"incredible new technique that might revolutionize my whole daily life. Today, while I know that there are discoverables with that kind of power, I also know that it usually requires beginning from firmer foundations - reports of controlled experiments, a standard theory in the field, and maybe even math."

How do you know and what are these discoverables? Evolution has produced such a kludge in the brain that I suspect, until I can get reliable evidence, that all we are going to be able to do is a bunch of useful little techniques. Until we can start doing some serious redesign.