All science is carried out by brilliant individuals working in isolation, either by themselves or with a small group of minions whose only role is to carry out their instructions. Making a brilliant discovery or invention, which contradicts the laws of physics as we know it, requires only a concentrated effort by any one of …
Category Archives: Scientific methods and practice
The Acid Test for Real Science: Does it GO somewhere?
There have been a number of studies published in even quite reputable journals which purport to show results indicating that ESP, or ‘psychic’ powers, or ‘supernatural’ phenomena, are real. It’s not always easy for a lay person without a scientific background to understand why these are not taken seriously by sceptics. What is it that …
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A question for that guy who knows EVERYTHING…
Somehow the word seems to have got around that some person on Quora knows everything. I don’t know who this person is. It’s certainly not me, and it’s not any of the people whose answers I have read. Some of them know a great deal about one thing; some of them know a lot about …
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Did something extraordinary happen while I wasn’t paying attention which made worldwide headlines and changed the course of history?
Almost certainly not. So many people on Quora keep asking questions of the form ‘Has this happened?’ where ‘this’ is something which would break physics. Obviously they haven’t thought things through. Stuff that breaks physics is important, and important stuff makes headlines. If ghosts, or ESP, or an afterlife are proven to exist, you won’t …
Is science close to disproving that there is no afterlife?
There is currently no more reliable evidence for any kind of ‘afterlife’ from science (or any other source) than there always has been—none whatsoever. We have effectively proved the non-occurrence of any afterlife many years ago, in the only way that non-occurrences can be proved; by a consistent failure to find any evidence that they do occur, …
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The Big Book of Things That Might Exist: what science is NOT
Theist attitudes towards science, as expressed in their comments and questions, are endlessly fascinating. There are many exceptions, but a large number of them seem not to know anything about science, or to have taken any trouble to find out. That doesn’t stop them, however, from making confident assertions about what it is, how it …
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The Marathon of Science
The 2017 Boston Marathon — the elite male runners begin the race. Atheist: So, who do you think will win? Theist: Obviously, nobody will win. By the time you get to the end of the video, they’ve barely started. They’ve only covered a tiny distance. And a marathon is a long way. Atheist: Yes, but the video …
Is there any scientific proof of people having psychic abilities?
There is no such thing as “scientific proof.” That caveat aside, there is no study in existence that conclusively demonstrates the existence of psychic abilities. Some practitioners in parapsychology, the scientific field that studies psychic ability, claim to have achieved positive results. However, these results are controversial.
When some prefer science over a divine being, how do they respond when science fails?
They try more science. Science is recognised to be a fallible endeavour. A very high percentage of scientific studies don’t produce any kind of meaningful result at all. Many more produce different results from the ones that the researchers were hoping for. That’s what you expect when you are working with real phenomena in the real world. In …
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