Psychic Octopus Predicts German World Cup Results
We’re not sure where to begin with this one. So the Oberhausen Sea Life Aquarium in Germany has an octopus named Paul. When they want to know if Germany will win a football game, they lower a couple of flag festooned boxes with mussels in them into his tank. Then they see which one he eats out of first.
Actually, the thing that made us really angry about this one is that Psychic Paul doesn’t alliterate, but apparently in German it does.
So. From the BBC:
Paul has so far correctly predicted all of Germany’s results in South Africa.
His keepers say he correctly predicted 80% of Germany’s results during the 2008 European Championship.
I just… I… Hrg.
I find it interesting that the only sporting events mentioned in the BBC article are two years apart, and are both events where German was/is doing pretty well. I wonder what Paul’s track record was in between then. Could it be that he favors the German flag box because it is the more constant of the flags that fall into his tank, and therefore would have better results when Germany is doing well?
“Paul’s prediction was phenomenal,” said aquarium spokesman Tanja Munzig.
“He swam straight over to the German glass, climbed in and even put a lid on top once he was sitting inside.”
Yeah… maybe because octopi like small spaces?
No, I will not entertain the idea that this be-tentacled creature is actually psychic. Also, ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.
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