quote:
Methodological naturalism is merely the belief that natural causes are behind all we can observe with our senses, and that its inner workings are amenable to decipherment through methodological investigation.
Actually, the "belief" part in this definition doesn't have to be there at all.
The reason the scientific community has settled on methodological naturalism as the method of choice is because it tends to be very reliable, productive, and helps avoid the pitfalls in other methods.
When methodological naturalism is left behind, irrefutable explanations inevitably come to the fore, as we've seen with Steve over and over again.
Yes, of course methodological naturalism limits the scope of inquiry, but this limit is conducive to moving research forward. What Steve is describing as his method seems to keep him stuck in the dreaming, "what if pink unicorns are the source of all dryer lint" phase.
™ Version 4.2