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The
octopus Paul, also known as the “Oracle of Oberhausen,” has successfully
predicted the winner of six World Cup matches so far. Finally, Spain prevailed, 1-0, over the Netherlands
in final match played on the midnight of July 2010, as predicated by octopus Paul.
The oracle octopus was born in England but now lives at the Sea Life
Aquarium in the western German city of Oberhausen. Paul seems poised
to debunk our belief that only human beings are end owed with the ability
to divine the future.
Paul does not need to look into the entrails of a sheep, gaze at a
crystal ball, or shuffle tarot cards to foretell the future. To pick the
winner in the ongoing World Cup football tournament, Paul plays the prophet by simply eating a luscious mussel.
“Paul is such a professional oracle—he doesn’t even care that hundreds
of journalists are watching and commenting on every move he makes,” said
Stefan Porwoll, the Sea Life aquarium manager. “We’re so proud of him.”
Each time a prediction is sought, Paul is presented with two boxes of food in
his tank -- one marked with Germany's flag, and another with the flag of
the opposing team. The Germany box is not always placed in the same
location. Whichever box the leggy creature lands on and removes food
from marks his prediction. Paul has been surprisingly accurate. For the 2010 World Cup
so far, he has predicted Germany's wins over Australia, Ghana, England, and
Argentina as well as its loss to Serbia. In 2008, for the European Championship, he predicted the outcome of 80 percent of all German games
correctly.
Paul’s accuracy in predicting winners in the World Cup may
helpful to scientists who are perfecting a new field known as “threshold and
pattern dynamics” to predict the occurrence of major upheavals in the
world, like earthquakes, tsunamis, and the rise and fall of the stock
market. Threshold and pattern dynamics use mathematics and computers to
predict when vital thresholds and patterns will be crossed, thus creating a dramatic shift in world events.
Scientists working in this field admit that it is extremely difficult to
identify and measure tell-tale things that point to a future threshold
being crossed or a pattern being broken. In short, their computers and
mathematical computations afford them, at best, educated guesses, sort
of sophisticated crystals balls.
Octopus Paul reminds us that there are many things that remain outside our ability to accurately observe and
predict. Despite the exponential increase in scientific discoveries and
technology reality remains, to a great extent, a riddle that is difficult to fathom.
But the animal rights group PETA wants him freed. Spain supporters hail Paul the octopus's role in their win.
Spain's World Cup win meant Paul the 'psychic' octopus finished the tournament with a 100%
record. However, the German aquarium where Paul is based has now decided to
retire the eight-legged oracle, a spokeswoman telling AP Television News
that he will do what he likes to do best: play with his handlers and
delight children who come visit to him. "The octopus will be very popular in Spain," said Spain midfielder
Andres Iniesta, who scored the winner in extra-time.
From the world cup event now everybody wants Octopaul as pet. |
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