I think I need to rephrase this question. I’ll post again in a few days.

… Hear me out, okay?

Back in 2000 I took my first solo, out of state trip, to meet an online friend. When I got off the bus, she greeted me, and let me know that we had to go stop by her friends house on the way back.

She was Wiccan and needed some Spiritual guidance because the night before she saw a black portal open up in the corner of her room that was giving her really bad vibes.

It wasn’t my thing, but I never discounted it. Maybe it was real, and if nothing else it’s just how her mind is rationalizing things.

But I guess my question is: Does the Scientific Method rule out the possibility that a “real” portal appeared in her room?

Taking wave function probability into account and the absense of data from the room, is it fair to say that the scientific method doesn’t rule out the black portal being real?

Looking for black and white answers if possible, but I’d also love to hear your reasoning~

  • wuphysics87@lemmy.ml
    2·
    29 days ago

    Two axioms of science. Science doesn’t prove things it disproves things. The hypothesis the earth is flat is disproven by empirical evidence. But, the hypothesis that the earth is spherical could also conceivably be disproven. Then we would have to come up with a new theory to explain all observed phenomena. However, as time goes on and a theory not only predicts new phenomena, but continues to fail to be disproven. We then believe the theory is “true.”

    Quotes on “true” lead into the second axiom. Falsifiablity. There must be a set of circumstances in which a theory can be disproven. Example. The existence of god is a non scientific theory. In days of yore god explained many things like the tides, or lightening, but these have gone on to be explained through science. The god thesis “moves back” becoming what is known as “the god of the gaps”. Because god then always lies in an unknowable space, they can not be disproven, are non falsifiable, and are therefore non scientific. (Disclaimer. I am making no assertion on the existence of god. I’m discussing the philosophy of science)

    Now to your question. Is it possible that a real portal appeared in your friend’s room. Yes. But it’s nonfalsifiable as there is no way to test it. Science has nothing to say about it. As far as the collapse of the wavefunction goes, this is quantum mechanics, which deals with things that are very small. The liklihood you observe a macro scale manifestation of quantum mechanics in the form of a portal are more than astronomically small. They are hundreds of orders of magnitudes larger than the age of the universe.

    Portals. Non scientific (as of now) but as soon as they can be tested you’ll find plenty of interested scientists!