anjohl: I'm not saying there has ever been a stated connection between the two in fiction. What I'm saying is that for it to work in practise, something would have to be travelling back in time - which is impossible.
Navagon: How's that now? If we are arguing about how a fictional ability can work, there's no reason to think that another fictional construct is involved. If psychic ability was all of a sudden discovered, I doubt anyone would hypothesize that it had something to do with time travel. That's a terrible assumption.
Wishbone: Well, it makes for a much more interesting discussion, doesn't it? Also, I was not aware that string theory figured into it anywhere. I've read a few books on quantum mechanics but not string theory.
Just did a quick scan of Wikipedia. I see why you brought that into it now. Interesting. I'll have to find some more material on that.
Well, Quantum physics and String theory et al are all irrelevant, since they are unprovable theories created by far too enthusiastic and creative people. We need a new branch of categorization, just so people use the terms properly. For example, the FACTUAL existance of gravity, evolution, or inertia would be the top tier. The THEORETICAL existance of human climate impact/global warming, and the theory of viruses would be the second tier. Te WILD GUESSES of quantum physics, string theory, god, mohammed, santa claus, the talking snake, the ilumminati, aliens, other dimensions, ghosts, etc would be the bottom barrel, all of them guesses, nothing more than human nature coming up with a creative way to incorporate an idea into a paradigm.
It's all creative psuedo science. The "dark fog" has been pushed back by technology, and there really isn't that much more to learn. Science now encapsulates so much, particularly when it comes to pretty much anything ecological or biological (Save the brain), that there really arn't any giant new fields to discover outside astrophysics and consciousness.
Of course, some of our theories and assumptions will be overturned due to shaky science. IE, the best way to wash a car isn't a Rube Goldberg Machine, but it get's the job done. One day, some of our science will turn out to be the equivilent of a Rube Goldberg Machine. For example, a solution might appear to give the correct answer, but the cause we interpret might be a false conclusion.
People have this mythological construct of "progress" that really doens't exist. Fundamentally, our science/culture/organization hasn't changed much since we created the printing press, and only slightly more from the creation of the wheel. Progress is a human construct, like time travel, that is a convenient and comforting way of assimilating ideas into our ways of thinking and existing paradigms. The reality is that humanity is likely near it's apex of knowledge.
