Scientific Activity

I have noticed some confusion regarding the activities within science that can foster doubt in the minds of the public regarding its value. I am going to attempt to clarify these activities to promote a better understanding and appreciation of science and to counter pseudoscience in all of its forms.

Virtually all science begins with speculation: if an idea or opinion that intuitively seems worth exploring but there isn't enough evidence (yet?) to even form a scientific hypothesis. Examples of speculation are the *existence of a God and an eternal uncaused multiverse.

* All logical syllogisms in support of a God are speculations and have at least one unsupported premise.

"A scientific hypothesis is the initial building block in the scientific method. For a hypothesis to be termed a scientific hypothesis, it has to be something that can be supported or refuted through carefully crafted experimentation or observation. This is called falsifiability and testability, an idea that was advanced in the mid-20th century a British philosopher named Karl Popper, according to the Encyclopedia Brittania." (link) When a speculation reaches the level of it able to be tested objectively, it becomes a hypothesis. When appropriate testing is completed, a provisional finding of its claim(s) will be either rejected (falsified) or accepted. While the general claim of a God is speculation because it is not falsifiable, particular claims of the effect of a God within our reality are very common and can be tested. *There has never been a testable particular claim for a God acting within our reality that has not been falsified. Likewise, **all claims by alternatives to medicine that are testable have been falsified.

*For example: Original Sin; a Soul; Free Will; **efficacy of Prayer; Miracles.

**Outside of the Placebo Effect.

The final, and *highest, achievement within science is a scientific theory: "Any scientific theory must be based on a careful and rational examination of the facts. Facts and theories are two different things. In the scientific method, there is a clear distinction between facts, which can be observed and/or measured, and theories, which are scientists' explanations and interpretations of the facts." A good theory "- - - is formed from a number of hypotheses that can be tested independently." Examples of scientific theories include evolution, gravity, oxygen theory of combustion, plate tectonics, and quantum theory.

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* Some think that theories become laws, but theories and laws have separate and distinct roles in the scientific method. A law is a description of an observed phenomenon in the natural world that hold true every time it is tested. It doesn't explain why something is true; it just states that it is true. A theory, on the other hand, explains observations that are gathered during the scientific process.