Buildup to a Crisis

A crisis appears to be just over the horizon.  It looks to involve the United States.  It could be quite serious and involve mass casualties, or it may be a market disruption with injuries of an economic nature.  I’m finding this one difficult to pin down much beyond "there's a thing here."   It may be that there is no single crisis, but that this marks the beginning of a series of crises.  I will explain the possibilities I am looking at for this initial period through December 3.  Perhaps you can figure it out.   

I track and analyze social mood daily, weekly, and even at longer time frames.  Research spanning two decades shows that internet search trend patterns can give a glimpse into near future categories of news events as well as upcoming market changes.  While the stock market may be overdue for a sharp drop, my primary concern at this moment is a crisis event (whether market related or not) that is likely to occur in the next two weeks.

The method I use begins with converting internet search trends to four primary Mood Qualities, Vulnerable, Expansive, Manic, and Controlled.  The first step in analysis is to look at their changing values relative to each other, and identify any recognizable patterns (see chart below).  This graph of squiggly lines implies that the primary outlook during Thanksgiving week is a combination of a pattern I call “Rose Colored Glasses” and another which points to denial or delusion.  Together these paint a picture of a week where people really would like to tune out negative news, and find a bright side to things if at all possible.  The following week, however, appears to be a crisis point.

Looking at the distribution of social mood geographically can give us more information about the type of crisis to watch for.  Below are global and U.S. MoodMaps for the period of November 19-26.  The WorldMood map shows the U.S. in an aggressive mood, an unstable region around Kazakhstan, and an area marked “destructive” in Northern Chile.  I have no further information about the non-U.S. regions, but they warrant keeping an eye on, as they show an elevated risk as trouble spots. 

A look at the U.S. MoodMap for this same period (below) does not give us any clue about the “aggression” seen on the global map (but hold that thought).  The green area over the East Coast, depicts the kind of mood often described as “the calm before the storm,” or sometimes as “cricket sounds.”  This goes well with the mood pattern from the spaghetti line graph we were looking at earlier, and the idea of trying to look past anything negative or “denial.”

Often the pattern earlier identified as “aggressive” on the world map will coincide with military escalation, or at least with geopolitical bluster.  Yet, without a region showing up as a target of such aggression, it’s of little imminent concern.  Turning the page, so to speak, we will look at the following week’s maps (below).

For November 27 – December 3, the U.S. is shown as destructive and/or disruptive.  The only other region identified as significant is North and South Korea and Japan which are shown as defensive and/or risk averse.  The two weeks' world maps together imply one possible scenario as the United States upping the rhetoric or action in the situation with North Korea during this period.  

Yet again, there is another picture coming from the United States MoodMap.  There is a region showing as “disruptive” centered around New York.  This particular configuration can mean several things.  1) Disruptive activity such as protests or even terrorist activity.  2) Being New York, it can indicate market disruption.  3) A disruptive natural event.  4) Last, but not least, being New York, it could also point to a final Manic market rally.

The only way I can see putting both the global and U.S. maps for this week together would be some type of market disruption that affects the U.S. and East Asia in particular.  However, there can be more than one thing happening here.

In summary, the weekly mood pattern tells us to watch for a crisis event on some level as soon as the weekend following Thanksgiving through Monday December 3.  The maps caution of one possible scenario being the United States escalating the North Korea situation, another possibility being a New York disruptive event such as mass protests, or even terrorist activity.  There could be a disruptive market event, or possibly a severe weather event.  A note of caution to those looking to short the stock market: even IF there is a disruptive market event at some point before December 3, that does not mean there won't be a large rally before or after that.

These maps as well as the mood timeline are not crystal balls, and don't tell us what necessarily will happen.  However, more often than not, they give us a glimpse of a future mood category which in turn allows us to make an educated guess at the type of event(s) which might accompany a given societal "response."

Unexpected Explosions of Violence

Violent explosion!  I read those words a few days ago in conjunction with the unexpected eruption of a volcano in Chile.  It made me wonder what was about to happen next.  Unlike many, I do not believe this is an isolated incident, nor is it “random.”  It is part of an overall pattern in play right now (MoodCompass Type: SSE).  This is Nature’s expression of it for the moment.  This same pattern in the human world can look like sudden geopolitical escalation, violent protests, or even terrorist activity.  In the markets it often goes with sudden spikes in the price of oil and gasoline.  There was a violent explosion with an unexpected twist in the news today -- two hostages were inadvertently killed in a drone strike, albeit last January.


