I personally cringe when people talk about scientific theories in the same way w
ID: 1377326 • Letter: I
Question
I personally cringe when people talk about scientific theories in the same way we talk about everyday theories.
I was under the impression a scientific theory is similar to a mathematical proof; however a friend of mine disagreed.
He said that you can never be absolutely certain and a scientific theory is still a theory. Just a very well substantiated one. After disagreeing and then looking into it, I think he's right. Even the Wikipedia definition says it's just very accurate but that there is no certainty. Just a closeness to potential certainty.
I then got thinking. Does this mean no matter how advanced we become, we will never become certain of the natural universe and the physics that drives it? Because there will always be something we don't know for certain?
Explanation / Answer
Simple Answer: Nothing is guaranteed 100%. (In life or physics)
Now to the physics part of the question.
Soft-Answer:
Physics uses positivism and observational proof through the scientific process. No observation is 100% accurate there is uncertainty in all measurement but repetition gives less chance for arbitrary results.
Every theory and for that matter laws in physics are observational representations that best allow prediction of future experiments. Positivism can overcome theological and philosophical discrepancies such as what is the human perception of reality. Is real actually real type questions.
The scientific process is an ever evolving representation of acquired knowledge based on rigorous experimental data.
No theory is set in stone so to speak as new results allow for modification and fine tuning of scientific theory.