Invisible Sciences

The study of phenomena that cannot be directly observed—the realms beyond human perception that nonetheless constitute most of reality. Invisible sciences include quantum mechanics (particles that are also waves), astrophysics (black holes that emit no light), microbiology (germs too small to see), and most of modern chemistry (molecules and bonds). These sciences require instruments to perceive and mathematics to understand; they're inaccessible to intuition and resistant to common sense. Invisible sciences are where most scientific progress now happens, precisely because the visible world has been largely mapped. They're also where science becomes most philosophical, because when you can't see what you're studying, you have to think very carefully about what "seeing" even means.

Example: "She studied invisible sciences—dark matter, quantum fields, the structure of spacetime. When her grandmother asked what she did, she said 'I study things no one can see.' Her grandmother said that sounded like theology. She said the difference was math. Her grandmother was not convinced, but the math checked out."

by Dumu The Void February 16, 2026

Tangible Sciences

The study of phenomena that can be touched, handled, and manipulated directly—the sciences of the material world. Tangible sciences include classical engineering (bridges you can walk on), materials science (metals you can hold), and most of biology as applied to things you can pick up (rocks, plants, dead things). These sciences are satisfying because you can feel your results—a stronger beam, a purer crystal, a heavier rock. They're also increasingly supplemented by intangible sciences, which study things you can't touch but can still affect you. Tangible sciences are what we evolved to understand; intangible sciences are what we built to go beyond our evolutionary limits.

Example: "He chose tangible sciences because he liked making things he could hold—alloys, ceramics, composite materials. His office was full of samples: a titanium rod here, a carbon fiber sheet there. When his colleagues in theoretical physics talked about strings and branes, he showed them a piece of metal he'd made. They were impressed, though neither understood the other's work."

by Dumu The Void February 16, 2026

Intangible Sciences

The study of phenomena that cannot be directly touched or handled—fields, forces, information, consciousness, and the other invisible actors that shape reality. Intangible sciences include electromagnetism (you can't touch a magnetic field, but it can move you), information theory (you can't hold a bit, but it shapes everything), and most of modern physics (fields are real but intangible). These sciences require instruments to detect their subjects and mathematics to describe them; they're abstract, counterintuitive, and essential to modern life. Your phone works because of intangible sciences; your GPS works because of them; your understanding of the universe would be medieval without them. Intangible sciences are the ghost in the machine of reality—you can't see them, but you can't explain anything without them.

Example: "She studied intangible sciences—electromagnetic fields, quantum information, the nature of consciousness. Her father asked what she actually did all day. She said 'I think about things you can't touch.' He asked if that was a real job. She pointed to his phone, his GPS, his medical imaging—all products of intangible sciences. He conceded that maybe thinking about untouchable things had its uses."

by Dumu The Void February 16, 2026

Psychology of Science

The study of how scientists think, how scientific communities function, and how psychological factors influence the production of knowledge. Science is often presented as pure logic, but it's done by humans—with biases, emotions, social pressures, and career concerns. The psychology of science examines how these human factors affect everything from hypothesis generation (what questions seem worth asking) to experimental design (what counts as evidence) to peer review (who gets published) to paradigm shifts (why new ideas are resisted). It's not that science isn't reliable; it's that reliability is achieved despite human frailty, through institutions and practices that compensate for psychological limitations.

Example: "She studied the psychology of science after her paradigm-challenging paper was rejected repeatedly. She realized it wasn't about the quality of her work; it was about cognitive biases (reviewers preferred familiar ideas), social dynamics (she wasn't part of the inner circle), and career incentives (no one wanted to risk being wrong). The science was sound; the psychology was the obstacle."

by Dumu The Void February 16, 2026

Sociology of Science

The study of how scientific knowledge is produced by communities of scientists, shaped by social structures, and validated through social processes. Science is often presented as pure logic, but it's done by humans in institutions—with hierarchies, competitions, funding pressures, and cultural biases. The sociology of science examines how scientific communities form (through training, networks, shared paradigms), how they decide what counts as knowledge (through peer review, replication, consensus), and how they change (through discoveries, conflicts, generational shifts). It also examines how science is shaped by broader society—by politics, economics, culture—and how it shapes society in return. Science is social all the way down, which doesn't make it less reliable—just more human.

Example: "He studied the sociology of science after a paradigm shift in his field, watching how the old guard resisted, how the young turks pushed, how funding shifted, how journals changed. The science was real, but the process was social. Understanding that didn't make him cynical; it made him strategic. He published in the right places, cited the right people, and his ideas spread."

by Dumu The Void February 16, 2026

Law of Absolute and Relative Sciences

The principle that the sciences operate in two modes: absolute science (knowledge that would be valid for any rational being, anywhere, anytime) and relative science (knowledge that is valid within human frameworks, for human purposes, under human limitations). The law acknowledges that some scientific knowledge aspires to universality—the laws of physics, the structure of DNA, the composition of stars. Other scientific knowledge is context-dependent—medical knowledge that applies to some populations but not others, ecological knowledge that varies by region, social science knowledge that reflects particular cultures. The law of absolute and relative sciences reconciles the ambition of science to discover universal truths with the reality that all science is done by humans, in history, with limits.

Law of Absolute and Relative Sciences Example: "She studied the law of absolute and relative sciences while working in global health. Some knowledge was absolute—the biology of disease, the chemistry of drugs. Other knowledge was relative—what interventions worked depended on culture, infrastructure, beliefs. The absolute science told her what could work; the relative science told her what would work here."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 16, 2026

Law of Absolute and Relative Science

The principle that science itself—the enterprise, the institution, the practice—operates in two modes: absolute science (the idealized pursuit of universal truth, free from human limitations) and relative science (the actual human activity, shaped by history, culture, and politics). The law acknowledges that science aspires to the absolute—to describe reality as it is, independent of observers. But science is always practiced relatively—by humans with biases, in institutions with interests, through methods that reflect particular times and places. The law of absolute and relative science reconciles the ideal with the reality, allowing us to trust science while understanding its limits. Science is the best tool we have, not because it's perfect but because it's self-correcting.

Law of Absolute and Relative Science Example: "He invoked the law of absolute and relative science when critics said science was just another belief system. 'Absolute science is the ideal—knowledge independent of humans. Relative science is what we actually do—messy, human, fallible. The ideal guides the practice; the practice approaches the ideal. It's not perfect, but it's the only game in town.' The critics weren't convinced, but they had no better game."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 16, 2026