4.1.1 Reasoned Analysis and Empirical Claims
Reasoned Analysis
Question at Issue:
What evidence is there for ley lines?
Evidence and Information:
- Analysis of the cultural significance of Ley lines
- The psychology behind the belief of Ley lines
- The correlation between some religions and Ley lines
Assumptions:
- Ley lines or some equivalent have appeared throughout history as a belief among different peoples
- Patterns can be drawn from random coincidences
Concepts:
- Ley lines
- Major religions
- Geographical locations
- History
- Anthropology
- Superstition
Context:
- Pseudoscientific belief in Ley lines
- The cultures in which Ley lines are significant
Point of View:
- Ancient civilizations
- Historians
- Geographers
- Anthropologists
Purpose:
- To discover why Ley lines have been culturally significant
Implications and Consequences:
- Ley lines may reflect the superstition of a certain culture, or they could increase the superstition behind past cultures
Conclusion and Interpretation:
- Ley lines have been culturally significant because they are able to be used in a variety of arguments pertaining to pseudoscience and religion
- Ley lines have been used by different cultures and peoples in order to fit certain worldviews and reinterpret randomness.
Disciplinary Lenses
History
Question at Issue:
How can the historical significance of ley line sites shed light on the probability of the ley line theory holding any weight?
Evidence and Information:
- Historical records
- Timelines
Assumptions:
- Historically important sites were aligned, even though many of these sites were created in different time periods
- Ley lines are widely disputed
- Ley lines are not scientifically plausible and should instead be viewed from a historical standpoint to determine their cultural impact
Concepts:
- Stonehenge
- Churches in England
- Other historical sites
- Bronze and Iron Age trade routes
- Supernatural or alien intervention
Context:
- Late Bronze and Iron Age trade routes
- Historical
Point of View:
- Alfred Watkins
- Historians
- Ley line conspirators
Purpose:
- To understand the historical significance of important sites linked to Ley lines
- To view and understand the timeline of the creation of so-called “Ley line sites”
Implications and Consequences:
- If Ley lines were in mind during the creation and planning of these important sites, there could be supernatural influence throughout history
Conclusions and Interpretations:
- There are no accounts or evidence from ancient civilizations proving that important historical sites were built on Ley lines
- It seems extremely unlikely that any historical sites were built to create a geographical pattern
Geography
Question at Issue:
How does the geography of Ley line sites support Ley line theories?
Evidence and Information:
- Maps
- Records of ley line sites
- Terrain
- Climate
Assumptions:
- If Ley lines existed, then the disciplinary lens of geography would be one of the primary sources of evidence for the theory’s support
- Patterns can be drawn between endless sites because of the sheer number of sites
- Ley lines are widely disputed
Concepts:
- Ley lines
- Geography
- Patterns
- Coincidence
Context:
- Geographical
- Ley lines
Point of View:
- Geographers
- Ley lines conspirators
Purpose:
- To understand how the distance between the different Ley line sites discredits the Ley line argument
- To see how patterns that could be drawn up between historically significant sights are endless, due to the number of sites and not the geographical location
- Determining whether Ley lines are pseudoscientific or have a basis in reality
Implications and Consequences:
- Scientific evidence of Ley lines would mean that Ley lines would no longer be in the realm of the supernatural and instead be a scientific fact
- Even if Ley lines are fictional, they may still have meaning among different cultures
Conclusions and Interpretations:
- There is no geographical evidence at present that proves the existence of Ley lines
Anthropology
Question at Issue:
How can anthropology help explain the cultural significance of ley lines?
Evidence and Information:
- Research and case studies
- Psychology
- Culture
- Superstition
Assumptions:
- Humans are in the habit of finding patterns in almost everything, including randomness
Concepts:
- Ley lines
- Anthropology
- Human psychology
- Past generations of humans
- Patterns
Context:
- Human psychology
- Human capability
- Cultural context
Point of View:
- Anthropologists
- Believers in Ley lines
Purpose:
- To understand past and present cultures and societies and the role Ley lines have played or not played in them
- To understand human behavior, specifically in terms of superstitious behavior
- To understand why humans have created historical sites such as the pyramids
- To understand the intellectual capability of past generations
- Learning what impact Ley lines have had culturally
Implications and Consequences:
- If Ley lines have had a significant cultural impact, they are worth observing through the lens of history and/or anthropology
- If Ley lines were proven to be real, then this could mean that past cultures were more advanced and coordinated than they were ever previously understood to be
Conclusion and Interpretation:
- Ley lines have been used by different people groups and religions to fit certain worldviews and explain unrelated patterns
- Ley lines should not be seen as historically or culturally significant as they are nothing more than an interesting conversation topic and superstitious theory
Empirical Claims
Inductive Reasoning
True Premise 1: Trade routes have been used in cities throughout history.
True Premise 2: Cities tend to grow around trade routes, such as San Francisco and Baltimore.
Weak Inductive Reasoning: With most trade routes being Ley lines, the growth of cities around them clearly indicates the high earth energy that draws people to it.
Logical Conclusion: Cities tend to grow around trade routes due to the potential profitability
Deductive Reasoning
General Premise 1: Patterns have been found around culturally significant sites.
General Premise 2: Ley lines are patterns.
Weak Deductive Reasoning: Because Ley lines are patterns, culturally significant sites must fall on Ley lines, indicating the coordination and fundamental significance of Ley lines.
Logical Conclusion: Ley lines are patterns that people’s brains have found in attempts to reinterpret randomness in the context of psychology, but in reality, there is no significant evidence that ties the two concepts together.
Abductive Reasoning
Observation: A pattern has been found along sites that are significant to Christian and pagan beliefs.
Weak Prediction: This pattern must be due to Ley lines because it is clear that either earth energy or extraterrestrial influence pointed this belief to plant sites in this pattern.
Best Prediction: “The pattern had been accidentally preserved here and there due to the Christianization of certain pagan sites which were markers along the old straight tracks” (The Society of Ley Hunters, n.d.).
Logical Fallacies
Cherry-Picking
- The Ley Lines conspiracy is just one more way ancient alien supporters try to argue that the pyramids and Stonehenge, for example, were only possible through the assistance of aliens.
- The locations claimed to be evidence of Ley lines are easily chosen to fit the pattern.
Magical Thinking
Earth energies from ley lines have no scientific premise, and ley lines are a stretch to prove them.
Non-Sequitur
In reality, straight lines can be drawn between endless locations, regardless of their historical significance. And the argument that because someone decided to draw up some lines connecting some historical marvels found that–if the right ones are chosen–a pattern can be formed, it does not logically follow that these lines hold any significance.
Hasty Generalization
The ley line argument does not provide sufficient evidence for Earth energies or ancient aliens.
Appeals to Ignorance
When something doesn’t quite match up, it’s open to pretty much any theories or ideas. Since no one really knows who built Stonehenge or what the exact purpose was, there’s no one to say it couldn’t be a site of healing and magical lines running through the earth.