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Except dark matter isn't an observation. Its an unobserved variable that's been inserted to make models that don't match observations add up.
by StanislavPetrov 9y ago
Except dark matter isn't an observation. Its an unobserved variable that's been inserted to make models that don't match observations add up.
- InclinedPlane 9y agoDark matter is a theory that fits the observations. Prior to the 1980s nobody had ever been able to image a single atom as well, atoms are just theories that fit the observations. Proton-proton fusion has never been observed directly experimentally, and yet we confidently say that it is the primary method of energy generation inside our own Sun and many other stars, because it's the only theory that fits the observations. This is how science works.
- StanislavPetrov 9y ago>Dark matter is a theory that fits the observations. You are mistaking "theory" and "hypothesis". Dark matter is a hypothesis. It is unproven, it has not been observed. Describing this as a "galaxy devoid of dark matter" rather than "a galaxy where the dark matter hypothesis does not add up" is absurd. There is a difference between speculation about potential causes for observed phenomena and observed phenomena themselves.
- InclinedPlane 9y agoA theory is a hypothesis that is well-substantiated by data. Dark matter is such a theory, those who believe otherwise almost always do not understand the data.
- kolinko 9y agoAu contraire - in that galaxy the dark matter hypothesis really adds up. It's existence kills theories that "dark matter" is just an artefact of how gravity works.
- kolinko 9y agoWhat is your definition of the word "observation"?