On Wed, Jul 09, 2003 at 11:48:18AM +0100, William T Goodall wrote: > Science proves negatives all the time. That's what experiments are > for. No evidence for X *is* evidence against X.
I would agree with the last statement, but not the first. Science does not PROVE negatives, how is it possible to prove that something does not exist? If I try for 100 years to prove the existence of something, and I find no evidence to prove it, can I say I have proved the non-existence? What if I do say it, and then the next experiment I do finds evidence of existence? Then I have falsified my previous statement that I proved non-existence. If you replaced "proves" with "provides support for", then I would agree completely. -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
