I agree that there is a lot of limitations to the scientific method, but as I mentioned in the other post, there is no substitute for it yet. It's not just the scientists themselves that are the limiting factor but society's willingness to fund their work. If you show up with a grant proposal that wants to look into the sexual habits of aliens or machine elves as experienced while under the influence of ayahuasca, how far do you think your application will get? In academia and corporate labs, you've got to play the game. Fortunately, there is now plenty of research available out there for those of us on the margins, exploring the boundaries of the unknown.

Thank you so much for your well thought out and clear post. I could go on all day dissecting each nugget of wisdom. :)