This Black Box concept immediately defines a whole range of interesting and important human problems for which the scientific method has little or no applicability. One of these is, "Does God exist?" There is no way by which a laboratory test or an experiment can be devised that will effectively test this hypothesis and be repeatable in the hands of others--God's existence is a Black Box problem that cannot be opened for experimentation.

   Miracles come into a similar category, "Are they possible?" Within the applicability of its methodology, science cannot give a definitive answer. Any answer given can only be a subjective opinion. However, to a statement such as, "The universe came into being between 6 and 10,000 years ago," because of the overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, the opinion of all real scientists would have to be, "No." For true science, the statement is simply irrational.

   The Black Box concept can also help when considering what cannot be answered with any high degree of certainty. The Big Bang is an example of such a Black Box situation. No matter how ingenious our physicists are in inventing ways and means by which such an event might become a feasible proposition, there is no way of opening the Box and demonstrating what actually did happen. For such problems we can erect hypotheses about how they could have occurred, but we will never be able to state scientifically, that this is how they did happen.

   For very many reasons, including that all occasions of experience are unique in some way, the only thing we can be absolutely certain about is that nothing can be verified with total certainty. But relative certainty is possible--and often pragmatically useful.

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