Quote:
Originally Posted by sanctus
Pyro, can you elaborate on "theories are based on evidence"? Because a theory can also be developed on a beginning of the style:"let's assume that" and then see if evidence supporting this can be found....
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I would be happy to.
There is no purpose or reason for generating a "theory" unless there exists hard evidence that is in need of explanation. By "evidence", I mean
any facts and observations and such.
You see trees all around you. So did your parents and grandparents. You take it all for granted. It is the natural order of things for there to be trees. Nobody needs an explanation. It never occurs to anyone to create a "theory of why there are trees".
But you leave your home and find yourself in the Sahara Desert. You read travelers' reports of islands with no trees, mountains with no trees. Then you begin to wonder, "why does MY home have so many trees?" You have acquired facts, evidence, that raises a question. You want to answer that question. So, you begin the process of formulating a "theory" as to why YOUR home has trees, when so many other places do not.
And of course, to validate your theory, you will almost certainly have to go out and collect MORE evidence!
Does that help?
