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Experiments are used in the scientific method to invalidate hypothesss. I'd say that yes, a simulation is an experiment, since it can do that.
by totony 6y ago
Experiments are used in the scientific method to invalidate hypothesss. I'd say that yes, a simulation is an experiment, since it can do that.
- whatshisface 6y agoPure logic can also invalidate hypotheses sometimes, but pure logic isn't experimental.
- Retric 6y agoPure thought experiments are useful because they make predictions which can then be validated. It’s part of the basic foundations of science, otherwise you’re just curve fitting across all exponential data.
- whatshisface 6y agoSure but thought experiments are not actual experiments. In fact thought experiments are... exactly the same as simulations.
- Retric 6y agoTo be more clear a pure thought experiment doesn’t invalidate a theory on it’s own. It’s the conflict between the results and either past or future observations/experiments that invalidates the theory. Plenty of theories that gave what seemed like insane results happened to work out.
- zaroth 6y agoAbsolutely agree. Fun fact; > Gedankenexperiment, (German: “thought experiment”) term used by German-born physicist Albert Einstein to describe his unique approach of using conceptual rather than actual experiments in creating the theory of relativity. It would be ridiculous to say that experiments can only be done physically. Thought experiments are responsible for developing one of the most famous theories known to man.
- smogcutter 6y agoA simulation is only as good as the model it’s based on. So sure, it’s an experiment, but one that’s only valid within the context of the model. Validating the model itself would take a “real” experiment.
- totony 6y agoMost experiments are only valid within the context of a model. Calculating X-ray diffraction patterns only matter because of how we model orbitals and light diffraction for example.
- smogcutter 6y agoWhat I’m fumbling to get at is that a physical experiment can tell you that your model is flawed in ways that simulation alone can’t. If you don’t already understand the double slit experiment, you’re unlikely to simulate light in a way that reproduces its results.
- totony 6y agoYes, each have their advantages, e.g. here the speed of sound couldnt have been calculated in these circumstances. The simulation could've also revealed flaws and disproved the theory w/r to itself.