Are their forces outside of Detecting that guide us to the gold?

Ammoman

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Have you ever been thinking of a person and then that person calls or shows up out of the blue? I have. It happens to me more often than not. Usually its at the time i am thinking about that person or within minutes of the thought.

The same thing has happened to me before a gold find. Not every time but enough to make me think about what just happened. The last time this happened to me while detecting was when I found my gold coin ring. Some people would say it was the result of hard work. I won't deny, I dug thousands holes before the ring was found and the law of averages was probably in my favor but that day was a day i was looking for gold. It was on my mind and i was drawn to a specific location by what can only be described by some, as a feeling.
This is the ring i am referring too.
GC ring Dug.jpg GC Ring Dug 4.jpg

On a side note...the last Gold ring I found turned out to be 18k with no thoughts of gold at all.


Anyhow, the gold coin ring along with several others over my life have me wondering if their are forces that guide us to what we are looking for. It also makes me wonder about Dousing and L rods and such. Have I been subconsciously dousing while I detect?

So....am I alone here? What are your thoughts? Maybe these kinds of circumstances resulting in significant finds are more common than we think.
 

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CoinHunterAZ

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Yes, there are forces outside of detecting that guide us to the gold. My wife subconsciously douses at the jewelry store every time we're at the mall. And yes, her finds have been significant.
 

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Ammoman

Ammoman

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LOL I am happy to say my wife was not blessed with that special ability.
 

Tom_in_CA

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Ammoman: This phenomenon is nothing more than "selective memory bias". There's nothing psychic or mystical.

Kind of like, if you're old enough to remember radio alarm clocks (where you could set your alarm to wake up to music) : Remember dreaming of your favorite rock & roll song, and then ....... lo & behold, your alarm goes off and that EXACT SAME SONG is playing. Or you were dreaming about a person, and the phone rings AND IT'S THEM CALLING. So you think "aha ! I'm psychic".

But the truth is: We dream 100's of dreams per night, and have hundreds of subconscious thoughts all-day-long, none of which ever come true. So you forget them all within a minute of waking up. But the moment a random one coincidentally comes true, THEN we remember our premonitions, and think "Aha ! I knew it !" :)

I believe this is also what's at play when people think that gold sound different than aluminum (mellower, softer, bolder, or ... whatever). That's because every time we go to dig a target, we think "this one sounds different". But when it turns out to be aluminum junk, we forget our premonitions. But the moment ever one turns out to be a gold ring, then ONLY THEN do we remember our premonitions and think "I knew it". And try to convince ourselves that there was a different sound.
 

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Ammoman

Ammoman

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Tom, what you are saying makes perfect sense. Especially the ring tone part. Still, I do believe their is more to it than selective memory bias. So i ask, what is it that drives us to a place we would never go and then dig the worst signal ever with a result of treasure? Is it possible to have, if not an outside force, then maybe an internal alarm that tells us to go back to that last signal we just passed up? I have done this more than once and was thankful i went back.

It could very well be nothing more than luck or a combination of psychology, luck and hard work that brings us to the gold. But what if their is more to it? For some reason, some people have all the luck when compared to others with the same skill sets and resources.

When i was young, I used to detect with my uncle. He had a Whites 6000D and i had my Garrett ADS. He was a very good detectorist but he never found gold when i was with him. I found the gold EVERY time in places as random as one could get. Funny thing is...I was drawn to those places without witching sticks or LRL's and such.

Maybe i was just able to read the landscape better?
 

Charlie P. (NY)

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Have never noticed or seen compelling evidence of supernatural abilities.

May work for some, but I guess I am immune to it.

Though I did have a nephew much detached on my sister-in-law's side who heard voices. Did not end well.
 

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Ammoman

Ammoman

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Have never noticed or seen compelling evidence of supernatural abilities.

May work for some, but I guess I am immune to it.

Though I did have a nephew much detached on my sister-in-law's side who heard voices. Did not end well.

I agree that compelling evidence does not exist. The events are too random and can't be duplicated. But, if you have a group of 50 detectorists and 20% or 5% or even 1% of them have experienced an event that lead them to gold, how do we explain it?
 

Charlie P. (NY)

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How many "events" did they have that did not lead them to gold? Those are less memorable, but probably a lot more numerous.

When I go detecting I scan the area for where people might have been, because where they were is more likely to have items than where they were not.
 

Tom_in_CA

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.... Still, I do believe their is more to it than selective memory bias. ...

Ammoman, your confidence that these "hunches" go-further beyond explanation by "selective memory bias", is nothing more that furthering the proof of "selective memory bias".

For example, when you read my post #4 above, it struck a chord as true, right ? You agreed that it could (based on your reply in #5) explain the phenomenon, right ? But I'll bet you dollars to donuts that you ... in order to "try it on for size", would think back to a premonition and hunch you had in the past (that led to a goodie) and then rack-your-brain to remember all the other signals and hunches from that day. Lo & behold, you only remember the one that led to the goodie. You can't recall all the others that "didn't come true". Hence, in your mind, it is therefore "beyond random chance".

