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Re: [Phys-l] DATA, FACTS, LAWS, THEORIES

Hugh Haskell wrote:

... [Dawkins'] insistence on using the word "fact" is, I believe, more of a
rhetorical device than a logical one. He is trying to emphasize that,
based on the overwhelming evidence and the interlocking methods by
which evolution is taken to occur, evolution by natural selection is
as close to a "fact" as almost anything scientific can be. The idea
is over 150 years old, and all of the evidence so far developed
supports it fully. ...

Not to take away from Hugh's point, which I agree with, but I wince a little bit whenever I hear appeals to the amount of "supporting evidence" for a theory without an accompanying assessment of the degree to which the theory may be *vulnerable* to evidence. After all, proponents of intelligent design can also point to overwhelming supporting evidence. The difference is that it is entirely inconceivable that any evidence could ever be found that is inconsistent with ID.

John Mallinckrodt
Cal Poly Pomona