[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by sadavis00

That said, I very much doubt there will EVER be ANY scientific proof for a concept like IM, it requires a LEAP OF FAITH (see Kierkegaard's existentialist philosophy of religion).

You'll have to try to understand that very few researchers actually deliberately seek to prove any hypothesis like "the Law of Attraction exists". The line of inquiry is more limited, and generally arises by other ways.

For example, in quantum physics, take Hugh Everitt's "Many Worlds" interpretation, or the Bohm interpretation. or the "Consciousness Causes Collapse" interpretation. These theories are phenomenological.

In other words, they were not developed by scientists having too much idle time and therefore just sitting around having a nice daydream or launching ideas for a fantasy novel. What happened is that actual experimental results were observed first, and they could not be explained by then-existing scientific knowledge. So the scientists have to develop phenomenological theories to explain the actual experimental results.

In case the distinction is still not clear, let me illustrate. Suppose I say, 'Theoretically, if a pig could grow wings, and the wings were strong enough, then the pig could fly."

This is NOT a phenomenological theory. Simply because there are no flying pigs on earth (as far as I am aware).

But suppose one day, the most bizarre thing happens. A bunch of scientists are in a lab. Suddenly a flying pig is seen! It flies round and round the lab, several times; allows itself to be examined by the scientists etc; flaps its wings and soars off 100 metres into the sky; returns again and allows itself to be examined by the scientists

Now there is an actual phenomenon. There is an actual flying pig. The scientists now have to develop phenomenological theories to explain why and how the pig managed to grow wings. All the theories sound weird, implausible, strange, mysterious ...... but what do you expect?! This is a flying pig!

This is what has happened in the lab (regarding the collapse of the wavefunction). In quantum physics, the phenomenon has already happened. The results can be replicated in the lab, any time, again and again, as many times as you like. The scientists' job is therefore to explain these results, and the best they have been able to do is offer theories like the Many Worlds theory, the Bohm interpretation, the "Consciousness Causes Collapse" theory etc.

There are different theories (about five or six in total) but whatever theory you prefer, none are consistent with what we usually regard as "objective reality". This is what frightens people like Mrs Cogan, and this is why they will claim to be of a scientific bent, and yet prefer not to delve too much into what science is really telling them.