Expect the unexpected in world news over the next week or two.  Expect surprising explosive events or violence with an unexpected twist.  Personally, I recommend you do what you can to keep your world calm and centered.  Things will likely get worked out one way or another on the global scene so that “business as usual” may prevail.  There is quite an investment in the status quo, and for now, keeping it in tact is strong motivation for world leaders.  So, whatever volcanoes, skirmishes, or other unexpected explosions appear over the next week or two, do your best to stay cool!

The patterns of Nature is the pattern of Self...

Many people understand that symbols in dreams are often metaphors that may represent past, current or even upcoming events in one's life.  They might look up in a dream book an animal or event that occurred in the dream to see what metaphysical or unconscious meaning might be getting expressed by it.  Would it be surprising to hear that all events can be seen as metaphors expressing a larger Pattern that includes the news, the weather, and even the events in our lives?

As of this moment, Flossie is a tropical storm a few days away from Hawaii.  Its winds are reported to be in the process of weakening.  There is a warning that heavy rain and flash flooding are to be expected, and possibly thunderstorms.  When I hear news like this, I prepare for the physical storm, but also look at the metaphysical symbols in the event.  Here is some of what I see in the meaning of Flossie for the world and how I might apply it personally:

1) A storm is approaching, but it's not the most ferocious of storms.  Major storms showing up in one area, often are accompanied by news events of "storminess," (e.g. unrest, market volatility, violence, natural disasters).  Watch for these symptoms of storminess in the world news this coming week.  Whatever happens could be expected to bring change, but will not likely be in the "worst ever" category of destruction.

2) Expect heavy rain and flash flooding.  Rain and flooding are metaphysically associated with intense emotions, passion, actions motivated by heart-felt beliefs or inner sense of rightness, and occasionally panic.  In the coming week, watch for world news about high emotions, people expressing passion about what is "right," and a possible increase in expressions of prejudice.  Overall, people should be tending toward making decisions based on emotions or beliefs, and less on facts or rational process.

Applying Flossie personally:  A storm accompanies change.  Is there a change in my life I have been waiting for?  Have I felt stuck in a situation?  The unsettled nature of storminess makes changes more likely to occur.  What about the heavy rains?  Am I prepared for a period of increased passion and flow of emotion?  Am I prepared to channel this emotional energy in a positive direction?

All of these associations are only meaningful in a world in which everything is connected and somehow resonating together.  If you are able to look at it this way, this type of metaphorical approach to events might work for you.

Aloha,
Dr. Cari Bourette

Natural Disasters' Relationship to Social Mood: How we chart it

In a recent conversation with a university dept. head, it was expressed that the meteorology dept. was concerned about possible catastrophic tornadoes in the early spring this year in the Midwest.  We were able to tell him that while we were watching for the next big U.S. disaster in the early spring, that the risk of it being a natural disaster was low.  However, close to April 9 there would be a greater risk for a natural event.  As it turned out, those big storms that blew across the U.S. (Walda) were the most powerful on April 8-10. Yet, we told him this before Walda even had a name.  How was this possible?

 

We get social mood from Google Hot Trends.  This tells us where people are at.  We also measure the mood reflected in current events via top U.S. news stories, and its relation to social mood.  Before a disaster occurs, of any sort, there is a process that we have found always occurs.  Basically, where people are at and where the news is at reaches a maximum divergence, then a process begins that brings it all back together.  Disasters, whether natural or human caused are a primary means of things getting in sync again.  We can't talk about why without getting into metaphysical supposition. Yet, we have a method that makes this process repeatable, observable and quantifiable. 

The above chart is derived from the relationship of entropy and its opposite phimation,*  and their divergence between social mood and the news.  We quantify this in the way we categorize the social mood data that we gather. When entropy in the news  (vs. where people are at) is sufficient and then phimation surpasses it, that means a natural disaster is likely. In the  above chart, the light yellow range (45-55%) will likely not do much damage in the U.S., but may manifest in serious natural event damage elsewhere (e.g. the recent Iran earthquake).  In the middle orange range (55-70%), there will likely be some serious damage, but it won’t be seen as a national “disaster” (e.g. Walda); also it may manifest as a natural disaster outside of the U.S.. The top red range (>70%) indicates events that will be experienced as natural disasters in the U.S. are almost certain; risk for major natural disasters elsewhere would also be very high. 

