My dear daughter,
It’s time to talk about the scientific method. Hopefully this will come in handy.
People usually have a colloquial or layman’s understanding of the term “theory”. Sadly it’s a misunderstanding. The popular meaning can be very misleading. Most people think it’s about something that is only discussed, idealized, unproved, with no practical application.
Far from it, in (real) Science it indicates a well proved and widely accepted fact, natural law, correlation, phenomena, etc.
The method itself is quite simple and it’s beautiful in its simplicity. It goes like this:
A person observes something (still) unexplained and formulates an hypothesis to rationally explain it.
Then, the hypothesis has to be tested. A test is only valid if it can be repeated, under the same circumstances, by anyone, and achieve the same results. It doesn’t matter if the hypothesis is mathematically coherent, if the proponent believes it’s right or if it goes against religion or accepted morals.
The tests or experiments have to be controlled (whenever possible, there is a control group involved) and every step has to be clearly described and documented. Depending on the kind of experiment, it’s necessary to demonstrate the results are not simply random. Then they are repeated to exhaustion. Sometimes computers can help here, because most hypotheses come in the form of a mathematical model.
If the experiments don’t prove the hypothesis, it’s time to go back and formulate a new hypothesis.
If the hypothesis is demonstrated, the study is published and reviewed by the scientific community. Other groups will probably try to replicate the results. Usually there’s some debate. The duration of these discussions is irrelevant, sometimes it takes decades for everybody to understand something. Then it becomes simple.
If the proved hypothesis is approved by peers and becomes widely accepted, it becomes Theory. We’re using capital T here to differentiate from the popular meaning.
Now, the wonderful thing about Science is that Theories are not immutable. They can be reviewed at any time in light of new discoveries and new facts. They’re usually valid for a specific framework, period of time, variable interval, optimal conditions, etc. Sometimes they’re completely discarded for a more encompassing Theory. Such is the nature of human knowledge.
Later on we will discuss examples.
Love,
Dad
Aspergers Dad 