One of the tests of the power and value of a theory is the number of phenomena which it can explain. A sample list of explanations was provided on the original website and they are preserved, with a click-on facility to the relevant text, in Section B below. The addition of the Modern Science essay provides a different level of explanation and some of the more important ones are presented here in Section A. Section A. Modern Science 1. Infinity The universe seems to extend indefinitely which leads to the ‘un-cashable’ concept of ‘infinity’. Alphomism holds that the universe is of finite, though perhaps ever-changing, size and that there is nothing else, that is, no ‘outside’ at all. The word ‘indefinite’ can be used to cover cases where quantities are of uncertain dimensions. 2. How the universe can seem to be uniform and without limit Alphomism suggests that the optimum way to think of the universe is as spheroidal with a notional edge beyond which there is nothing. But if the universe is like a sphere it would seem that, at least in theory, we could penetrate the outer limits and that it would have a centre, which science generally suggests it does not. Alphomism meets these difficulties by citing ‘quantum properties’ which, according to some scientists, are as follows. Fundamental entities (eg photons): 1. can seem to be in two places at once. 2. in some sense seem not to exist until they are observed. 3. can move instantly from one place to another. 4. behave such that two entities which have come from the same source somehow ‘know’ what the other is doing no matter how far apart they have become. The proposal is that any entity which travels half the diameter of the universe and which, if the sphere were real, would therefore hit the edge, is instantaneously ‘translated’ into a position on the ‘other side’ of the sphere and keeps seamlessly travelling. If nothing interferes with the entity, it will return to the place whence it started. Thus, no entity can ever go beyond the bounds and all of them can be seen to be notionally at the centre of the universe. 3. Mind/body The age-old question is: Does the material world exist in some absolute sense and if so, does it generate, via evolution, beings who seem to have an inner world? Or, are the inner processes primary and do they merely create an illusion of a physical aspect to existence? Alphomism holds that there cannot be a causal relationship between the subjective and the objective. Of their utter nature subjective events are not observable via objective means. We can make associative links between brain events and mental ones (relying on self-reports) but there could be neither process nor language to justify either of the two ‘cause-based’ accounts given above. We can conclude only that the subjective and the objective are different aspects of one phenomenon (just as ‘wave and particle’ are in the sub-atomic world). The relationship between mind and body is one of complementarity. But quantum mechanics suggests that material reality depends on the presence of consciousness, which raises the difficulty as to the sense in which the material world existed prior to the emergence of conscious beings. Alphomism proposes that there is a pervading consciousness which is mediated via dark energy. 4. Free will/determinism Determinism holds that the universe is machine-like and that every event has a physically identifiable cause. There are many difficulties with this but perhaps the most potent ones concern the origin and sustenance of the physical laws which produce this rigidity. Alphomism holds that the only escape from these difficulties is to assert that willpower, a force we know from subjective experience, is the universal driving force. It is through the exercise of will that the laws of nature were established and are maintained. The origin of the laws is our Alphoma selves; the maintenance is via the pervading consciousness which, it is suggested, is based in dark energy. 5. The apparent design of the universe Alphomism suggests that the universe is indeed designed but applies Occam’s razor to notions of a creator deity. It is argued that the designers are us. The two phase model, with the timeless Alphoma and the time-dependent Nature, allows for this solution. Each individual exists in both phases. One way of putting it is that from our perspective in Nature we see things in a linear fashion but Alphoma shows us not processes but shapes. In timelessness ‘what before?’ has only a purely subjective meaning. 6. Randomness Scientists use the term ‘random’ to cover events which, from a physical point of view, seem to happen spontaneously; that is, without physical cause. But Alphomism does not accept the idea of un-caused events and holds that such ‘spontaneous’ happenings have subjective causes (that is, they are a manifestation of willpower). Willpower does not demand a causal account because we understand its operation directly, that is, in a subjective way, not by the discovery of laws. Alphomism holds that the only truly ‘random’ sequences are produced through the exercise of willpower. This can be via the conscious efforts of free-thinking being or using devices which harness the uncertainty of sub-atomic activity (which, according to Alphomism, is a manifestation of the pervasive ‘dark energy’ will). Any purely mechanical device which creates supposedly random events could, of its nature, be explained in terms of physical laws if we so chose and had the resources to do the investigation. 7. Time travel Alphomism hold that ‘time travel’ is impossible. Because of the in-built element of indeterminacy in the Nature phase, future beings are not yet determined. There cannot be a ‘coming back’ because there is an untold number of decisions to be taken before the next generations emerge; they are as yet ‘unreal’. We know that the system works out overall because we exist but the detail is yet to be decided. As for us going back in time (that is, as potential agents rather than just observers through the various historical processes) there is no escape from the paradox that if we could be successful it would already have happened. Just as the beings who follow us don’t yet exist, neither did we for past generations. The future is not a place and time is not a highway. Section B. Original This section offers a selection of specific explanations but it by no means exhausts the Alphomist range. • Why life is so unfair! • Why there are laws of nature • Why the notion of ‘trinity’ is so pervasive • Why people sometimes seem to remember ‘former lives’ • Why people sometimes seem to be able to communicate over distance using    their minds • Why religion took such a hold • Why we have fleeting feelings of bliss and dread • Why art and music pervade all cultures • Why we love to solve puzzles • How people can be drawn into mass suicide cults