/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.4077349]

What's the difference between "magic" and "fringe science"? How can we be sure phantoms, ghosts and poltergeists aren't just side of science we haven't discovered/understood yet?
I mean, our grand-grand fathers used to believe Earth was flat.

[Josef crossed out the Atlantic !!nUf2NflSAyw No.4077353]

It helped to see that the world is locally flat. On the other hand, there aren't even local poltergeists.

[Anonymous No.4077372]

There is that old saying about magic and sufficiently advanced technology...

>How can we be sure phantoms, ghosts and poltergeists aren't just side of science we haven't discovered/understood yet?

In a sense we can't be sure. Just like we can't be "sure" of anything at all in the real world. But if it's something we haven't discovered/understand doesn't that kind of make it "not science" ?

[atheismIsGay !PH5F8eeO2s No.4077375]

>>4077349
if youre grand grand father thought the earth was flat, youre probably black

and you cant be sure, obviously. atheists just like to believe there is some law which states "absence of evidence is evidence of absence"

[Atwill !kelPcGZQlE No.4077376]

Fringe science = Here's a controversial hypothesis that technically makes sense based on what we know about the universe so far, but there's no way of proving or falsifying it!

Magic = Here's an untestable and unfalsifiable claim with low prior plausibility that violates every established law of physics!

Just my take on it. There's a lot of overlap, though. It's not clearcut.

[Anonymous No.4077393]

>>4077353
>implying there are no ghosts in QFT

[Anonymous No.4077415]

a) There never was any wide-spread belief that the Earth was flat, not today, not in the past. It's just a common misconception.

b) "Magic" and "science" are just words. What counts is the underlying methodology and accuracy. "Magic" has a distinct social and cultural meaning, whereas science has a completely different one. Ultimately of course "anything" is somehow possible. It could start raining purple unicorns the next minute, but it's so improbable based on what we have observed and recorded, that making decisions under the assumption it were true can be considered false. Exploring each and every infinite probabilty has no practical purpose.

Also, things like "Magick" or "the supernatural" always exist in an emotional context. You'd never see a clear photo of a "ghost", obviously visible in a brightly lit room. The underlying emotions and wishes (e.g. wishing for a less mundane life -> belief in magic/supernatural/religion) are an elemental part of these things. Under non-emotional scrutiny they quickly fall apart.

[Anonymous No.4077421]

>>4077415
>There never was any wide-spread belief that the Earth was flat, not today, not in the past. It's just a common misconception.
That's nonsense.

[Josef crossed out the Atlantic !!nUf2NflSAyw No.4077422]

>>4077393
In the theory yes, in nature not so much. (inb4 exterior ghosts to simplify polarisation sums)