between the lunar cycle and our ability to sleep is difficult is because studies are in constant contradiction with each other. Many sleep studies are held in tightly controlled, well-lit laboratory settings, making some researchers question the accuracy of the results. Many researchers wonder if a person's implicit bias about the moon's effect on their lives may even skew some results.

For a 2013 study, researchers found a way around these nuances by revisiting data from an older study in which participants were not aware they would be evaluated for lunar influences. In that study, researchers discovered that around the full moon, people spent 30% less time in NREM sleep (deep sleep) and slept for 20 minutes less than when there wasn't a full moon. These changes were also associated with decreased levels of melatonin.

Another study from 2021 compared the sleep patterns of three rural indigenous communities in Argentina to the sleep patterns of college students in Seattle. In all situations - regardless of geography or access to electricity - participants slept less and went to bed later in the days leading up to a full moon when there was more natural light available after dusk. Researchers hypothesized this is continued evidence that we have "an innate adaptation" from our ancestors who likely slept less and conducted more work and other activities whenever there was more natural light available.

Does the moon impact human reproduction?

Research into the reproductive cycles of fish and other marine animals has shown that some fish migrate and spawn according to the lunar cycle and that some species increase their activity during a full moon when the moonlight is brightest. But such measurements are not quite as clear when it comes to humans.

While we know there are many internal and external factors that can have an impact on human ovulation, pregnancy and delivery, more research needs to be done to determine the exact effect the lunar cycle may have on birth rates because studies are - you guessed it - conflicting.

An examination of 1,507 births at a hospital in Fukutsu, Japan, between January 1996 and March 2007 revealed there were a higher number of births at night around the time of a full moon and a higher number of births during the day around the time of a new moon. But a separate study of 23,689 births from 1810 to 1929 revealed no pattern or correlation between the lunar cycle and frequency of births.

If you believe something will happen, it might come true

Regardless of contradiction and the lack of evidence supporting the exact mechanism behind the moon's effect on humans, there's no doubt that beliefs are longstanding that there exists a link between the two. This may be, in part, because we hold so tightly to that belief - and in many cases - if you believe something to be true, it is true, even if it's to our own detriment.

The power of belief looms large in folklore, mythology and religion.

And scientifically, the power of belief has been shown to have a direct impact on our physical, mental and emotional health. Researchers are still trying to understand why and how this happens. Here are a few common examples:

Illusory correlation

We often put two and two together even when we know they have nothing in common, and this subconscious way of thinking is called illusory correlation. Most often, we choose to assume something is a certain way based on our own personal experiences and biases. We then mistake our own personal experiences as all the evidence we need. We see this play out when we uphold stereotypes of certain people and places, or subscribe to superstitions and beliefs around luck.

"In the same way, we can even hinge our own personal experiences on something as simple as the moon," says Dr. Albers.

The placebo effect

Closely related in theory but different from illusory correlation, the placebo effect occurs when a person's physical or mental health improves or changes after taking a false form of treatment. We see this most often in clinical trials when someone receives sugar pills or saline and water injections and they experience improvement in their condition even though they didn't receive an actual treatment. This likely happens because of your brain's ability to expect a certain outcome and release certain hormones based on that expectation.

"The placebo effect is fascinating because it can have a profound and powerful effect on behavior," says Dr. Albers. "Studies on the placebo effect indicate that what you think or believe to be true can have a dramatic impact on the outcome and it shouldn't be ignored when examining cause and effect."

Self-fulfilling prophecies

If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and think, 'Today is going to be a bad day,' chances are you'll have a bad day, but not because you're doomed or cursed - because you're setting yourself up for failure. These self-fulfilling prophecies happen because you tend to be hyperfocused on one outcome or one certainty and avoidant of others. If you're only focused on the negative, negative things will far outweigh the positive, and vice versa. When this happens, everything - from your emotions, mood and mental health to your body's physical responses and reactions - could be impacted. A better example is that if you're told enough times that your treatment will be effective in helping your chronic condition, and you believe in it enough, your actions (like following through on the treatment, eating better and being more active) will help make that outcome a reality.

"If you think a full moon will trigger you to be more irritable, it's likely that you will expect to be more on edge and act accordingly," says Dr. Albers. "You might say to yourself, 'It's the full moon, of course I am going to have a rough day.' And you will likely give yourself more liberty to act out. Essentially, your thoughts impact your actions."

The power of daily affirmations and negative self-talk

The same is true for daily affirmations and negative self-talk. If you're in a continuous rut, perpetuating negative self-talk will dig you into a deeper hole. Being kind to yourself, being patient and finding small ways to improve your condition and how you respond to things can have a huge impact. And relying on meditative practices that include positive thinking can have a really powerful effect, too. This may even be true when you hang your hopes on the moon.

"Time and again, studies have shown that the power of your thoughts to impact your behavior is profound. This is why it's important to work daily on maintaining a positive mindset and keep your thoughts optimistic and upbeat," says Dr. Albers. "Be mindful of where you want your thoughts to lead you. The quality of your thoughts can be a game changer because they can determine your actions and habits in the long run."

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There are all sorts of myths about the moon and how it affects humans. But does a full moon really transform our human nature? Here's the psychology behind the moon's affect on our physical, mental and emotional health.