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I think it works both ways. Theories help us decide what to observe, or where to look and what we're looking at. Observation is useful to develop a theory (ind
by warrenpj 11y ago
I think it works both ways. Theories help us decide what to observe, or where to look and what we're looking at.
Observation is useful to develop a theory (induction, or "educated guessing"). However, having a theory guides us towards newer, often subtler observations as we attempt to falsify it. Karl Popper called this the theory-ladeness of observation [1]
[1] http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/popper/ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/popper/
- sklogic 11y ago> Theories help us decide what to observe, or where to look and what we're looking at. Of course. But it's merely some heuristics helping to cut down the search space, not an inherent, fundamental property of the universe.