paeraphysics

1. The science which explains something using the laws of physics, that are not supposed to be explained using the laws of physics

2. The phenomenon of explaining something using the laws of physics though not being explicable mathematically

"Paeraphysicists discover new phenomenon and develop new theories generally after being deprived of proper sleep for weeks",

- a paeraphysicist (2023), after being sleep-deprived for 3 days.

"Paeraphysics is a cool branch of mathematics",
- aforementioned paeraphysicist (2023), after being sleep-deprived for additional 4 days.

by a_bin_a April 17, 2023

pataphysics

'Pataphysics, a term coined by the French writer Alfred Jarry, is a philosophy dedicated to studying what lies beyond the realm of metaphysics. It is a parody of the theory and methods of modern science and is often expressed in nonsensical language. A practitioner of 'pataphysics is a 'pataphysician or a 'pataphysicist.

'Pataphysics is also defined by Jarry as the "science of imaginary solutions."

According to Jarry, the apostrophe (') is always added before the word to avoid a pun in French.

(The exact pun to be avoided is the subject of some debate. The debate itself -- being, in essense, a debate about a subject which may not truly exist, but exist as another joke by Jarry -- might itself be considered a 'pataphysical search, for an "imaginary solution" to an imaginary problem!)

Because string theory is speculation based on ideas that are themselves speculative (i.e., theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics), string theory is not in fact physics, but 'pataphysics.

Likewise, string theory and quantum calculations are, increasingly, not descriptive of an actual reality, but are simply mathematical pataphors. (P. Lopez) See also pataphor.

by JBlum December 9, 2008

Paraphysics

A field of inquiry exploring phenomena and principles that lie beyond current physical understanding—not necessarily supernatural, but beyond the reach of contemporary physics. Paraphysics studies the boundaries of physics: what lies just beyond the known, what might be discovered, what could exist if our theories are incomplete. It's the physics of the frontier—respectful of science but open to possibilities that current physics cannot address. Paraphysics doesn't reject physics; it extends it, asking what comes next.

"Physics explains matter and energy; Paraphysics asks about consciousness, about psi, about dimensions beyond the four we know. Not anti-physics, but post-physics—what comes after we've mastered matter? Paraphysics is the study of the beyond, by the methods of the here."

by Dumu The Void March 5, 2026

Paraphysics (Philosophy)

The philosophical examination of the boundaries and limits of physics—what lies beyond, what might be possible, and how we should think about phenomena that physics cannot (yet) address. Paraphysics as philosophy asks: What are the legitimate boundaries of physical inquiry? How should we approach claims that seem to exceed physical explanation? What would it mean for something to be "beyond physics"? It's the philosophy of the frontier—thinking about thinking about the unknown.

Paraphysics (Philosophy) "Physics can't study consciousness—wrong methods. Paraphysics as philosophy asks: what methods might work? Not abandoning science, but extending it. The philosophical question isn't whether something is beyond physics; it's how we should approach what's beyond. Paraphysics is the philosophy of the not-yet-known."

by Dumu The Void March 5, 2026

Pataphysics

The science of imaginary solutions, founded by French writer Alfred Jarry. Pataphysics studies what lies beyond metaphysics—the realm of exceptions, the laws governing exceptions, and the universe supplementary to this one. Where physics studies general laws (what happens most of the time), pataphysics studies the particular, the unique, the exception that proves no rule. It's the science of the clinamen, the swerve, the detail that doesn't fit. Pataphysics is serious and absurd simultaneously, a mock-discipline that reveals how all disciplines are partly mock, partly real, and entirely constructed.

"Physics explains why this apple fell. Pataphysics explains why this specific apple, at this exact moment, landed slightly left of where gravity predicted, and what that means for the apple's inner life. It's not nonsense—it's the science of the nonsense that makes sense of everything else."

by Dumu The Void February 24, 2026

Paraphysicalism

The view that there are phenomena that run parallel to the physical—alongside it, interacting with it, but not reducible to physical explanation. Paraphysicalism suggests that consciousness, for example, may be paraphysical: correlated with brain activity but not identical to it, interacting with the physical without being physical. Similarly, information, meaning, and perhaps even some paranormal phenomena may be paraphysical: real, causal, and parallel to the physical world without being part of it. It's the position that the physical is not the whole story, but what lies beyond may be parallel rather than superior—another layer, another dimension, another order of reality entirely.

"You think consciousness is just brain activity? Paraphysicalism says: maybe it's parallel—correlated with the brain, interacting with it, but not reducible to it. Like two gears meshing: the brain turns, consciousness turns, but they're not the same gear. Paraphysical doesn't mean unreal—it means real in a different way."

by Dumu The Void February 24, 2026

Scientific Pataphysics

The application of pataphysical thinking to scientific practice: studying the exceptions, anomalies, and outliers that normal science ignores. While mainstream science seeks general laws, Scientific Pataphysics attends to the singular, the irreproducible, the data point that doesn't fit the curve. It's not anti-science—it's the science of what science excludes, the shadow science that reminds practitioners that every law has exceptions, every generalization hides particulars, and every model fails somewhere. A necessary corrective to the scientific will to order.

Scientific Pataphysics "Your drug worked for 95% of subjects. Scientific Pataphysics wants to study the 5%—not as noise to be discarded, but as phenomena in their own right. What's their story? What law do they obey? Maybe the exception is trying to tell you something the rule can't."

by Dumu The Void February 24, 2026