Huna Article

Huna and the Scientific Method
by Serge Kahili King

What Is The Scientific Method?

First, we need a definition of science. Here are some dictionary definitions:

Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method.”

The American Heritage Student Science Dictionary: “The investigation of natural phenomena through observation, experimentation, and theoretical explanation. Science makes use of the scientific method, which includes the careful observation of natural phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis, the conducting of one or more experiments to test the hypothesis, and the drawing of a conclusion that confirms or modifies the hypothesis.”

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary: “systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.”

Science, therefore, is the search for knowledge by using something called “the scientific method,” which involves observation, ideas about the observation (called a hypothesis), a testing of those ideas, and a conclusion based on the testing (called a theory). The person who uses this method is called a scientist (more on that later).

A hypothesis is really just a guess, a proposed explanation for something that opens the way to testing. It isn’t true in any sense or even plausible until it has been tested. Even then, depending on the nature of the testing, the conclusion may or may not be valid (having a sound basis in logic or fact), depending on the results of the testing and/or the obtaining of new information from new or different observations.

That brings us to the word “theory.” Scientifically, a theory is a result or conclusion established by means of the scientific method which has a good probability of being a fact. Theories don't have to be proven correct, as long as they seem to fit most of what is known about something, and if they can be used to predict results of further observation or experimentation.

Unfortunately, the word “theory” is also used unscientifically, sometimes by scientists, to mean, in the words of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, “An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture.” Often, “hypothesis” and “theory” are used interchangeably, and all too often, a conjectural theory is not distinguished from a tested theory in “scientific” articles and reports.

As an example, quoting directly from my book, Dream Tech, “The Big Bang Theory is not a theory at all, in scientific terms. It is based on the speculation that there had to be a beginning to our universe. From that came a hypothesis or guess that at first there was nothing, and then, without any transition, there was the whole universe expanding into what we see today. There was no explosion in this idea, like many people think. There was just nothing, and then something. The observation of galaxies speeding away from each other is supposed to lend credence to the hypothesis that the universe is expanding from a single point, but there is no way to test that idea. We can see galaxies apparently moving away from each other, but that doesn't tell us anything about how it started, or whether there was a start. Then came the observation that some galaxies are heading toward each other, like one called Andromeda that is heading right for our Milky Way. And some have apparently already collided. That kind of messes up the expanding hypothesis, so someone invented the idea of invisible “dark matter” that entangles itself with the galaxies to keep them from expanding and aids in making them crash together. There are even claims that dark matter makes up about 76% of the universe, although it cannot be seen or tested in any way. Not only that, the Big Bang hypothesis is only the most popular scientific model of how our universe came about. Different scientists use different models, all based on untestable guesses.

“I am not putting down science. The observing, speculating, testing and coming up with results that can predict at least some behavior and often be turned into useful technology is one of the most important human endeavors there is. But Science, the adulteration of science with hypotheses that are called theories, the promotion of interpretations as facts, the unquestioning acceptance of observations that cannot be tested, and the fierce resistance to ideas that do not conform to scientific hypotheses, does not have anything to do with real science as defined above.”

The general definition of a scientist is someone who has expert knowledge in one or more fields of scientific investigation. What we see too much of today is people who use the conclusions of scientists and call themselves scientists without observing, speculating, testing and concluding. They are not scientists, whether they work in the fields of medicine, engineering, robotics, interstellar travel or whatever. The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes is called Technology. Those who do that are technicians, not scientists. And those who insist that science is “Truth” and who get upset when people don’t believe in science, are trying to turn science into a religion, and that is not scientific.

So, what does all of this have to do with Huna? The answer is simple. Huna is a philosophy based on seven observations that became seven hypotheses that were tested with enough positive results over a very long period of time to become seven theories, in the scientific sense. A Huna scientist is one who uses the scientific method to explore, expand and share practical knowledge about natural phenomena, including that which is invisible as well as visible. A Huna technician is one who uses that knowledge to make the world a better place through empowering and connecting others.