Even the theory's advocate acknowledges in this interview that it's untestable. There is no way to observe that the world would behave differently whether or not the theory is true. If that's so, I can't think what point there is discussing it, except as a mental exercise. If you can't test a theory, that means it can't affect anything. I.e. it has no practical use, except as a form of entertainment. I would almost a…
> There is no way to observe that the world would behave differently whether or not the theory is true. If that's so, I can't think what point there is discussing it, except as a mental exercise. This is a very materialistic view of the world. By this measure we shouldn’t talk about religious ideas or discuss the (non-monetary) value of art. I have great respect for science, but I think there are things worth discuss…
It's hard to exactly word my objection. I feel like people view philosophers as being in pursuit of the truth -- trying to understand and reason about how reality is. They have this reputation in a way that's entirely different from the reputation of artists, who folks generally recognize as producing work that is not claiming any kind of authority about reality. At one point in time, that may have even been the case. But I think, at least for philosophers who promulgate ideas like this one, the level of authority should be similar to that of an artist, or maybe a poet. The philosopher is not talking about reality, he's just putting some words together in a way that is interesting to some people.
(Your view of religion, IMO, both shortchanges it and gives it too much credit. I suspect most religious adherents would at least claim to believe that their religion does make predictions about reality that are or at least will be testable. Perhaps you won't be able to conduct that test while living, or at the present time. But at least most sects of Islam and Christianity expect that the god of their religion will at some point impinge on our material reality, and has done in the past. I am less familiar with Shinto, Buddhism, and Hinduism, but I'd be surprised to hear that most adherents of these religions view their religion's claims as generically and permanently untestable.)