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202 bytes added ,  09:57, March 24, 2008
Added Negative proof
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===Manufacturing facts from a theory===
 
===Manufacturing facts from a theory===
 
: ''Main article:  [[Manufacturing facts from a theory]]''
 
: ''Main article:  [[Manufacturing facts from a theory]]''
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===Negative Proof====
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Negative proof or proving a negative, means you cannot prove something doesn't exist from lack of observation, for example ''"A has not been seen, therefore, A does not exist"''.
    
The assertion as fact of an undemonstrated, unobserved idea for no better reason than that a given theory requires that fact. We deal here with the assumption of a fact ''not in evidence.'' In the early stages of formulating a model, this sort of behavior is acceptable. But when repeated efforts to demonstrate such a new fact ''have failed'', the proper logical response is to discard or revise the theory, and not merely to assume that the "fact" still exists and "someone hasn't tried hard enough" to find it. This is ''especially'' true when someone develops evidence that the inferred "fact" ''could not possibly exist.''
 
The assertion as fact of an undemonstrated, unobserved idea for no better reason than that a given theory requires that fact. We deal here with the assumption of a fact ''not in evidence.'' In the early stages of formulating a model, this sort of behavior is acceptable. But when repeated efforts to demonstrate such a new fact ''have failed'', the proper logical response is to discard or revise the theory, and not merely to assume that the "fact" still exists and "someone hasn't tried hard enough" to find it. This is ''especially'' true when someone develops evidence that the inferred "fact" ''could not possibly exist.''
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