This re-instated what passes for faith in humanity

[GenericKen]

No. Nothing that can be called science works on those principles. The internal consistency of fiction has no bearing whatsoever on the outside world. It is not, in a word, testable.

Scientific "theories" that cannot be tested *at all* are not theories. They are philosophical musings, or some such. Even M-theory, poorly understood though it is, exists for the purpose of making *testable* predictions from a description of the universe. Without that, it would just be a thought experiment. Internal consistency is merely the prerequisite for being taken seriously, and for making sensible predictions.

I have no idea what theory you're talking about in your last sentence. Intelligent Design? Also, I can only presume you're talking about Pete doing the lambasting, in which case I'd be wary about declaring his lack of knowledge. He's not the subject of elaborate conspiracy theories for nothing.

-Jester
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I'll quote Pete's lambasting of the Thor theory 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.

He asserts that the lack of internal consistancy is what seperates Science from fiction, when in fact, most good fiction (like good science) maintains internal consistancy.

What's more, though philosophical musings may be arbitrary, they're far from meaningless. In every thought is the reflection of the thinker. At the very least, it holds information critical to understanding man, and thus, the philosophies he comes up with. Just because a story is allegorical does not mean it's not real.


The real issue of division between Science and other musings is testability, as you said. However, given the far-fetched circumstances of how we might one day perhaps consider thinking of maybe testing some scientific theories like String or M-theory, you have to admit that the line between science and fiction is blurred.