4 ms·

Every couple of months, we find new fossil evidence that "rewrites" the history of our species. At what point is the theory just wrong?

• deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
• psyc 9y ago
  This is a background issue in any study of the past: history, archaeology, genealogy. There's "true" in the absolute sense, as in what would you have seen had you been there. That's not really attainable. The kind of truth that's left in studies of the past is the consensus model reconstructed from the records, and that's always full of controversies.
• badosu 9y ago
  The theory is always 'wrong' if 'correct' means fitting the data perfectly. Having to adjust the parameters of the model and having to change the fundamental aspects (e.g. humans came from Africa) are different things.
  • thephyber 9y ago
    It's interesting how you chose the oppose of "wrong" with "correct"; my first thought was "right". Right/wrong is most commonly used in a moral framework. Correct/incorrect seems more apt during application of an observed value to an expected value.
    • badosu 9y ago
      You're right
• tootie 9y ago
  When new evidence suggests otherwise. All theories are based on our best evidence and we absolutely don't have all the evidence for anything. See, Structure of Scientific Revolution.