Changeability of the Scientific Mosaic

Under what circumstances does scientific change become impossible?

While it is evident that the elements of a given mosaic can change over time, a theory of scientific change seeks to identify how such changes are possible. Such a theory must identify and describe which factors allow a community to modify any elements within their mosaic.

In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Hakob Barseghyan in 2015. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community. Dogmatism No Theory Change theorem (Barseghyan-2015) is currently accepted by Scientonomy community as the best available answer to the question. It is formulated as: "If an accepted theory is taken as the final truth, it will always remain accepted; no new theory on the subject can ever be accepted."

Scientonomic History

Acceptance Record

Here is the complete acceptance record of this question (it includes all the instances when the question was accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by a community):

Community	Accepted From	Acceptance Indicators	Still Accepted	Accepted Until	Rejection Indicators
Scientonomy	1 January 2016	This is when the first answer to the question was accepted, the Dogmatism No Theory Change theorem (Barseghyan-2015), indicating that the question is itself legitimate.	Yes

All Theories

The following theories have attempted to answer this question:

Theory	Formulation	Formulated In
Dogmatism No Theory Change theorem (Barseghyan-2015)	If an accepted theory is taken as the final truth, it will always remain accepted; no new theory on the subject can ever be accepted.	2015

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Accepted Theories

The following theories have been accepted as answers to this question:

Community	Theory	Accepted From	Accepted Until
Scientonomy	Dogmatism No Theory Change theorem (Barseghyan-2015)	1 January 2016

Suggested Modifications

According to our records, there have been no suggested modifications on this topic.

Current View

In Scientonomy, the accepted answer to the question is Dogmatism No Theory Change theorem (Barseghyan-2015).

Dogmatism No Theory Change theorem (Barseghyan-2015) states: "If an accepted theory is taken as the final truth, it will always remain accepted; no new theory on the subject can ever be accepted."

No theory acceptance may take place in a genuinely dogmatic community. Suppose a community has an accepted theory that asserts that it is the final and absolute truth. By the Third Law we deduce the method: accept no new theories ever. By the Second Law we deduce that no new theory can ever be accepted by the employed method of the time. By the First Law, we deduce that the accepted theory will remain the accepted theory forever1p. 165-167.

Related Topics

This question is a subquestion of Mechanism of Scientific Change.

This topic is also related to the following topic(s):

• Mechanism of Theory Acceptance
• Mechanism of Theory Rejection
• Mechanism of Method Rejection