It is assumed that when a scientist makes a discovery and publishes it in a scientific journal, the results can be trusted. If other scientists were to repeat the same experiment, they would get the same results. Yet the majority of scientific findings are most likely incorrect. This is the jarring conclusion of Dr. John P. A. Ioannidis, a researcher of the scientific method, who recently published a paper titled “Why Most Published Research Findings Are False.”

Reproducible results in science are actually quite rare. As science advances, it becomes more and more difficult to make a discovery that truly pushes the boundaries of known scientific knowledge. At the same time, there are more and more scientists each year competing for dwindling research dollars. The result is that there is a proliferation of studies that are either unremarkable, with no real novelty, or if they do produce novel results, they are likely to be inaccurate.

One of the reasons that scientific results are often irreproducible is due to the complexity of the original experiment. The conditions were so highly regulated that they simply cannot be recreated under ordinary laboratory conditions. It would require advanced equipment and technical proficiency that few scientists can match.

In a spiritual plane, the great revelations of the past similarly took place under rarefied conditions that have never yet been replicated. The giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, the revelations to Moses and the prophets, the miracles in the Holy Temple – all these belong to a bygone era, a unique time when there was less concealment of G-dliness and it was easier to sense His presence.

Immediately before Moshiach’s coming, the Midrash states, prophecy will return. We will once again experience the revelation of G-d, on a level similar to the time of the Giving of the Torah. Yet it will be completely different. Prophecy will not be a rare occurrence experienced by a privileged few. It will be part of our everyday experience. The world will be so permeated with G-dliness that all of us will be able to easily sense His presence and communicate with Him directly.