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> The salient quality of a theory, or a scientific hypothesis if you prefer, is that it can be tested, at least in principle. I am not a physicist, but it seems
by badosu 9y ago
> The salient quality of a theory, or a scientific hypothesis if you prefer, is that it can be tested, at least in principle. I am not a physicist, but it seems like, at least in principle, there's a way to falsify the inflation hypothesis, even though we might not be able to practically carry it out.
The existence or not of a way to falsify a proposition does not qualify it as a knowledge, if it matches the criteria for scientific truth than it is knowledge and may be part of a larger set of propositions that encompass a theory.
- philipov 9y agoAgreed, it is only enough to qualify it as a scientific hypothesis. The article, and the critics, are right to point out that it too early to give it the status of scientific truth. I think that it is overly polemical to say that inflation is not a scientific theory because the technical definition of a theory is hazy for most people, but calling something unscientific is crystal clear, and this is misleading.
- badosu 9y agoI fully agree with you, if news written like this influences lay people, they'll hold theories like General Relativity, Quantum Field Theory or even Evolution to the same standards as the next trendy, and almost impossible to falsify, subject of study...