Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Fudge Armadillo
On another note, I am not sure that I understand the distinction between presenting something as “fact” and presenting something as “theory” (I’m focusing on the dissemination of ideas in a classroom at this point).
|
In science, there are no facts. No theory is certain enough to be a "fact" in the philosophical sense. The closest thing in science to a literal fact is what science calls "data", but any step in the collection and/or interpretation of the data is enough to strip it of literal facthood.
Therefore, whenever the word fact is used (if it is) in science, it is shorthand for "we're pretty damn sure".