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nonequilibrium
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From the wikipedia page on his "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions"
Can somebody explain what is meant? The way I see it, it seems so obviously wrong: I don't see any reason why two opposing paradigms can't be tested by the same experiment... For example you had the Phlogiston theory, and the atomic theory; the earlier was proven wrong with a certain experiment, an experiment which did give a consistent result in the latter theory. Or Einstein and Newton: although they work with quite different concepts, you can figure out the result of a certain experiment in both theories and then find out how reality actually behaves, so the concept of falsifiability is certainly helpful...
I must be totally missing the point here.
Kuhn (SSR, section XII) states that the probabilistic tools used by verificationists are inherently inadequate for the task of deciding between conflicting theories, since they belong to the very paradigms they seek to compare. Similarly, observations that are intended to falsify a statement will fall under one of the paradigms they are supposed to help compare, and will therefore also be inadequate for the task. According to Kuhn, the concept of falsifiability is unhelpful for understanding why and how science has developed as it has. In the practice of science, scientists will only consider the possibility that a theory has been falsified if an alternative theory is available that they judge credible. If there isn't, scientists will continue to adhere to the established conceptual framework. If a paradigm shift has occurred, the textbooks will be rewritten to state that the previous theory has been falsified.
Can somebody explain what is meant? The way I see it, it seems so obviously wrong: I don't see any reason why two opposing paradigms can't be tested by the same experiment... For example you had the Phlogiston theory, and the atomic theory; the earlier was proven wrong with a certain experiment, an experiment which did give a consistent result in the latter theory. Or Einstein and Newton: although they work with quite different concepts, you can figure out the result of a certain experiment in both theories and then find out how reality actually behaves, so the concept of falsifiability is certainly helpful...
I must be totally missing the point here.