[Phys-L] Re: A Letter to Juliet from Richard Dawkins - part 2

[John Clement <clement@HAL-PC.ORG>]

I would question whether we always falsify models.  We pick among competing
models, but often a model that doesn't work in a particular region is not
falsified, but merely limited to regions in which it does work.  Even models
that do not work well are sometimes retained for pedagogical purposes,
because they are simpler than the later model that superseded it.

Rather than falsification I would say we use criteria for picking models.
Is Occam's razor falsification?  Yet some models are picked purely for their
elegance and simplicity.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX

> I certainly agree with most of the above, but the falsifiable premise is a
> cornerstone of the scientific process.  The process identifies that which
> is
> clearly false.  It certainly doesn't identify that which is "true"
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