Scientific Methodology and Falsifiability

Experiments. That's what it's all about. Experiments with results that can be readily duplicated. The scientific method is fairly specific about what is and is not acceptable in terms of investigative techniques, methods of inquiry, and measurable evidence. There is very little gray area when it comes to getting to the real nature of things.

Just about everyone I know has a thirst for knowledge, or at least a thirst for explanations for things. Sadly, a lot of people I know do not know how to think critically, and thus accept some very spurious rationale for why things happen.

Which, I imagine, is how it's always been. 5,000 years ago, somewhere in what is now the south of France, a couple of guys were painting images of animals on the walls of a cave. One of the guys might have asked another, "Hey, why do we have to paint down here in this dank, dark cave? Can't we just paint on some of the boulders that are out there in the warm sun?" The other guy, for reasons all his own, may have replied, "No, what we do here is sacred magic, for it captures the very souls of the animals and binds them to us." And the first guy, well, he just wasn't skeptical enough to say, "Oh yeah? Can you prove that assertion?"

And thus a load of crap was accepted for the first time and the world has had to deal with it ever since.

It's a damn shame more people don't think critically and/or skeptically. Today I found myself listening to somebody talk about being able to read a person's aura, and thereby determine whether or not that person is safe for her to be around.

She was dead serious. It's the damn 21st Century - the Catholic Church has long recognized the validity of the theory of evolution and apologized for being dicks to Galileo, I own a cell phone that allows me to film a short movie and send it to just about anywhere on the planet, people have lived for over a year on an orbiting platform in space, and the revolution(s) are being televised.

Yet, this person believes whole-heartily in auras.

Now, you may be saying, "So? To each their own. If you don't like what this person believes, too bad."

That's all well and good, except for a few small things.

First and foremost is the possibility that a person claiming to see auras may actually be suffering from a medical condition that could harm them if left untreated, such as temporal lobe epilepsy or some other chronic neurological condition. Second, allowing the perpetuation of pseudoscience is just simply irresponsible, no different than allowing the spread of racist/sexist/ageist,etc., ideals.

Someone has to take a stand against such balderdash, unlike the cave painter of long ago who blindly accepted an incorrect explanation.

The idea of auras, and the claims from people who say they see them, have been scrutinized scientifically and have been found sorely lacking. I'm not about to let the hard work of dedicated scientist go to waste.

So, that's one more woman who will be referring to me as an asshole from now on. And an asshole with a bad aura to boot. Think she would seen that when we first met seven years ago.