Originally Posted by
MinnMan
You are mostly on the right track here, but let me pose it more succinctly and as working scientists actually proceed:
- A hypothesis is proposed.
-An empirical test is investigated that if successful, disproves the hypothesis.
-If the test disproves the hypothesis, the hypothesis must be discarded. If it does not, then the proposition that the hypothesis is true cannot be excluded (without further research).
Statistical tests can be posed to evaluate the certainty that the hypothesis can be discarded. In general, they do not evaluate the certainty that the hypothesis is true.
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Exactly. Just as I said but in fewer words.
I just like the idea that I spend my professional life trying as hard as possible to prove myself wrong, and if I fail, I succeed.