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This Meta discussion is prompted by this question which I had flagged as off-topic, but which was declined. It has come back onto the active questions page, so I'm bringing it here.

I couldn't find any definitive record in Meta about whether questions which ask about the scientific plausibility of something should be considered off-topic or not. I think they definitely should be. Some of these questions are Truthy, some are just off-topic.

(Note that this is different from asking how a group (such as creationists) justify claims that something is scientifically plausible.)

FWIW, the Sci-Fi stack exchange also says these questions are off-topic. And some of them could be migrated to Sceptics.

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  • possible duplicate of Christianity.SE 's experts are Christians, not scientists
    – Affable Geek
    Sep 30, 2014 at 2:14
  • Related, but different. The aim of that post seems to be to prevent this: "Otherwise, I fear pseudo-science will be rampant." I don't per se have a problem with pesudo-science, but it must be discussed in the context of what identifiable Christian groups teach.
    – curiousdannii Mod
    Sep 30, 2014 at 2:18
  • Also it wasn't definitive, and it's always odd when Meta discussions are started by someone who doesn't participate in the main site.
    – curiousdannii Mod
    Sep 30, 2014 at 2:20
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    Note to all: (and @AffableGeek), there was a VTC-as-duplicate, but I decided to leave it open. The "duplicate" post is over three years old, and I think now is a good time to update what we know about the community consensus on questions like those in question.
    – El'endia Starman
    Oct 13, 2014 at 13:54

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Yes, these should be of-topic.

Put simply, and "Scientific Validity" question can be argued to be moot, by implying the "But God can do Miracles" argument. That makes it a matter of opinion - do you believe in miracles or don't you. If you do, anything is possible, and whether or not it can be explained by natural laws of nature, that doesn't mean it can't be done by a Supernatural All-Powerful Creator.

Also this site focuses on what various christian groups teach, and specifically places whether or not what they teach is "True". These questions, by nature, are asking "Is it true that X is scientifically possible".

That's implicitly off-topic here.

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    And now explicitly off-topic too!
    – curiousdannii Mod
    Sep 25, 2014 at 2:34
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    FWIW, in Are questions on a Creationist explanation for scientific observation on topic here? I argued that all science is off-topic unless it is in the form "what this group says about that science." So unless a question can be formed "what does this group say about this," the science is always off-topic.
    – user3961
    Sep 25, 2014 at 3:58
  • @fredsbend - I'd agree that if it's properly scoped, as your meta posts is, the questions are on-topic.
    – David Stratton
    Sep 25, 2014 at 4:24

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