That is the power of selective memory bias. Your brain subconsciously dismisses and forgets all the hunches and premonitions, EXCEPT those that come true. Such that later, when presented with this explanation, it is easy to dismiss it. If you try to "do the odds", to see if it was random and eventual, you can never do it. Since, of course, by definition, you've subconsciously forgotten all the premonitions that didn't come true. Therefore it's going to *seem* like it's beyond random chance , & more-than-selective memory.
 

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Tom_in_CA

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Another humorous example, of reading too much into random eventual odds and nothingness:

I have a friend who got caught up in a recent fad of "ghost hunting". Where he and some other dudes go into an old abandoned "haunted" house. And sit for hours in utter darkness and silence . With super high tech recording & video devices. Then the next day, play back the tapes with the volume turned all the way up. Then play with the recording play-back speed, etc.... And .... lo & behold, certain crick sounds, or gentle wind-blowing sounds, etc.... sound like a ghost calling a name out. Or some flicker of light in a video can be interpreted to be a "ghost", blah blah.

I told him that I suspect that every single crackle sound of the floor-boards or settling house, or glimmer of light that flashes against a wall, is probably stuff that NO ONE EVER THINKS TWICE ABOUT in normal life. They're all easily explained settling of the house (when night temp's drop), or a light from a passing car, 7 blocks away, that caused a flicker to dance at a window, etc..... But sure, if you're "letting your imagination run wild", and play with exposures, and video recordings, you can eventually convince yourself that it's "beyond random chance" and that you "distinctly hear the name "Joe", being called", blah blah When in fact : It's nothing but selective memory bias, and looking for assassins under rocks sort of mentality.
 

Owassokie

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Ammoman: This phenomenon is nothing more than "selective memory bias". There's nothing psychic or mystical.

Kind of like, if you're old enough to remember radio alarm clocks (where you could set your alarm to wake up to music) : Remember dreaming of your favorite rock & roll song, and then ....... lo & behold, your alarm goes off and that EXACT SAME SONG is playing. Or you were dreaming about a person, and the phone rings AND IT'S THEM CALLING. So you think "aha ! I'm psychic".

But the truth is: We dream 100's of dreams per night, and have hundreds of subconscious thoughts all-day-long, none of which ever come true. So you forget them all within a minute of waking up. But the moment a random one coincidentally comes true, THEN we remember our premonitions, and think "Aha ! I knew it !" :)

I believe this is also what's at play when people think that gold sound different than aluminum (mellower, softer, bolder, or ... whatever). That's because every time we go to dig a target, we think "this one sounds different". But when it turns out to be aluminum junk, we forget our premonitions. But the moment ever one turns out to be a gold ring, then ONLY THEN do we remember our premonitions and think "I knew it". And try to convince ourselves that there was a different sound.

Tom, I instantly scrolled to find your post :) I agree with your summation of the "phenomenon".
 

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Ammoman

Ammoman

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Ammoman, your confidence that these "hunches" go-further beyond explanation by "selective memory bias", is nothing more that furthering the proof of "selective memory bias".

For example, when you read my post #4 above, it struck a chord as true, right ? You agreed that it could (based on your reply in #5) explain the phenomenon, right ? But I'll bet you dollars to donuts that you ... in order to "try it on for size", would think back to a premonition and hunch you had in the past (that led to a goodie) and then rack-your-brain to remember all the other signals and hunches from that day. Lo & behold, you only remember the one that led to the goodie. You can't recall all the others that "didn't come true". Hence, in your mind, it is therefore "beyond random chance".

That is the power of selective memory bias. Your brain subconsciously dismisses and forgets all the hunches and premonitions, EXCEPT those that come true. Such that later, when presented with this explanation, it is easy to dismiss it. If you try to "do the odds", to see if it was random and eventual, you can never do it. Since, of course, by definition, you've subconsciously forgotten all the premonitions that didn't come true. Therefore it's going to *seem* like it's beyond random chance , & more-than-selective memory.

Tom, you present a very logical and convincing explanation. I guess it is easy to write off an event as something other than what it is when a full understanding of what just happened is not available. LoL I guess for those who don't know math, 2 x 2 still equals 4. They just need help figuring it out. :occasion14:
 

A2coins

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Yes, there are forces outside of detecting that guide us to the gold. My wife subconsciously douses at the jewelry store every time we're at the mall. And yes, her finds have been significant.
My wife has that same ability. I just don't have the money lol
 

CASPER-2

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i will say that i believe in Karma - I think every time i have made a ring return - i found one just after or first hit on next hunt
and i have made a fair amount of returns
NICE FIND :icon_thumright:
 

Zincoln Miner

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i will say that i believe in Karma - I think every time i have made a ring return - i found one just after or first hit on next hunt
and i have made a fair amount of returns
NICE FIND :icon_thumright:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftd_qVJ-4Mw

Another humorous example, of reading too much into random eventual odds and nothingness:

I have a friend who got caught up in a recent fad of "ghost hunting". Where he and some other dudes go into an old abandoned "haunted" house. And sit for hours in utter darkness and silence . With super high tech recording & video devices. Then the next day, play back the tapes with the volume turned all the way up. Then play with the recording play-back speed, etc.... And .... lo & behold, certain crick sounds, or gentle wind-blowing sounds, etc.... sound like a ghost calling a name out. Or some flicker of light in a video can be interpreted to be a "ghost", blah blah.

