Paul is dead. Der Tintenfisch, the famous German octopus that predicted the World Cup winners is dead. Of course they have replaced him, but it's along the lines of replacing Wiarton Willie, the groundhog who tells us every year we're going to get another six weeks of winter, or not. This is Canada - on February 2nd, we are going to get another six weeks of winter. Always.
The original Willie was pretty good at predicting the weather, or maybe he just played the odds better than the replacement Willies. The original Paul the Octopus had such an amazing talent for eating the winning team during the World Cup series that an Argentine chef posted octopus recipes on Facebook and Paul received death threats. People do seem to take the World Cup very seriously. Odds of his choices being blind luck are 256 to 1. According to Wikipedia, "Paul's apparent success was considered to be comparable to a run of luck when tossing a coin. This connection has been made by Professor Chris Budd of the University of Bath, Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University, and Etienne Roquain of Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris." Others got involved as well, scientists, aquarists, lecturers and lots and lots of media. Theories have abounded about the cause of his amazing predictions.
Isn't it amazing that so many people with so many credentials had the time and inclination to take a psychic octopus seriously? News of his death has been covered worldwide.
Am I the only one who thinks there is something very humorous about this whole picture?
I wonder if there has ever been a psychic Jack Russell?
I somehow missed the psychic octopus. The whole idea is hysterical. Personally, my faith is in cats. I swear they know and understand everything, including the future :)
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