A researcher engages in a research program when the following three conditions are satisfied:
(1) the researcher regards the research area as one worthy of his/her research time and effort;
(2) he/she has the requisite skills to do the required investigations at the highest level of scientific and technical discpline;
(3) he/she has the passion to do so with priority.

The purpose of our research program is to investigate the truth about Torah codes. We do the investigation because we are curious. The success of the experiments done by Torah code proponents to date only whets the appetite. In the end it does not really satisfy this curiousity, especially so when much of the work that is shown has been done in an undisciplined interactive way where it is difficult if at all possible to determine whether we should be surprised or whether we have observed something that is just a chance happening.

In general, what the serious Torah code proponents have done is to successfully test the Null hypothesis of no Torah code effect against an Alternative hypothesis that there are events whose key words have ELSs in more compact relationships than expected by chance. However, we are striving for something more. We are striving for a methodology that will yield an explanation of the structure of the codes themselves.

There are two reasons why the experiments done to date are not satisfactory. The first is that in order to do the experiments, one must have good methodology and the second is that the methodology must be consistent with an explanation of the structure of the codes themselves.

In our view, the Torah code proponents have, for the most part, failed to explicitly make a convincing case that the methodology is as good as can be. In fact some of the Torah code proponents refuse to change their methodology at all, thinking that if they make any changes, they will be accused of tuning the method to the data in an a posteriori manner. But in science, methods are constantly improved. No scientist is under a science constraint that the method used in an experiment today must be the same method that was used in an experiment 20 years ago. Furthermore, the Torah code proponents have failed to hypothesize any formal structure of the codes. In science, if there are observations indicating that there is some relationship between some variables, this marks the beginning of an investigation. The investigation is to determine as accurately as possible the formula by which the value of one of the variables is determined by the others. A statistical formula itself does not finish the matter, even if it is highly accurate. A full scientific explanation has associated with it a model. The model explains the cause and effect relationships that gives rise to the formula.

< Next >