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From: "dogmat" <macdonaldrj@bv.com>
Subject: Re: Philosophers
Date: 1998/02/06
Message-ID: <6bf9b7$cf8$1@bvbsd2.kc.bv.com>#1/1
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References: <67et6o$dql@bgtnsc03.worldnet.att.net> <34C9F3D0.6B5A@erols.com>
 <6ao78n$52r@mrpibb.eng.umd.edu> <34D120D3.6B18@erols.com>
 <6bco4k$1or@periodic.eng.umd.edu> <34DA489E.6226@erols.com>
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 comp.lang.java.misc,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.fortran,comp.lang.cobol,comp.lang.smalltalk,comp.lang.ada
Date: 1998-02-06T00:00:00+00:00
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The Goobers wrote in message <34DA489E.6226@erols.com>...

>For a 'simple' science... say, biology, it might be argued that the
>'truth' is empirically verified in the laboratory through mechanisms
>which, when independently implemented, generate reproducible results.
>('See?  The crew in Bombay did it, too, and *they* got one with two
>heads!  Now that we've settled that let's all go out for a beer.')
>
>For a 'not-so-simple' science... astrophysics or quantum mechanics, the
>'big-big-big' or 'tiny-tiny-tiny' sciences... 'truth' lies more in the
>generating of equations to describe phenomena.


Very shaky definition of "truth", even with the quotation marks. The
scientific method does not provide truth. All it can provide are negatives,
i.e., one hypothesis or theory is definitely not true, while another simply
cannot be proven false. At some point in any field, the theory is "good
enough" and we can move on. But you can bet that any theory will eventually
be proven "wrong", and all are incomplete.