Posted by Bob on November 22, 1999, at 17:15:40
In reply to Re: Zheezh! You turn your back for a second ..., posted by CC on November 18, 1999, at 16:22:58
> "technically speaking, it's a hypothesis that is refuted by one
> negative instance"
>
> Then how did it ever get past being a hypothesis??Oops! General reference there. The sentence would have been more clearly stated as "The scientific 'entity' that can be demonstrated as being false through a single negative case is a hypothesis, not a theory." Just because a hypothesis has not yet been shown to be false does not entitled it to the grandiose label of Theory. Theories, in practice, are collections of supportable hypotheses and models which, as a whole, provide some explanation of some natural phenomena.
Sorry,
Bob
poster:Bob
thread:14368
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991108/msgs/15637.html