Posted: Jun 12, 2010 3:13 pm
TMB wrote:As with the evidence based legal systems, we are simply not in a position to repeat the past with exact fidelity. This means that real stuff that did happen, cannot be proven, although logically we know it is not because the past did not happen in a certain way, just that we are unable to effectively repeat history. This means that we are forced by the method to discount things that do not pass this test.
I think this is really important. The difficulty lies in investigating phenomena that are not so easily put into external/objective and internal/subjective categories.
Any outward programme of empirical research seemingly handles 'external' significantly better than 'internal' phenomena. Astrophysics being quite different from psychology. Where would pain feature on a scale from external-internal?
Maybe I should mention that I'm coming from a place of being a practitioner of qi gong and other internal energy work, which tends to throw a spanner in the works when it comes to scientific validation. There are favourable studies showing its therapeutic benefit, but I do realise it probably counts high on the 'woo' scale for many here.
David