Right now, if you query Google for “-Paul octopus psychic“-, you get 3 million results. But that can’-t be. Here’-s why.
To divine the future, Paul The Octopus should send an information backward in time within his own mind. That can only be possible if the octopus is made aware of whether its prediction is right or wrong. But Paul The Octopus was not aware that it was being used as an oracle, and it was never aware of the outcome of the different Word Cup matches.
Hence, if you want an extra-rational explanation of the squid’-s predictive skills, you have to turn your eyes instead to its German handler at the Sea Aquarium of Oberhausen. Only that humanoid could send an information (about the soccer match) backward in his/her mind.
Here’-s how it would work. The octopus handler would receive 2 pieces of information from the future: one, which box the squid is going to pick (the one on the left or the one on the right), and, two, which soccer team is going to win. Armed with these 2 pieces of information, the octopus handler decides (in the past) where to put the box with the flag of the country whose team has won —-on the left or on the right, in the aquarium.
If you don’-t follow my logic, leave a comment, and I will re-explain. It is all about reversing the psychological arrow of time, so as to remember the future instead of the past.