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And how do you think we come up with hypotheses?

• jjk166 6y ago
  Curiosity. A hypothesis is just a testable prediction - it only makes sense to have a hypothesis where you don't know the answer ahead of time. Debate is trying to convince someone else of a truth, which requires someone to know the truth (or at least believe they know the truth) beforehand.
  • garmaine 6y ago
    Your definition of debate is overly restrictive. I can assure you that scientists debate unsettled and speculative things all the time, and precisely one of the things being debated is “what should we test for?”
    • jjk166 6y ago
      Your definition of debate isn't the one that is relevant to this conversation. We're not referring to speculative thought, we're referring to decision making for public policy. Scientists discuss, evaluate, question, and probe, not debate. True, the people who are scientists might debate from time to time, but that's not a part of the scientific process.