Why no speculative posting

[Redbelly98]

I think the forum should make a real attempt at allowing such discussions - heck put it in a sub-forum called junk science.

We did make a real attempt at allowing this:

Been there, done that. It don't work. The forum was called Theory Development, any crankish post was simply dumped there. This was a feature for several years, it lasted until we finally got fed up with trying to teach to those who already knew everything. We found that it was an attractant to crack pots who were not content to stay in the crack pot forum. They were continually bringing their nonsense into the main forums. It has been a significant improvement without the big welcome mat for cranks of all sorts. We will NOT repeat this mistake.

 

[Dale]

Maybe PF needs an “Original Fairy Tales” forum for personal theories.

Maybe Tiffany's needs a "flea-market junk" bin too.

 

[Maui]

Maybe Tiffany's needs a "flea-market junk" bin too.

 

[Baluncore]

Unfortunately, this subject triggers a barrage of emotive response and a great dumping of previous baggage.

Having read the previous discussion I believed that it was all in the name.
“Theory Development” suggested credibility = factual. That encouraged critical attack.
“Fairy Tale” suggests incredibility = fiction.

I am interested in the way people think, (or don't), and the multiple different interpretations possible. On reflection, there is a subliminal fear that physics can itself be interpreted as an internally consistent fairy tale, that is still under development. There must be very many people who are unable to tell the difference between a science and a fairy tale. I guess PF must draw a line in the sand somewhere.

The imaginative human mind seems quite happy to come up with what we call science fiction. The next generation then researches the science necessary to make it happen. Fiction leads science by 90°, they may be orthogonal but they are in the same plane.

 

[berkeman]

We are working on a FAQ entry to cover this question. This thread is closed for now.