User:RD/9k/'pataphysics (Q290)

Main entry

'pataphysics -> imagined "field of science" portrayed in Dr. Faustroll. it took me a while to understand what this really was, because nobody who isn't a philosopher actually explains it right. some people assume it's specifically about the rules, tropes, and norms that make up fiction (SCP Wikis are guilty of this), some people think it describes lateral thinking and creativity.
'pataphysics as a phenomenon is the interactions between Idealist propositions treated as laws of physics, leading to comical violations of what would be expected in a Materialist model of reality. a sieve sheds water because it has the quality of being full of holes, so if you put enough of a hole-filled material on a bed then it floats and becomes a boat.
the most shocking thing about 'pataphysics is that while it's funny at first, you can pull out the most basic principle inside it and actually begin using that to create a Materialist model of reality which is predictive. all you really have to do is test propositions against reality and at a certain point the tested propositions can start substituting for reality and testing the results of other ones. it kind of just turns into science.