I told him that I suspect that every single crackle sound of the floor-boards or settling house, or glimmer of light that flashes against a wall, is probably stuff that NO ONE EVER THINKS TWICE ABOUT in normal life. They're all easily explained settling of the house (when night temp's drop), or a light from a passing car, 7 blocks away, that caused a flicker to dance at a window, etc..... But sure, if you're "letting your imagination run wild", and play with exposures, and video recordings, you can eventually convince yourself that it's "beyond random chance" and that you "distinctly hear the name "Joe", being called", blah blah When in fact : It's nothing but selective memory bias, and looking for assassins under rocks sort of mentality.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqmF3liZq4M
 

Zincoln Miner

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Have you ever been thinking of a person and then that person calls or shows up out of the blue? I have. It happens to me more often than not. Usually its at the time i am thinking about that person or within minutes of the thought.

The same thing has happened to me before a gold find. Not every time but enough to make me think about what just happened. The last time this happened to me while detecting was when I found my gold coin ring. Some people would say it was the result of hard work. I won't deny, I dug thousands holes before the ring was found and the law of averages was probably in my favor but that day was a day i was looking for gold. It was on my mind and i was drawn to a specific location by what can only be described by some, as a feeling.
This is the ring i am referring too.
View attachment 1706345 View attachment 1706346

On a side note...the last Gold ring I found turned out to be 18k with no thoughts of gold at all.


Anyhow, the gold coin ring along with several others over my life have me wondering if their are forces that guide us to what we are looking for. It also makes me wonder about Dousing and L rods and such. Have I been subconsciously dousing while I detect?

So....am I alone here? What are your thoughts? Maybe these kinds of circumstances resulting in significant finds are more common than we think.

Hypothetically if someone tossed a coin 1,000 times, graphed out the head/tails result, and put it on public display? What would you think of the people that pointed at an instance where let's say heads had hit 10 consecutive times in a row, and these people where adamant it was a miracle. When pointed out that 990 times it did not do that they looked at you like you had three heads.

What would you think of these people?
 

Tom_in_CA

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Hypothetically if someone tossed a coin 1,000 times, ..... let's say heads had hit 10 consecutive times in a row, and these people where adamant it was a miracle. When pointed out that 990 times it did not do that they looked at you like you had three heads....

BINGO ! And ... humorously .... like some ... uh ... "unconventional TH'ing methods", here's what they'd do next with those 10-times in a row that it was heads.

a) Point out to you that ... yes ... that 10 times in a row was beyond random chance (pretty hard to argue with that, right ?)

b) So they would call that a "success" and say it "needs more study" (pretty hard to argue with that, eh ?)

c) They would study to find out what-other-factors were present during the exact time that those 10 times were "heads". Eg.: that it occurred at exactly 10:50 pm. Or that the person who flipped the coin during that 10 times, had a last name beginning in R. Or that his measurable body chemistry was slightly different than the other persons who were flipping coins.

And sure enough, you can find something uncanny going on during those 10 flips. Never-mind that you can likewise easily find "uncanny differences" going on during the other flips and other people.
 

Darke

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Another humorous example, of reading too much into random eventual odds and nothingness:

I have a friend who got caught up in a recent fad of "ghost hunting". Where he and some other dudes go into an old abandoned "haunted" house. And sit for hours in utter darkness and silence . With super high tech recording & video devices. Then the next day, play back the tapes with the volume turned all the way up. Then play with the recording play-back speed, etc.... And .... lo & behold, certain crick sounds, or gentle wind-blowing sounds, etc.... sound like a ghost calling a name out. Or some flicker of light in a video can be interpreted to be a "ghost", blah blah.

I told him that I suspect that every single crackle sound of the floor-boards or settling house, or glimmer of light that flashes against a wall, is probably stuff that NO ONE EVER THINKS TWICE ABOUT in normal life. They're all easily explained settling of the house (when night temp's drop), or a light from a passing car, 7 blocks away, that caused a flicker to dance at a window, etc..... But sure, if you're "letting your imagination run wild", and play with exposures, and video recordings, you can eventually convince yourself that it's "beyond random chance" and that you "distinctly hear the name "Joe", being called", blah blah When in fact : It's nothing but selective memory bias, and looking for assassins under rocks sort of mentality.

I have friend who was heavily into it and I build stuff for the local paranormal guys. Even tried it myself a few times. My buddies ghost orb photos look just like some other peoples treasure auras. Also been Bigfoot hunting a few times. You're spot on with the convincing yourself nothing is something. Most exciting thing that happened on any of the events was the LCSO asking WTF we were doing in cemetery in the middle of the night. Of course it could just be my negative vibes keeping away treasure, ghosts and Bigfoot lol.
 

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