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Ep 22: The Logic of Experimental Tests

ToKCast

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Is There a Probability That a Theory Is True?

Many smart people struggle to grapple with the centrality of what science is even all about. Things cannot both be true and not true simultaneously. A basin is essentially someone who thinks that repeatedly observing a phenomena allows them to build up a probability that a particular theory is true. But in neither case can we say that the theory is true, only that it contains some truth. The theories can be used to help us control reality around us by making predictions - but they are also at odds with each other for reasons which i won't go into now. If we have any expectations about how our best and most fundamental theories are false, it would be better if we had all decided to call scientific theories '

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