30 ms·
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 tryin
by 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 agoYour 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 agoYour 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.