Science Is Wrong: Difference between revisions

[[File:xkcd-tesla_coiltesla coil-sciencewrong.png|link=Xkcd|frame|For scientists this can be the hardest thing about dreams.]]

Often any [[Agent Scully]] questioning the magic isn't really using ''science'' but rather a belief in machines. A ''good'' scientist wouldn't only complain that something isn't possible upon discovering something that contradicts previous knowledge. They'd explore the implications, test why the result is happening, see if it can be replicated, and list the various causes and effects that can be observed related to the event -- althoughevent—although, admittedly, many would be quick to dismiss any claims of the supernatural out of hand, because the supernatural is kind of by definition stuff that ''shouldn't'' work. TL;DR: If Science is Wrong is proven, it becomes ''a scientific worldview''.

{{quote|"God does not play dice with the universe. He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players ,<ref>i.e., everybody </ref>, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who ''smiles all the time''."}}

* Deconstructed by Dara O'Briain in one of his live shows, where he discusses homeopathy and his irritation with it. He points out that the real-life accusation levelled at science that "it doesn't know everything" is inherently flawed because the whole point of science is that scientists are ''fully aware'' that they don't know everything, and if they did "it'd stop" -- there—there would be no point in continuing.

* In ''[[Genius: The Transgression]]'', Wonders are inherently non-repeatable phenomena, which causes a problem for anyone trying to scientifically test then verify with additional tests. This might be because mad science is inherently unexplainable but it could just as easily be because [[Mad Scientist|Mad Scientists]]s are explicitly not any good at proper science. On the other hand, ''sane'' scientists are assumed to be right but simply haven't come across mad science.

* An ''[[Old World of Darkness]]'' example: ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]'' (usually) posits that ''all'' Science is Wrong -- exceptWrong—except when enough people believe that it's not. The Technocracy convinced humanity that science is right during the Enlightenment, though, so mundane reality works on observable principle as long as people believe it does. The whole point of the game is that Awakening allows the True Mage(tm) to flip mundane reality and the collected observers the bird and do things through "discredited" systems of magic/faith/pseudo-science. The mere presence of mundanes who believe in conventional science also tends to make True Magic go awry in non-repeatable and/or fatal ways, making it basically impossible to objectively observe magic.

* In ''[[Unknown Armies]]'', science and magic and reality have a very complicated relationship. For the most part, science is completely accurate until it butts up against magic, which is run by [[Your Mind Makes It Real]] -- magic—magic users are literally so obsessed with their worldview that they impose themselves upon reality. It's also implied that science is only accurate ''because'' of [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]]. That is to say, as civilizations rose and people began thinking in more orderly terms, the world settled down into something that can be defined by science, and magic significantly weakened. Modern scientific positivism was basically the death knell for "easy" magic, meaning you now have to be quite insane to actually pull off magic of any real power anymore.

* Believers in the paranormal-- [[Psychic Powers]], [[Alien Abduction]], and other [[New Age]] ideas-- oftenideas—often criticize science for being too closed-minded to accept their ideas.