Read Me!

[sanctus]

This forum is intended to be a forum for scientific theories even if there is the addition "alternative". As a fellow staff member put it:

Alternative theory threads should consist of or be about scientific theories that are alternative to established ones, not ideas proposing an alternative to scientific theories in general. They need to pass the test of making predictions (or proposing a method of making predictions), differing from those of an established theory, that can at least in principle be tested with objective, repeatable experiments.

All threads not satisfying this will be moved elsewhere (usually strange claims)!

[Brinnie]

so evolution would be an established theory and Xenu would be an alt, right?

just have 2 ask... im sure some ppl might not welcome scientologists here

[sanctus]

I do not know what Xenu is (I'm not much into Biology). But for example creationism is not an alt even if it may look like an alt simply because we have the theology forum for such things and it is not scientific.

[freeztar]

Sanctus,
Xenu is, according to wiki, the...

dictator of the "Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions[1] of his people to Earth in DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and killed them using hydrogen bombs. Scientology holds that their essences remained, and that they form around people in modern times, causing them spiritual harm.

Sounds reasonable right?

So, to answer your question Brinnie, Xenu would be a strange claim. There is no way to test for Xenu.

[sanctus]

There is no way known yet, freez; how can you say that something is impossible? But Brinnie do not get me wrong Xenu would be strange claims! Anyway if you found a say a time machine to test this then you should send it Nature and nnot èpost it here...

[HydrogenBond]

Alternate theories should be a place where one can present alternate theories even if they are still on the drawing table. At the very least, discussion can help individuals come to an understanding. Some young thinker could spend months working his or her theory. A little direction could be helpful. The way it is set up is, if the staff does not agree, you are called strange. Instead of helping, one gets a strange slap for the effort.

Sometimes alternate theories may not be valid, but they may have points that can open the mind to other possibilities. This is constructive. When Copernicus posed his theories of the solar system it went from alternate directly to the strange-land. One may never know at first glance.

I will present an alternate theory by first posing it as a question? Is human consciousness restricted to the cerebral matter? Or can consciousness move or center itself in other parts of the brain beyond the cerebral. The example, that comes to mind are certain Yoga masters who can slow the heart to the point where the heart almost stops. The heart, at that level is controlled much closer to the brain stem. Is this action simply the development of conscious wiring from the cerebral to the brain stem, or can consciousness migrate to the brain stem and affect a change more directly?

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by sanctus

There is no way known yet, freez; how can you say that something is impossible?

I didn't say it was impossible, but I certainly implied that with my poor phrasing. Let me re-word my statement.

"According to current scientific knowledge, there is no way to test for Xenu."

[Brinnie]

Originally Posted by sanctus

There is no way known yet, freez; how can you say that something is impossible? But Brinnie do not get me wrong Xenu would be strange claims! Anyway if you found a say a time machine to test this then you should send it Nature and nnot èpost it here...

in that case, i guess i'll place my flag in this sub-forum.

[C1ay]

Originally Posted by Brinnie

so evolution would be an established theory and Xenu would be an alt, right?

No. Evolution is a valid "scientific theory", Xenu is not. A scientific theory requires the hypothesis of a theory that fits an observable phenomenon which can be used to make testable predictions where the empirical observation of the results of those tests can be used to further refine the theory. Xenu is not a theory which is a mathematical or logical explanation, or a testable model of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. Like all other alleged Gods or deities, Xenu is not a valid scientific hypothesis.

[HydrogenBond]

Based on evolutionary theory what is the future of humans. To be a valid scientific theory one should be able to use that theory to predict the future with a reasonable degree of accuracy. I like evolutionary theory, in a general sense, but in its current form it is useless for predicting the future other than saying things will evolve. It works only after the fact.

An analogy to existing evolutionary theory is a theory of gravity that can only correlate what we have observed but can't predict new events. If someone is going to throw the ball differently, the theory is stumped, until after the fact. Picture sending a rocket into orbit with this level of theoretical sophistication. We would all cross our fingers and randomly shoot rockets off until one works. Then the theory would step in and explain this success with all this brimming confidence. But next time, we will again need to cross our fingers.