Talk:When Prophecy Fails

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When?[edit]

The prophecy was for Dec 21, but of which year? I can get some good bounds from the information provided, but if someone knows the exact year, I think it should be added to the article. Joule36e5 (talk) 07:08, 25 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

==========================[edit]

I am reading a newspaper article, and it says it occurred in 1954 in Illinois. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.93.62.207 (talk) 23:17, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Strength of commitment[edit]

The book clearly notes that the probability of an individual continuing to believe in/proselytize after the failure of the prophecy depended on the degree to which the individual had committed to the group (monetarily, socially) prior to the event. The greater the commitment, the higher the probability of continuing to believe and proselytize.

This is an important part of the study that the article seems to ignore.

Keech or Martin?[edit]

Which surname should this article use in its descriptive sections - the subject's original name, or the pseudonym that Festinger gave her in his book? --Lord Belbury (talk) 12:51, 7 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's okay the way it is: using "Keech" as the book itself does, but with an explanatory note early on that Dorothy Martin is being referred to. MartinPoulter (talk) 15:02, 7 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The overview section would read more clearly as Martin, I think, as it switches back from the fictional Michigan to the real Chicago (and even gives her another alternate name of "Sister Thedra"!) at the end, presumably having moved beyond the scope of the book. Keeping the "Sequence of events" section as Keech makes sense, though, as this is purely Festinger's record. --Lord Belbury (talk) 16:23, 7 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Location of events, and other key details[edit]

Having just read this book, some of the details are confusing to pin down because (as mentioned in the previous section), names and locations have been changed to protect the identities of the subjects of the study. In the lead section of this article, "The Seekers" are said to be based in Chicago. Firstly, Dorothy Martin (Keech) and Charles Laughead (Armstrong) appear to be based in different locations. Martin was in Chicago ("Lake City"?) and Laughead was based in Michigan ("Steel City"?), or so it seems from some non-authoritative articles on the internet. Secondly, "The Seekers" were Charles Laughead's group in Steel City (Michigan?) - I am not sure "The Seekers" became the name for the whole belief system: from my reading of the book they seem to be a small sub-set.

Do others (perhaps with better sources) agree that the lead section should be changed to clarify the locations and name (if any) of the believers? Can anyone confirm the actual locations and group name?

From there, it would be good to standardise names throughout. I disagree that it's helpful to use a mixture of real names and the pseudonyms the authors used to protect their subjects - it will be less confusing to stick to one or other, and include a short explanation on names somewhere. Crinoline (talk) 00:30, 11 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Sananda[edit]

I have linked to Sananda in the Master Jesus article, but I'm not sure if the link is good, as it refers to a later conception of Sananda that seems to post-date this study by several decades. A genealogical link between the 1950s use and the 1990s use seems probable, but I have no idea if that is in fact the case. Crinoline (talk) 19:20, 21 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]