> I thought of something else to add to this discussion. Daniel has given us several things that mainstream science once thought were impossible but now knows are.
>
> But what about another view? How many things have people claimed were possible, only to be disproven by science?
>
> * You cannot transmute elements through alchemy.

WTB ARC TRANSMUTE 5G PST

> * You cannot cure people through any number of mystical practices (I know people still stick needles in themselves, but who feels the need to release humours?).

This one's my personal nemesis, given where I live and work. Any time anyone gets sick or injured, he gets bombarded with herbal remedies, magnetic pillow inserts, acupuncture / acupressure points, therapeutic touch, chi balancing breathing techniques, and a whole lot of other such bunk. I always just smile and say no thank you, personally; what else is there to do?

> The fact is, there are a lot of weird claims out there. Some of them may be true. But assuming that because we've been wrong in the past about some of them, then in the future a personal pet belief will be proved true (e.g. faster-than-light travel) is a poor idea.

One of the favourite saying that gets used and mis-used by the woo-woo crowd (which still may be my favourite descriptor) is "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence," which is true as far as it goes. The fact that nobody's ever provably found any traces of bigfoot doesn't prove that bigfoot doesn't exist, sure, but it sure damn DOES make it extremely unlikely.

So if your pet field has been thoroughly researched, investigated, and probed by scientists and not one shred of evidence has turned up to indicate that anything's there, don't try hiding behind the "absence of evidence" dodge. No, scientists have not *proven* that aliens haven't visited the Earth. No, scientists have not *proven* that there's no magical chi power that makes people get better when they're sick. But that doesn't mean you're "just as right as scientists" if you believe to the contrary, since what all this experimentation HAS proven is that there is an extremely low probability of these things being true.

You're still convinced that they are? Well, then, prove it. Null hypothesis wins all ties.