The core axiom of science is that the only value of a theory is how well it helps you make experimental predictions. Put another way, storing the theory and the deviations of experiments from the theory should be easier than storing the experimental results by themselves. Good theories are good compression algorithms.
By the way, this is why religion is not scientific. Religious ideas are useful not because they make predictions, but because they encourage people to treat each other better. So religious ideas are not scientific.
Elaborating on what said, any prejudice for one theory over another is a violation of the core axiom of science and is therefore not scientific.
Of course, the word “science” is also used to refer to:
1) The theories produced by science
2) Thoroughness
3) Technology and engineering
I recommend Feynmann’s very readable book “The meaning of it all”, which discusses this subject (and many others) in some detail.
Asking questions without an agenda? Oh, wait…
(Not a legitimate answer, just a humorous jab.)
The core axiom of science is that the only value of a theory is how well it helps you make experimental predictions. Put another way, storing the theory and the deviations of experiments from the theory should be easier than storing the experimental results by themselves. Good theories are good compression algorithms.
By the way, this is why religion is not scientific. Religious ideas are useful not because they make predictions, but because they encourage people to treat each other better. So religious ideas are not scientific.
Elaborating on what said, any prejudice for one theory over another is a violation of the core axiom of science and is therefore not scientific.
Of course, the word “science” is also used to refer to:
1) The theories produced by science
2) Thoroughness
3) Technology and engineering
I recommend Feynmann’s very readable book “The meaning of it all”, which discusses this subject (and many others) in some detail.