Handwaving - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Handwaving is a pejorative

Pejorative

Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...

label applied to the action of displaying the appearance of doing something, when actually doing little, or nothing. For example, it is applied to debate

Debate

Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...

techniques that involve logical fallacies. It is also used in working situations where productive work is expected, but no work is actually accomplished. Handwaving can be an idiom

Idiom

Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...

atic term, and it can also be a literal descriptive term for the use of excessive body language

Body language

Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously....

gestures that are associated with a lack of productivity in communication or other effort.

The superlative

Superlative

In grammar, the superlative is the form of an adjective that indicates that the person or thing modified has the quality of the adjective to a degree greater than that of anything it is being compared to in a given context. English superlatives are typically formed with the suffix -est In...

expressions for the term, such as "vigorous handwaving" or "furious handwaving", are used to imply that the handwaver lacks confidence in the information being conveyed.

Science and engineering

Handwaving arguments often include order-of-magnitude estimates and dimensional consistency. Competent, well-intentioned researchers and professors rely on handwaving when, given a limited time, a large result must be shown and minor technical details cannot be given much attention — e.g. "It can be shown that z is even."

Back-of-the-envelope calculation

Back-of-the-envelope calculation

A back-of-the-envelope calculation is a rough calculation, typically jotted down on any available scrap of paper such as the actual back of an envelope...

s are approximate ways to get an answer by over-simplification and are compatible with handwaving.

Literary criticism

By extension, handwaving is used in speculative fiction

Speculative fiction

Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...

criticism to refer to a plot device (e.g. a scientific discovery, a political development, or rules governing the behavior of a fictional creature) that is left unexplained or sloppily explained because it is convenient to the story, with the implication that the writer is aware of the logical weakness but hopes the reader will not notice or will suspend disbelief

Suspension of disbelief

Suspension of disbelief or "willing suspension of disbelief" is a formula for justifying the use of fantastic or non-realistic elements in literary works of fiction...

. (Compare the hand waving in a Jedi mind trick, where the author is the Jedi, and the audience is the one affected by the trick.) The fictional material handwavium is sometimes referred to in situations where the solution requires access to a substance that is physically impossible to create as it defies physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

but is convenient to solving a problem in the story. (See also unobtainium

Unobtainium

In engineering, fiction, and thought experiments, unobtainium is any extremely rare, costly, or impossible material, or device needed to fulfill a given design for a given application. The properties of any particular unobtainium depend on the intended use...

, which would probably be possible to create, but only by a great deal of research, development, time, effort, or money, none of which the speaker intends to explain at the moment.)

The term has come to be used in role-playing games to describe actions and conversations that are quickly glossed over, rather than acted out in full according to the rules; This may be done to keep from bogging down the play of the game with time-consuming but minor technical details.

Debate

Handwaving is also occasionally used in informal debate

Debate

or discussion. If the opponent in a debate uses the term, it is meant as a shorthand way to accuse the proponent in the debate of having committed a logical fallacy. In this sense, it is also as if a participant is waving their hands to obscure clear debate, as a verbal or logical smoke screen.

The proponents in a debate might also use the term "handwaving" against themselves, in the same sense as a speculative fiction

Speculative fiction

author, as noted above. When the proponents use this term, they are exposing to the opponent that they know the portion of their argument to which the term is being applied is weak. "Vigorous handwaving" or "furious handwaving" may also be used to indicate a very weak argument. In an unplanned or informal discussion or debate

Debate

, the proponent may have little or no preparation. The proponents in the debate can use the word "handwaving" as a way to indicate that while they believe a statement is true, they cannot prove the argument at this time. Even in an informal debate

Debate

, the phrase is only used to an intermediate step or ancillary issue, never the primary subject matter or end conclusion. Use of the term indicates that the proponent wishes to exclude from the debate discussion of the weak point in order to discuss a more central or important issue.