This re-instated what passes for faith in humanity

[GenericKen]

"It's worth keeping in mind that all humanistic legends and fantasies maintain internal consistancy to mirror the world we live in, not unlike much of theorhetical science."

You've lost me here. Are you claiming that all legend and fantasy is consistent? Or is there some subset that is?

Does fiction have falsifiability? Specificity? Is Odysseus subject to contrary evidence?

I don't think any of those things are true. But if that's not what you're claiming, then I don't know what you're claiming.

-Jester
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My second point was a response to a second thread by pete. I'm sorry for the lack of clarity, I'll post the quote here:

Yes. Because 'Thor' can have any properties you want. And he doesn't have to follow any rules, not even homogeneity or consistency (really, the same thing, but I split them for those who still don't instinctively think in four space).

Whatever dark energy ('dark matter' is another concept that helps to describe the rotational velocity and dynamics of galaxies) is, it has to follow rules. We don't know what those rules are, yet. It may take a while to figure them out, it might take a few revisions of the theory (or even complete replacements of the theory) to get a decent map.

But a theory can evolve, tested and changed by observation and calculation. It starts out weak, with an apple falling, and eventually puts men on the moon and rovers on mars.

Thor? He just remains Thor -- a dead end. A comfort to the ignorant. A bastion of superstition. But with just 'Thor' to guide you, you still need to kill your elk with stone tipped spears.

Creative fiction is not neccessarily consistant with the world, but all good fiction is internally consistant, in that it sets rules and follows them.

I am not asserting that fiction is science, but that some of the more theorhetical science nowadays is fiction. Internal consistancy is not a complete defense for a theory claiming to be scientific, and lambsting another belief that you have no knowledge of does not change that.