Subject:
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Re: The Brick Testament - More Teachings of Jesus
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 24 Oct 2006 19:35:52 GMT
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Viewed:
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4903 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, David Eaton wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Timothy Gould wrote:
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I believe that many predictions of the Big Bang theory have been verified
which is why I say there is an overwhelming body of evidence for it. There
is admittedly far more evidence not against it but that isn’t what I was
referring to.
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Well, I’m trying to be strictly accurate there. It’s not that the evidence
proves the conclusion, it’s that the evidence doesn’t contradict the
conclusion.
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I have avoided using the word “proved” for that very good reason.
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If we had (for example) two conflicting ideas about the origin of
the universe (the Big Bang Theory and the Invisible Minifig Theory), but
somehow BOTH of them fit all the available evidence, science doesn’t know
what to do.
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However in the absence of the alternate theory then the evidence supports the
one theory. Which is why the Big Bang Theory is now commonly named as such
whereas it used to be called the Big Bang Hypothesis.
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Well, that’s not really true-- Science knows *exactly* what to do. It tries
to figure out some experiment which will definitely contradict ONE of the two
theories, no matter WHAT its outcome. It tries to conduct the experiment, and
see what new evidence it yields. If the experiment was a good one, then one
or both theories is/are invalidated.
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Indeed. And if another, better hypothesis comes along then we can expect the Big
Bang Theory to go back to being the Big Bang Hypothesis.
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Hence, speaking in the strictest possible terms, the evidence doesn’t
actually *support* the Big Bang, but instead invalidates any *other*
falsifiable theory that people have come up with to date (that I know of).
DaveE
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And here is where I differ in view from you. I would argue that the evidence
supports the theory, but that support can be destroyed if a better hypothesis is
proposed.
Tim
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: The Brick Testament - More Teachings of Jesus
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| (...) Well, I'm trying to be strictly accurate there. It's not that the evidence proves the conclusion, it's that the evidence doesn't contradict the conclusion. If we had (for example) two conflicting ideas about the origin of the universe (the Big (...) (18 years ago, 24-Oct-06, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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