All Theories Are Equally Valid – You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me!
Posted on | August 2, 2009 | No Comments
What is it with those people who claim that “since we aren’t 100% sure about X, then all theories must be considered equally valid”?
Really? REALLY?
If this were truly the case, I doubt that we could survive even ten minutes in this world. For example, take getting up in the morning. I have just woken and I am considering sitting up in bed. One theory is that I will able to do so without harm, as I have the past 10,000+ mornings. But another theory is that a local maniac has installed a nasty set of blades that will lop off my head once I raise it from the pillow. Since I “cannot be 100% sure that this is false,” I must conclude that it is a valid theory and therefore has equal likelihood. So at this point I have a 50% morning survival rate.
With a lump in my throat and a feeling of foreboding, I take my life into my hands and sit up. Nothing happens. Whew. But now I must place my feet on the carpet. A theory just popped into my head that, due to an overnight electrical short, the carpet may now be running high voltage through it that will kill me instantly upon contact. (Never you mind that carpet fibers are not electrically conductive. That is science and we all know that science does not have all the answers and is sometimes wrong.)
So now I face another 50/50 chance of survival. Brazenly and without regard to the peril, I get out of bed and stand on the carpet. No electrocution occurs. But now I must walk out of the room toward the bathroom and it occurs to me that all the dust mites in the apartment may have organized overnight and gnawed a trapdoor in my floor, designed for me to fall through to my death below.
Once more, I shoulder the risk and head toward the loo. Nothing happens. Wow, I have now managed to defy the 8-to-1 odds against my survival, so I must be living right. But these odds will certainly kill me soon, so the only proper way to fight back mathematically is to devise thousands and thousands of theories which do not involve bodily injury, thereby diluting the immediate risk and keeping me alive long enough to brew some coffee.
Isn’t this mental folly so obvious? Those people who believe that both scientific/rational explanations and supernatural/unfounded explanations are equally likely are not employing the intellect contained within their frontal lobes. They are willing to discard thousands of years of accumulated knowledge in a misguided and laughable attempt to “remain open-minded.”
Why do I care? Because, sadly, some of these folks are actually in charge of stuff.
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My name is John. I have opinions about everything, especially about how to solve world problems. Most of my rants have to do with the runaway stupidity on this planet. If you don't agree with my views, that's OK - it's a free country (kinda). Just don't mistake this site for a democracy!
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