Definitions by Dumu The Void
Psychology of Evidence, Science, and Logic
A field that studies how human minds actually engage with evidence, science, and logic—including cognitive biases, motivated reasoning, the role of emotion in scientific judgment, and the psychological appeal of conspiratorial thinking. It examines how scientists themselves are subject to the same cognitive limitations as everyone else, and how the ideal of pure reason is never fully attainable.
Example: “The psychology of evidence, science, and logic research showed that even expert scientists exhibited confirmation bias when reviewing papers from competing labs—the brain does not become purely rational with a PhD.”
Psychology of Evidence, Science, and Logic by Dumu The Void March 30, 2026
Sociology of Evidence, Science, and Logic
A field that examines how evidence, science, and logic are socially constructed and maintained. It studies the communities that produce scientific knowledge, the institutions that validate evidence, and the social networks that enforce logical norms. It shows that what counts as “good science” is often what powerful scientists say is good science, and that logic is practiced by communities with their own hierarchies and gatekeepers.
Example: “The sociology of evidence, science, and logic revealed that a new theory was accepted not when it had more evidence, but when its proponents gained control of key journals and funding streams—knowledge was social before it was academic.”
Sociology of Evidence, Science, and Logic by Dumu The Void March 30, 2026
Contraction and Expansion Thermodynamics
A theoretical framework extending classical thermodynamics to account for scenarios where energy and mass are not conserved—particularly in contexts of cosmic expansion, gravitational collapse, and far‑from‑equilibrium systems. It argues that in expanding spacetimes (like our universe), energy is not globally conserved because time‑translation symmetry breaks. In contracting systems (like matter falling into a black hole), mass‑energy can appear to increase or decrease depending on the frame of reference. This framework also applies to open biological and social systems that exchange energy with their environment, where “conservation” is local and temporary. Contraction and expansion thermodynamics challenges the absolutism of conservation laws, showing they are context‑dependent.
Example: “The cosmologist used contraction and expansion thermodynamics to explain why the universe’s total energy seemed to increase over time—in an expanding spacetime, conservation laws don’t hold globally, and what looks like creation is actually a change in the geometry of the system.”
Contraction and Expansion Thermodynamics by Dumu The Void March 30, 2026
Infrapersonal Truth Theory
A framework focusing on how truth is constructed within the individual—through cognitive processes, embodied experience, and the integration of sensory input with prior knowledge. It examines how a person comes to hold something as true at the level of their own mind, independent of social validation. This includes the role of intuition, emotion, embodied knowing, and the slow process of integrating new evidence into existing belief structures. Infrapersonal truth is the ground upon which interpersonal truth‑seeking builds.
Example: “His infrapersonal truth theory explored how physicists ‘feel’ when an equation is beautiful—a kind of truth that operates below the level of proof, guiding their search before consensus arrives.”
Infrapersonal Truth Theory by Dumu The Void March 30, 2026
Interpersonal Truth Theory
A theory that situates truth as emerging from interpersonal relations—dialogues, debates, consensus processes, and shared epistemic practices. Truth is not merely correspondence with reality but is also what a community, after proper deliberation, agrees to hold as true. This does not make truth arbitrary; it means that truth is always truth‑for‑a‑community, arrived at through processes that are themselves social. The theory highlights that even the most “objective” truths depend on trust, testimony, and the social fabric of knowers.
Example: “Interpersonal Truth Theory explains why scientific truths change not when individuals change their minds, but when the community’s consensus shifts—truth is interpersonal before it is propositional.”
Interpersonal Truth Theory by Dumu The Void March 30, 2026
Infrapersonal Objectivity Theory
A complementary framework to Interpersonal Objectivity Theory, focusing on the cognitive infrastructure that makes objectivity possible at the individual level. It examines how training, education, and internalized practices shape a person’s ability to set aside bias, attend to evidence, and evaluate claims—capacities that are themselves built on infrapersonal foundations (neural pathways, cognitive habits, metacognitive skills). Infrapersonal objectivity is never pure, but it can be cultivated, and it underlies the interpersonal achievement of shared objectivity.
Example: “Her infrapersonal objectivity theory traced how years of lab training reshaped her perceptual habits—she no longer saw what she expected; she saw what the data showed, a skill built into her nervous system over time.”
Infrapersonal Objectivity Theory by Dumu The Void March 30, 2026
Interpersonal Objectivity Theory
A critical framework arguing that “objectivity” is not a property of individuals or their methods alone, but is achieved and maintained through interpersonal relationships, institutional practices, and social agreements. What counts as objective is what a community agrees to treat as such—through peer review, replication, citation networks, and shared training. Objectivity is therefore a social achievement, not a state of mind. The theory does not deny that the world exists independently, but insists that our access to it and our ability to make objective claims depend on collective practices.
Example: “Interpersonal Objectivity Theory explains why a claim becomes ‘objective’ only after it has passed through the social machinery of journals, conferences, and expert consensus—objectivity is made, not found.”
Interpersonal Objectivity Theory by Dumu The Void March 30, 2026