Scientific fact

From WikiSynergy

See also Science

Often it is difficult not to speak of scientific fact or scientific proof, even though properly speaking no such thing exists. Properly speaking, scientific "proof" is the entire body of evidence for a particular scientific claim, but nothing is absolute in science because evidence may always overturn even well-established theories. By the same token, no hypothesis can be disproven either. However for the purposes of efficient communication a theory with a solid evidence basis which is supported by the scientific consensus is sometimes referred to as scientific fact, and an idea which has a great deal of evidence against it is called "disproved." However, if the speaker is taking scientific findings as doctrine, such terminology may be an indication of a pseudoscientific stance.

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