[Tigbit]

Just a few words on "proof".

There is a common misconception about science and it's purpose. Science is viewed as a small group of elite setting out to prove one idea or another. This is incorrect.

The purpose of science is to "explain" phenomenon, to describe how it works or to simply provide useful predictions that may one day better the human condition and/or understanding of our universe.

A hypothesis is a guess, a theory is and explanation and a law is a theory that has withstood the test of time.

Science starts with a question. "Why does this do that?" It then forms a hypothesis (a guess). Then it tests this guess and either the guess is correct, in which case they move on to the next step, or they formulate a new hypothesis based on their findings. After a seemingly correct guess then they form a theory based on the data collected. This theory is tested and tested over and over again in an attempt to "disprove" it. Science never trys to "prove", for to do that is to ignore evidence contrary to the theory. The only way to form an "acurate" (not correct) theory is to try to disprove it and to encourage others to disprove it. Only by doing this can science be confident that they are successfully predicting outcomes or explaining prosesses.

[ August 18, 2003, 02:48: Message edited by: Tigbit ]