This is all based on a recent breakthrough we had on the nature of disasters in late February, which has given us so much more to work with. Hope that helps to clarify our approach and the connection between disasters and social mood.  For more on this recent breakthrough, check out the presentation: Disaster: Society's Shadow.

 

For more information on the current outlook or the MoodCompass Project, see http://moodcompass.com.

You can also like The MoodCompass Project on .


* Phimation as the self-organizing principle or force opposing entropy in complex systems was first used by Robert Prechter.

Are we done with disasters?

With this past alert period (April 2-11) we experienced a combination of two U.S. events that could have been much worse than they were. From April 8-11 was the fiercest impact of Walda. There were 3 official fatalities, some buildings destroyed and some roofs blown off, but it could have been worse. On April 9, there were 14 people stabbed at a college in Texas, yet no one was killed.

Both of these events matched the type of events in the series of major U.S. tragedies since July 2012 (Aurora, CO theater, Libya ambassador, Hurricane Sandy, and Sandy Hook), and both reflected the MoodCompass event types we were watching for. Yet, neither by itself was as severe as the other items in the series. There are two possible conclusions we can draw from this:
1) Two half-disasters can take the place of one big one.
2) This again was not "the big one" and something else will have to happen to relieve pressure and restore balance.

While we have to allow that a larger, more impactful event is still on its way, we are going to assume conclusion 1) for now, and that this particular balancing is over. However, there is still a larger imbalance that has remained mostly untouched for many months, even in the presence of the tragic U.S. events that have been happening. Is this more of a global imbalance that will require a global resolution? We will be keeping a close watch on that.

For more information on the current outlook or the MoodCompass Project, see http://moodcompass.com.
You can also like The MoodCompass Project on .

- - -
Update 4/15/13: The Boston Marathon terrorist attack today confirmed, unfortunately, that it was #2 above.  This adds Boston Marathon to the growing list of U.S. tragedies above.

Quake, Volcano, and Storm Alert - Sept 2011 (video)

Analysis of human perception of nature projected for September 2011

In Hot Water, Global Weather Forecast, August 2011 (video)

Children illustrate the global weather themes for the August MoodCompass forecast (analysis of human perception of nature)

All Sink or Swim Together - August 2011

Wall Street has been hanging in there, while more lose jobs and have trouble making ends meet. Resource shortages are becoming significant for a growing number of people in the world. The U.S. government has been playing an odd mix of hot potato and Russian roulette. While the immediate U.S. debt crisis will be resolved one way or another, the debt of overconsumption continues to run up to frightening levels, causing earth systems to become less able to support our destructive habits. The lack of balance between the “haves” and “have-nots,” and between what we take and give back to our planet, our only home, will not continue to remain unreconciled indefinitely. The teetering of the scales are beginning to become apparent.

Highlights: Denial continues by global leaders and general public ∙ U.S. government crisis, push for leadership ∙ Social agitation and increasing risk of violent outbreaks ∙ In Nature: Strong storms, excessive heat, and fires.

Socioeconomic and Geopolitical events: There are three major periods indicated for August--
August 2-8 Delusion and Denial
August 9-15 Panic
August 16-31 Transformation
(for more details, see the full version of MoodCompass)

Global natural events:
August 1 – 4 Lacking, sick and hot. Watch for more news stories of drought, famine, and heat.
August 5 – 16 Water and panic. Look for rain, storms, and nature-related panic.
August 17 – 26 Hot, destructive, and stormy. Watch for excessive heat, lightning, nature-related chaos, and fires.
August 27 – 31 Active, hot. Heat continues. Occasional storms. Elevated risk of volcanic eruption.

The above is an excerpt from the August 2011 issue of MoodCompass, a publication of A New Story Foundation. To view the latest projections related to human perception of the natural world, see Earth Cycles.

Civil War Strategies - July Videocast

Highlights: U.S. divisiveness expanding with violent outbreaks likley; investor panic and more talk of "Great Depression II;" increasing global unrest, violence. A global mood "weather forecast" for July 2010.