Reply #140: Thanks... [View All]

...one of the things I find fascinating is that science itself is providing proof that there are possible avenues for so-called paranormal phenomena.

For example: Bell's theorem positing instantaneous action at a distance between particles, has been demonstrated correct (Alain Aspect was the first to verify). Also, there is atomic tunneling -- the ability of matter to creep out of containment even when there was nowhere for it to creep out of -- at least according to the classical theory of matter and how it can't be in the same place at the same time. This phenomenon took its discoverers by complete surprise. And of course one of the earliest of these odd discoveries, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which certainly allows some latitude in how matter manifests (and is implicated in the tunneling phenomenon).

Scientists come up with models to try and fit the facts, then they hone them down to the minimal necessary set of theorems (per Occam's Razor) to account for all the facts. So science provides models of the real world. Science is not itself the real world. And as it is a human endeavor, it is constrained by that fact alone.

None of this means we should disparage science. Newtonian mechanics was a towering achievement, as was quantum mechanics and the theory of evolution. We just should not make a religion out of it, and disparage everything that does not fit into the current scientific mold. "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy." --Shakespeare

Some people seem to love using science as a bludgeon with which to diminish others' experiences. I think that's too bad. But whatever, what do I know, I'm not only a tree-hugger, I'm an unapologetic rock-hugger. Again, this does not mean we should be overly gullible. "Keep an open mind, but not so wide open that the wind whistles through it". --Anon