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Falsification in science is possible. If I hypothesize that all zebras have stripes then observing one zebra with spots falsifies the entire hypothesis. This i
by neonological 6y ago
Falsification in science is possible.
If I hypothesize that all zebras have stripes then observing one zebra with spots falsifies the entire hypothesis. This is definitive.
However, no amount of zebras that I observe with stripes can ever prove my hypothesis correct. I can observe 500 zebras all with stripes and at any point in time the 501st zebra can have spots. I can observe 1 billion zebras with stripes and the possibility still remains open that the next zebra I see has spots.
Science is not symmetric. Falsification is possible, proof is not.
- pdonis 6y ago> Falsification in science is possible. Falsification of really, really simple hypotheses (like "all zebras have stripes", or the classic "all ravens are black") is possible, yes. But no hypothesis of any real significance in science is that simple. In any scientific model of any significance, there are always ways to patch the model to account for new observations. In a model that is destined to be supplanted, the patching gets more and more cumbersome and less and less plausible over time; but there is no hard and fast breaking point at which there is too much patching, that's always a judgment call about which different scientists can disagree. Also, unless and until there is some new model available that can account for all the same observations, including the new ones, in a simpler and more intuitively plausible way, preferably also with more accurate predictions, scientists will continue to try to use the old patched model because there is no alternative.