Question

Time Cubewas a pseudoscientific theory from a crank. It is generally believed by the scientific community that there is no meaningful theory which can be isolated from the Time Cube corpus.

In debate, Time Cube has not been debunked directly. This is partially because it was advanced by a crank, and partially because Time Cube has never been phrased as a direct definition which harmonizes with common-sense notions and existing science.

To most onlookers, Time Cube is obviously wrong. Why is Time Cube wrong? By what philosophical grounds can we reject it?

Answer 1

Time Cube is considered wrong because it lacks empirical support, fails to align with established scientific knowledge, and lacks logical coherence. It conflicts with successful theories like Einstein's General Relativity and does not meet the criteria for a scientific theory.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Time Cube theory, advanced by an individual outside of the scientific community, is considered wrong because it lacks empirical support and is incongruent with established scientific theories. Not only does it fail to provide a coherent definition or hypothesis that can be tested, but it also does not align with the observed physical world and our most successful theories, such as Einstein's theories of relativity, which have been confirmed through precise experiments and observations. One such experiment at Harvard University in 1959 confirmed the predictions of General Relativity by showing that clocks run at different speeds when subject to different gravitational strengths.

Philosophically, we can reject Time Cube on the grounds of it being a pseudoscientific theory that lacks the rigor and logical coherence required for a theory to be considered scientific. The attempt to utilize philosophical skepticism, such as the referenced scenario by Bertrand Russell, to support Time Cube is flawed because Russell's scenario illustrates the need for justification in acquiring knowledge, further undermining the credibility of Time Cube as it affords no predictive power or explanatory capability within the realm of philosophy or science.

Furthermore, theoretical studies related to quantum gravity inform us that there are limits to how short time intervals can be, suggesting a granularity of time, again incompatible with Time Cube's vague propositions. Additionally, the impossibility of time travel, a subject that has garnered serious scientific contemplation and debate, does not support Time Cube's nonsensical claims. Time Cube fails to satisfy the conditions required for a scientific theory and, thus, is rightly dismissed by the scientific community.