Mechanism of Error Rejection
When epistemic agent discover that a theory was accepted erroneously, they often reject the theory; the theory rejection theorem suggests that those propositions are replaced by something. What are they replaced by?
Errors are ubiquitous in scientific practice: scientists often come to realize that the acceptance of a certain theory was erroneous. This applies to both general theories and singular propositions describing the results of experiments and observations. The theory rejection theorem suggests that when these erroneously accepted theories become rejected they are still replaced by some other theory or theories. The question is: what are these erroneously accepted theories replaced by? For example, astronomical databases trivially reject inaccurate data points from their databases. Are these data points replaced by anything? More generally, how are instances of scientific error handled in science?
In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Maxim Mirkin and Sinan Karamehmetoglu in 2018. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community. Error Rejection by Replacement (Machado-Marques-Patton-2021) is currently accepted by Scientonomy community as the best available answer to the question. It is formulated as: "The handling of instances of scientific error is consistent with the theory rejection theorem; it involves a replacement of an erroneously accepted theory either with a first- or second-order proposition."
Contents
Scientonomic History
Acceptance Record
Community | Accepted From | Acceptance Indicators | Still Accepted | Accepted Until | Rejection Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scientonomy | 8 March 2018 | It was asked in the seminar and upon uniform agreement we accepted it as an open question. | Yes |
All Theories
Theory | Formulation | Formulated In |
---|---|---|
Error Rejection by Replacement (Machado-Marques-Patton-2021) | The handling of instances of scientific error is consistent with the theory rejection theorem; it involves a replacement of an erroneously accepted theory either with a first- or second-order proposition. | 2021 |
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Accepted Theories
Community | Theory | Accepted From | Accepted Until |
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Scientonomy | Error Rejection by Replacement (Machado-Marques-Patton-2021) | 8 October 2021 |
Suggested Modifications
Modification | Community | Date Suggested | Summary | Verdict | Verdict Rationale | Date Assessed |
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Sciento-2021-0004 | Scientonomy | 1 August 2021 | Accept that the handling of scientific error, as defined by Machado-Marques and Patton, is compatible with the theory rejection theorem. | Accepted | The commentators agreed that "the historical cases of scientific error identified and treated by Machado-Marques and Patton effectively demonstrate the compatibility of instances of scientific error with the theory rejection theorem".c1 c2 c3 It was agreed that the rejection of a theory that was accepted erroneously can be "a result of the acceptance of other theories incompatible with it - be these some first- or second-order theories".c4 c5 c6 One commentator expressed a common opinion when saying that "the authors are able to put to rest concerns about the handling of scientific error potentially contravening the theory rejection theorem".c7 | 8 October 2021 |
Current View
In Scientonomy, the accepted answer to the question is Error Rejection by Replacement (Machado-Marques-Patton-2021).
Error Rejection by Replacement (Machado-Marques-Patton-2021) states: "The handling of instances of scientific error is consistent with the theory rejection theorem; it involves a replacement of an erroneously accepted theory either with a first- or second-order proposition." The analysis of several several instances of scientific error by Machado-Marques and Patton suggest that the handling of these instances by scientists is in accord with the theory rejection theorem. Handling of error involves, according to this view, not only a rejection of some of the propositions that are considered to be accepted erroneously but also an acceptance of some new propositions. In some cases, an erroneously accepted first-order proposition is replaced by another first-order proposition incompatible with it. In other cases, an erroneously accepted first-order proposition is replaced by a second-order proposition stating the lack of sufficient reason for accepting the first-order proposition. According to this view, the handling of erroneously accepted theories involves their replacement with other theories; the handling of scientific error is therefore in full accord with the theory rejection theorem.
Related Topics
This question is a subquestion of Mechanism of Theory Rejection.