On a classic episode of ID the Future, biophysicist Kirk Durston completes a three-part series on three categories of science: experimental, inferential, and fantasy science. Fantasy science makes inferential leaps so huge that virtually none of it is testable, either by the standards of experimental science or by those of the historical sciences, which reason to the best explanation by process of elimination.
One example of fantasy science, according to Durston, is the multiverse. As he says, an imaginative story largely untethered from evidence and testing but told using math instead of literary devices is still an imaginative story, a work more closely resembling science fiction than science. Durston goes on to define scientism as “atheism dressed up in a lab coat.” This type of thinking can lead to fantasy science because it commits itself to materialistic conclusions for philosophical reasons, not scientific ones.
Go here to find and listen to the podcast. This is Part 3 of a three-part series. Listen to Part 1 and Part 2.
Dig Deeper
- Watch Dr. Stephen Meyer explain the problems with the multiverse on The Joe Rogan Experience: