164

You are given an opportunity to hard reset our universe (particularly, the Earth). You are also allowed to change one rule about the new universe. What rule would you change? (lemm.ee)

submitted 2 months ago by Marighost@lemm.ee to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

279 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The rule could be anything, as funny or as serious as you want. The universe will progress in a similar way that it has up until this point, unless your changed rule prevented it from doing so.

Some examples might be:

The invention of currency is not allowed.
Iron is slightly less stable.
The Ancient Greeks are able to cultivate Silphium, which does not go extinct now.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] gassygiant@discuss.online 5 points 2 months ago

Yes, gravity is a theory. In scientific terms, theories are proven, repeatable, and accepted. It’s the most robust and strongest form of scientific “fact” we have (since new discoveries can change our understanding, we can’t honestly declare it indisputably factual).

When people say “I have a theory…” they usually mean “I have a hypothesis…” which is some idea or problem statement that is unproven, untested, unverified.

OP was playing off the conflation of those two things.

[-] WeLoveCastingSpellz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I think we are in the same page, I am just so sick of people confusing theory with hypothesis. Mostly because of christomaniac creationists saying "uhm actually evolution is a theory not a law" and shit like thar. That's the reason why I rejected OP's statement

this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2024

164 points (96.6% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26673 readers

1801 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics.

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.